This was the first time that I ever attempted to make up a drink by myself, so I was a little nervous. My room mate and a couple of the friends we invited over were bartenders once in their life so they had a little easier time with this.

Two face versus The Dark Knight (Drop Shot)
1/2 pint of Guiness
1/2 shot of Starbucks Coffee Liquor
1/2 shot of Sambuca

This was my attempt at a drink. I like the layering effect you can get from the sambuca and coffee liquor, and when you drank it, the taste was pretty good. Unfortunately it is nothing like the taste of a car-bomb, which I think is heavenly.

Batman and Robin
1/2 shot of Campari
1/2 shot of Jagermeister

This drink was from one of the invited bar tenders. I have to say personally the Campari was soo over powering that the shot was horrible. We did try to make a second variation of this shot using 1/4 shot of Chambord, 1/4 shot of vodka, and 1/2 shot of Jagermeister. This was more palitable, but you lost the sharp contrast.

Over all, it was an enjoyable event in place of seeing The Dark Knight opening night. We all did see the movie the next morning, however, and it was GREAT! I highly recommend it!

To read the AP release, click here.

It is interesting to note, though, that InBev does not intend to close any of the 19 currently operated Anheuser-Busch plants; lets just hope they can keep their promise. 

The wild berry flavoring is the weakest of all the added flavorings thus far, but that isn’t such a bad thing.  Unlike the Dew Voltage, you know this is a Mountain Dew drink.  Revolution was right up there with the carbonation of Mountain Dew with almost the exact same carbonation amount as regular Mountain Dew.  If I didn’t see the bottle, I would think that Dew Revolution was just Mountain Dew with something added to it; that is how I like it!

Mountain Dew Revolution has that strong Mountain Dew taste that I was looking for in the previous two Dews. Mountain Dew has that very strong flavor profile, and Mountain Dew Revolution keeps that in mind, but does nothing to enhance it.  Mountain Dew Revolution is so close to the original flavor profile, that it is not worth trying.

This is one of three new Mountain Dews in part of this contest to find a new Dew, and it is the third and final one I am reviewing. I have to say that this is definitely better than the Moutain Dew Voltage but is worse than the Mountain Dew Supernova.  You can vote at http://Dewmocracy.com!

The strawberry melon flavoring is still very strong, but it doesn’t take away from the Mountain Dew taste like Voltage did.  Again, like the raspberry of the raspberry citrus flavoring, the strawberry flavoring took center stage in this Dew.  Also, Supernova was right up there with the carbonation of Mountain Dew, making me feel that the flatness of the Voltage Dew was just my bottle.  I have to say that this is right up there with Code Red as an acceptable replacement to the original Mountain Dew.

Mountain Dew Supernova has that strong Mountain Dew taste that I was yearning for in the Voltage Dew. Mountain Dew has that very strong flavor profile, and Mountain Dew Supernova keeps that in mind!

This is one of three new Mountain Dews in part of this contest to find a new Dew, and it is the second one I am reviewing. I have to say that this is definitely better than the Mountain Dew Voltage and is moving in the right direction.  Hopefully the last one keeps up with this current trend and is better than this one! I will be planning on tasting the last one in the coming days and voting. You can vote at http://Dewmocracy.com!

Friday Night

Friday night a group of friends and I went to this bar in Coventry, CT called Bidwells.  I went there quite a few times back in my college days, but I haven’t been there in a while.  My friends just moved into a new house up the street, so we went out to take advantage of a bar within walking distance of their home.  Supposedly a couple of days ago, they were given this drink that they fell in love with.  I was there to test it out.  What is this drink you ask?  It was called the Black Cherry, and comprised of Sam Adams Cherry Wheat and Guinness.  I have to say that I was a big fan of this Black Cherry drink and recommend it to anyone that wants to spice up their black and tans.  The most unfortunate things, however, about all Bidwell’s beers, was that the lines seemed dirty and you got this metallic taste in all the beers!  This did not bode well for my first Ten Penny Ale!

Saturday

Saturday was a comedy of errors, or so it seemed.  I woke up around noon (after one too many Black Cherries)  and started to head down to my friends apartment.  I stopped at a local coffee shop, called the Windsor Donut Shop and tried to get a coffee and a breakfast sandwich.  I was told, quite rudely, that breakfast sandwiches weren’t sold after noon (it was 12:15) so I just got my coffee and left.  They brew pretty good coffee there, for a donut shop, so I was mildly content.  It doesn’t match up with Starbucks or any other good coffee though!

Saturday Night

Saturday night was a chill night, I sat back and watched some t.v. drinking Sea Hag IPA by New England Brewing Company out of Woodbridge, CT.  I love this beer, especially for the novelty of it being in a can.  That’s right, an IPA in a can!  This is a very hoppy IPA that suffers just a touch from being conditioned in a can; you can taste just a slight metallic taste through the hops.  Though, not as bad a Bidwell’s beers!  Maybe next time I will pour it from the can and see if that improves the taste.

