Brewhaha: Christmas Blend 2011

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It’s hard to believe I’ve been writing for Beverage Fiend for 3 years. I almost wouldn’t believe it, but then I realize that I’m about to do my 3rd annual review of Starbucks Christmas Blend! Where does the time go?!

This time last year, I was living in Tennessee, going through Master’s school, and celebrating the beginning of a new year with my family. This year, I’m living in North Carolina, a graduate of the University of Tennessee Social Work program, and bringing in the new year with my girlfriend’s family!

Anyway, it’s been a true honor to write for this website and to see my best friend’s work flourish! Though things in my life are certainly busier now, I hope that I can continue to bring all y’all great coffee reviews for years to come!

I wish I could take credit for this beautiful photo, but sadly, I cannot! You can thank theinspirationroom.com for this classy shot! Don't tell them this, but I also borrowed the pictured scissors without their permission...

Once again, Starbucks has kept to the red foil bag. What’s really interesting is that they expanded on last year’s design, which is kind of neat.

As I inhaled this year’s aroma, it was much less earthy than in previous years. Instead, the spicy/cedar notes came out to greet my nostrils. I always enjoy a coffee where the taste matches the aroma.

After a few sips, I concluded that the taste was very similar to the 2009 version of Christmas blend. I added a little sugar and milk, and that’s when it really got good! This is the perfect coffee to brew up with a house full of holiday company!

Overall rating: 7.5 out of 10. It stacks up well against the 2009 blend, actually. 2010 must have been a bad batch, because the other two years’ beans have been quite tasty.

Till next time, coffee connoisseurs!

Popularity: 10% [?]

Recipe: Josh’s Ginger Herbal Tea

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Serving Suggestion: Use mugs with handles!  This stuff was way too hot!

There I was, minding my own business at work, counting pills and such, when I received this tweet:

@jlparr4 – This fresh ginger tea is burning my face off!

I haven’t though seriously about any beverages for some time now. And I do love me a mean ginger ale. Or ginger beer. What about ginger tea?

So I went out and recruited Joshua to show me how to make his tea.. it was pretty easy, actually. And inexpensive. And delicious. All of those.  Yes.

Ingredients:
Ginger Root – Anywhere from a Hand of ginger to three individual roots – $0.72
Honey – Whatever brand you prefer – I generally opt for anything bear shaped – $2.99
Lemon – Regular or Organic – You decide – $0.59
Water – Hopefully, you already have this at your house
Teapot – You’re making tea. Hopefully you already have this

Process:
1) Peel off the skin of the ginger with a small sharp knife or a peeler. Throw away the trimmings. Or don’t.
2) Fill the teapot with your desired level of water. Just how thirsty are you?
3) Cut the ginger into slices and drop into the teapot. Alternatively, you could finely dice the ginger and use a tea ball or other tea straining apparatus. You know, get fancy.
4) Bring to a boil for about 20 minutes – depending on many of your nosehairs you want singed off.
5) Mix with your desired level of lemon wedges or sugar, depending on how sweet you are already.
6) Drink it, and enjoy!

Overall flavor is very earthy and spicy. Don’t let your ginger tea brew too long… it might burn your face off like it did poor Josh’s. Color is either clear or hazy white, depending on the level of ginger pulp you attained. Carbonation is nonexistent. What did you expect? You just boiled it.

Why did I decide to post a recipe? I pay for this site, so I can do whatever I want on it. Additionally, making a beverage yourself makes you enjoy a little more – you get the benefit of tasting the labors of your own hard work, with instant gratification. Also, it’s great if you have no money. And if you think you might be getting ill, ginger is awesome for nausea or boosting your immune system! At least that’s what the internet consensus seems to be.

That’s all for now. Hopefully we’ll have some more posts for you soon. I know, I know. I’ve neglected you guys for far too long. Apologies.

P.S. A word on glass clinking -  Observing eye contact is key.  Keep your eyes on the eyes of the other clinker in the pre-clink approach, the clink itself (along with the appropriate awkward pause), and the journey to your lips.  Any spillage that may occur during this process is customary and a forgivable offense.  That is all.

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Popularity: 11% [?]

Coca-Cola Freestyle: The Ultimate Suicide Machine

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Taking my life into my own hands at the ultimate suicide machine.

So I recently acquired the knowledge that my current city of residence acquired the most current piece of beverage technology known to man. Therefore, being the beverage fiend that I am, I decided that I must meet this worthy beast in a battle of taste. Upon this realization, I drove to Moe’s Burrito Hovel, ordered a Homewrecker and a regular-sized soda. Then the battle commenced.

