DRINK (43 Drinks)

I am a Jimmy Buffett fan… I am not a full fledged parrot head, I guess…. I mean, sure, I own all the CD’s… I love going to the concerts…. I know all the songs by heart….I love to visit Jimmy’s businesses…. but that is where it stops…BUT….I am not so “into” Buffett that I lap up whatever he produces or puts out…..

Such is the case with Land Shark Lager….

I eagerly tried it when it first came out…. my review:

I find it to be acceptable…. okay, in every way….

Still….I never ask for it by name… now that I have tasted it… I know that it is there….I have friends that drink nothing but…. good for them…I will stick to my current list of half a dozen domestics and imports that I drink interchangeably at home…. while venturing into foreign ales when I am away from home….

You can have your Land Shark, ladies and gentlemen….

I don’t usually taste the various pre-bottled concoctions, beyond beer and wine….

Recently, I sampled some Bacardi Silver... and liked it very much….

P.S. The photo is a parody ad by Andrew Nolan – he cracks me up!

There are several different varieties…... Big Red is more or less a national (international?) brand…..

It’s not merely cream soda…. it’s more than carbonated red Kool-Aid…. it’s very bubbly….. and very red-tasting…..

that’s the best I can describe it…. sorry… I know that isn’t the best description….

GUMP TIP (for subscribers only).... Big Red is best enjoyed in the old fashioned 16 or 12 or 8 Ounce GLASS Pop Bottle….

I love the golden, naturally sweet (never bitter), less than liquidy, slightly opaque juice from God’s most delicious fruit…..

I try to have some on hand all the time…. Even submitted a cocktail to Mr. Bostons….. Parrot Bay and Pineapple Juice…. I want them to call it a “Tampa Bay”

I invented my own Frappuccino…. well, I say that with full knowledge that someone, somewhere, has probably tried this combination before….. in my case… I’ve added it to the menu at our coffee shops….

instead of the standard StarBucks fare that begins with a splash of coffee…. I start with a shot and half of espresso…. I don’t like the taste of coffee… but I love the caffiene kick….

To espresso… I add a shot of Caramel syrup…. and three quarters shot of coconut…. followed with a squirt of White Chocolate and two squirts of dark chocolate….. Blend with ice…. pour into cup…. top with whipped cream and caramel sundae topping dribbled over the whole thing…..

Mmmmm. Mmmmm.

The many flavors blend together to mask the coffee taste…. and they create a sort of tropical delight with a hint of expensive chocolate liquer…..

Top notch….

I am big on combinations…. I simply love mixing tastes together….. as a kid, I used to order a “suicide” at the ballpark concession stand…. as a teen, I used to mix different flavors of soda and fruit juice to make new combined tastes….. The devotion to mixing things up has continued my entire life…. I’m not entirely sure about the appeal this has for me…. perhaps I like to think of myself as some sort of mad scientist, working a way in my secret underground lab to make the “Hyde/Jeckly potion”.... or, the search for “Love Potion Number Nine”.... Whatever the reason… I just can’t resist mixing things up….

EVIDENCE: My latest concoction…. A Banana Colada Smoothie…. Starts with a splash of pineapple juice… and a slash of apple juice….add Banana Daquiri/Smoothie mix…. Add Pina Colada Mix…. add a scoop of vanilla yogurt…... add ice….. blend….

Unbelievably good….

And, as far as I know …. I invented it…. just now…

The coffeeshop/deli stands we are acquiring operate as sort of Starbucks franchise locations….. without going into too much detail about that, I will report that I have, heretofore, been a complete Starbucks novice….. so I have been quite eagerly sampling all of the corporate wares…..

I am developing a great fondness for the line of proprietary branded Teas….. called Tazo teas….

AWAKE is a blended cut black tea. Pretty smooth, high in caffeine content, and very nice on the tongue…. no bitterness at all….

CALM is not really tea…. It is a caffeine free alternative…. a blend of ground flower petals and herbs…. like chamomile, hibiscus, spearmint, lemongrass, rose petals, blackberry leaves, safflowers, peppermint, sarsaparilla, lemon balm, and licorice….

When I first read the marketing materials, I assumed that it would be a bit like drinking the water from the potpouri pot…. Instead, I was very pleasantly suprised to find a pleasing, tasteful mixture of aromatic and tasty bits of plants…..

Thumbs up on both counts….

Ever since the scene in Godfather II, when Michael’s brother Fredo orders a Banana Daquiri at the Cuban casino.. he asks Michael, “How do you say Banana Daiquiri in Cuban?”

Michael answers, “Banana Daiquiri”.... that bit of the movie is Michael’s first clue that Fredo is in on the betrayal…. and, for me, it makes drinking this fun and tasty rum concotion all the more fun….

Here is how I make them…. Fill a large blender 3/4 full of ice…. pour Rum from the bottle for a count of seven to nine seconds… you can use Malibu if you want… Pour some sort of Banana Liqueur for three to five seconds…. Pour lime juice for three to five seconds…. Add three or four whole bananas… Blend…. I sometimes add some coconut… but only if I am sure everyone likes coconut…

Mmmmm mmmmmm mmmmmm.

Few things as good as Cream Soda….. best when it’s really cold…

the soda… not the surrounding air temp….

EDIT: Turns out, the contributors over at Wikipedia have sampled Cream Soda all over the world. Read it.

I am the opposite of a wine snob…. I love wines…. especially the supermarket varieties….. one of my favorite flavors or varieties of wine grapes is the Riesling “classics” from the slopes and rolling hills of Germany…. for those of you who don’t know that much about wines… but like the sweeter white wines…. you will love this stuff, too… Riesling wines are crisp, flavorful, sweeter and…. have lower alchohol content….. which tends to reduce the wine hangover effects…. One of my favorite brands is the wines from Schmitt Sohne…. I love them….

You can buy them at your local grocery store…. they are light and delicious…. somewhere along the line…. they developed a clever/fun ad campaign that I entirely missed… involving a little German.....

fun stuff…..