When I was freelancing full-time, I tried to write for as many places as would have me. Did this work? Hell no, freelancing is brutal. It’s a lot of staring at an inbox that doesn’t change. But, one of the places I did manage to get hired for an article was GQ — one of the places I’d always have liked to write but hadn’t. I got to write about tequila. I finished the article in late 2020 and, well, it came out. On Cinco de Mayo 2022. Better late than never, right?
Okay, so while spritz season can technically be any time if you really want (and I do, oh, I do), when it comes down to it, summer is one of the best times for all things spritz. Ice cold, low in ABV, and endlessly drinkable, a well-made spritz is the perfect companion for right before a meal, sitting on the porch, hanging out poolside, you name it. I’ve consumed spritzes in all of those settings and they are indeed wonderful.
And while spritzes can be made with a wide variety of spirits (or wines), when I think spritz, my mind usually wanders into the Italian camp with Aperol spritzes, Campari spritzes, et cetera. Blame the power of marketing, I guess. Nothing wrong with them — I’ve always got a bottle of each in my house — but I do enjoy it when I find a spirit to work with that features a different flavor profile. When Le Moné was pitched to me as an aperitif for tequila lovers, I was intrigued. Not often, I thought, had I contemplated agave and spritzes in the same sphere.
Does that make me an undereducated simp when it comes to all things agave? Maybe. I’ll own up to that one. Anyway.
Le Moné (16% ABV) is made from a Traminette grape base (sourced from the Finger Lakes region of New York) that is then fortified with California brandy. The liquid is then infused with Meyer lemon essential oil distillate before the addition of Blue Weber agave (imported from Mexico) to finish the aperitif. Beyond the flagship expression, Le Moné also produces Orange & Lime, Raspberry & Lavender, and Blackberry Flavors.
Bright and vibrant are the first two words that come to mind when you try Le Moné. There’s no doubt that this is a lemon-flavored spirit. At all. From the first aroma to the finish, you get crisp, fresh lemon flavor that is a delightful wake-up call for your taste buds.
The Meyer lemon peel distillate helps to enhance similar citrus flavors derived from the Traminette grapes. These are then bulked up just enough by the brandy to give Le Moné all the backbone you need in an aperitif. The agave gives a sweet complexity that also happens to come in with fewer calories than other spirits that use sugar as a sweetening agent (better flavor, fewer calories — it’s a win-win).
While you could drink it on its own over ice, it truly shines in a spritz. The carbonation in extra cold sparkling water (or wine, whichever as long as it’s dry) is Le Moné’s best hype man, bringing taking its naturally bright flavor and doing the equivalent of a rap horn every time you take a sip.
I tried Le Moné in a few other drinks – tea (both hot and iced), a riff on a Vesper, and in one of the cocktails from my book, Are You Afraid of the Dark Rum? And Other Cocktails For ‘90s Kids (#shameless plug, go buy my book) where limoncello was called for — and it worked in each case quite well. I liked using it as a substitute for limoncello because it does everything that limoncello does, just…lighter. I don’t want to call Le Moné limoncello light, because that sounds like an insult, but in a way, it is limoncello light. All the flavor without getting a punch to the face.
(Other phrases that don’t work: Diet Limoncello, Lite-moncello)
At the end of the day, Le Moné shows itself as a versatile aperitif that you can have over and over again during the summer, something I will surely be doing.
Le Moné retails for $35 and currently ships to 18 states.
I’ve been a fan of Stranahan’s for a few years now, since getting to experience the annual Snowflake release for the first time in 2017.
(Sidebar: I also made one of my best booze-writing friends on that trip, too! There’s something to be said for being outside and a little drunk on coffee and whiskey at 3 a.m. in Denver in December.)
While at the distillery, I had my first real experience with American Single Malt whiskey and got to try not only their Original and Diamond Peak but of course the Snowflake release (which people used to line up for days in advance, camping out outside the distillery.) I forget what the release was for that year, but this year, I was able to go back to Stranahan’s for the first Snowflake release in two years. Instead of being at the distillery, as it used to, this year’s release took place at the iconic Red Rocks Amphitheatre. I could go into the natural beauty of the spot, but words wouldn’t do it justice. Well, one word does:
Damn.
