Review: Lobos 1707 Tequila Joven
Lobos 1707 Tequila Joven is one of three tequila expressions in the Lobos product line. The House of Lobos also crafts Lobos 1707 Mezcal. Lobos 1707 is best known for being LeBron James tequila, but in fact this brand was a finished product before LeBron, Maverick Carter, Anthony Davis, and Draymond Green invested in the brand. Lobos 1707 was founded by Diego Osorio. The tequila was created as a collaboration between a Spanish Master Distiller who has created sherries and brandies for almost 50 years and a Master Distiller from Mexico who has focused on tequila. Each bottle of Lobos features a glass embossed Osorio family crest. This coat of arms features two wolves and serves as inspiration for the Lobos brand name. The Osorio Family history with tequila dates to Diego’s Great, Great Grandfather who learned of the spirit in Mexico and transported it in sherry wine barrels to his native Spain. Lobos 1707 is one of 39 tequila brands made at Compania Tequilera de Arandas. Some of the other brands include El Charro, Riazul, Vida, and Solana. Lobos is made from 100% Blue Weber agave grown in the rich soil of Altos de Jalisco. The pinas are slow cooked in a stainless steel autoclave with additional steam hydration. After twice distilling in traditional discontinuous stills all their spirits are finished in Pedro Ximenez PX wine barrels from Spain. Lobos Tequila Joven is made from their premium aged blanco tequila mixed with a measure of Lobos Tequila Reposado. The blend is carbon filtered then finished in PX wine barrels using the solera method. Read more 
Review: Cacti Agave Spiked Seltzer
Cacti Agave Spiked Seltzer was released March 2021 as a collaboration between Rapper Travis Scott and Anheuser-Busch. Collaborations are nothing new for Travis Scott, as he has already collaborated with Nike, Dior, McDonalds and Sony Playstation. His most famous collaboration came with Kylie Jenner in the form or their daughter Stormi Webster. Cacti is currently available in three flavor varieties including Strawberry, Lime, and Pineapple. Like the other Anheuser-Busch hard seltzer brands, Cacti is made from a cold fermented cane sugar alcohol base with malted rice and natural flavors. Cacti adds agave syrup and lime juice and weighs in at 7% abv. with 150 calories. Agave nectar/syrup has recently become a popular ingredient and can be found in several hard seltzer brands. Cacti is one of three brands we will review this weekend. Read more
Review: Ashland Hard Seltzer Tropical Variety Pack
Ashland Hard Seltzer is currently available in two 12 can variety packs. The previously reviewed Original orange colored 12 pack and this blue colored 12 pack identified as the Ashland Hard Seltzer Tropical variety pack. Ashland was launched by Josh Landon, who partnered with several Sports, Entertainment, and Social Media Celebrities January 2020. Josh Landon Co-Founded Saint Archer Brewing Company in San Diego, April 2013 with several skateboarding friends. They sold the brewery two years later to MillerCoors for a reported $70 million dollars. In addition to launching the Ashland Hard Seltzer brand Josh established Harland Brewing Company in 2018. Ashland Hard Seltzer is produced at Mission Brewery in San Diego’s East Village from a fermented sugar base with alkaline carbonated water, and organic fruit essence. Ashland Hard Seltzer is currently only available for sale in California. Read more
Review: CaliFino Blanco Tequila
The idea for CaliFino Tequila started in 1975 when Don Jose Luna would travel to the Arandas Highlands in Jalisco to acquire moonshine style tequila to bring back and share with family and friends. By 2014 his Grandson, Former San Diego Sockers Professional soccer player Miquel Luna teamed with his Head Coach and longtime friend Phil Salvagio to create their own tequila brand based on the unlabeled tequila his father would carry in Manzanita Apple Soda jugs across the Mexican border to San Diego. They worked with Grupo Tequilero Mexico to create the Califino brand. In May 2018 they released CaliFino Reposdo, Anejo, and Extra Anejo. CaliFIno Blanco was introduced July 2020. CaliFino is one of 13 tequila brands crafted at Grupo Tequilero Mexico. Some of the other brands produced at this distillery include Alquimia, Bandero, and Lalo. CaliFino is made from 100% Blue Weber agave grown in the Highland Region of Los Altos. The trimmed pina’s are roasted in red brick ovens for 48 hours. Once extracted the juice if fermented for 200 hours in open steel tanks. After a double distillation the tequila is hand bottled, labeled, and corked. The agave fiber taken from the the crushed pinas is used to wrap around the tequila bottles neck. Read more
Review: Mystic Reef Hard Seltzer Lemonade
Mystic Reef Hard Seltzer Lemonade is available in a four flavor 12 can variety pack. It is made at Full Sail Brewing Company in Hood River Oregon and is sold exclusively at Target Stores. It joins the previously released and reviewed Mystic Reef Hard Seltzer variety pack. Mystic Reef claims their flavor is the result of a world class filtration process along with the highest quality natural fruit flavors. While no source of alcohol is listed on their ingredient list they do hint at a malt base. It appears you can no longer be considered a player in the hard seltzer arena unless you have both a regular hard seltzer and hard seltzer lemonade variety pack. Mystic Reef Hard Seltzer Lemonade is the 8th hard seltzer lemonade variety pack we are reviewing. A quick glance at the Total Wine website shows me there are at least eight other hard seltzer lemonade variety packs left to review. Some question the staying power of Hard Seltzers. I am not one of those people, and I now no longer doubt the staying power of Hard Seltzer Lemonades. Read more
