We went on a quest to look for Christmas spirit in a beverage.
Our Larryville Artists food critic posed a challenge to Downtown
bartenders and baristas. "Give us your best Christmas drink!”
Refuting recent
debate that connoisseurship is simply junk science, our critic slowly and carefully sipped
and searched for nuances in each distinct drink. Our persnickety critic
recorded impressions for the benefit of the LFK public. Here are the
findings.
Cute kids sitting next to ourYule Nog
Prima Tazza
La Prima Tazza
La Prima Tazza's Colin Ledbetter created a foamy Yule Nog served
in a rather heavy utilitarian off white mug for $2.75. The Yule Nog is La Prima
Tazza’s salute to the prominent @larryvillelife of the Larryville
Chronicles. The overall taste of the Yule Nog is sickly sweet. Ingredients
include syrups and steamed milk. Best uses are for kids who want even more
sugar than what Christmas candy provides.
Turdrunken at 715
Evan from 715
715
The season bill of fare of cocktails for 715 includes curious
ingredients. The Beet Generation’s beet
infused gin with mint and citrus; the Green Line’s vodka, mint, cucumber
serrano and lime, and the Montecello’s sage, sherry, ginger and lemon, make for
a unique array of flavors to embrace. Addressing
our challenge, our bartender Evan suggested the Turdrunken made with Wild
Turkey 101, cinnamon simple syrup, muddled fresh rosemary, cranberry juice, and
Angusura bitters. The sleek presentation
offered a sprig of rosemary, and a cinnamon stick. On the sweet side, the cranberry flavors
permeate. It tastes like my first hangover.
Makes me want to have a cigarette. Price: $9.90.
Leslie from Free State
Hor Cocoa with Rumplemintz
and Festivus
Free State
Two beverages were offered to us by our waitress Leslie when we
posed our question. One was Hot Cocoa with a shot of Rumplemintz, which was
quite minty and sweet and very boozy, but otherwise not really that special or
distinguished.
The other was Festivus Ale. We don’t know what these numbers mean,
but here they are: O.B 15.65-1.063 Hops-30 IBUs. We do know that this wonderful
beverage tastes like something that the High-Elven folk in a Tolkien novel
would serve to their most honored and distinguished guests on midwinter’s eve.
It’s strong, yet quite smooth. It loosens the tongue in a most delightful
fashion, and after we drank one (or two), we seemed to forget all our table
manners, but nobody seemed to mind. Rumplemintz with hot chocolate : $8.00 Festivus Ale: $4.00
Check on Monday’s blog post
for Part II of our beverage reviews.
