More Mike's Hard Lemonade

Mike's Hard Lemonade Revisited.
Hi there. The last time I was on here I shared some interesting info regarding Mike's Hard Lemonade.
Well since the last time I was on here I found out some more interesting things about Mike's.

We had a bonfire for the 4th of July. Had it not down poured the majority of the evening, it would have been a total blast. Instead we all had a really good time.

I had planned on having a signature special drink like I usually have at our parties. However the time just got away from me so when my husband was doing the liquor run and asked what I wanted? I said heck with it just get some Mike's.

When he returned from the liquor store, he had the "Mix" pack and a Mike's Hard "Punch". The Hard Punch was Pomegranate flavored and a little stronger than the Lemonade, Hence the "Punch".
It was tasty, I could not resist pouring it over ice and "Fortifying" it with a little Sobiesky Vodka.

Last night while attending the 69th annual Pikes Peak or Bust Rodeo in Colorado Springs,Co. I came across Mike-Aritas . These were a really good substitute for margaritas.
Along with the good drinks, we ( my husband, brother in law and sister in law) also had a really fun time watching the rodeo events especially the Wild Cow Milking.

The next day while at my favorite liquor store, I noticed that Mike's also has a beverage that comes in cans and happens to be 8 percent alcohol. This is called Mike's Harder Lemonade and comes in regular and raspberry.

They also had a Mike's Mango punch, I think that I would like to try that one. It sounds kind of refreshing.

I went on Mike's Website and found a complete line that boggled my mind.
The assortment of flavors was unbelievable and will appeal to many different tastes especially during the hot summer months.

A few of Mike's Hard Lemonade line include the following;
Screwdriver, Lemondrop, Mojito, Crantini, Pomegranate Martini and even Mike's Hard Tea and Hard Tea Light.

Cheers to you!

Rebekah

How Rebekah does Mike's Hard Lemonade

Mike's Hard Lemonade, The adventure begins:
Hi There,Sorry that I have not posted in a while, Things have been a bit "LOCO".
At the end of May I mentioned that I had been to a graduation party and had tried a Mike's hard Lemonade.I thought that it was pretty tasty.
The bottles were kept icy cold in a freezing cold bucket of ice water. That was a Godsend since it had been one of our warmest days to date.
The temperature was creeping up around 90 degrees.
That means "CALIENTE" (Very Hot) during the month of May here in the plains of Southern Colorado. ( we still experience cold spells and even snow in May. )
The very next day we went to my brother in law and sister in laws for the first of the season pool party.
I told my husband let's get some Mike's. My husband prefers the ease of the drive up liquor store.
So we went to his favorite liquor store.When we ordered the "Party Pack" they explained that they had sold out the previous day. I had my heart set on Mikes. Not to worry.
Since the party pack is a mix of 12 any way, I just ordered 1 each of the Lime, The original Lemonade, a Raspberry and a Pomegranate. Boy were we surprised. I thought that they came in 4 packs. Noooo! they come in 6 packs and are 11.7 ounces kind of like beer bottles. Needless to say, 3 weeks later, we still have some on hand!

AnyHoo..The original is quite good if served on ice or as cold as you can possibly get it.

I actually favor the lime because when I drink lemonade, I prefer it on on the tart side and the original has no tang. The raspberry is good. It's just about what you would expect if you are used to drinking raspberry flavored coolers.
The Pomegranate is a nice surprise. It's quite tasty and definitely unique.The pomegranate has a bit of tart to tease you..

I decided to play with the original. I found that if you pour it over Ice it tastes something like Fresca or Squirt. If you add a good squeeze of lemon ( about a 1/4th of one) It gives it that good lemony lemonade flavor. Next I put just over a cup of ice in my blender, added about a 1/2 of a bottle of original to the ice and hit blend. Hmm, it was different, kind of like drinking a watered down margarita.
I was on a mission. So I added a good squeeze of lemon and hit blend.
Much better, it tasted like a frozen lemonade now. hmm, it still needed something,

Ahah.. I reached for my last little bit of Ciroc Vodka. All I had left in my bottle was about a shot, but that was enough. OOlala it tastes like frozen lemonade. The perfect drink for hanging around the pool all day. Or lounging around the yard on a warm evening with a bowl of spicy guacamole and warmed corn chips. I have a feeling that if you do not care for Vodka, Rum or Tequila will do nicely as well.

