St. George Premium Lager Beer

"You gotta try this Ethiopian beer I found!"

All right, what's it called?

"I don't know, it's in Ethiopian."

Oh.

So I really hope I titled this post right.

First off; this label is really nice. I love the colours and the adorable little St. George, and it was certainly easy to pick off the shelf.
Unfortunately, that's about all that distinguishes it. It's a light beer with that typical back-of-the-throat apple-juicy acidity. I can drink it, but I wouldn't go out of my way to buy it again.

Guess what image I didn't know I'd be using again so soon.

Ayran

Recently, Spin and I got together with a group of friends at La Shish Taouk.  I was rather glad that the group met here, as it's a place that caught my attention some time ago, and I'd been interested in checking it out.  I'd never had Lebanese food before, and I was curious.

While perusing the menu, I noticed something in the drinks list I'd never heard of before; Ayran.  So I asked the waitress about it, and she told me it was a fermented yogurt drink with salt.

What the heck, I decided.  I'll try that!  I've had fermented dairy drinks before and liked it.

This is what I got.

I've looked up the website since then, and have learned that Ayran is "the healthiest soft drink in the World !"

Soft drink is not how I would have described it. 

The ingredients list is water, yogurt, salt, citric acid and what I think was a preservative, but I can't remember the name of.

It looks pretty much like a glass of milk, only slightly thicker.  As for the taste.

Hmmm...

It kinda tasted like the liquid in commercial cottage cheese, plus salt.

Plenty of salt. 

According to the label, the drink is meant to be served chilled.  I'm not a fast drinker, so it was room temperature by the time I finished it.  The flavour becomes more intense as it warms up.

Spin gave it a try and promptly rejected it.  She didn't hate it or anything, but definitely didn't like it.  Too salty, for starters.


It was definitely an interesting drink, and I don't regret ordering it, but it's not something I'd order again.  I could get used to the flavour, but not the saltiness.  I suppose if I made it at home, I could control for the salt easily enough - basic recipes I've found are equal parts water and yogurt blended with salt to taste, so it'd be simple enough to make. Some recipes include cumin or mint, which sound interesting, but neither are flavours I associate with salt.

Ayran, from what I've read, is incredibly popular in Turkey, but when it comes to fermented dairy, I much prefer kefir.

Young's Double Chocolate Stout.

GUYS.
YOU GUYS.

THIS BEER TASTES EXACTLY LIKE A BAR OF 80% COCOA CHOCOLATE.

I LIKE IT.

END REVIEW.

Seriously, though. I saved this for the last of my Christmas gift beer reviews because I figured it would, at least, be the most interesting of the bunch. I was not wrong! Young's Double Chocolate Stout, unlike our last encounter with a "chocolate" "stout", really delivers on its description. "Silky rich and creamy smooth" "never overly sweet".

It is definitely on the dark, bitter side. I mean, even I can taste it. That doesn't keep it from being added to my favourites list, and if you're the type to like such things, it should probably go on yours.

(My Mother, uh.   She doesn't like it.)

Erdinger Weissbier Dunkel

The pale ales and ciders out of the way, it's time to get to the darker portions of my Christmas gift beers!

I offered my mother the first taste of this one. I couldn't see her face, but her shoulders hunched and her neck tucked in like those of a disgruntled pigeon.


Philistine.

So maybe I'm just happy to finally be drinking something with discernible hops, but I like this! It's clean, smooth and pleasant with a slightly creamy aftertaste and the tiiiniest hint of malt. The alcohol content is a modest 5.3% and, when not smothered by a prodigious mattress of foam (drink it from the bottle, kids.), it goes down nicely.

I wouldn't rank it among my favourite (hey, I should write about those.), but I might order it for a lunch out.

Overall, I feel I must bestow upon this beer the highest award in ambiguousness I can provide.

Happy drinking!

