Having a NÜTRL at Yankee Stadium May 22, 2025

What's up peeps!!!! I recently went to the Yankees vs Rangers game at Yankee Stadium with my daughter Jordan. Since I was going to the game with work on the next day, I didn't want to have anything too heavy to drink. A hard seltzer always is a good choice. 

For those who don't know, it has been almost three years since I left the bar business. In the last five years I worked in Brooklyn, hard seltzer was the craze. It seemed as if every beer brand was trying their hand at cracking into the hard seltzer arena that was led by White Claw and Truly. To say that I am out of the loop in the last three years is an understatement. Now you have hard juices, hard kombucha, Aguas frescas, hard iced tea with vodka and other combinations. Back to Yankee Stadium.

They've really done a good job at the Stadium to provide alternatives to their current beer selections. I came across and decided to try two of the NÜTRL cans that you can see in the picture to the right. NÜTRL is a vodka seltzer that contains real juice and is sold by Anheuser-Busch InBev. There are three different types of NÜTRL blends: Fruit Juice, Lemonade and Cranberry. In each of the three there are a number of flavors available for a total of 14 flavors. Each NÜTRL clocks in at 4.5% ABV. From the Fruit Juice blend I purchased an Orange and Pineapple. What did I think? 

First the Orange. I can describe it with one word: DANGEROUS. It tastes like a blend of Orange Fanta and Hi-C and it is very chuggable and crushable. It just goes down nice and easy. Luckily the cans have this unique cap that you can reclose and when open, leaves a smaller drink hole than you would get with your standard beer can. I found that it made it harder to chug. I'm not sure if that is by design, but if it was it works in limiting the amount you can suck down in one chug. Now the Pineapple. 

I love the taste of Pineapple soda. I was looking forward to this one meeting the expectation of Pineapple soda. It did not. Don't get me wrong. It wasn't bad. But I felt as if the Pineapple had a weird aftertaste on my palate. I actually never finished it. I gave it to Jordan for her to finish. I'll have to keep an eye out for all of the other NÜTRL selections. Have any of you had any of these before? What did you think. Let me know in the comments box. 

For my next post, I have another hard vodka seltzer that I purchased at the Stadium but my daughter drank it: Suntory -198. Keep an eye out for it. 

Until Then May You Have Some Happy, Safe and Responsible Drinking,

SiscoVanilla
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What Is The Oaks Lilly Cocktail May 7, 2025

Welcome back folks. In my last post How Many Mint Juleps Are Served At The Kentucky Derby May 5, 2025, I took a look at the classic cocktail of the Kentucky Derby: The Mint Julep. In researching the Mint Julep, I came across of a second cocktail that is very popular at Churchill Downs known as the Oaks Lilly. 

The Oaks Lilly is the official cocktail of the Kentucy Oaks race that takes place on the day before the Kentucky Derby. According to the article What is an Oaks Lily? Here's how to make the official drink of the Kentucky Oaks by Amanda Hancock, Louisville Courier Journal from MSN.com dated February 5, 2025

"The Oaks Lily draws influence from the Cosmopolitan, according to the cocktail's inventor, Tim Laird. Known as America’s chief entertaining officer, Baird brought pink to the drink as a reference to the long-running Kentucky Oaks tradition of stargazer lilies. The blushing flowers are draped over the winning filly’s shoulders after the Longines Kentucky Oaks"

So how is it made? Here is the official recipe

Finlandia Oaks Lily Cocktail

The official drink of the Kentucky Oaks. Serves 1

1 1/4 ounces Finlandia Vodka
1 ounce sweet and sour mix
1/4 ounce triple sec
3 ounces cranberry juice

Mix the ingredients and pour them into a stemless wine glass with crushed ice. Add a straw and garnish with a blackberry and lemon wedge.

The photo of the Finlandia Oaks Lilly cocktail comes © Courtesy of Churchill Downs Racetrack. 

I can definitely see the Cosmopolitan influence on this cocktail. It sounds like it can be delicious and refreshing on a hot summer's day. Have you had it? Like it? Hate it? Don't really care about it? Let me know in the comments.

I'm working on a couple of new posts. Keep an eye out for it. 