I get bored easily, I thought that I had discovered a good thing making a Mike's hard lemonade slushy with a twist and a shot but I could not stop myself. I took the remaining frozen mix and added frozen strawberries in syrup. You know, the kind that top french toast with or can use to make strawberry shortcake. Now we're talking after I blended the strawberries in the mix. I squeezed a wedge of lime.
Wow it tasted almost like a frozen strawberry Daiquiri. I realized that I left about a shot of original Mikes in the bottle, so instead of blending it back in. I just poured it in my glass wow it made it better cause the blender kind of zaps the carbonation, so by floating a about a shot over your drink will give you extra zip in your drink.

Strawberry Mikes:
add about 3 cups of ice, a bottle of Mike's Hard Lemonade, 2 Shots of your favorite " white " liquor. I prefer Ciroc Vodka for this particular drink, juice of 1/2 of each lemon and lime. 1/2 a cup of frozen sweetened strawberries( in sugar syrup) Blend until slushy and serve in your favorite pool side glass. If you like fizz float a shot of Mike's hard lemonade in you glass and stir.
Garnish with a slice of lemon or lime and a sprig of mint if you want to be fancy.
Cheers to you, Let me know how you liked it.
Rebekah

Little Black Dress Wine

Little Black Dress Wine and a Good Time.
Okay girl, it’s Saturday night, date night and time to reach for the little black dress.
Instead of heading to the closet, you head to the fridge. Yes that’s right, the fridge. I’m now holding a cold bottle of Pinot Grigio in one hand and in the other a corkscrew and a large goblet.
If you haven’t guessed by now, Little Black Dress Wine is a very cleverly named wine.
I’m still trying to figure out who makes it. To refresh your memory, about a week ago I got a phone call from my friend Brandy, in which I described her as “almost” frenetic. Just an FYI, I only did that so I could use the word frenetic. Sorry Brandy, I just could not resist. Anyhoo-
She was not sure about this wine as it was the first time she had seen it. So she called me as I am a self proclaimed expert on food and drink. Especially drink. I love to taste and experiment.

We ( My husbands brothers and wives) celebrate often. You name it we celebrate it. In fact the last “celebration” we had at our house, was because we had chopped down a tree early in January and It was finally ready to burn in April. So we had a bonfire party. This was held the week before my sister in laws annual Easter Beer Hunt Party.I drive one of my sister in laws nuts, cause she likes to have everyone’s favorite drink on hand whenever we socialize. What frustrates her is that she never knows what I’ll be drinking. Sorry Tish, I love experimenting and I drink with my mood.

I digress. Back to Little Black Dress Wine. When I got home from the liquor store, I put LBD in the freezer. It got a really good chill on it by the time I got around to tasting it.
I poured a little in my wine glass, swirled it, tasted it. Wow, I thought that it was good. It was not real tart and it is definitely not a sweet wine. You can taste a hint of fruit. It’s crisp. This is a very good wine especially for the price. This is a womens wine. It is a perfect gift, because of it’s catchy name. This is the kind of wine that a guy should give a gal.This a classy wine that makes you feel sophisticated.Little Black Dress wine is ideal for sipping on the patio,indulging in a tub or to grab a bottle for girls night out.
If you know how to pair wines with food, this is a perfect pairing wine.