Riéme Limonade Artisanale

A triple-review today! My mother brought home this lovely trio from a trip to our local Italian (and, by extension, Most-of-European) Grocery a while back. The bottles are dainty and pretty, the label design is uninspiring but not off-putting.

Our flavours for today are Pomegranate, Grapefruit and... uh, "Pink".

The Pomegranate one smells like candy and has a light flavour, but isn't overly sweet. It's clean and refreshing.

The Grapefruit one is a bit more carbonated than the other two and, again, the fruit flavour is understated.

The Pink one is actually white, and I think it's just plain lemonade flavoured. Still, very nice.

There were other flavours available, including "traditional" which was clear as water.  Each cost about a dollar and a quarter (Canadian) apiece, plus enviro fees.

All the flavours are united by a certain unobtrusiveness. They're not too acidic, not too sweet, not too carbonated. Pleasant and thirst-quenching. I think the Pomegranate and Pink ones are more to my liking, but I'd recommend giving any of them a try.

Fuller's Organic Honey Dew

One thing about having a daughter that is on a mission to try lots of new types of beverages is that it makes finding Christmas presents really easy.  That different types of beer is high on her list of beverages to try makes narrowing things down even easier.

The down side is, I'm expected to taste test these with her.

So here we are again, furthering our quest in finding a beer that I actually like, instead of the usual gagging noises and facial contortions.

This time, Spindle chose another of the light beers I got for her.  Fuller's Organic Honey Dew.  It's a Refreshing golden Beer, the label tells us.  From an Independent Family Brewery, since 1845, the bottle tells us.  Now, most of the time, when we encounter a brew that proudly states such things, there's usually some sort of accompanying story on the label.  Some interesting prose to sell us on just how refreshingly refreshing we shall find it, or how awesome it is to be a family business for nearly 160 years.  The labels of this beer do not such thing, however.  What the back label does do is tell us it's beer.  In 9 languages.  It contains malted barley.  Also in 9 languages.  The very brief ingredients list of water, malted barley, hops and yeast... Yup.  Nine languages.  Clearly, this is a beer of international appeal!

It does have a very pretty bottle...

...and it's a lovely golden colour. 

With little to inform us, I had to rely on the website for more information.  There's even a "tasting notes" page.   With Organic Honey Dew, we are told to expect a beer that has "a zesty edge and a bitter sweet flavour."  It's "naturally palatable brew" that's "Soil Association approved."  It's "gentle sweetness" appeals to "even those who perhaps wouldn't usually drink beer..."

That would be me.

Does it?

No, not really.

At best, I can honestly say it didn't make me gag or go into facial contortions.

Much.

In taste testing it with my daughter, however, it illustrated once again just how differently people can taste things.  I could taste the bitter, but not the sweet.  At all.  I found it rather mild overall, which made it easier to taste test then other beers we've tried, but it has done nothing to win me over to the ranks of beer drinkers.  Spindle, on the other hand, cannot taste bitter.  For her, she could taste the sweet just fine.  She's not a fan of light beers, so it's hardly a favourite, but for the type, she liked it fine.  She found it light, refreshing, mildly sweet with a pleasant aftertaste. 

She also likes the bottle design enough to add it to her collection.

Zywiec

"Three ingredients" it says.

"Boy," I think. "I hope one of them is beer."

First official Christmas-gift beer review! And... not the kind I had hoped for.

Let's talk about the design first, though.

I've sort of fallen in love with this bottle. It just makes me happy. There are designs stamped into the glass, the label on the back is cut to curve around a glass "seal", and there are lovely dancing Polish people on the front label! I like it.

And in terms of flavour?
Eehhh.. this is a light beer. And y'all know what that means.
Not that it's bad! Oh no! I just have absolutely no concrete opinion on it.
It's mild! It's refreshing! It has that slightly acrid back-of-tongue taste with little upfront! It's mild!

I mean, it says that it's Poland's number one premium beer, and I'm disinclined to think that the distant land of my ancestors picked a bad one, but...

