Feb 27 2015

Ready for Metakitchen?

“And now for something completely different…” Except, in this case, it’s not completely different.

Metasip is certainly a fun site to work on, and it’s been a real blast building community around this concept – which we’ve described to stakeholders as “like Yelp, but for alcohol.” And we’re not going anywhere for awhile: we’re still building a network of bloggers and reviewers and even just people who will tag us on Instagram when they drink something. That’s fun. But it’s the starting line, and this is more like the decathlon to us. So we’re talking about a brand extension and we’re asking you, gentle reader: are you ready for Metakitchen?

What we’ve learned so far – both leading up to this week and after the site went live on Wednesday – is that there’s a need for the independent food and wine blogger to have access to brands. Not just the big brands, but the up-and-comers as well. (In fact, MORESO for the up-and-comers.)

We’ve seen it in the beer, wine, and spirits world, and, for example, this week’s meme about the Top 20 US Beers by sales volume really got us wondering. Not because we’re wondering what’s wrong with America, but because we want to help brands 21 through 21,000. (To quote one of my mantras for the year: “Chef don’t judge.” I believe that’s from Chef Boyardee.)

For now, here’s what you need to know: Metakitchen is a hub for food and beverage bloggers, you can connect with us on Facebook, and we’re happy to have dialogue with you – here at Metasip or over at Metakitchen – about how we can help you.

Ready for Metakitchen?

Thought so. Glad to have you aboard.

Feb 14 2015

Quick Takes: Wine Bee

Hey, we’re back with another Quick Take – in this one, we introduce you to Wine Bee, a unique site that takes you all around Italy – twenty wine regions covered by their buyers – to . As with all the Quick Takes so far, this is an Affiliate Link, which means if you take advantage of a deal by clicking on this link, we’ll be compensated. But if we get compensated, we can keep bringing these Metasip reviews to you. And other cool stuff. Time for you to meet Wine Bee!

Quick Take: Wine Bee

WineBee.com is the link, and what we noticed first about the site is the imagery. I love wine, but, to quote Liz Lemon, “I want to go to there.”

But back to wine for a second or two…

Yum. This guy over here looks like a steal at $16.40 per bottle. I think I want two.

NOTES on this wine: “The grapes used for this Veneto region wine mature late and it is necessary for there to be a good climate at the end of the season to realize the potential of these grapes. When this happens we have one of the most distinguished wines in the Italian panorama: not too deep in color but with an intense bouquet, nuances of cherries and marasca. On the palate it has a persistent peppery, spicy character.

“To ensure these characteristics the grapes are, after destalking and pressing, fermented for 72 hours at 280C then the temperature is lowered to 220C up to the end of the fermentation, to avoid over extraction of tannins. The average maceration is 10 days followed by the malolactic fermentation. The wine is kept for 3 months in stainless steel vats.”

This is one of the…well, it looked like HUNDREDS of wines on the WineBee.com site.

Give it a try, you may like what you taste over there.

Big Asterisk Here: only a few states are on their list – “We provide shipments to the following states: California, Alaska, District of Columbia, Idaho, Louisiana, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, West Virginia and Wyoming.”

See you next time for another Quick Take.

Feb 12 2015

SIA Scotch Whisky

We write, we do videos. Choose either or both. We aim to please. As for this whisky…I guess it aims to please, too!

I remember the glee when I got the email from the SIA brand manager. “Can we send you a bottle to review?” Well, yee-ha! Of course, brand manager for SIA Scotch Whisky, you can send me a bottle to review, I’d be happy to review it! (This serves as one of many requisite disclosures that I received a bottle, at no cost to me, and that was what was reviewed.)

[BTW, if you’d rather just see the video, here it is:]

What they sent me wasn’t this flask (pictured, Left) – in fact, the thing they sent me (which you’ll see if you watch the video) is closer to something you might have used in Chemistry class. Just the right amount for me to sample.

Anyway, let’s find out if this is any good…to the review machine!

SIA Scotch Whisky Review

First thing I noticed in the marketing materials? “Winner: Double Gold, San Francisco World Spirits Competition, 2014.” So I’ll go out on a limb and say this stuff has to be pretty top-notch, right? And, really, why would they spend their time sending some to little ol’ me?

Let’s break it down, though, comparing their marketing notes to my own tasting:

Taste:

They said “The color of clover honey, SIA awakens the nose with citrus and spice and opens the palate with the smokey vanilla crunch of a creme brulee.” Me: I didn’t really get the citrus and spice on the nose, but the vanilla, caramel, creme brulee smell and taste were both there. I liked it – as I said in the video (and they also said in their materials) “not overpowering.”

Profile:

“An ultra-premium blend with a high malt to grain ratio (40/60%). Regional breakdown is Speyside (50%), Highlands (40%) and Islay (10%).”

ABV of 43% – it’s 86 Proof.

Value:

You can buy a 750ml bottle over at Ezra’s for $50. It’s a good value, we think – you’re not going to be knocking it back over a weekend, right?

Metasip Grade: A-

We tasted it in the video and graded it A-; we would have changed that, honestly, if the price was a lot higher. But at $50, that does sound like a value.