(I’ll be getting to the cocktail, I promise, more on Snowflake first.)
Seeing Red Rocks for the first time is a humbling experience. Then, when you pair it with delicious whiskey it becomes a whole new experience. Seeing that many people coming together to celebrate a special release is fun, and it is a nice reminder that sometimes all it takes to get along is a good drink.
This year featured two releases, Sunshine Peak (the 2020 release) and Mount Eolus. Sunshine Peak was finished in apple brandy (Calvados and Applejack) as well as Moscatel and Cabernet wine casks. Mount Eolus, on the other hand, was finished in rye, reposado tequila, extra añejo tequila, French oak, lightly peated whisky, and tawny port barrels. They are very different whiskeys that appeal to different palates.
I preferred the fresher, brighter Sunshine Peak over the richer, spicier Mount Eolus, but both have their place. I think of Sunshine Peak as a spring and summer whiskey while cooler fall days call for Mount Eolus. The unfortunate thing about Snowflakes, though, is that unless you are there that day, you ain’t getting any. The whiskeys sell out every year, and for good reason. I will, however, be savoring my bottles as long as possible.
Anyway, cocktail time. This drink features Stranahan’s Blue Peak, an American Single Malt that is aged in new American oak and Solera finished. (Solera being a fractional blending method, which results in a variety of ages being blended together.) I liked the mix of mellow single malt whiskey with tropical pineapple and just a bit of added heat from the cayenne. I couldn’t necessarily have more than one of these, but that’s what a rocks glass, a big ol’ cube, and straight whiskey are for.
Old Fashioned on Island Time
Ingredients:
2 oz Stranahan’s Blue Peak
.5 oz pineapple liqueur
.25 oz maple syrup
2 dashes chili bitters
Orange twist (discard)
Dried pineapple
Sprinkle of cayenne
Method: Stir Stranahan’s Blue peak, pineapple liqueur, maple syrup, chili bitters, and orange twist in a glass over a large ice cube. Garnish with dried pineapple and a sprinkle of cayenne.
You know what day it is, I know what day it is, anyone with a pulse knows what day it is. I’m going to take this time to talk about one of my favorite ways to relax: Artet aperitifs.
I was first introduced to Artet a year or two back in the form of their Original Aperitif. Made with chamomile, gentian, ginger, grapefruit, and more, the flavor is light and herbal with just the right amount of bitterness to echo an alcoholic aperitif. With 2.5 mg per pour (from the conveniently attached shot glass), it offers the perfect amount to build off of, depending on your tolerance. It hit fairly quickly (within 30 minutes), and lasted just enough time to relax, laugh a bit, then come back down to Earth and move on with my day.
The fact that it’s only 30 calories per serving also helps (especially when, like me, I was trying to lose weight at the time). There’s enough in one bottle to sustain oneself for a week or more — or, like I did, enjoy the bottle with friends. I was then, for a while, without any. It was gone too soon and while I did not weep, I was a little sad.
Artet came back into my life in the form of one of their newest releases, Tet and Tonic, a canned version of their Original chamomile-flavored aperitif with lemon (and quinine, hence the tonic). It came out about a year ago, but I finally got my grubby paws on some. The flavor is best described as a mix between lemonade and tonic (or a gin and tonic with a twist…with some chamomile tea). At 35 calories per 8-ounce can, you can’t beat the impact on your waistline (especially compared to most normal tonic water-based drinks, especially when it delivers 5 mg (and 5 mg CBD) per serving.
The feeling hits, again, pretty quickly, and it carries on for at least an hour, with the gentleness of a warm hug meets the excitement of watching your favorite sports team in the championship game. The size makes it a great dosage to be social without being comatose, to relax without falling asleep — something that, now in my 30s, is an option after a long day of partying (when alcohol is involved).
Tet and Tonic — and the other Artet beverages are a great option when you’re looking to move away from alcohol, but still need a little something to overcome social anxiety, a great thing when we’ve spent so long not truly interacting with people in the ways many of us grew up.
No long screeds about anything today. I was sent this cocktail from Catoctin Creek Distilling Company, located in Purcellville, VA, and they had me from Tajín. (Well, they had me before that, because I’m a fan of the distillery’s whiskeys, but the Tajín sealed it.)