The Coca-Cola Freestyle a pretty worthy-looking foe. It appears to be a freestanding unit, complete with 125 purported flavor options. Sadly, a lot of those flavors appear to be Powerade, Hi-C, flavored carbonated and uncarbonated Dasanis. Sorry, that’s just not why I wanted this machine to exist. It also boasted an incorporated ice-dispenser. Unusual, considering that the ice dispenser was still sitting on the counter not but 3 yards away. I guess not everyone wants to drink soda. Weirdos. The touch-screen interface was also pretty easy to figure out. Just pick an option and pick the variation. Then hit the big button. Bam! You’ve been soda’d!

I wish it said that. That would be pathetic.

Carbonation and caffeine levels are basically moot to discuss at this point, since they are essentially what they would be in any old fountain machine. Of course, the fountain machine is often preferred for its slightly more syrupy taste than in its bottled or canned counterparts.

I tried Four Different Flavor options. More than that would have taken way too long for comfort. So here’s a quick take on each.

  1. Peach Sprite – Amazing. The peach flavoring is very close to actual peaches, not gummi peach rings like I expected. The coloring was kind of orangish – I was almost looking for pink, but I guess this makes more sense.
  2. Orange Coke – Interesting. Basically a suicide of Fanta Orange and Coke, plus a little bit extra of the Fanta.
  3. Grape Vault – Not pleasant. But I’ve never been a big fan of the Vault line of sodas.
  4. Cherry Vanilla Coke – What I expected exactly. Delicious.

I only have four Bones to Pick regarding the creation of the Freestyle 2.0

1. Pick a name that I won’t mentally associate with diabetes. That just can’t be good for sales of soda.
2. Find a way to separate the sugars from the flavors. That way, you could more easily access to Classic (corn syrup), Retro (cane sugar – the good stuff), and Zero (Splenda). Or, I guess, the Diet whatevers. – (This was Teethbrush’s idea)
3. Have more than one option for Barq’s and Pibb Xtra! Seriously, I want to try Peach Root Beer.
4. Work on a cup dispenser to increase efficiency. These guys have the right idea.

For the semi-hilarious clencher, I’ll post a boring video of a man who never blinks talking about how the machine works. Look closely at the comment below it on the youtubez. They fit my sentiments exactly.

  • this dude totally has some crazy ‘coke eyes’ – dotd53
  • Awesome video but the guy looks like there’s someone off screen holding a gun on him. – anubis118
  • I will buy your product if you ever BLINK for the love of god – catspants
  • This machine in amazing. That guy’s crazy eyes make me want to pee my pants though. – proposals

That’s all for now. Til next year! Or hopefully sooner,
Baron von Crush

 

P.S. Hold on. Here’s a terrible fan-made commercial. I wanted to tack this on here too.

Just try to enjoy it! I dare you!

Popularity: 38% [?]

Community Coffee (Part II)

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You can practically hear the Zydeco and feel the French Quarter asphalt under your feet as you sip on these blends. Just don't let the flying Mardi Gras beads hit you. Those smart, even if you are daydreaming!

Today, we conclude our two-part series on the wonderful brand known as Community Coffee. I had the pleasure of tasting both Evangeline Blend and Cafe Special, a decaffeinated blend. Both are very similar, as one is a dark roast and the other is a medium-dark.

Acidity- Medium to high acid content here. I wish it was a tinge lower, but I would much rather have a coffee on the higher end of the acidity spectrum than one that is on the lower end. You’ll end up with that distinct “flat” taste if it’s too low!

Aroma- It’s got a nice, very inviting smell. A little smoky, with a sweet tinge. Love it.

Body- Very good body here. It’s not the weightiest coffee I’ve ever slurped, but it’s definitely one of the better ones I’ve tasted lately in this regard.

Flavor- Yum! Very smooth and very similar to some of the Mexican coffees I’ve been doting on.

Buzz factor- I’m buzzing quite nicely with the Evangeline, and much less so with the Cafe Special. I would recommend Evangeline if you like something that isn’t punch-you-in-the-face stout, but need something that will wake you up more gradually.

Overall rating: 8.5 out of 10. A superb blend, and one that I’m disappointed I can’t acquire very easily where I live.

Till next time, coffee connoisseurs!

Popularity: 23% [?]

Community Coffee (Part I)

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I ‘M ON TO YOU, VICTOR!

Community Coffee lurks outside of the Helios mansion...

So the other day, my mom calls me and says “Amazon.com has this really great deal where you can get three 12oz bags of coffee for $3! I just got three, and you should do the same! You can’t get even crappy coffee this cheap, and the reviews say this is good stuff! It’s not gonna last long, so hurry up and order!”