Oh, give it a try if pale beers are your thing. Send me a note if you do.

Magners Irish Cider.

So I say "nope, not gonna turn this into a beer review blog", and what do I find under the Christmas tree?

Fancy beers. From my Mother.

Curse you, your knowledge of my tastes, and the unwarrented generosity you rode in on.

Not to worry, though. The plan is to stagger the posts a good way apart and fill the spaces in between with sodas and recipes and the like.

The first in the batch isn't actually a beer at all! It's a cider, and it has a nifty sheet of gold foil wrapped around its neck. The label isn't anything special. It wouldn't jump out at me on the shelf. That's not a problem in this case, though, and we can skip straight to the drinking.

Uh, maybe after taking the picture next time.

The carbonation is quite light, but the flavour is satisfyingly bold. Quite strong up front and fading to a sourish apply taste. In all, it's deeper than I usually expect from a cider, and a bit less sweet. Both count in its favour.
If you spot it, purchase and enjoy!


We at Thus Unquenched hope you all had an excellent Christmas, filled with warming beverages.

McChouffe Ardens Brown Beer

Oh fer- another beer? Really? We've gotta get some soda on here. I'm starting to look like an alcoholic.

But this one's a doozy, I promise.

The second of those bargain-bin purchases I mentioned, McChouffe here has a bedraggled label (it looked like that when I bought it, I swear.), very little information (contains malt!), a relatively high alcohol content (8%), and, to top it off, a creepy gnome as a mascot.

After all that, important questions remain unanswered.
What does unsettled-gnome-beer taste like? Does it contain beard? Inquiring minds must know.

Pretty darn delicious, actually. The malt flavour is understated, and it's overall smooth and enjoyable.

I don't know about the second part.

And I have a cute new bottle for my collection!

It all works out in the end.

Roscoe's Hop House Amber Ale.

With Honey Added!

What's the best kind of beer?
If you said "the kind that's on sale"...

You'd be wrong. Go home and re-think your life.

I did, however, decide to try out two of the more interesting looking brews on the "please buy this" shelf by the checkout counter.
Yes, I am guilty of judging by label design.
Mea culpa.

Roscoe's Amber Ale looks very nice in and out of the bottle. Spiffy logo, pleasant golden brown colour. The flavour is clear and mild with a light, lingering malt aftertaste. The honey isn't particularly pronounced, but I'd be able to pick it out without being told. I'd recommend it as a happy medium between aggressive, tongue-killing beerflavour and tasteless pale ales.

Boy, my bias against light beer has just saturated this blog. Sorry, guys.

Anyhow. I wouldn't go out of my way to buy this again, but if I saw it on a menu next to Kokanee and Coors, I'd choose it.

Uptown Girl Strawberry Blonde Ale.

So by that title you may be able to tell a little bit about today's beverage. Namely, that it's limiting its audience. Not that I'm particularly concerned about ~*girly*~ marketing, but I was pretty leery when it came to the prospect of actually bringing this thing to the checkout. Luckily it was my Mother's duty to buy the tiny, adorable six-pack and I was able to make my purchases in peace. (A tiny, adorable bottle of Jagermeister.)

Basically, Uptown Girl is adorable. It's twee. It's precious. It's impossible not to roll your eyes at it.
I wonder if maybe that's the real target of the image. Not delicate womenfolk who require small and appropriately pinkish version of that strange, intimidating beverage known as "be-er" so as not to offend their sensibilities, but cynical jerks who catch sight of it on the liquour-store shelf and say "Oh man, look. Lookathis. Dude. It's girl beer."

Ahem.

Appearance-wise, the Strawberry Blonde Ale is clear and bubbly with slight foam and it is indeed distinctly blond. The scent is unremarkable. In flavour it is only distinctive in its extreme mildness. In its favour, that means it lacks the back-of-the-throat acidity that usually turns me off from light beers in general. Unfortunately it also has next to no flavour.
Yeah, "brewed with strawberry juice"? Sure. Whatever. It's a light, clear beer and that's all it has going for it.

