"Yeah, let me have a large Chantico please."
"Venti?"
"Big. Biggest you have."
-silence- "...well, it comes in these six-ounce cups..."
"Okay, then why did you ask if I wanted that word that I won't deign to repeat if it's not available in the first place?"
"...sir?"
"Gimme. And shut up."
Yes, I'm like that until I've had my coffee or other stimulant. If I had a bowel disruptor, it'd be on steaming rectal volcano and some son of a bitch would pay.
So anyhow, Chantico. This is how chocolate was supposed to be drunk, originally. This is how you get chocolate if you wander into a small stube in Wien and ask for it. The only problem is that this is the United States, and the franchise ghetto to boot. So, of course, there's enough sugar in this concoction to stun a pre-teen child who is terminally addicted to Twinkies. I really think this could be tasty if they just yanked like 4/5 of the sugar out of it and maybe added some alcohol. Okay, I'd be willing to add the booze myself. But for God's sake, the sugar, man. Get fucking rid of it. Like, now. I could run Hershey PA for a day at least on one six-ounce cup of this stuff. It's like one of the M&M Guys had diarrhea into my goddamn cup.
If you are looking for a very bold, smooth, and malty tea, this may be the one for you.
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The Montanero (I cannot produce the corrent ligature, my apologies) is available from Izzy's Sub Shop. If you don't know where that is, my condolences. It consists of a lunch plate, for $8.50, which comes with all manner of yum, most of it VERY BAD FOR YOU: Beefsteak w/onions, twice-fried pork, sweet plantains, rice and beans and a fried egg on top (just to cap the spectacle).
Carbolestorolafatty goodness.
With a scent of plum and smoke, this wine is a velvety purple. The taste is similarly of plum, with the smoke coming to the foreground. It's very smooth. The finish is almost a little bitter.
]]>It's a pity the only ice wine we tried was from the Hamptons, at Duck Walk Vineyards, but it was still quite nice.
It had an extremely rich, green apple nose. I also detected a little pear. The main flavors are apricot and honey, though there's a little apple in the finish. Is was quite sweet - a great dessert wine.
]]>All were excellent, but I wasn't taking notes, and I only remember a word or two to describe each.
Dry Riesling 2003. Lots of citrus, particularly in the finish. Primarily lime.
Johannesberg Riesling. Primarily lemon, more in the full flavor than just the finish.
Late Harvest Riesling 2002. Honey and orange, but mostly honey. It has an almost syrupy consistency when compared with the other two. Did I mention honey?
Our trip to the Finger Lakes wine region was very successful - there are definitely some excellent wines being produced in the area. I'm going to head over to Marty's shortly to see what New York wineries they stock.
]]>Here are a few short notes. The links are to the closest matching year on their Wine Facts page:
Dr. Frank's 2002 Chardonnay. Very oaky and dry.
Salmon Run 2002 Chardonnay. Sweeter than the Dr. Frank Chardonnay, not overly oaky. Apples and pears.
Salmon Run 2003 Riesling. Fruity aroma and flavor. Sour notes at the back of the throat, but it's not unpleasant.
Dr. Frank's 2003 Johannesberg Riesling "Semi-dry". Rich, sweet. Nice dessert wine.
Salmon Run Coho Red. Thin and fruity - this is a great table wine. It was highly recommended by our helpful tasting guide as a cooking wine.
Dr. Frank's 2001 Pinot Noir. Light flavor, floral but not overly sweet. Well-layered.
Salmon Run 2002 Meritage. Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot. It's aged in French oak barrels, and tastes peppery. Nice.
Dr. Frank's 2002 Cabernet Franc. Nice, tastes of apple.
Dr. Frank's 2001 Merlot. Very fruity, dry.
Dr. Frank's 2003 Riesling "Dry". Great! Tart, tastes like grapefruit. We left with two bottles of this one.
Dr. Frank's 2002 Pinot Gris. Light in flavor. That's all my notes say. What a waste of ink.
Dr. Frank's 2002 Cabernet Sauvignon. Very tannic. Dry dry dry! Lots of plum, tobacco.
The Dr. Frank branded wines are from grapes grown on-site. Salmon Run is their newer, more inexpensive brand blending grapes from other vineyards.
All their wines were nice, and I can recommend them. The notes were primarily to help me differentiate between them, and I'm sorry I don't have more detail.
]]>Disclaimer: I have heard that Wine Spectator gave this wine an impressive 94 rating, and unfortunately for the review I knew this a priori. It would be hard not to enjoy this bad boy, though.
]]>A second infusion is also nice, just a slightly weaker version of the first.
This short review belies the excellence of this tea. I like it a lot, and will definitely be keeping it around for daily drinking.
]]>It's nice to have a tea that isn't so refined as to lose its bite in favor of smoothness or sweetness.
The color is a very pale green. It has a crispness on the tongue and a full vegetable aroma that hits right at the bridge of the nose. Unfortunately it loses its punch early - a second infusion is very weak. It has a crispness on the tongue and a full vegetable aroma that hits right at the bridge of the nose.
This is a great tea for daily drinking.
]]>It's a full, round flavoured tea, and is probably the closest thing at Imperial to the Tealuxe Jade Oolong I was trying to replace in the first place.
The second infusion is similar. There's a little less bite, but the flavour still holds up well. Same with a third - less bite, still less flavour, but it remains a good cup of tea. It retains a surprising amount of colour for a third infusion.
]]>I think it's too sweet for me to drink daily. Maybe a longer infusion would balance that out a bit.
It gets sweeter on further infusions. You can get at least two out of this tea, probably three.
]]>The second infusion is rounder and sweeter. I think I'd like something with a little more bitterness for daily drinking, but this is an excellent green oolong.
This tea produced three infusions.
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