Being as I’m a little bit of a cheapskate and also that I love coffee, (an ironic combination, to be sure) I told her to go ahead and get me three bags.

When it arrived, I knew I was in for trouble.

First of all, I noticed it was made in New Orleans. Guess who else is from New Orleans?

Victor Immaculate.

What? You don’t know who that is?!

He’s the current antagonist in Dean Koontz’s Frankenstein novels, which is what I’ve been reading as of late. I use the term novels very loosely, for I’m pretty sure that these are really historical accounts. How else could you explain all damage that befell New Orleans in 2005?

A hurricane? C’mon. Don’t be stupid. It was clearly an inside job by an evil mastermind.

And as if that wasn’t enough of a hint, he had the audacity to name it “Community Coffee.”

Do you know what the Community is? Anyone?!

The Community is a collection of Victor’s creations that are bent on destroying humanity.

Nice try, Victor, but I’ve figured it out.

Your integration of humanity into the ranks of the Community wasn’t going as fast as you had hoped… So you decided to expedite the process by genetically engineering coffee beans that once ingested, will alter our DNA and make us into one of your obedient creations. Sorry but I’m not that–

What’s that, mom? You already had a cup three days ago? And nothing happened?

(Next time, we’ll be tasting the two different blends and doing all the usual rating junk. Till next time, coffee connoisseurs!)

Popularity: 31% [?]

Hey Song Sarsaparilla and Sadir Apple: Straight From Taiwan To Your Fridge

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Just try to read these labels. I dare ya.

When I’m not standing around at work having pill bottles thrown at me or blinding myself with lasers, sometimes I feebly attempt to increase my repertoire with co-workers by recalling past hilarious events or circumstances.  Having six or so years under my belt working in various local pill mines, I have countless past events to recall.  Occasionally, someone else will have interesting things to of a similar nature to say.  More often, they just want to feed me stuff.

Exactly this sort of occasion is what prompted this post to be created, regardless of how long the attempt may have taken.  Don’t give me that dirty look.  I’ve got plenty of those waiting for me at home.  I’ve been busy… with… things.  Important things.  Never you mind.

Anyways, this past week our pharmacy manager, an extremely Taiwanese fellow, brought some of his favorite childhood sodas to work.  Being the delightful fellow that he is, and knowing of my beverage connoisseurship, he gave me a can of each to try.

Hey Song Sarsaparilla has can styling very much like a Dr.Pepper style drink, so this is very much the flavor of what I expect.  The only major difference, aside from the giant Chinese characters, is the sweet v-8 can they put in into.  Produced by Hey Song Corporation of Taiwan, yeah, that’s not really a huge eye-opener.  Sugar content seems to be mainly consisting of a combination of sucrose and HFCS (the dreaded un-sugar).  No caffiene is listed on the label.  As far as flavor is concerned, it’s not extremely sweet.  It almost reminds me a bit of Maine’s own Moxie Cola, with a complicated, mediciene-ish mix of I don’t know what.  However, I can hardly call this “the gourmet of sodas.”  It seems kind of watery, a bit thin if you well.  I guess I just miss the thick syrupy goodness of Dr.Pepper on this one.  The belch factor is extremely low for this as well.

Sadir Apple looks an awful lot like Guarana Brasilia, although once again with entirely different words on it.  Once again, the V-8 can is utilized.  Sugar content consists once again of that HCFS/sucrose combination.  It’s kind of hard to gauge which is predominant, as the overall flavor is just so different for my taste buds to process.  Aftertaste isn’t too terrible though, so I have high hopes for predominant sucrose.  Taste is kind of like a combination of Sprite and Regular Apple flavor.  Granted, there is no Regular Apple Soda (although Apple Beer comes close), but I just wanted to make a distinction from the Sour or Green Apple flavors.  Very fizzy overall, the belch factor for this carbonated delight is quite high.  The belches do come with quite a distasteful flavor, but I don’t know if that’s from the soda or that week-old Reuben I probably ate for lunch that day.

That’s all for now, folks.  Maybe next time I won’t wait so long between posts.

Sincerely,
Crush

Popularity: 55% [?]

Cafe Concordia Americano Blend

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Greetings, Beverage Fiends!

It's packaged in actual burlap! Adorable.

Sorry I haven’t posted in a bit! December was a busy month, and January proved to be even more daunting with the start of my last semester and all! Fortunately, I have a special treat for you today! One of my co-workers ventured to Cabo San Lucas in Mexico for vacation, and brought me back a delightful souvenir! Say hello to Cafe Concordia’s Americano blend. It was pre-ground, but it smelled very fresh, so I decided to give it a pass. Personally, I love the packaging. Since beans are commonly aged in burlap, why not just sell them that way? The smudgy print and primitive artwork really make it feel even more authentic.