Except for adorableness.

(Pictured here with a dainty, girlish hand.  Cat hair garnish optional.)

In all seriousness, if you're after a strawberry beer, I would highly suggest the Fruli.

Bad Hare Chocolate Stout.

Oh this one didn't bode well from the beginning.
In my defense, I was sort of against it. $3.99 for a 650 mL bottle? That's low for these parts. There's a chance that it's because it's a new acquisition the shop just can't wait to share with the world, but more likely it's because they want to get rid of something.
So I pour this thing and the first thing I note is that there is NO head. I mean, not even a pretension to one. That photo? Taken about three seconds after pouring. I'm by no means a stickler for that sort of thing (I drink from the BOTTLE because beer comes in a BOTTLE and that's where it SHOULD be rather than up your NOSE in the form of FOAM.) but it could be construed as a warning sign.
I digress.
My mother didn't like it, but she doesn't like any beer so I don't usually let her gagging sounds colour my opinion.
As for me?

Honestly? I don't hate it. I mean, I've had worse. Where I take issue is in blatant false advertising.
"A dark and silky rich stout loaded with chocolate flavours. Is there chocolate in my beer of beer in my chocolate?"
Hahaaahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
No.
I have had chocolate stout before and you, sir, do not live up in either department. There's very little by way of smell or initial taste, but that is immediately followed by a distinctly burnt flavour and acrid aftertaste. It's weird and unpleasant, but I can't bring myself to rage at it.
On the shelf, your first instinct would likely be to avoid it. Don't think twice.

Sperone Cremevo Marsala Wine Beverage.

It's nice. The texture is smooth and lightly syrupy in an appealing golden red colour. It's sweet, but not tooth-breakingly sugary. A bit of fruit, a bit of vanilla, not bad at all. At fourteen dollars Canadian, I'd recommend it as fulfilling dessert drink on a budget.
 That's not what I want to talk about.

You know what I want to talk about?

I want to talk about how the ingredients list includes frozen egg yolk.

Let's talk about that.



The ingredients list also includes "alcohol". Woah guys let's not go overboard with the florid descriptions here.

Krupnik

Another Polish offering for you - Krupnik.  This is a drink that goes back in my family for quite some time.  I still remember when my parents discovered it locally and just had to get a bottle.  It's not every day that you find a drink with your name on it, and butt-kicking booze is way cooler then soup.

It's been a long time since I've had any - the last time we made the road trip to visit my parents, I believe (my mother likes to add it to her tea - I highly recommend it), but I've regaled my children with the story of it, joking that it was an old family recipe.  It isn't, though my mother does have a Polish cookbook with a recipe that my father used.  It was quite the thing to see, and it left the house smelling of honey and spices.

Being a rather cheap sort, I haven't actually bought a bottle for myself in years, though we did find a liquor store that sold it at a much more reasonable price - about $25, or $5-$10 less then anywhere else I've seen it of late.  This particular bottle was a Mother's Day gift. :-D

This is a drink that I've seen classified as a whiskey, liqueur or mead - though the recipe to make it at home calls for vodka.  I've also heard it called honey or fire whiskey.  It is typically drunk straight (though as I mentioned, it does go well with tea) warm, at room temperature or on ice.  At 40% alcohol, it packs quite a kick.  The warmer it is, the more powerful the hit, and the more flavourful.  Sipped from a cognac style glass, allowed to warm in your hand, the vapours rising up are enough to make the eyes burn!  Especially if you wear glasses.  The taste is sweet and wonderfully spiced with cinnamon and cloves.  It's warm and smooth on the way down, and the heat and flavours linger.  This is not the sort of drink to be drunk quickly.  Sip and savour!  I definitely recommend giving it a try.  