Until Then May You Have Some Happy, Safe and Responsible Drinking,
SiscoVanilla

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How Many Mint Juleps Are Served At The Kentucky Derby May 5, 2025

What's up mi gente. I know today is the 5th of May aka Cinco de Mayo aka Cinco de Drinko. Instead of focusing on this made-up obnoxious drinking holiday, I'm going to focus on the official cocktail of the Kentucky Derby: The Mint Julep. The 2025 edition of "The Most Exciting Two Minutes in Sports" is in the books and I was thinking to myself: How Many Mint Jules are sold at Churchill Downs. 

Now I did a small post on my Instagram in September 2024 on Honey Deuce, which is the official cocktail of the U.S. Open Tennis tournament. In the post I focused on the rise of the price of the cocktail from $14 in 2012 to $23 during the last tournament. The USTA announced that a total of 550,000 Honey Deuces were served during the 14 days of the 2024 U.S. Open. Crazy 🤯. How about the Juleps?

The article The 150th Kentucky Derby By The Numbers by Caleb Stultz from the Leo Weekly website states that it was expected that at $22 dollars a cocktail, 125,000 Mint Juleps were going to be served during the day's festivities. That's almost a quarter of the Honey Deuce cocktails sold during the 14 days of the U.S. Open. And that's not counting the 15,000 gallons of Bourbon, 85,000 Oaks Lilies, 425,000 cans of beer and other spirits that were expected to be sold. Double 🤯🤯. So what is a Mint Julep. 

Way back in 2013 I wrote the following post Kentucky Derby Day At The Vault at Pfaff's. In said post, I visited a bar that was showing the Derby on a big screen. I hadn't had a Mint Julep up to that point, so this is what I thought of it:

"The Mint Julep is a very simple cocktail to make. Usually, you would make it in a Copper (or another metal) Julep cup but since this was a somewhat high-volume event, not having the cup for the Juleps is excusable. I had never had a Mint Julep before; I was curious as to how it tasted. The cocktail was nice and light. There was also a subtle sweetness to the cocktail that seemed to mingle well with the bourbon. Since I had to go to work right after, I tried to pace myself since I could see myself quickly sucking the Mint Julep down. On a hot summer day that can be a dangerous thing to do."

Here is the recipe for the cocktail from the official Bourbon of the Kentucky Derby Woodford Reserve:

The traditional Derby Day cocktail, and a southern ritual crafted from bourbon, simple syrup and mint.

INGREDIENTS

2 OZ. Straight Bourbon Whiskey
1/2 OZ. Woodford Reserve® Mint Julep Cocktail Syrup
3 Fresh Mint Leaves
Crushed Ice

INSTRUCTIONS

STEP 1: Express the essential oils in the mint and rub them inside the glass.
STEP 2: To the same glass, add simple syrup, bourbon, and crushed ice.
STEP 3: Stir.
STEP 4: Garnish with more ice, fresh mint, and powdered sugar.

Did you all cash in on the race? What do you think about the classic Mint Julep? Yea? Nay? Meh? Let me know in the comments. I have a side post on the aforementioned Oaks Lilly cocktail coming up next. Keep an eye out for it. 

Until Then May You Have Some Happy, Safe and Responsible Drinking,
SiscoVanilla

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Upcoming Beer Selections for Review March 25, 2025

What's up peeps!!! The weather is getting warmer, and the days are getting longer. Baseball season is two days away and that means more chances to taste some new brewskis. Here is a sample of a few new beers that I am going to sample in the weeks to come. 

 

Until Then May You Have Some Happy, Safe and Responsible Drinking,

SiscoVanilla

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President Obama 1st White House Brewer January 26, 2025

Blessed Sunday to one and all. With the Office of the President of the United States all up in the news these days, this post gives a glimpse of one of the many firsts during the Barack Obama administration. 

This isn't the first time that I've written about Presidents and beers. I wrote a general post of Presidents and beer entitled Presidential Brewers from way back during the early days of COVID-19 on April 18, 2020. But the Presidents aren't only linked to beer. Some have been vinters and even mixing cocktails at the White House. And don't get me started on the alcohol consumption by the POTUS' throughout the years both at the White House and in public. But Barack Obama holds the distinction of being the first President to brew beer on the grounds of the White House. Let's go back in time to 2011. 

According to the book Mint Juleps with Teddy Roosevelt by Mark Will-Weber, President Obama bought some homebrew kits (with his own funds) and with the help of the official Assistant White House Sam Kass, the White House Honey Ale made its debut during the White House Superbowl Party. The honey used in the beer was sourced from the honeybees that lived in the bee-hive that was on the South Lawn. 

