June 28 – Strange Brew

Morning Dew

Well, we’ve reached the end of our Mountain Dew experience. I think I’ve drank enough of the pop in the last few days that I should be signed to an endorsement deal. Seriously, Mountain Dew… come search me out and sign me up! You’ll learn quickly that I’ll do anything for some cash! Here are some more alcohols I’d love to spend that sweet money on:

Absolut Grapevine

Like I wrote yesterday about Absolut Exposure (found in the Copenhagen Duty Free), Absolut Grapevine is another “Traveler’s Exclusive”, forcing alcoholics like myself to constantly leave the country in search of booze. This liquor combines white grapes with sweet papaya and dragon fruit. Colour me interested!

ABSOLUT_GRAPEVINE

Cocoribe

This spirit, found in United States (although its name and ingredients make you think of the Caribbean), combines coconut milk with rum. I’m assuming it would be very similar in taste to Malibu Rum, but with the coconut milk, it might be thicker and, of course, the colour would be white instead of clear.

Smirnoff North

What do you get when you combine Russian vodka practices with Nordic berries? Well, Smirnoff North for one and probably some other crazy KGB type stuff. I definitely want to give this vodka a run for its money before going on a rampage destroying Fabergé eggs and Matryoshka dolls.

Smirnoff North

Forbidden Fruit Liqueur

Everyone wants to taste the forbidden fruit, which in this case, is made from a particular type of grapefruit called shaddock and mixed with honey and brandy. Apparently, the alcohol hasn’t been made for some time, so this one may be harder to track down than originally thought. *sad face*

Williams Chase Elegant Crisp Gin

This apple-flavoured gin comes highly recommend from a friend living in the U.K. Gin hasn’t seen the explosion of flavour options that other liquors like rum and vodka have and perhaps that’s because the juniper taste of gin is hard to alter or overcome. When a flavoured gin product does come out, like Hendricks cucumber-flavoured gin, it should be tried just for the sake of experimentation.

Drink #179: Strange Brew

Strange Brew Drink Recipe

  • Rim glass with Grape Fun Dip
  • 1.5 oz Vodka (I used Grey Goose Cherry Noir)
  • Top with Mountain Dew: Supernova
  • Splash of Orange Juice
  • Garnish with Red and Green Grapes

Well, that wraps up our four-day tour of liquors I want to taste. How desperate am I to have these substances meet my taste buds? Let’s just say that I’m working on plans of world dominance and ransom, in exchange for booze. It can’t fail!

Sip Advisor Bar Notes (3.5 Sips out of 5):
With every sip of this cocktail, I felt like I was drinking an energy drink. And that’s not necessarily a good thing. I don’t know if that was because I was using the Cherry Noir Vodka or if the Mountain Dew itself was to blame. A large portion of this drink’s points come from the wonderful job I feel I did with presentation. From the goblet glassware choice to garnishing the drink with Red and Green Grapes and Fun Dip, I feel it’s one of the most comprehensive cocktails I’ve put together! The Supernova flavour on its own isn’t that bad, with notes of berries and I really like the colour of the pop, a violet hue you don’t often see, which inspires me to experiment.

June 19 – Swashbuckler

Let Your Freak Flag Fly

Pirates are pretty legendary customers. Just by listening to “A Pirate’s Life for Me,” we get an idea of what it was like during their time, even if it is Disney-fied. Sometimes a flag was all that was needed to terrorize anything from a ship to a settlement. Here are some of the most famous pirate flags from the golden age of swashbucklers:

Blackbeard

This is a pretty epic portrayal of a skeleton pirate king, complete with goblet (other sources say that it’s an hourglass, but I’d like to think it’s a rum goblet). Perhaps this could be an early depiction of cupid, as he is trying to put a spear through a heart. Apparently this signified that no mercy would be given to any captive. Blackbeard was some badass. Legend has it that he would put smoking fuses into his hair and beard to make himself look demonic and strike fear into those he wished to attack.

Blackbeard

Black Bart 1

Bart’s first flag showed that time was running out for his victims with the pirate and skeleton both hanging onto an hourglass (again, I like to believe it’s a goblet fit for all the booze a pirate can handle). Bart captured approximately 400 ships in his three-year career as a pirate, which is a long tenure during those times.

Black Bart 1

Black Bart 2

This one has Bart standing on top of the heads of captains from his two least favourite ports, Barbados and Martinique. The ABH stood for “A Barbadian’s Head”, while AMH was “A Martinico’s Head”. Bart treated seized ships and their captains and crew from these ports especially bad because their colonial governments were always after him.

Black Bart 2

Calico Jack

This is the pirate flag that most of us recognize, thanks to its popularity in modern media. Ironically, Jack wasn’t a very successful pirate captain, but he is remembered for allowing women to join his ship (although the harlots totally betrayed him) and, of course, for this flag. The skull over crossed cutlasses has largely been recognized as the most common flag and now represents all pirates to some degree.

Calico Jack

Henry Morgan

I had to include our good friend, Captain Morgan, whose rums have always been stocked at the Sip Advisor headquarters. Morgan used the classic “skull and crossbones” flag, but with the added twist of the skull wearing an eye patch. Why he did this, isn’t entirely clear. It’s not like he wore a similar patch and the skull was meant to depict himself. Morgan was so successful that he was able to retire from piracy and became Lieutenant Governor of Jamaica.

Henry Morgan

Drink #170: Swashbuckler

Swashbuckler Cocktail

  • 1.25 oz Tequila (I used 1800 Reposado)
  • 0.75 oz Grand Marnier
  • 2 oz Sweet & Sour Mix
  • Top with Fruit Punch
  • Garnish with Red and Green Grapes and Runts

If I had ever been granted the luxury of being a pirate, my flag would have depicted a bottle of rum being poured into the open mouth of a smiling skull as the skeleton was giving a thumbs up gesture. Damn, I would have been one rockin’ buccaneer!

Sip Advisor Bar Notes (4 Sips out of 5):
I’ve been wanting to play with Fruit Punch for some time now and I’m glad I finally had the opportunity. It’s a hell of a mixer, tasting so good and refreshing… perhaps my favourite of all the fruit juices. I’m a little surprised with a drink called Swashbuckler, that Tequila was the featured alcohol, over Rum, but whatevs.