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Sunday

Sunday, I went to a wedding.  This was a beautiful wedding put on by a beautiful bride that I know from college.  It was an open bar affair, so I got down to business.  First, I ordered a beefeater martini.  I was shocked when I got my martini on hand, because it was on the rocks!  Has anyone experiences this before?  Is this normal for another part of the country/world?  It was good none-the-less, but by the end it was a little watered down.  After our meal, they set up a espresso and aperitif bar.  I ordered an espresso and a Sambuca which was promptly combined by the bartender.  Again, I am not sure if this is normal in another part of the country/world, but I was confused!  I have to admit, though, that the combination was actually delicious and I would definitely try it again!

The raspberry citrus flavoring is very overpowering, or I should say the raspberry flavoring is overpowering. The citrus flavoring missed the boat or is completely overwhelmed by the raspberry; it also tastes flatter than normal Mountain Dew. I am giving them the benefit of the doubt and saying it must have been my bottle. Hopefully it was just the bottle I purchased; I love original Mountain Dew’s almost over-carbonated taste, and Mountain Dew Voltage left me wanting the original and not more Mountain Dew Voltage.

Another drawback to Mountain Dew Voltage is the lack of the Mountain Dew taste. Even Mountain Dew Code Red still has that very particular Mountain Dew tastes. This one just tastes like raspberry. I think Mountain Dew did really well creating the flavor profile of Code Red where you can close your eyes and know it’s a Mountain Dew drink. Here, there is no such connection.

This is one of three new Mountain Dews in part of this contest to find a new Dew. Hopefully the other two are better than this one! I will be planning on tasting the other two in the coming days and voting. You can vote at http://Dewmocracy.com!

I thought things were a little fishy when I first ordered the doubleshot shaken drink and they asked me if I wanted that “plus energy.”  I stared at the barista with a glazed look as he started to explain what “plus energy” meant.  “Plus energy” is the standard cocktail of energy (vitamin B, guarana, and ginseng).  So much for coffee.

I had the vanilla version today, and I have to say that it had WAY, WAY too much vanilla flavor!  There was hardly any coffee flavor, which is a drastically different taste than their over the counter doubleshot.  This is hard to swallow, pun intended. Though, I think it is perfectly inline to compete with the all fruit-flavored energy drinks that are out there now.

Stoudts Smooth Hoperator is a great beer.  It has a smooth finish even after smacking you in the face with bitterness from the hops.  I would classify it as a IPA even though Stoudts doesn’t put it in a category.  Another plus is that this beer doesn’t that that metallic taste that can come with very hoppy beers.  That is a very good thing in my book!

I am very interested to see what else Stoudts has to offer.  I picked up a bunch of their beers from the package store that allows me to break up six packs.  Stay tuned for more Stoudts reviews!

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Thinking back of my experiences of drinking coffee at restaurants, I was reminded of a time at Barcelona Wine Bar in New Haven, CT. This is a classy tapas bar that has amazing food, but when it came to our after-meal coffee I was hesitant. I asked the waiter what coffee they use for their espresso and he returned with a condom shaped wrapper to show me. It was pod espresso! Not even Starbucks uses pods, and their standards lately have been seriously lacking.

It is not all bad, however, when I went to Craftbar in New York, NY, the coffee was actually the best part of the meal. This gave me hope; maybe some restaurant care about their quality of coffee, maybe.

Why is it that restaurant coffee is so bad? Does good coffee cost that much more than run-of-the-mill coffee restaurants use today? The second question is easy to answer, and if the price is not that drastically different then it is the restaurants fault no serving us good coffee to begin with.

With the first pour of this absinthe, I knew I was getting myself into something much different than what I was accustom to. Angelique 72 Verte is a much, much darker green than Absente is, and there is a much more pungent aroma of alcohol; Angelique 72 Verte is 72% alcohol, compared to the 52% that Absente is.

Since this was real absinthe, we though it only proper to drinking it in the traditional way. We were long away from making our friends take this as a shot just to see their faces; we wanted to savor it. We busted out the absinthe spoon, the sugar cubes, and a squirt bottle I had in the kitchen to replace the absinthe fountain. We dunked the sugar cube in the absinthe, we placed it gently on the spoon, we lit the cube on fire and slowly doused it with drips of water until the sugar has dissolved into the absinthe.

My roommate and I looked at each other and slowly took a sip not knowing what to expect. All we knew was from the smell being emitted from the glass. After taking a sip, we both sat back and shook our heads; it was delicious! I have to say, however, that it is totally different from Absente! So different that I am thinking Absente is just green flavored Ouzo, not that being green flavored Ouzo is a bad thing. It is just not absinthe.

I highly recommend anyone who has the chance of trying Angelique 72 Verte Absinthe to do so! When my roommate picked it up, it was revered as one of the best this absinthe store carried. I have to say now, though, I am going to have to spend the money for an absinthe fountain!