Twister Vodka

While I am not big fan of professional football, Super Bowl Sunday was my best excuse to drink. While going out to sports bars can be fun, I enjoyed the luxury of drinking at a house party because I could drink plenty of beer without breaking my wallet. As my friend Walden and I watched the game and drank beer, we were the epitome of what Super Bowl Sunday was all about.

 As soon as the game ended, we finished up the beers and watched Elementary, the Sherlock Holmes show on CBS. Not a bad show for anyone who enjoys both the detective style of Sherlock Holmes and your traditional crime drama. What really sparked my attention though was the news after at the end of the night. A small distillery in Moore, OK, was finally starting to distribute their vodkas and other liquors to liquor stores across the state. Needless to say I had to try it.

I had only tried a couple of beers and wine at this point, so when it came to vodka I had to step back and analyze the situation a bit. Drinking beer slow allows for all the flavors and sensations of disperse, all drinking vodka slow does is make your process to tipsy or drunk a less enjoyable one. Regardless of how I would try and sample Twister Vodka, I would need to first try it on its own.

Vodka was probably my least favorite of hard liquors, mainly due it being the drink of choice for my first drinking experience and also my first hangover experience. I tried to keep an open mind and poured my first shot. The vodka smell was not too overpowering like cheaper vodkas. I would rate Twister vodka equal of a vodka like Absolute or Svedka. One thing I noticed was that the burn was not nearly as present in Twister Vodka as it is in other brands of vodka. With one shot down and so fast, drinking straight vodka was not the answer for getting an overall flavor or experience. I decided to try some drinks that people might make with vodka and see how they tasted with Twister Vodka.

 

Which drinks to choose though? I ended up going with a Vodka tonic, a Vodka sour, and my personal favorite, a Bloody Mary. While I should have done a screwdriver too, due to my first hangover being caused by nine screwdrivers in one night, I don’t think I could be unbiased when discussing that drink.

I started with the Vodka Tonic because I felt that it was the drink that had the most vodka taste of the drinks I chose. I purchased all my mixers together and followed the mixing instructions instead of my usual eyeball method that often times ended with a whole lot of vodka and little to no mixer. The vodka tonic was one part vodka and three parts tonic water, stirred not shaken. I discovered this after attempting my first vodka tonic and having it explode on me. My second attempt was a success but after having it mixed I realized that I had celery for my Bloody Mary but no lemon for the tonic. I substituted the garnished lemon for a squirt of lemon juice from the freezer.

Vodka Tonics actually taste pretty great with the Twister Vodka. The harsh burn that comes with many types of vodka isn’t there with Twister and made the vodka tonic a much more enjoyable drink. I think that says a lot coming from a whiskey lover. It was crisp and surprisingly refreshing. Vodka tonics make a great drink with this vodka because of the lighter burn and almost peppery taste.

My second drink was vodka sour. I used master of mixer’s sweet and sour mix. I used a shaker and again followed the explicit mixing instructions. The drink was strained into a short glass with ice. The drink had natural foam and was pretty syrupy. It reminded me of alcoholic lemon lime Gatorade. It seemed sweeter to me than sour but I think that has to do with the type of liquor in it. This one was probably my least favorite drink because it left my mouth pretty sticky. I think that some people would enjoy the drink so I think it’s worth the $2.50 the mixer costs to keep it around for someone who doesn’t like Bloody Marys or Vodka Tonics.

The final drink I prepared is my personal favorite cocktail. Bloody Marys are hearty, filling, flavorful, and not to mention a great cocktail to use Twister Vodka. I used master of mixers and Louisiana hot sauces for more kick. Because the vodka has a natural peppery taste, it makes for the best homemade Bloody Mary. I shook the mix and vodka in a shaker with ice and salt and pepper. Then I strained it into a large glass with ice, added some Louisiana Hot Sauce and finished by stirring in the hot sauce with a celery stalk.

I have to say that I have never made a Bloody Mary that had the taste and flavor at my house. I think that the peppery flavor and mild burn makes this vodka the best for making Bloody Marys and is even worth keeping Twister Vodka solely for Bloody Marys.

After sampling each of the drinks I thought about what makes a type of vodka good compared to bad. I have a friend that says that McCormick’s is the only type to buy because you drink vodka for one reason… getting faced. I have to say after drinking Twister Vodka, it is worth the $16 dollars at the liquor store.