Tajín, the spicy, citrusy Mexican spice blend that graces the rims of many, many Micheladas and other drinks (both sweet and savory), was invented in 1985, according to Kat Thompson, writing for Thrillist. It’s infinitely useful and I always have some in my house. Here the piquancy is heightened by the citric acid, which then bring out the lemon peel flavors in the whiskey. Pair these notes with the sweet orange flavors and the vanilla in the whiskey and you get a nice, incredibly bright (without being too tart) cocktail. It’s a reminder that summer is just over the horizon and we’ll soon be sweating our asses off (at least here in South Carolina). This one would work well, too, as a batched cocktail for Taco Tuesday or any other excuse you might have to drink with friends.
Take The Wheel
(Cocktail recipe courtesy Denise Petty, tasting room manager at Catoctin Creek Distilling Co., Purcellville, VA)
1.5 oz Catoctin Creek 92 Proof Roundstone Rye Whiskey
.25 oz Dry Curaçao
1 oz Bitter orange syrup
1 oz Fresh squeezed orange juice
1 oz Tajin infused sour water (citric acid)
Method: Stir, fine strain, and pour over fresh ice. Garnish with Tajin dusted orange rose.
This past weekend, I participated in the Ville to Ville Craft Brew Relay, a 72-mile run from Asheville, NC to Greenville, SC (Way to go Team Legends of the Drunken Temple). Two of my best friends from college were on the team, too, and my partner was our faithful driver (bless her for putting up with six stinky people for ~11 hours). Broken into 12 legs, I ran legs 4 and 12, 7.55 and 3.95 miles, respectively. At the end was a big party with music, food, and all the good stuff.
The night before, we kept it light, instead choosing to overindulge in pasta and bread and tuna steaks. As I was getting ready to meet up with the group, an idea dawned on me — bring some nonalcoholic beer. I had joked about carboloading, but the thought struck me that I could actually do as much with some NA beer without risking, you know, getting shit hammered and throwing up on the side of a random road in the mountains of North Carolina. Thankfully, I had gotten some Athletic Brewing Company beers back in January to try for Dry January which, while I made it 3 weeks into Jan, I never did try the ABC beers. This seemed like the perfect time.
I threw a six-pack of the Upside Dawn Golden Ale and the Run Wild IPA into our collective cooler and called it a night. Now, before this, I had mostly laughed off non-alcoholic beers. Not that I have anything wrong with NA options, but working in food and booze for years, I never wanted for beer, wine, or anything else. When I wanted to take a break from drinking, I’d just drink seltzer, if anything other than water, coffee, or tea. I had friends who had given up drinking for various lengths of time and had enjoyed NA beers, but the few times I had had them amounted to when I was a kid and would take St. Pauli Girl beers out of my parents’ basement fridge. I remember the cool, crisp taste and the bubbles. I liked the bubbles as a kid.
Now, though, with the ability to drink whatever I want, why would I bother drinking a beer without alcohol, I asked myself. Then, I ran 7.55 miles of straight hills in a light dusting of snow. My first leg was rated the second hardest of the 12, and well, yes. Yes it was. An initial big hill just led to what I thought of as a Limp Bizkit leg. It just kept rollin’, rollin’, rollin’.
Yes, I did make that joke.
My leg ended at a local Hendersonville Brewery, and I would’ve loved to sit with a beer (my next leg wasn’t for another six or seven hours), but we had to get to the next transition point. No beer for me.
On the way to the next stop, I grabbed a Golden out of the cooler and chugged it.
My god, it was everything I needed and wanted at that moment. Yes, one of my nipples was raw and dangerously close to bleeding. Yes, I smelled like what happens when you leave a boy’s locker room closed off without ventilation for a week. But its light and pretty balanced profile with just enough of a hop kick (it comes in at 15 IBU), was absolutely perfect. It was the definition of thirst-quenching. When I run, I sometimes envision air coming in through my mouth and nose and pervading every area of my body, a picture of a vascular system being pumped up with fresh oxygen. It helps me focus during a run. This beer did the same thing here. I felt its cool crispness pervading me. Attaching itself to my already tightening quads and calves. Replenishing my definitely empty stomach.
