You got that right!
this is my favorite vodka in the world by a mileā¦
but also pricey thatās why when I want vodka I buy the affordable Polish potato vodka. I canāt afford Stoliā¦.
AWFUL STORY: I was recently invited to dinner at my brotherās. His wife likes wine, he likes beer and whiskey; they drinkā¦when I bought Stoli for a house gift she did not like it and declined. My brother went along with it though I knew he felt different.
Gave me back my own gift.
So Iāve been drinking a lot of ciders lately. Iāve comfortably settled into my favorite beer styles - sours, Trappist ales, farmhouse ales, and the occasional porter/stout - and while Iāve enjoyed ciders since the 1980s, thereās still a lot for me to explore.
Like this one - Pom, a limited release of a pomegranate-infused apple cider from Downeast Cider (Boston, Massachusetts USA). Downeast Cider never disappoints, they are a favorite producer. This is a lovely cider; initially on the tongue it tastes of raspberry but a little bit more tart. Itās sweet but not too sweet, though personally Iād prefer just a bit less sweetness. Very quaffable, and a damn near perfect summer drink.
Stolichnaya same?
We have 3 āseriousā beer stores in town. My usual store has the best selection of farmhouse ales and sours (my favorites), but one of the others has a much larger selection of ciders, about 3 times larger. And since Iām on a cider kickā¦I picked up 4 new-to-me ciders today. So far Iāve sampled 2 of them.
Here we have Stowe Ciderās High & Dry (Stowe, Vermont USA). Bone dry, but just bursting with pure apple flavor. Itās not one that Iād choose for a hot summer day - itās too dry to be truly refreshing when you need refreshing - but man itās something to behold. Extremely good and highly recommended.
And then thereās Honey Crisp, from Carlson Orchards (Harvard, Massachusetts USA), made with Honeycrisp apples and honey. Itās not nearly as sweet as you might expect, itās fairly crisp and the honey adds a bit of sweet earthiness. Itās got an honesty to it that I really like. Very tasty.
Patriotic Paw Paw farmhouse cider from JKās Farmouse Ciders (Flushing, Michigan USA). An apple cider with paw paw, blood orange and basil.
At the age of 67, I must admit that Iāve never tasted a paw paw fruit. My parents grew up in Mississippi and both would talk about how delicious paw paws were, but there were none around where I grew up and Iāve never encountered them where I now live.
Well, itās on the sweet side, but it has enough tannins to balance that sweetness - though the tannic qualities are not upfront, you can tell that theyāre present and theyāre offsetting that sweetness just enough. It has a fairly heavy body.
Flavor-wise, thereās a bit of a bubble gum characteristic (not exactly, maybe tutti-frutti is closer), but itās mainly sort of vaguely pineapple, maybe some banana, a touch of vanilla, and thereās a little orange. I donāt detect any basil at all but I somehow get the feeling that itās helping the flavors to blend seamlessly. Itās much tastier than my attempt at description suggests.
I will most certainly buy this again. Like, probably tomorrow 
. Maybe someday Iāll be able to sample some fresh paw paws.
I continue to try out new (to me) ciders.
Tips Up, from Stowe Cider (Stowe, Vermont USA).
A real winner here. Definitely not sweet, just slightly off-dry, with a good tannic backbone; a touch of tartness and just enough acidity to give a crisp finish. This is very much like biting into an older, less-sweet heirloom apple variety. If this was unfiltered it would probably be my #1 favorite US cider; as it is, itās in the the top 5, for sure. Excellent.
Trail Sider, from Eden Specialty Ciders (Newport, Vermont USA).
This is fermented as a dry cider, cellar-aged for 18 months, then blended with honey and freshly harvested lemon balm (a lemon-scented herb).
WOW! This is more like a good sour beer than a cider; in fact in a blind tasting I would assume it was a sour ale. Itās very sour. Tart, tangy, with a sharp citrus note floating on top of all that sour goodnessā¦itās ridiculously delicious. It keeps calling you back for another sip.
Spectacular. Highly, highly recommended if you can find it. This will be a staple in my household, right alongside Rodenbach sour ale. Yes, itās that good.
VIP (Very Important Pistachio) Stout, from Drekker Brewing (Fargo, North Dakota USA).
TLDR: Itās delicious.
It pours nearly as dark as my soul. Thatās pretty damn dark .
Itās described as a Dubai chocolate milk stout* - Iāve never heard of Dubai chocolate. Google tells me itās a chocolate bar with a filling of pistachio cream, tahini, and phyllo dough. This stout is brewed with cacao nibs, pistachios, and lactose.
Well it certainly delivers on the chocolate. Itās almost obscenely chocolaty. Taste is bittersweet chocolate plus more bittersweet chocolate, a tiny touch of toffee, even more bittersweet chocolate, and the faintest, most subtle hint of pistachio floating underneath. More bitter than sweet, though it has just enough sweetness to balance that bitterness.
I bought this with some trepidation; Drekker makes quite a few sour ales, and the couple that Iāve sampled have been horrible uber-sweet monstrosities. Iām quite happy that I gambled on trying this stout. Itās really, really, really good.
* For those who may be unaware: a milk stout contains lactose (milk sugar), which gives a creamy mouthfeel and a slight sweetness. It doesnāt contain actual milk.
That takes me back to my younger days, when Iād be mixing it with Stones Mac (green ginger wine + whiskey), for a bit more kick 
Itās essentially rather alcoholic ginger beer by that point.
This is whatās in the glass for me today.
Itās one of the few craft Aussie beers available, that arenāt in a can. Iām a stickler for bottles. Not a fan of aluminium, or the polymers that aluminium cans are all internally lined with.
I used to buy slabs of the Mountain Goat Steam Ale (bottles), as my go-to, but theyāre all in cans now, so, I donāt drink emā anymore. Seems to be the way the market is shifting, so options have been slim for me, but the Prickly Moses is pretty good.