Twister Distillery has just begun to distribute their hard liquor to bars and liquor stores. Try out their vodka and like them on facebook. There is a link below. The company is owned and operated by Oklahomans and use all Oklahoman ingredients. Look out for their other liquors: Twister Sweet Tea Vodka, Oklahoma Land Rum, Twister Gin, and coming in 2015 Gustav’s Reserve.

http://www.twisterdistillery.com/

Session ’33 – Mustang Brewing Company

This is my second review of a Mustang Brewery product and this is the only one you can buy in a grocery store. Session ’33 is ale that uses a combination of Oklahoma grains and European hops.

The Session ‘33 is crafted in honor of the end of prohibition in the United States. The beer is similar to the Washita Wheat in its smoothness and light flavor. This is a great ale for someone who is trying to get into ales because of its mild nature.

The beer is more orange than yellow with a small head and a full lace. The beer had a light carbonation with a very transparent constancy.

The taste of the Session ’33 was interesting beer for me. I didn’t dislike the taste, but I think that this beer is not one that I will go out and buy. The flavor of the Session ’33 is a slightly bitter bite with a sweet aftertaste. The favors are pretty refreshing in the brew though.

I think that with all the Mustang beers I have had so far, they are very drinkable and very smooth. That is something I notice about the label on their beers. They stress the importance of drinkability and smoothness. These beers are made for social gathering and crafting beers that all people at a gathering can enjoy.

While Mustang Brewing Company stresses the importance of drinkability, they also put out very limited specialty beers to people who sign up for their newsletter. You can check out their newest brew here.

http://www.mustangbrewing.com/beers/saddlebag-series

Take a chance and try the Session ’33 for yourself. I think that it can be enjoyed by a small party of people around the grill. Get Session ‘33 at grocery stores, including Walmart, and leave a comment to tell me what you think.

Mustang Brewing Company- Washita Wheat

I’m a wheat beer guy. Through these Oklahoma Beer Reviews, I have always enjoyed drinking wheat beers. While I am getting to point where I can drink the other darker and stout beer, I always enjoy trying a new wheat beer and the Washita Wheat by Mustang Brewing Company is no exception.

When I first picked up a six pack of Washita Wheat from the liquor store, I initially thought that it was out of Mustang, Oklahoma. Being a Yukon Miller, my inclination to put back the beer out of high school rivalry that was ground into my mind was pretty strong. I simply shook the thought from my mind and paid for my beer and went home.

After a little research, from what I can tell the Mustang Brewing Company was started in OKC. It was a little juvenile to have this short lived disgust, but on to the beer.

The Washita Wheat is fantastic. It has the wheat flavor that I love, but with a little something extra. Most wheat beers are made with gold wheat, but the Washita uses Oklahoma red wheat. I know that I’m drinking a wheat, but it doesn’t taste like any other I had drank.

 What I seemed to notice in taste and timing of the flavors was interesting. The intial drink was very calm and smooth. The strongest presence of the flavor was a split second after my first swallow. It may have been the result of in mouth agitation, but the second flavor is what I might say a result of the red wheat compared to golden wheat.

The actual aftertaste was much like the initial taste and smooth. I think that the flavors of this wheat is very circular in that you begin very smooth and mellow, then you have the slight flavor change before finishing at the aftertaste where you started.

All in all, I think that the Washita Wheat has been my favorite wheat beer so far. I think any wheat beer fan would be interested in trying a new twist on a hearty favorite.

Hanging the Hangover Out to Dry This Spring Break… Wait Don’t Dry It Out

By Chad and Steph through creative commons

As we all are on the brink of Spring Break 2013, it is important to review some tips when dealing with hangovers. Because of the nature of my spring break I want to try and avoid hangovers, but if I’m being realistic I need just as much review as any other traveling college student.

The first thing to consider when dealing with hangovers is what they are and how they are caused. Basically your body is punishing you for overindulging in alcohol the night before. Hangovers can range from nausea, pounding headaches, sensitivity to light and sound, or all the earlier together.

The main cause of the symptoms is dehydration. The brain is affected the most by dehydration and as a result shrinks. The tissues that hold the brain then become stretched to keep the smaller dehydrated brain in place and results in pounding headaches. Some are so intense that the person gets painful sensitivity to light and sound. The one drink (12 ounce beer, 5 ounce glass of wine, or one shot of hard liquor) takes an hour to metabolize in the body. While tossing back twelve or so cold ones seems like a good idea while on the beach, it might not be the wisest choice.

The best prevention advice I had found was essentially to pace yourself. Drinking in my opinion is more about the journey than the destination. Helpful advice was to drink water in between drinks and have snack throughout the night. The more hydrated you can keep yourself throughout the night, the less your body will hate you in the morning.

