Musician’s Widow

Last week, I needed a few items from the grocery store. I decided to go check out the new Publix in my neighborhood. (If you’ve never shopped at a Publix, you’re missing out. I know my Texans are going to gasp when I say I like them better than H-E-B but… the customer service at Publix is, hands down, the best ever. I never leave a Publix without a smile on my face. So many businesses could learn a lot from them.)

I was determined NOT to go down the beer aisle. I didn’t want to be tempted! Unfortunately(?), an item on my list forced me to go down it. And I noticed that the new Publix has “build your own 6-pack” option that is ALWAYS so much fun. As I skimmed the options to build your own mix, I saw it. A beer that… well… just might be my absolute favorite beer.

“Well. Crap,” I said to myself. I walked a little further and there it was… a six pack of the beer goodness. On sale, at that.

“CRAP!” I said a little louder, as it went into my basket. I did NOT plan to buy beer, but I couldn’t leave it behind!

Abita Strawberry Harvest. I’ll be honest, I don’t remember where I had it first. I just remembered that I loved it. A lot. And every time I’ve found it since, I’ve HAD to get a six-pack. It’s a beer that even beer-haters tend to like. It’s got that sweet summer strawberry flavor that just makes the palate HAPPY.

Abita Strawberry Harvest is a lager brewed with pilsner and wheat malts and Vanguard hops. Real Louisiana strawberry juice is added after filtration resulting in a crisp lager with a sweet strawberry flavor, aroma and haze. — From Abita’s Site

I love it straight out of the bottle, but pour it in a glass for an even more happy experience.

This is a perfect summer beer. It’s light, fruity and just makes you feel… well… like summer! I’ve turned friends onto it, and I have yet to hear anyone say a bad thing about it. I HIGHLY recommend checking this one out!

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It’s been awhile since I did a #DrinkUpLinkUp… Today, I feature something I tried a couple weeks ago already: Sea Dog Wild Blueberry.

I love wheat beer. It’s my go-to beer. I especially love fruit wheat beers. So, when I saw Sea Dog Wild Blueberry on a menu, I got excited that it would be delicious.

I wasn’t a big fan. I did have two bottles in hopes I’d like it better the second time. I didn’t.

And I hate that! Its an award winning beer! (2008, Gold Fruit Beer San Diego County Fair; 2007, 2008, 2009 Bronze Fruit Beer Australian Brewers Festival; 2007, 1st Place Fruit Beer California Brewers Festival; 2007, Silver Fruit Beer World Beer Championships) Reading other review sites, its a much-loved beer with beer lovers. Maybe I just had TOO high of an expectation. However, it isn’t one I’m going to seek out again in the future.

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Walking through the grocery store the other day, I wanted to try something different. I wandered to the beer cooler and found… nothing interesting. Nothing that caught my attention. But as I walked away, stacked up against a cooler nearby was:

Batch19, proclaiming to be a “Pre-Prohibition Style Lager” and boasting a 5.5% ABV, grabbed me with their unique bottle and, well, it seems all things prohibition-days are popular right now. (If anyone can get me a bottle of Chicken Cock Whiskey I’ll… I’ll… write your praises in this blog?) It jumped into the basket and came home with me.

From the Batch19 Facebook page:

Inspired by an authentic pre-Prohibition recipe, this bold, hoppy and balanced lager derives its bold taste by using a rare combination of hops including Hersbrucker and Strisslespalt. Hersbrucker hops provide herbal notes and Strisslespalt hops deliver notes of black currant. We are aware of no brewer in America who uses this combination today. Deep-gold in color, naturally filtered and unpasteurized, Batch 19 has 26 IBUs and an assertive 5.5% ABV.

Ok, we got all the technical stuff out of the way, lets move on to the more fun part. DRINKING IT.

I like Lagers… they might not be my first choice, but I rarely run into one that I don’t like. So I wasn’t surprised to like it, what surprised me was to like despite its hoppiness. I’m not a fan of hoppy beer, but this one… maybe it was the combination of the two types of hops. I don’t know, but I LIKED it.

