Review: Bud Light Seltzer Hard Soda
Bud Light Seltzer Hard Soda will be released early January 2022. I was able to get my hands on a 12 pack a little early. Hard Soda seems like something our parents drank when they were younger, but the truth is the Hard Soda product category only goes back to 2012 when Tim Kovac created Not Your Fathers Root Beer at his Small Town Brewery in Wauconda Illinois. This is not the first Anheuser Busch produced hard soda. A-B launched Best Damn Root Beer in 2015 and followed that up with Best Damn Cherry Cola, and Best Damn Cream Soda. At one time hard soda was a big deal. All of the big boys invested big bucks to develop and promote their hard soda brands. Miller-Coors with Henrys Hard Soda, and Boston Beer Company with their Coney Island brand. Seagrams and Mikes also made hard soda. So what is different this time around? For starters Best Damn Root Beer weighed in with 239 calories and 11 carbs. The new Bud Light Seltzer Hard Soda tips the scales with 100 calories and only 2 carbs. It is made from a cold fermented cane sugar alcohol base with natural flavors, malted rice, and sucralose. Sucralose is better know as Splenda. Bud Light Seltzer Hard Soda is sold in a 4 flavor 12 can variety pack. Read more 
Review: Potosi Craft Seltzer
Potosi Craft Seltzer is produced at the Potosi Brewing Company in Potosi Wisconsin. The brewery was originally founded in 1852, just a stones throw from the Mississippi river. The brewery closed in 1972 but it re-opened in 2008 following a $7.5 million restoration. In January 2015 they opened their new state of the art production facility in Potosi Wisconsin, not far from where Wisconsin, Iowa, and Illinois come together. The Potosi Brewing Company is solely owned by the Potosi Foundation which is run by a board of elected volunteers. All of their profits go to charity. Potosi brews several year round beers including Snake Hollow IPA, Cave Ale Amber Ale, Good Old Potosi, Czech Style Pilsner, and Potosi Lux Lager. They also craft over a dozen Seasonal, Barrel aged, and Signature Can Series Beers. Potosi Craft Seltzer was introduce July 2021. It is made with a traditional hard seltzer base of carbonated water and alcohol from a sugar brew. Natural flavors and cane sugar are added. Potosi is available in a 4 flavor 12 can variety pack that we have the opportunity to review today. Read more
Review: Lalo Tequila Blanco
Lalo Tequila Blanco is named after Founder Eduardo “Lalo” Gonzalez. Lalo is the nickname given to him by his Grandfather, Don Julio Gonzalez. Don Julio Gonzalez purchased his first tequila distillery when he was 17 in 1942. When he retired in 1987 after 45 years of making tequila his son, also named Eduardo created a special edition tequila to commemorate the occasion. That tequila is now known as Don Julio. Most experts agree it was the industries first luxury tequila brand. Don Julio 1942 is perhaps the industries most iconic tequila. After working for several years in the tequila industry, friends Lalo Gonzalez and David Carballido sought to create a truly pure blanco tequila. They began by producing small batches for their family and friends in Guadalajara. They soon joined with Co-Founder Jim McDermott and launched Lalo in Austin Texas September 2019. Initially the focus of Lalo was on premise sales, but with Covid squeezing the entertainment sector, they expanded their focus to include retail sales. Lalo is crafted from 7 year old blue agave grown in the mineral rich soil of the Jalisco Highlands. Once trimmed the agave is cooked in stone steam ovens for 20-32 hours. The agave rests for 18 hours before the juice is extracted with a roller press and fermented for 3-4 days with a proprietary yeast found in Champaign. The spirit is double distilled and oxygenated to achieve the final stabilization prior to bottling. Read more
Review: SeekOut Seltzer Lemonade
SeekOut Seltzer Lemonade is one of two new 12 can variety packs released June 2021 by 2 Towns Ciderhouse. The other variety pack, Tropical, replaced the Original SeekOut Seltzer variety pack. They brought back SeekOut Pineapple and Passion Fruit, and they reformulated and renamed SeekOut Key Lime + Mint to SeekOut Key Lime Mojito. They replaced two of my favorite hard seltzers, SeekOut Raspberry and Meyer Lemon, and SeekOut Clementine + Grapefruit with Apricot Mango and Kiwi Blackberry. The good news is SeekOut Raspberry and Meyer Lemon has been rebranded to Raspberry Lemonade and moved to their Lemonade variety pack. Each 12 oz. can of SeekOut Lemonade Seltzer weighs in with 5% alcohol, and 100 calories. They are crafted with water, apple wine, Meyer Lemon juice, natural flavors and flavor specific fruit juice. Absent from the ingredient list is Stevia which is used in most of the other hard seltzer lemonades on the market today. Read more
Review: El Padrino Chocolate Tequila Cream
El Padrino Chocolate Tequila Cream is one of three new tequila creams produced at Casa Maestri. The others include Lime and Original Tequila Cream. El Padrino may offer more tequilas variants than any other brand. Their lineup also includes El Padrino Blanco, Reposado, Anejo, Extra Anejo, Cristalino, Tropical Mango, Spicy Cucumber, and Clementine. They also produce 4 different El Padrino Mezcals. The El Padrino tequila base is made from 100% blue agave grown on their hacienda in San Julian Jalisco Mexico. Once trimmed the hearts are cut in half and steam roasted in centuries old traditional thick stone walled brick ovens for 36-54 hours. Once cooled the pina’s are shredded releasing the sweet juice which is then fermented in wood vats. A double distillation follows. Natural flavors, cream liqueur, and caramel color is blended with the tequila base before bottling at 30 proof. Read more