Back to Brandy. She did not care for LBD. She thought that it was bad. Well I like Pinot Grigio, I like drinking it and I especially like saying the name. She likes Zinfandel. I'm getting bored with Zin. She and I have kind of the same tastes as far as drinks go. So I decided to test a theory that I had.
After my initial taste that I thought was real good, I let my wine set for about 20 minutes. Until It barely had a chill to it. Then I took a drink and HAAAA! It tasted Baaad! In my opinion of course.
I have come to the conclusion that this wine has to be served cold . I believe that perhaps it should even be decanted for optimal taste. This a very good wine when served chilled and allowed to breathe.

I read some reviews from the Little Black Dress Wine website and one wine critic said pretty much the same thing that I did.Tonight before I wrote this review.I decided to test my theory again.I pulled the re corked bottle from where I stuck it in the coldest part of my fridge, poured a little in my large glass. It was excellent!Chilled is best.
I will see if I can share a glass soon with Brandy and update you on the results. Goodnight and Cheers to you!
Rebekah
P.S
Little Black Dress Wine comes in other varieties if Pinot Grigio is not for you. They make a Pinot Noir, Merlot, Chardonnay, and a Cabarnet. Look for more on these other fine labels.

Beringer's White Zinfandel 2007 California Collection

I went to a graduation party today. It was a hot muggy day here in Pueblo Co The temperature was in the 100’s. So when I was offered an Ice cold (literally) Mike’s hard lemonade that was submerged in a steel tub of ice I greedily accepted it, Wow it was good. It has been many years since I drank a Mike’s Hard lemonade. The flavor that I drank was the original. I noticed that it now came in other flavors such as, raspberry, a pomegranate and a lite.
What a refreshing drink, next time you’re sitting outside on a hot day reach for a Mike’s Hard lemonade. We will be poolside tomorrow and you can bet that I will have some of that by my side. I’m thinking of putting it in a blender with some Ice and to see how that turns out. I’ll be letting you know how refreshing it is.
A few hours after the party I drove to my favorite liquor store in search of Beringers 2007 California collection White Zinfandel and Little Black Dress. While I was in the store I saw a bottle of White Merlot. I’m not crazy about red wines so I thought hmm a white merlot might be good. I will let you know as soon as I can how that one tastes.
Researching he “California Collection” I Found That it is part of a tier that was launched in 2008,which includes White Zinfandel, Pinot Grigio, White Merlot and Chenin Blanc. This tier also includes Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot.
The grapes for the Beringer California Collection Chardonnay areonly harvested from the premium vineyards throughout California.

The Zin was chilled when I bought it and the Little Black dress came strait off the shelf. It was about 40 minutes before I got around to drinking these wines. So when I got home the first thing that I did with the LBD was stick it in the freezer, then I poured myself a glass of Zin.
I read a little bit about breathing, what I found out was a lot of people are under the misconception that all you have to do is open a bottle and set it out for a few minutes and that will be ok. That’s not entirely true. What I have read on the matter, states that not only does your wine need room to breathe properly, but it needs to breathe in a calm peaceful environment. WOW! Not in my house. Also, according to experts, it’s mostly red wines that need to breathe or young wines. This has turned into a fascinating topic that I plan on delving into a little deeper.
I poured myself a glass of the White Zin, took a sip, The flavor was somewhat tart, it was not as cool and crisp as when I had it at Brandy’s the other night. So I thought that I would test a theory.
I let my glass of wine set on the counter for about 20 minutes, I swirled it a bit to release more of the flavors before setting it down.
After the 20 minutes was up I tasted the wine and it did not taste as tart, in fact I could taste a little of the fruitiness. I swirled some more and set the glass in the freezer this time to give it a good chill.
What a difference the chill made, it had a fruitier flavor and was crisper and not as tart. I enjoyed the chilled wine much better than the just barely cold wine.
In my opinion, this is a good social wine. A wine that you can knock a couple of glasses back with a friend. It’s actually quite delicious and a pleasant surprise for the price. I also consider it a good backup wine. It’s real good to have on hand for an occasion, all thought it’s not the must have got to have, impress your friends wine. You can’t go wrong for the price.
But that’s just my opinion.
Cheers to you!
Rebekah

Little Black Dress Wine: The discovery

Little Black Dress Wine: The discovery.
Booze N’ Buddies started with a phone call from my friend Brandy. I can jokingly refer to her as my Booze Buddy. You’ll be hearing more on that topic as the blog grows.