By the time we got to the next stop, and we were waiting for our runner to finish his leg, I cracked one of the IPAs — no NA beer left behind, after all. If it were warmer, the bright hoppiness would’ve been more appealing to me — I love a good, cold IPA on a hot summer day, especially here in South Carolina — but even though the temperature hadn’t yet broken 45 degrees, it was still enjoyable. I preferred the Golden, but my teammate preferred the IPA after his legs.
Sitting in a van for 10 hours, with some time running, gave me time to think about NA beers. While I probably won’t have them with regularity, I can honestly say I now see the value in them (outside of being able to offer someone who doesn’t drink an option beyond water, seltzer, or juice). I’m team Athletic Brewing now, and will definitely be packing more when we do Ville to Ville again next year, as we signed up as a team the next morning to do it again. It may have hurt at times, but we hurt together, and we did it (while also beating our estimated end time by 20 minutes).
Cough Athletic Brewing, want to sponsor us next year? Cough
Ah, made-up drinking holidays. I have a love/hate relationship with them. On one hand, bars usually have good specials for specific days, entreating imbibers to reap the rewards that Big [Insert style of alcoholic beverage here] have decided to create. On the other hand, there are so many of these holidays that practically every day is dedicated to some sort of drink. Hell, some spirits — whisk(e)y comes to mind — have multiple days (National Whiskey Day, International Whiskey Day, County-wide Drink Whiskey With Your Dog Day, etc). Regardless of how you feel about drinking holidays, they’re here to stay.
And here we are on another of these days, one of the O.G. ones as far as I can tell, National Beer Day. Straight, simple, to the point. We’re here for beer, just like beers been there for us.
(Cue the Friends theme.)
(Now do the clapping part.)
I’m not a huge fan of listicles — this comes from having to write at least one a week for almost five years — but in a case like this, I think it works. If it’s National Beer Day, I want to have a few different beers, not just one. With over 9,000 breweries as of 2021 in the US alone, it’d be a damn shame to only try one beer from one brewery.
But also, moderation, so I picked three beers that I’d be drinking today. I went with an easy drinker, a reinvented classic, and a new beer from a Charlotte brewery.
Firestone Walker Brewing Company’s 805 Cerveza
ABV: 4.5%
Style: Light lager with lime
This beer is exactly what you think it is. Easy drinking with a little kick of lime, it’s a porch pounder, a tailgate champion, a hiking and fishing companion. It’ll go where you go and keep you refreshed the whole time. It’s a beer you don’t have to think about in the best way. Replace the Bud Lite and Mich Ultra Limes in your pool cooler this summer with these. You won’t be disappointed. There’s not much more I can say. Firestone Walkermade a thirst-quenching, session beer. It’s proof that you don’t have to overcomplicate something to make it good.
Victory Brewing Company’s Berry Monkey
ABV: 9.5%
Style:Fruited Sour Tripel
By now, everyone should be familiar with Victory’s Golden Monkey. The Belgian-style tripel is widely available and has been for at least 14 years (I first found it at the lone craft beer shop in my small college town, when my roommate and I would pick beers based on the label). Golden Monkey is the #1 craft Belgian in the US, while Sour Monkey — another iteration of the beer — is the #1 craft Sour. (This information comes from the market research firm IRI, should you want to learn more.)
Berry Monkey takes what works so well with the other monkeys and makes it fruity. Real raspberries are added to the brew and deliver a sweetness to both the nose and body before the sour pucker kicks in. Sours are not really my thing, but I found Berry Monkey easier to drink than many others I’ve tried. I wouldn’t have more than two in a sitting, but for sour fans — or fans of big, strong beers — it’s worth a shot. If you’re not used to big Belgian beers, though, it’ll definitely catch up with you quick (like when you stand up). Just remember to have a glass of water nearby.
Sycamore Brewing’s Super Lemon Haze
ABV: 8.8%
Style:Double IPA with lemon
I used to spend a good deal of time in Charlotte, where Sycamore is based, and would therefore have access to a variety of the beers they produce. Now, living in South Carolina, I can still get some Sycamore beers on tap, but it’s usually limited to their Mountain Candy IPA (which is not a bad thing at all, I dig the beer).