When it became known that the White House was making the Honey Brown Ale and then the Honey Porter, homebrewers everywhere wanted the recipe to be made public. President Obama said the recipe would be made public. True to his word, in a post on the Obama White House website entitled Ale to the Chief: White House Beer Recipe by Sam Kass dated September 1, 2012 the following recipes were posted:

Want to make your own? Go to the Craft-A-Brew website and order yourself a White House Honey Ale Beer Recipe Kit. Curious about the specs on the Honey Ale? The beer clocks in at 5.25 ABV with 29 IBU. 

I've been meaning to dabble in home brewing. Maybe this is the beer that will get me into it. Have any of you made any of the White House honey beers? Whatcha think? Yea? Nay? Let me know in the comments. 

Until Then May You Have Some Happy, Safe and Responsible Drinking,
SiscoVanilla

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For Further Reading:

- How Barack Obama Became the First President to Brew Beer at the White House from Smithsonian Magazine.com dated July 12, 2017

- Brewing Obama’s Ale: Into the Bottles from the New York Times Diners Journal blogpage by Garrett Oliver October 4, 2012

The Lean White Russian and Black Cow Vodka January 13, 2025

What's up peeps!!! Hope the new year 2025 is working for you so far. In trying to write without having to drink (too much😉,) I'm going to attempt to check out recipes for drinks and reviews for beers that I come across. One such recipe comes from the November/December 2024 issue of Men's Health magazine. Entitled the Lean White Russian, the cocktail describes the way to make a "healthier" version of the cocktail made famous by "The Dude" played by Jeff Bridges in The Big Lebowski.  

For this cocktail, the ingredients are pretty straightforward: Vodka, Kahlua and Heavy Cream/Half and Half/Milk of some sort. The Russian part comes from the Vodka. The White from the Cream. How does the Kahlua fit in? Well, let's go down the cocktail history rabbit hole. 

The origins of this cocktail lay not in Mother Russia, or their Cold War rivals the United States. No folks, according to cocktail history, the White Russian was created in the country of Belgium to honor a diplomat. According to the post White Russian Recipe from Vinepair.com:

The drink was conceived in 1949 when Gustave Tops, a Belgian barman, created the cocktail, along with its sister cocktail, the black Russian– a White Russian without any cream - at the Hotel Metropole in Brussels in honor of Perle Mesta, then U.S. ambassador to Luxembourg.

Most obviously, Belgium is not Russia, so the drink doesn't take its name from its country of origin. It instead inherited Russia in the name because vodka is the main ingredient.

The magazine profile lists the following recipe for their Lite White Russian:

I've seen the recipe with equal parts vodka and Kahlua/coffee liqueur. Either way, the cocktail is delicious. Especially if you have ulcer and want to continue drinking without aggravating said ulcer. But I digress. Back to the magazine recipe. 

The recipe lists three different vodka's that are recommended. Two are from Smirnoff. I'll bypass those. The third one is the one that caught my attention. Give it a look:

A Vodka made from cow's milk? Well shit this caught my attention. Who came up with this idea. Luckily their website is quite informative. Black Cow Vodka is made in West Dorset, which is located in the Southeastern England. Here is how they describe it:

Black Cow is the world’s first Pure Milk Vodka. Made in West Dorset using the milk from grass-grazed cows. Using milk as our only source ingredient is what makes Black Cow so smooth.

Now that is cool. But what is even cooler is how they don't let anything go to waste when it comes to their milk production. Here is some more info:

At Black Cow we know milk is precious, so we don’t waste a drop. It starts with separating the milk into curds and whey. 

The curds make the cheese – including Black Cow Deluxe Cheddar – but, often, the whey ends up going to waste. We take that whey and, using a secret distilling process, turn it into the ‘world’s smoothest vodka’. So smooth you can drink it till the cows come home.

The idea came from Black Cow co-founders, friends and neighbors Archie and Jacob. I have to admit, this is one ingenious idea that really takes the idea of not letting anything go to waste to a higher level AND making money from it. Bravo!!!

Has anyone had a taste of their vodka? What did you think of it? Let me know in the comments box. Oh, and before I forget. How can I do a post about a White Russian and not show the Dude making it at his home bar with the 37th President of the United States Richard Nixon bowling in the background.

Here's to your health

Until Then May You Have Some Happy, Safe and Responsible Drinking,

SiscoVanilla
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