Tag: minnesota
saké2me Green Tea
by Paul Arthur on Oct.19, 2009, under junmai-shu, sake
Background: This lightly sparkling beverage is produced in Sausolito, California by “blending premium imported junmai sake with exotic, all-natural Asian flavors.” Wait, no, I tell a lie. California’s the address on their web site, but the bottle says Cold Spring, Minnesota. When I saw this product on the shelves of my local trendy food store, I was immediately intrigued, then immediately put off by the price (something like $14/4 pack, and the bottles are only 6.3 fluid ounces). Fortunately for me, it appears that they didn’t sell well and the last few packs were broken out into single bottles at $4 apiece.
Nose: Green tea. Hints of lemongrass and melon.
Taste: Gah, that’s sweet. A bit of grassy green bitterness from the tea, more lemongrass. The very slightest sake influence of yeast and pear struggles to get out from under the overwhelming honeyed sweetness.
Overall: Decidedly not worth the price. There are cheaper options if you absolutely must get drunk on something sickly sweet, and the flavour isn’t anything to write home about.
The Session #25 – Love Lager
by Paul Arthur on Mar.06, 2009, under american lager, beer, hybrid beer, kölsch, lager, pale lager, standard american lager
The mission: “I’m sure I’m not the only one whose early drinking career featured pale lager in abundance, so consider this a return to our roots as beer drinkers. [...] I want pilsners, light lagers, helleses and those ones that just say “beer” because, well, what else would it be?”
First, some rumination on the topic. This is about as far from my roots as a beer drinker as you can get. My early drinking career, once I got around to beer, featured dark ales (mainly porter) in abundance, with the occasional pale or amber ale for variety. I wasn’t avoiding lagers, but I wasn’t seeking them out either.
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