Zubrowka Bison grass vodka

So there we were, traipsing through the liquor store (as one does) when suddenly... fur. Green fur. Green suspiciously muppet-esque fur. After a moment of speculation, my mother uttered a happy cry and picked the offending object up.

"Zubrowka!"

Zu-what-now? It's got a bison on it. That's pretty cool.

Zubrowka, as it happens, is a very well regarded Polish vodka that my mother may or may not have tried before but was obviously familiar enough with to be excited. I like vodka well enough, so we brought it home. It was about then that it fully sank in exactly what "bison grass vodka" is.

The answer is "literal".

So yes, not only does it contain a very nice blade of grass but it is very chipper about that fact. It's grass from a primordial forest! Handpicked! Imparts a flavour and colour! And underneath that information was a wealthy list of recipes, most of which included apple. We chose the simplest one. (One part Zubrowka, one part apple juice, with ice, garnished with an apple slice.)

One its own, Zubrowka has an ever-so-faint green tint and is crystal clear. 

We all agreed that it tastes a bit floral, goes down smoothly (for a vodka, so I'll leave that to your discretion) and has an exceedingly pleasant aftertaste. I'd say a little lilac-y.

With the apple juice, the flavours marry beautifully into a light, clear honey flavour.

There was another recipe that involved cinnamon, and I imagine that being a perfect combination. We'll have to try it sometime.

Overall, I would highly recommend it. We got the bottle for under thirty dollars and I plan to pick it up again in the future.

(Are you supposed to eat the grass, though? Is it like the tequila-worm? Mysteries.)

Oh, and we're baaaack~!

Genmaicha and Durian Milkshake

Spindle and I had an opportunity to try out a place I've been curious about for some time, Jasper Sushi and Noodle House.  It's in the same building as our doctor's clinic, and every time I've walked past it, it has tempted me.  Spindle does enjoy her sushi, so I dragged her along for my doctor's appointment, just so we could stop by after for a snack.

Immediately after being seated, we were brought the most adorable little teapot and cups.

The tea is complimentary, which is always nice. :-)  It had a very distinctive flavour, which had me wondering what kind of tea it was.  A quick glance into the strainer in the teapot had me perplexed.  What on earth were those brown... things?  They looked like swollen grain.

When I had the chance, I asked our waitress about the tea.  She tried to explain it to me, then decided it would be easier if she just brought out the bag.  The only thing on the package that was in English was the ingredients list, which helped.  It turns out that the stuff in the strainer that confused me was toasted brown rice.  No wonder it was difficult to explain. Not something I would have associated with tea!  There was quite a mix of things in there, including popped rice, which looked a bit like very tiny popped corn. 

I recognised the bag as something I've seen in some of our local Asian grocery stores and had been curious about, but there was no way I would have associated what I could see in the bag with what I saw in the strainer!  The rice absorbed a fair amount of liquid, and we couldn't see any of the green tea leaves at all.  

It made for excellent tea, though!  It had its own mild sweetness, and the toasted rice added its own distinctive, nutty flavour.  It's something we'll be picking up for home when we get the chance.  We both recommend it.

While perusing the menu, Spindle spotted something interesting in the drink menu.  Durian milk shakes!  This is another food we've been curious about but have not quite been willing to actually buy.  They're not exactly a small fruit, and I would hate to have it go to waste if it turned out to be something we didn't like.  But in a beverage?  That would be small enough that we could share one and finally find out what durian tasted like.

Here's our Durian Milkshake ($3.95), after sampling. 

What to say about this??

The first thing you notice is the smell.  Durian has a reputation for being foul smelling, but it wasn't a bad smell, exactly.  It wasn't even a strong smell.  It was definitely noticeable, though.  I can't even begin to describe what it smelled like.  I simply can't think of anything I can compare it to. 

Then we tasted it. 

Oh. 

Oh, dear.

