Cocktailing with Chocolate and Earth Echo Foods’ Cacao Bliss
ADVERTISEMENT Whether you’re baking a sweet treat or mixing up a glass of chocolate milk for a loved one, cocoa powder is a staple that every home cook needs on hand. Standard cocoa powder is made from the seed pods of the cacao plant. It is processed and heated, then ground into a fine powder.…
Review: Signatory Staoisha Heavily Peated 5 Years Old
Staoisha releases originate from Islay’s Bunnahabhain distillery (write that down), and are an often-utilized pseudonym by the company for independent bottling purposes. A store pick for Chicago-based chain Binny’s, this Signatory release recently made its way down the interstate and into my hands courtesy of fully vaccinated, thoughtful friends passing through on their way to…
Book Review: Be Your Own Bartender
I love a good infographic or flowchart, and I know I’m not alone. For Carey Jones and John McCarthy (a husband and wife team), getting you to your perfect cocktail is a matter of science, and Be Your Own Bartender is built around the idea that if you answer a few simple questions, you can…
Review: WM Cadenhead Ardmore 8 Years Old
It feels as if Ardmore is popping up this year with greater frequency on the independent bottling circuit. That is most certainly all conjecture based on nothing at this point, but perhaps Beam Suntory is considering joining the trend of testing younger stock on the market, at first through independent channels, before introducing a similar…
Review: Rhum J.M VO
We’re filling out our coverage of Martinique’s Rhum J.M line, finally looking at an oddity called Rhum J.M VO. The hitch: It’s aged for 3 years in toasted new American oak barrels rather than used bourbon barrels, which are the norm. The result is a rather sharp and heavy rum, at least on the nose,…
Review: 2017 Opolo Mountain Zinfandel Paso Robles
This Paso-born wine is more zin than zin, a boldly fruited wine that pours on notes of black currants, ripe raisins, and a skin of milk chocolate that feels like a touch of Hershey’s syrup is slowly dripping into the glass. An iconic example of the wine, the bruisingly high alcohol product (15.9% abv) is…
Review: Coalition Rye Barrel Proof
Coalition Rye is a spanking new brand from Kentucky Artisan Distillers (KAD) in Crestwood, Kentucky. You may know KAD as the spiritual home of Jefferson’s Bourbon, although to date only special finishes and wood experiments occur there while the whiskey used in Jefferson’s releases is distilled elsewhere. KAD does distill inhouse, however, and the Coalition…
Review: Earth Echo Cacao Bliss
Whipping up a hot chocolate or chocolate milk (spiked or otherwise)? Give Earth Echo’s Cacao Bliss a look. Rather than relying on processed cocoa powder, the base of this product is raw cacao which has been infused with 9 additional ingredients all designed to improve your overall health. Those include: turmeric, black pepper, MCT powder,…