Review: Coronado Hard Seltzer
Coronado Hard Seltzer was released January 2021 and is currently available in a 3 flavor 12 can variety pack. It is made by Coronado Brewing Company in Coronado California. Brothers Ron and Rick Chapman opened their brewpub on Coronado Island across the San Diego bay from Downtown San Diego in 1996. Today their beer is available from coast to coast. Some of their craft beers include Mango Farm Hazy IPA. Pineapple Farm IPA, Orange Avenue Shandy, Orange Ave. Wit, Berried at Sea, Leisure Lagoon, Never Better DIPA, Weekend Vibes IPA, Mermaids Red, and Islander IPA. Coronado Hard Seltzer is made with filtered water, dextrose, crystallized fruit powder and fruit flavors, but what sets them apart from the other hard seltzer brands is each flavor is also made with hops. Coronado was not the first hard seltzer made with hops, I believe that honor goes to Fulton Beer of Minneapolis with their Hopped Hard Seltzer, released January 2020, but I believe Coronado Brewing Company is the first to release an entire variety pack of hard seltzer made with hops. Read more
Review: 818 Tequila Blanco
After several trips to the La Cofradia Distillery, and dozens of blind taste tests, Kendall Jenner’s nearly four year journey to create the best tasting tequila has resulted in the release of 818 Tequila Blanco. It is currently only available in California. 818 is the area code of the greater San Fernando Valley area of Los Angeles including Calabasas California, the home of brand creator Kendall Jenner. 818 is not the first celebrity owned tequila brand, and most certainly will not be the last. 818 is crafted at La Cofradia. This distillery currently produces 67 tequila brands including Casa Noble, Astral, Cazul 100, Senor Rio, Tequila Mi Campo, and Tequila 512. 818 is made from 100% Blue Weber agave, hand picked from farms in the Lowland and Highland Regions of Jalisco. Once hand trimmed the pina’s are roasted in adobe brick ovens for 40 hours. Large stone tahonas are then used to extract and collect the juice by crushing the cooked agave. The juice is fermented for 70 hours and then double distilled in small batches in alembic pot stills. Each batch rests in French oak barrels prior to bottling. 818 is a proud member of 1% for the Planet. For every bottle sold they will donate 1% of revenue to environmental non profit partners to ensure our planet and future generations thrive. Read more
Review: Ficks Hard Seltzer
Ficks Hard Seltzer was created by two college roommates on a mission to cut sugar from their cocktails without compromising flavor. First the two had to earn enough money to launch their company. Ron Alvarado worked in private equity and Mike Williamson in investment banking. In 2016 they launched their line of all natural low calorie and low sugar cocktail mixers. In February 2018 they released Ficks Hard Seltzer. Ficks is made from a cold fermented sucrose alcohol base. This base is made from fresh cold pressed orange juice that ferments for 2-3 weeks until no sugar is left. At that time the 15% alcohol base is blended with sparkling water, real juice and natural flavors. Ficks is sold in individual flavor packs and also a four flavor, 12 can variety pack. The original four flavors were Lime, Cranberry, Blackberry, and Grapefruit. They have since replaced Lime with Mango. The Limes are sourced from Mexico, the Cranberries and Blackberries are grown in Washington and Oregon, the Grapefruits called Texas and California home, and finally after testing several different Mango varieties from several different regions they selected Mangos grown in Ecuador. We will be giving you our thoughts on all five flavors. Read more
Review: Stateside Vodka
Stateside Vodka is the result of what started as a conversation between Matt and Bryan Quigley, two bored brothers had in 2013 about crafting a vodka. After learning the basics of distilling from the internet and sourcing a still made from a repurposed beer keg, the brothers starting distilling in their fathers basement. Until their father kicked them out. They learned enough to land a distilling fellowship at Michigan State, followed by a consulting gig with a famous vodka brand in Poland. Upon returning to the US they developed a business plan, received funding and formed Federal Distilling. Stateside Vodka is made from 100% US grown corn. It is seven times distilled. Stateside is brought to proof with purified mineral enhanced water and aerated with medical grade oxygen, then carbon and cold filtered prior to hand bottling. Read more
Review: Natural Light Seltzer Zest I Ever Had
Anheuser-Busch has recently added Zest I Ever Had, a Strawberry Lemonade hard seltzer to their Natural Light Hard Seltzer Variety Pack. It joins the previously reviewed Black Cherry Lime, Aloha Beaches, and House Rules Hard Seltzers. A-B has also recently launched a four flavor 12 can variety pack of Natural Light Sour Seltzer. All Natural Light hard seltzer’s are made with a malt beverage base and natural flavors. Like the other flavor varieties, Zest I Ever Had weighs in with a slightly heavier 6% alcohol, 133 Calories and 4 Carbs. Read more