Super Lemon Haze does everything its name indicates. It’s a big beer, and while you can definitely tell it’s a DIPA and packs a punch, it isn’t a chore to get through. The highlight is just how much lemon they were able to infuse into each and every atom of the beer. You get fresh lemon zest on the nose, bright and sharp lemon on the palate, and the tingle along your tongue of biting into a lemon as a finish. This massive flavor comes from a blend of lemon puree, dried lemon zest, and lemon-flavored hops. The beer reminds me of the sun coming through the windows in the morning and of highlighters on a blank white page. It’s the beer equivalent of the fresh feeling after using a tongue scraper.
(Note: As there will be with most of these recipe posts, scroll down to the bottom to ignore all the personal crap that only we as writers care about and everyone on the internet decries when looking for recipes. But… this is my site, so my personal crap stays.)
Flavored whiskeys have, historically, been always iffy for me. It may be the fact that my first experiences with them are the cheapest, sugary-est, bottom shelf-est iterations out there (because college), but so many quite literally have left a bad taste in my mouth over the years. When I was in grad school (Round 1, Montana), Fireball was new on the market and as a poor grad student — and this is not something I’m proud of — would buy it by the pint and mix it with Sprite or other sodas.
Remember, not proud of that. I liked the slogan “Tastes like heaven, burns like hell” and at that time in my life I wasn’t exactly picky with what I was drinking. (Read: I’d drink anything and copious amounts of it while telling myself it was to stave off a Montana winter when it was more just me not being in control of myself, but that’s for another essay at another time). Thankfully, once I left Montana, I’ve only had a few select experiences with Fireball since (one in which I lost a sandal walking home), but for the most part, have successfully avoided it. What I found time and again is, yes, a flavored whiskey should taste like the flavor it is purporting to be, but it should also taste like, you know, whiskey. Most do not.
Skip ahead, skip ahead, and now it feels like we’re seeing more and more flavored whiskey products hitting the market than I remember seeing before. Myriad flavors seem to occupy the shelves now, from standards like cinnamon or ginger to newer combinations, like peanut butter (okay, Skrewball and its competition aren’t that new anymore) and coffee. That’s how I was introduced to Kentucky Coffee.
Kentucky Coffee is a 33% ABV spirit made from “Kentucky Whiskey & Rich Coffee” and is produced in Bardstown, KY. A quick taste on its own gives off coffee on the nose and a hint of whiskey on the palate. The most prominent flavor I got was maple syrup, which I assume was in some way involved in the sweetening process. I proceeded to dump the rest of my pour into my coffee and it was great. The sweetness is nice with plain black coffee and not overwhelming. I’d only be able to have one — I’m usually a straight bourbon in my coffee kind of person — but for those that usually use sweetener or flavored creamer, this would be an admirable substitution.
Anyway, the cocktail.
Originally proposed as a shot, I did not want to do that, so I added a few ingredients to both make it a sipper and make it less sweet (added ingredients are italicized). I’m sure it’s lovely as-is, but as-is wasn’t for me in this case.
Roasted Toasted Coconut, Modified
1 oz Kentucky Coffee
.25 oz Amaretto
.25 oz Coconut Rum
2.5 oz Cold Brew Coffee
2-3 dashes Angostura bitters
Method: Add ingredients into a cocktail shaker. Add ice and shake. Strain into a glass, and garnish with a pinch of toasted coconut flakes.
On its own, the original would’ve been way too sweet for me, even as a shot. I wanted to make it more bitter and make it something that would be sippable instead of shootable. I thought about adding soda to disperse the sugars a little more, but decided against it in the long run.
When it comes to single-serve wine options, there aren’t that many readily available. You can either go the tasting route, where you’ll get enough to sample a few wines at a time, but never really get to dig into the wine, or you can go the juice box route, where the quality of the wine oftentimes is lacking. (Not saying all boxed/ juice boxed wine is lesser quality, but a quick scan of my local grocery store shelf leans towards masstige wines rather than high-quality producers.) This was the main issue behind the birth of Wander & Ivy.