I got a call from Brandy while she was at our favorite liquor store. It was kind of funny because she almost sounded frenetic. She will probably be mad when she sees this. Sorry Brandy.
She asked if I ever had little black dress. I’m like huh? What do you mean? The wine she answered. They make a wine called little black dress?

I like to try wines that have fun names. How cool I answered. I wonder what it tastes like? Silly me, Hence the phone call. Well? Hmm my memory begins to kick in. I’ve had Pink Truck Wine and it was good remember you had some too. We also had Red Truck Wine.
Pink truck good. Red truck bad, in our opinion anyway.

I don’t like sweet wine she says. I’m like refresh my memory what do you consider sweet. Cause I can never remember exactly how to tell sweet from dry.
Brandy begins reading the bottle - It’s a Pinot Grigio. I like Pinot Grigio I said. I’ve had it a couple of times over the last few months and have enjoyed it every time. Plus you sound so sophisticated when you order it. I assured her that she would probabIy enjoy it. So I wished her luck with her endeavor told her to enjoy her wine and said goodbye.

I read once that when a person first starts drinking wine, they prefer the sweet ones until they can “ appreciate” a good dry wine. I had always thought that Zinfandel was sweet but was never quite sure. So I began researching and I found that Zinfandel is a Lightly Sweet Wine and Pinot Grigio is a dry wine.
I texed Brandy a couple of days later and asked her what happened with her wine night. (she invited me to share, but family commitments kept me away)
She bit the bullet and bought Little Black Dress Wine. Pinot Grigio.
OKAY??? I asked her how was it? Ugg! that is a direct quote too.
Was it the Little Black Dress Wine? or was it the Pinot Grigio I asked. Probably both she said. But I drank it anyway cause it was hot out and she was doing yard work.She said it had "the taste " Like kerosene I asked yes like kerosene.I felt so bad cause I’m the one who told her that I thought Pinot Grigio was good.
I explained my thoughts if the wine is chilled really well it takes the sharp taste away and she agreed with that as well.
We talked about having to add an ice cube to a glass of wine to tone down the sharp taste. That’s when we decided that we should definitely start a wine tasting club.

The next day when I went to pickup my son who was playing at Brandy’s with her kids, She offered me a glass of wine. What the heck I said this can be the first meeting of our wine tasting. As it turns out the same night that she bought Little Black Dress Wine, Brandy bought a bottle her old faithful tried and true White Zinfandel By Beringers.
We began discussing the merits of breathing and chilling. I took a sip of the chilled wine wow it was tasty. It was very crisp and I thought somewhat sweet and just a tad fruity.
I remembered why I used to like White Zin. Brandy said that she did let the wine breathe for a little bit.
She noticed that this Zin was different, It’s a 2007 from the California collection. I’ll be checking that out for sure. Brandy was happy to have a “ good” glass of wine again. My curiosity is definitely peaked now. I’m curious about Little Black Dress Wine, Beringers California Collection, sweet VS. dry and Breathing. I’ll have the answers in my next Blog
Cheers to you!
Rebekah

Welcome to Booze N' Buddies

This blog was created When a friend and I were talking about starting a weekly or Bi-weekly wine tasting club. We are neophytes as far as wine is concerned. We thought with summer around he corner, this would be a nice way to pass a nice summer evening. However, with summer around the corner, we realized that it was almost impossible to find a mutual evening that worked for both of us. If this was nearly impossible with just two of us, what would happen with 6 or 8 of us trying to get together. I was determined that our Idea was going to work. We were going to learn about wine and other spirits. We were going to enjoy sipping a beverage on cool summer night. And that my friend was how this blog was born. Cheers to you - Rebekah