How to describe this?

Well, it was definitely milky.  Lightly sweet.  Smooth and thick, like a milkshake should be, yet more so.  I've heard durian's texture described as custard-like, and I could certainly get that out of it.   

It was also... fleshy. Which is an odd word to associate with the texture of a drink, never mind the flavour, yet we both agreed that fleshy was the best way to describe it. 

Again, I just don't have anything else I can compare the flavour to.  Nothing even comes close.

It was wrong on so many levels.  Wrong, wrong, wrong.

I managed three sips before I gave up entirely, as each sip was increasingly stomach churning, throat closing, bile raisingly abhorrent.   Spindle was braver.  She managed to bring the glass down to the half-way mark or so.  Then she washed the taste away with tea.

My goodness, we were glad for that tea!!

The worst part of it was that, for hours later, any time one of us burped, we would taste it again!  It was horrible.  Disgusting.  I don't understand how anyone could like it!  Obviously, enough people like it for it to be on the menu, but my goodness!  I can't even imagine it being an acquired taste. 

Never again.

Never, never, never again!

As for the restaurant:  the food was very good, as was the service.  Prices are quite reasonable, and their maki was incredibly generous in size.  We look forward to going back. 

Just not for the durian milkshake!!

Real Brew & Henry Weinhard's root beer.

Oh, the bottles are trying to make friends again. In italic, brushy fonts they vaunt of "complex flavours" and "hand-finished"-ness.
All right, I'll bite.
First up is Real Brew Root Beer.
Common in local groceries but as yet untried. We picked it up with some Ginger Ale in the same brand. Below its appealing label is a little block of text declaring it to be:
"A complex flavour of sweet birch, licorice root, sarsaparilla, anise and other natural flavours."
Other descriptions on the bottle include Traditional Quality, Supreme, Subtle, Creamy, et cetera. Unfortunately, I don't think this soda has quite earned its own hype. It's good, don't take me wrong, but its sheer sweetness overwhelms any notion of subtlety or nuance. It's like drinking candy (my mother described it as "bubblegum" repeatedly), and I wouldn't imbibe it in great quantities.
Next is Henry Weinhard's Root Beer, which, interestingly, seems to be trying very hard to look like regular beer.
It's a good look, though. I approve of Mr. Weinhard's bemoustached visage glaring out at you as your drink. It adds ambience. And on the obligitory boasting front we have: "Draught style head", "Gourmet" "Hand finished with only the highest quality ingredients, including sassafras, honey and vanilla" aaaand I can't say I'm entirely derisive. This soda may not be as strong as the Real Brew, but there's more to taste. A slight tingle on the tongue, a strong undertone and aftertaste of honey, a thick, herbal construction... I heartily recommend it. Unfortunately, it seems a little harder to find. (My mother and sister picked up a couple of bottles from a place called The Carrot, which, in the slurry of artsy and fartsy "grassroot" cafés may in fact be the artsiest and most fartsy). If your come across it, pick up a bottle!

Reed's micro brewed ginger sodas

Spiced Apple Ginger Brew

Micro brewed spiced apple ginger soda

cost: under $2

Not too long ago, during a trip to a new Bulk Barn in our area, we found the Reed's brand of "ginger brew" pop.  This is a brand of  micro-brewed natural sodas and traditional Jamaican brews.  The old style sodas - the type you can make in your own kitchen (which we do intend to try out!) taste quite different from the large scale pops.  

We tried only one flavour the first time out and enjoyed it enough to head back and get two more to try.  The first taste test was of the Spiced Apple flavour.  The label boasts that it is made with 60% juice, which is actually higher than a lot of drinks "made with real fruit juice!" on the market.

In appearance, it has a deeper colour than a typical ginger ale.  We could smell both the apple and the ginger; it reminded my younger daughter of apple pie and Spindle found it reminded her of the spiced apple cider we sometimes make.