Feb 04 2015

Mr. Katz Rock and Rye

Spirits Guy Bill Mayeroff returns! Check this particular combo out in his latest review.

Rye whiskey is an old school drink. According to Serious Eats, it was first brewed in colonial America in what became the eastern United States. George Washington even made rye at his Mount Vernon estate. [Editor’s Note: Not sure if there was a Mr. Katz in the White House and whether he was the one who brought the rock candy.]

These days, it doesn’t seem like we think about rye much. Sure, bars may have a bottle or two of Templeton’s on the shelf, but that’s about it. And we don’t drink it even if it’s there. Well, most don’t. I usually have a bottle of rye at home, but even I don’t drink it often.

So when I got a press release from the Brooklyn-based New York Distilling Company saying they had created a rock-and-rye – a mix of rye whiskey and rock candy sugar – I had to ask if they’d send me a bottle to review. I never thought for a second they’d do it, but lo and behold, a couple weeks later, a bottle appeared on my doorstep.

DISCLAIMER: I did not pay for the bottle of rock-and-rye I am about to review.

Mr. Katz Rock and Rye Review

Though I’d had rye whiskey before, I’d never had rock-and-rye before trying Mr. Katz’s Rock and Rye. I wasn’t sure what to expect. I mean, come on. Rye whiskey with rock candy sugar? I don’t know. I’m not a fan of sweet booze. So I was worried that it would be too sweet.

Turns out I had nothing to worry about.

The first thing that I noticed about it was the gorgeous caramel color. It’s deeper and richer than most ryes; very pleasant to look at. Opening the bottle and pouring a bit into a rocks glass, you get a strong smell of alcohol and spice. It’s almost overwhelming. Almost.

Take a sip and you get a sugary sweetness that lingers on the tongue. It’s sweet, but not cloying. The alcohol scent and cinnamon spiciness cuts through and tempers the sweetness just enough. It goes down smooth with a slight burn at first, but as you drink more, that burn evens out into a very pleasant warmth in your throat and esophagus. It’s a good winter sipper when consumed straight, though it would do well in cocktails over ice no matter what time of year you drink it.

The description on the bottle says the spirit contains hints of citrus, sour cherry and cinnamon. You can definitely taste the cinnamon, but I didn’t notice any citrus and only a very slight cherry scent.

The biggest problem with Mr. Katz’s Rock and Rye? You can’t get it in Chicago. At least it doesn’t seem like it. The New York Distilling website lists shops in New York where you can get it and a few of them will even take online orders. But shipping booze across state lines is a legal mess and not many shops will do it.

The moral of this story is this: Get yourself some Mr. Katz’s Rock and Rye if you can. And if you do, tell me where you got it.

Metasip Grade: B+

Feb 02 2015

Not Your Fathers Root Beer

Whoa. Like, I think I found my new favorite…what IS this stuff, anyway?

It’s clever, this “Not Your Father’s Root Beer,” which we sampled for the first time yesterday – though, to be honest, it wasn’t the first time we had a “spiked” root beer, having sampled some last summer at a place called the Courthouse Pub in Manitowoc, Wisconsin. This stuff, BTW, is from Wisconsin, too – Small Town Brewery, LaCrosse, WI, – and it’s cool to see some things coming from the Dairy State that do not have the name New Glarus attached to them. (No offense.) Finally, we know that we have “Fathers” in the title without an apostrophe, and we did that for SEO purposes, so…well, it’s our website.

To the review!

Not Your Fathers Root Beer Review

Before we get into the whole “Taste,” “Profile,” “Value” thing, I need to address something. I gave up soda almost five years ago. You can learn more about that quest over at the 10KaYear blog. I want to tell you – er, rationalize – why this isn’t cheating, with these two reasons: (1) This particular “Root Beer” is not soda – I consider soda to be stuff like Coke and Pepsi, the traditional sugar water that is really bad for you. In fact, the bottle itself says “Ale.” Let’s go with it. (2) This was research. Just like I would have tonic water in a Vodka Tonic for tasting, or I would cave and have a splash of soda, or a Coke in Jim Beam and Coke or Rum and Coke, it’s part of the job.

Taste

Where this got me – really GOT me – was its non-traditional root-beer-y-ness. That is not a word, and I don’t care. It tasted like root beer at first, but wasn’t all foamy and frothy. Didn’t seem all that carbonated, either. The kicker was, well, the kicker – almost had a Jaegermeister feel on the finish. Not clean, bordering on medicinal. But oh, so good. Yes, I felt like I was drinking root beer – but from the stand root beer, not that crap from the can.

Profile

ABV of 5.9% – but there are limited editions with up to 19.5% alcohol. (Wait, WHAT?) Officially, according to the website, “Ale with the taste of spices.” Amazingly, oddly, puzzlingly…only available in draft in Illinois.

Value

$10.99 for a six pack has the potential to lower the overall Metasip Grade for this brew. At almost two bucks per bottle, it had better be darn close to amazing to get an “A.”

Metasip Grade: A.

I’m telling you, this is one of the most outstanding beers of any variety we have had anywhere. That good. Highly, highly recommended. Our highest rating. We can’t stop talking about how great this stuff is.