The biggest surprise for me what its flavor lasted. I run into beers that are “pretty good” when good and cold. The cold making the hops palatable, but as soon as it warms up even a tiny bit I can’t finish it. I enjoyed Batch19 from the first cold, cold drink all the way down to the last not-as-cold one.

I’m glad I still have some bottles of this in the fridge to enjoy over the next few days. I’d buy it again!

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I was at a loss about what to write about this week, so I am blatantly copying this link up’s hostess and sharing a drink recipe.

This has become my signature shot at the bar, and I’m giving away the recipe. It was in our “cheat box” behind the bar, and I slowly have perfected it. Its now the shot that even my fellow bartenders go, “You make it!”

And I love that. I love this shot!

Now here’s the secret. JUST A SPLASH of sweet & sour. The rest of the ingredients you can just eyeball and add to or take away from to find your personal preference. But too much sweet & sour? And you might as well pour it out and start over. You’re never going to get it back.

I speak from experience.

One night as I was making this shot (when I was still trying to learn it) and I put way too  much S&S. I ended up having to ask a fellow bartender ideas on how to salvage the shot. I ended up adding a TON of lemon-lime soda to try to smooth out the flavor… and even then it didn’t taste quite right. It was definitely lesson learned.

So. Go! Go buy some whipped cream vodka and have some key lime goodness!

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It snowed this week. So of course I had to have Sam Adams Summer Ale last night to pretend it wasn’t still stupid cold outside.

Let’s just get this over with… I didn’t love it, but I also didn’t hate it. It was pretty middle of the road to me.

I’m a total wheat beer girl. My top three beers are pretty much Shocktop, Blue Moon and Hoegaarden. So there you go. Sam Adam’s Summer Ale doesn’t quite reach those for me. Perhaps if I’d had a lemon wedge with it? I don’t know.

From Sam Adam’s site:

Crisp and tangy with refreshing lemon peel and a hint of pepper from rare Grains of Paradise. Golden, hazy, & thirst quenching, this American wheat ale balances bright citrus, Noble hops & spice for a lively brew that’s perfect on any summer day.

Its definitely a summer brew with strong citrus flavor, but its also (to me) a lot hoppier than its other wheat offerings. I think that’s where I jumped off the bandwagon. Some people love that, and I totally respect that fact!! Its just not my thing… so I’ll probably shy away from it going forward. But I’m glad I gave it a shot!!

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A few months back, the owner of the bar I work at gave me a tank top that she got from her liquor rep. Hot pink, it said, “Kinky Liqueur” on the front and “Let’s get Kinky tonight” on the back. For my own amusement, it became my motorcycle tank. (Hey, it was hot pink and impossible to miss!”)

Then she came in with a little mini-bottle of the liqueur and we sampled it. I liked it! Light and fruity. I wanted to try it again.

Last week, I finally picked up a bottle of the goodness at the liquor store:

Admit it. That’s a sexy bottle. They hit that out of the park, right along with the name. And the pink color just screams, “Ladies night!” to me.

Kinky Liqueur is a infusion of premium vodka distilled 5 times with mango, blood orange liqueur, and passion fruit. It’s only 34 Proof, so you’re not going to get sideways super fast on it, but the yummy taste will let you forget your drinking an adult beverage. Which could negate that whole, “not too high of a proof so don’t worry” thing.

I had my first glass of it just on the rocks. Its smooth enough to do just that… I am not an “on the rocks” girl, but this one I can do.

That being said, I poured a TALL glass of it and I ran into that, “Oh this isn’t too strong let me drink this really fast and whoa the room is kinda tilted right now.” thing. So since then, I’ve been enjoying it mixed with “lemon lime soda” (oh okay, Sprite) and its super delicious that way and a lot less potent.

Kinky Liqueur has a Pinterest board for nothing but Kinky Drinks that I’ve already started following. I’m pretty addicted still to coconut rum, so I can’t wait to try the Kinky Breeze sometime.

It’s girlie. It’s not super strong. But its super fruity and will be a great summer drink… ahhh… summer… bring it on.

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