We all found it quite sweet, but not in an overpowering, cloying way.  All the promised flavours could be recognised.  It was very refreshing and delicious.  The label and company website boast about its ingredients, methods and care, and this is a drink that lives up to that promise.  So much so that we were really looking forward to trying new flavours.

Our next taste tests were for the Cherry and Raspberry flavours.  

Cherry is, I find, a difficult flavour to market, mostly because of its strong association with cough syrup.  It's hard to find a cherry flavoured drink that's doesn't make me think of cold medication.

Unlike the spiced apple, the cherry drink didn't really smell like the flavour it was supposed to be.  In fact, it didn't smell much of anything, reminding me somewhat of those flavoured waters.  Spindle found it reminded her of something she couldn't quite put her finger on, but she found it rather tinny and gross.  In flavour, she found the ginger flavour more dominant than the cherry; something I didn't notice quite as much.  It was a take it or leave it sort of thing for her, while I quite enjoyed it.  Based on how faint the smell was, I was expecting far less flavour and was pleased to be wrong on that.  We both definitely noticed that it tasted like "cherry juice" rather than "cherry flavoured beverage."

The raspberry also had a distinct lack of scent to it and, like the cherry, the lack of scent belied the much more intense flavour.  We both liked it a lot.  Though Spindle still found the ginger flavour predominant, the raspberry flavour was nicely intense.

Of the three, the spiced apple was the overall favourite, with the raspberry running second place.  Definitely a drink we will be picking up again.

Naked Grape Chardonnay Wine Spritzer

Elephant & Castle

$5.85

Checking out Elephant & Castle's short list of less expensive drinks, I decided to try out a wine spritzer.  I've had wine coolers before, but not spritzers, so I wanted to see what difference there was.

I admit to not expecting much.  Spindle and I have tried both a red and a white Chardonnay before and it's not something we're fond of.  So I wasn't expecting to be blown away or anything.

The spritzer itself is 4.5% alcohol.  It has a nice, fruity smell and a lovely sparkle to it.  It came with a big glass of ice and slices of lemon and lime and looks rather pretty.

The flavour?

Well, I haven't been suddenly converted to enjoying Chardonnay.  I'm afraid "okay" is about the best I can give it.  It wasn't bad, by any means.  Just... meh.  Unless you already like a Chardonnay, don't bother.  If you do, it'll probably be quite grand.

Vex

Strawberry Orange Banana

Hard Lemonade

Elephant & Castle

$5.85

An evening walk found Spindle and I stopping at a nearby Elephant & Castle for a chat over drinks.  Normally I would have tried another cocktail, having been rather pleased with what I'd tried the last time we were there, quite a while ago.  Alas, it seems they were only available for the summer. 

Perusing their drinks menu is an interesting challenge for me.  I don't like beer, so their extensive beer list is of little use to me.  I'm cheap, so the wine and hard liquors weren't up my alley, either.  That left the ciders and coolers.

The Vex intrigued me.  It's a hard lemonade, with strawberry, orange and banana.  That's a lot of fruit.  I like fruit.  I like vodka.  I figured this would be safe.

On viewing the label, Spindle was decidedly unimpressed by its design.  She mumbled something that I couldn't quite hear.  Something about it looking like the sort of drink a woman of questionable morals might drink while visiting numerous establishments that were purveyors of alcohol, though not that wordy. 

Not sure what that says about my choosing it. ;-)  It was amusing, though.

Well, the drink certainly does have its hit of vodka.  It's 7.0%, which is pretty fair.  As for the fruit... Yes, it tasted very fruity.  To me, it tasted like pineapple.  Spindle thought it tasted like grapefruit.  Looking at the ingredients list, however, yielded a listing of lemon juice and natural flavours.

Alrighty, then.

It was, however, tasty.  Stronger than I expected, so not the sort of thing I'd drink more than one of, but definitely something I'd order again.

Even with the label of questionable repute.