Wander & Ivy, a woman- and disability-owned company offers up single-serve wines that cuts out the worry of not having enough as well as the quality issue. Instead of thinking about whether or not a bottle of wine is going to go bad before you get back to it again (not an issue in my house), the company has come out with a variety of single-serve, 6.3-ounce glass bottles.
The wines themselves are certified organic and sourced from vineyards around the world. The Red Blend, for example, is Spanish (55% Bobal, 45% Merlot), the Chardonnay is Californian (91% Chardonnay, 4% Muscat, 3% Viognier, 1% Roussanne, 1% Other), the Rosé (70% Grenache, 20% Cinsault, 10% Syrah) is from Southern France, etc. In addition to these three, Wander & Ivy launched with two others, a White Wine (Italy, Pinot Bianco) and a Cabernet Sauvignon (California).
The White Wine was the one I was most drawn to for its crispness. The descriptor mentions honeysuckle and that did indeed come through for me. I had it with a pan-seared grouper with butter and garlic and they went swimmingly together. Of the reds, I preferred the Cab, specifically the coffee notes intermingled with dark berries. I liked the Red Blend well enough and I appreciated the 9% of other grapes in the Chardonnay that gave added depth to the fruit notes and helped muted the butteriness (something I don’t particularly care for). I didn’t try the Rosé, though as a fan of the style, I’d like to think it was delicious and perfect for rosé-ing all day.
Mostly, though, I liked the portability of the bottles. For the ones that I didn’t pair with food, it was fun to be able to put one or two in a bag and have them ready and good to go on a picnic or for walking around the apartment complex (in a koozie, of course). Also, they are the perfect size for fitting a straw, if that’s how you drink your wine. Not saying I do (usually), but the option is there.
In terms of price, you’re looking at around $64 for 8 bottles (which, $8/glass for 6 ounces is a pretty good deal if you’re thinking about it in terms of what you’d pay at a restaurant) and $194 for a 24-pack. Of the sale price, 1% is donated to charities that deliver healthy food to those in need.
Ready-to-drinks are everywhere and for good reason. Gone are the days (read: the things I remember my parents drinking when I was a kid) when the only RTDs were super-saccharine iterations of tropical drinks. I vividly remember a constant stash of both the Mudslide and Orange Dreamsicle premade drinks from TGI Fridays as well as the Jack Daniel’s Jack and Cokes. I’m sure there were others, but this isn’t about those.
Now, there are RTDs from countless brands covering just about every type of drink you can think of. Not all RTDs are created equal, of course, but that’s fine too. Different strokes. As I’ve started going to more events and finding myself not wanting to chug tallboys of cheap beer, I’ve been looking to what other options are out there. For sporting events, especially tailgating, I’ve been turning to the likes of premade Bloody Marys or other easier drinking cocktails in cans. (The fact that my local ice hockey team serves up Cutwater Spirits RTDs makes me quite happy.)
But, in different circumstances, I’ve been looking for something different. I’ve been looking for something that packs even more of a punch yet is also more convenient. That’s where Golden Rule Spirits’ new drinks come into play.
Created in San Francisco GRS produces two RTDs, Margarita and Old Fashioned, in 100mL (~3.4oz) cans. Where these batch cocktails stick out, though, is their potency. The margarita (54 proof) and the Old Fashioned (79 proof) are much higher than many other RTDs out there. (Off the top of my head, the only one that is higher is Slow & Low’s Rock & Rye Whiskey at 84 proof.)
The flavors are solid, with the Margarita being sweet but not cloying with just the right amount of citrus. It’s great over a rock but was also good right out of the fridge. The Old Fashioned is smooth with subtle orange and honey notes with enough of a bourbon kick that reminds you what you’re drinking.
The size, though, is really my favorite part of it. They’re perfect for hiking, as they barely took up space in my daypack and offered enough of a punch to make sitting by the lake at the top of the trail quite relaxing. I wouldn’t necessarily take these tailgating — I’d drink them too quickly and end up passed out in a lawn chair — but for when I only need one and maybe a little bit of a buzz, it’s perfect.
I look forward to seeing, hopefully, more expressions from Golden Rule in the future.