90 years of coffee growing experience is pretty impressive! In fact, it's almost as impressive as how old the chair this coffee is sitting on is! We've gotta get some new furniture 'round here!

Acidity- It’s very medium-to-mild. That’s a fairly stable characteristic of Mexican coffee, by the way.

Aroma- It’s one of the few blends I’ve fallen for on aroma alone. I just wanted to continue to take it in all day! It was very similar to the Mexico Chiapas I reviewed awhile back.

Body- Excellent body. It’s very heavy, which makes for an exceptional drinking experience.

Flavor- The slurp test produced a very complex, nutty flavor. So tasty! Though I had no chocolate with me at the time, I’m convinced it would pair wonderfully with some!

Buzz factor- Very excellent. The day I drank it, I was dragging from having been up too late the previous night. Fixed me right up!

Overall rating: 8.5 out of 10. This one was really good! Now, how am I going to get more without going on vacation to Mexico?!

In other news, we have some excellent beverage related video that was taken around Christmas time that you’ll be seeing soon. Yeah, we’re just a little behind right now…

Till next time, coffee connoisseurs!

Popularity: 31% [?]

Moxie: Embrace the Orange!

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Crush modeling his various Moxie loot, and this fancy western mug.

“To a newcomer who has never tasted Moxie, I might say this: because of the difference in taste, it can be compared to nothing else on the market.
On the first taste, you may be tempted to spit it out and throw it away.  Don’t.
On the second taste, you may want to do the same.  Don’t.
Wait for that third taste to allow the true flavor of Moxie to tickle the taste buds.  Then you’ll know why we call it “The Beverage of Gourmets.”

This is a direct quote from the Mildly Manic Moxie Man of Maine, Frank Anicetti.  I guess you may refer to him as an expert on the subject, considering he is also the curator of the Moxie Museum on Lisbon Falls, Maine.

As I lifted the glass to my lips, the pointy-fingered Moxie Man mascot on the bottle does his pointy-fingered profession, directed at myself.  Although somewhat creepy, I figured Calvin Coolidge must have enjoyed seeing as this was his favorite soda.  So it encourages a sip.  So I sup.

First sip.
Very reminiscent of Dr.Pepper.  However, far fewer peptic distress belches.  Not terrible, but different.

Second sip.
About the same.  I read the label and it seems like the ingredient list is quite short.  Excellent.  A fine soda shouldn’t be too complicated.  I get my first belch, still not bad.  Carbonation is very light.

Third sip.
Very smooth.  The flavor is very complex, truly “the beverage of gourmets.”  Seems to float somewhere between a Cola, Root Beer, and a Doctor soda, being a Pepper or Pibb of some variety.

I really don’t know how accurate the three-sip test is, honestly.  But I did notice that the flavor grew on me as I drank it.  I wouldn’t say its the greatest soda in the entire universe, but overall, its not too shabby.  Of course, I haven’t had the opportunity to drink it in Lisbon Falls, Maine.  That might change things quite a bit.

Personally, I would love to visit some of the Moxie landmarks in Maine.  Like the giant Moxie bottle in Union, Maine.  Or the Moxie festival or Moxie Museum in Lisbon Falls.  Even though the soda isn’t spectacular, Moxie mania definitely seems like something I could embrace.

Here’s a video of a bunch of dudes in a Moxie chugging contest.  Be wary of various barfers.  No chunks though, just pure Moxie.

That’s all I wrote!

Yours truly,

Crush

Popularity: 51% [?]

Brewhaha: Starbucks Christmas Blend 2010

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Holiday greetings, readership! Yes, we’ve been slacking off here at Beverage Fiend. I’ve been finishing up a challenging semester, Teethbrush has been moving to a different state, and Crush has been assisting her in the move!

Today, we want to to revisit this year’s incarnation of Starbucks Christmas blend. You can find the original review here.

This year’s bag is made of a very eye-catching red foil. However, the design is a little more lighthearted, and includes

the following silly poem:

““I used to stare up

at the sky trying

to see where

the snowflakes

were born.

I could do it

for hours. Well,

minutes. But it

was always the

waiting that was

the most fun.”

Now, for the most important question– How does it stack up compared to Christmas Blend 2009? Well, I’m sorry to say that it’s just not as good. It’s hard to even put my finger on what’s different, but I would say that this batch just has more of a “flat” taste quality, something I don’t care for in my coffees. The same process was used to make both blends, yet every batch tastes a little different due to growing conditions. This just wasn’t a good batch, apparently. Overall rating: 7.0 out of 10.

 

 

Popularity: 64% [?]