Review: South Fork Vodka
South Fork Vodka was launched September 2018 by Co-Founders Johnathan Dorfman and Dan Kennerson in Grass Valley California. The two worked previously together as ethanol researchers for the US Department of Defense. South Fork is named after one of Northern California’s iconic bodies of water, The South Fork of the Yuba River. South Fork is distilled six times from GMO-Free American Corn and Nevada Mountain Spring water. The spirit is further refined through a small batch finishing method. South Fork has been been awarded Best Craft Vodka Distillery by USA Today in 2021. They also were included on Wine Enthusiasts list of Ten Best Vodka’s of 2020. Read more
Review: George Dickel X Leopold Bros, Collaboration Rye Whiskey
George Dickel X Leopold Bros. Collaboration Rye Whiskey was recently released. It is a collaboration of two of the most creative and dynamic Master Distillers in the industry today. Todd Leopold and Nicole Austin of Cascade Hollow Distilling. Here is what we know about this whiskey. It is made with George Dickel never before released traditional column still rye. Previous Dickel rye releases have been sourced from MGP of Indiana. In the US rye whiskey is by law made from a mash of at least 51% rye, and that is what several ryes including Knob Creek Rye, Rittenhouse, and Jim Beam Rye are made from. This George Dickel Rye is made from a 95% rye 5% malt mash bill. It is blended with Leopold Bros. Three Chamber Rye. For over a hundred years American rye whiskey was commonly produced in a three chamber still to extract not only distillate but also oils and aromas hidden in the grain. Production of this style ended after World War II. Leopold Bros. painstakingly re-engineered a three chamber still from old manuscripts. It was built by Vendome Copper Brass Works. Their rye is crafted from 80% Abruzzi rye grown on rye fields 25 mile north of the distillery and 20% malt, and not just any malt. Leopold floor malts their own Colorado grown grains on-site at their distillery. The spirit is barrel aged for 4 years. Read more
Review: LIV Vodka
LIV Vodka is crafted in Baiting Hollow New York in a beautifully restored twin cupola barn by Founder and Master Distiller Rich Stabile. Prior to WWII Long Island had over 200,000 acres of potatoes. Today the distillery is surrounded by 5000 acres of potato farms. Long Island Spirits was founded January 5, 2007 and was the first craft distillery on Long Island since the 1800’s. They were the 100th distillery in the US when they were founded. There are now over 2000, with 145 in New York state alone. LIV Vodka was their first spirit. It is made from 100% locally grown Long Island potatoes. It takes 20 pounds of potatoes to make one bottle of LIV Vodka. The distillery practices sustainable production methods including composting it’s by-products, and smart hydro thermal reclamation. LIV Vodka is small batch triple distilled on 650 liter custom made copper pot stills equipped with 30 foot tall rectification distillation columns. The vodka is non chill filtered. Read more
Review: Michelob Ultra Black Cherry Organic Seltzer
Black Cherry recently joined Citrus, Mixed Berry, and Mango Apricot in the Michelob Ultra Organic Seltzer Classic Collection. This 12 can variety pack was launched March 2021 and followed up the January 2021 Michelob Ultra Organic Seltzer Signature Collection. In addition to offering different flavor varieties the Classic Collection flavors are made with real organic fruit juice. All four varieties are made with organic white grape juice and a flavor specific organic fruit juice. Black Cherry includes organic dark sweet cherry juice from concentrate. Black Cherry is not sold in an individual flavor pack so I will update my previous Michelob Ultra Organic Seltzer Classic Collection review to now include Black Cherry. Read more
Review: Terralta Tequila Blanco
Terralta Tequila Blanco was introduced in 2011. It is crafted by Third Generation Master Distiller Felipe Camarena at Destileria el Pandillo. His Grandfather created Tequila Tapatio, and Tesoro de Don Felipe. His brother the Ocho brand. His cousin founded Camarena Tequila. I guess you can say tequila is in their family DNA. Terralta is made from 100% blue Weber agave, Highland grown for 8-10 years. The trimmed pinas are cooked and steamed in a custom stone oven with steam jets placed at top and bottom. This allows the agave to cook evenly. Once cooled a 19,000 pound steam roller made from junk parts and named Frankenstein, crushes the agave without breaking the fibers that cause bitterness. The juice is fermented in stainless steel vats with the same natural yeast his grandfather used 80 years ago. The spirit is double distilled in custom copper stills that are cleaned with distilled water and steam before every new batch. Pure water sourced from a 459 foot deep well is blended to reduce to proof. Read more