Now sometimes prevention measures fail and you are left with a terrible hangover. While a lot of information is varied from person to person, the general consensus is to not drink the hangover off. The method is known as the Hair from the Dog that Bites. All parties agree that while the alcohol can lessen some of the effects of a hangover, the worst the hangover will come with a vengeance. Basically, the alcohol causes the hangover, so stop drinking it genius.

Things that the websites stated that help are water and some other interesting choices. Water or anything else that helps hydrate is a good choice when you’re fighting a hangover. Another type of food that was helpful was crackers or pickle juice. These things are high in sodium and help to get your body back to normal quicker.

The bottom line is really to drink responsibly and keep hydrated. Be safe over Spring Break and get ready for more Oklahoma Boozes in the coming weeks.

Additional Reading on Hangovers here

http://alcoholism.about.com/od/hangovers/a/cures.htm

http://greatist.com/health/best-foods-hangover

MIO - Made in Oklahoma Beer Flight

I haven’t always consumed as your typical college student. While house parties can be great, I really prefer to sit down at a small bar and sip a flavorful beer with a few close friends. Living in Norman, there is no shortage of bars for student. Campus corner is the epitome of OU nightlife. While dancing at Logan’s or getting a rocket at O’Connell’s is usually a good time, I have always been inclined to the small and relaxed nature of the Library Bar and Grill. My twenty-first birthday was celebrated there, and my older brother couldn’t have picked a better bar for me to make my first public appearance as a drinking customer.

The Library has a great variety of beer and wines as well as a full bar for cocktails. One thing that always caught my attention on the menu is the beer flights. A beer flight consists of four or five small sample beers that follow a specific theme. I ordered the MIO Beer Flight, also known as the Made in Oklahoma Beer Flight. It consisted of four Oklahoma brews.

The first on the flight was the Choc 1919 from Krebs. It was a darkest of the beers and had the most bite. I had recently tried a couple Choc beers from the Choc Beer variety pack, so I had an idea of how it would taste. This was the original Choc beer and it met my expectations. It had a bitter bite with a more mellowed out aftertaste. Overall a great beer to start.

The second beer was the COOP Native Amber from OKC. The taste was sweeter than the Choc beer and had a more distinguished lace (the more distinguished the lace, the healthier the beer is). This was my first taste of the COOP brews and the Native Amber left a good taste in my mouth. While the beers flavor wasn’t as pungent as the Choc, it had a heavier consistency. A great beer to be featured on the flight.

The third beer was the Brewhouse Irish from Norman. Brewhouse beers are common house beers in the Norman Area. When I’m at the Library, I mostly order Brewhouse beers because they have a hometown charm and great taste. The lacing was beautiful for this beer and though I tend to avoid ales and pale ales, I have to say the beer was sweeter than I expected. It also had a bitter aftertaste. I need to try some more Irish Ales.

The final beer of the flight was the Marshall Jomoke Porter from Tulsa. The first distinguishing feature of this beer is that it was the only one garnished with a lemon. MJP was the lightest of the flight and was a yellow color. I squeezed the lemon into the beer and sipped. The beer had a bubbly consistency and very crisp. I may have over squeezed the lemon, rung out a whole lemon slice for a four ounce beer.  I really enjoyed this beer.

I have already established a taste for my lighter beers, but I think that I am starting to acquire a taste for the darker beers. The Beer Flight is an excellent way to get a variety of beers around the state. You sample four beers for $5.50. They have two other beer flights and a large assortment of other beers and wines. The library is located at 607 W. Boyd, Norman, OK 73069. They are open daily from 11:00 am to 2:00 am.

The Spaghetti Fiasco - Canadian River Chocolate Merlot

Sometimes when you are experiencing new things, you make little mistakes that help you learn much more than by trying to do everything right the first time. My first time at experimenting with Oklahoma wine is a good example of that. I knew a couple things about wining and dining before this blog. Allowing wine to breathe before drinking and white wines with fish, just to name a few. Besides those few exceptions, my experience with wine was more along the lines of slapping the bag of White Zinfandel Franzia and avoid wine hangovers at all cost.

 So when I was at the liquor store to purchase my first bottle of Oklahoman wine, I should have asked a couple of questions. I didn’t.

There is some weird disposition I have that makes asking for advice and direction near impossible. I understood at the time when I was walking down the various wine aisles that it only had to say “Made in Oklahoma.” Because I’m a broke college student and I had already dropped eight bucks on the Choc Beer Variety pack, I knew that I was going to buy a cheaper wine. I wanted to start my wine tasting with a red wine because I was trying to use up some pasta sauce before it spoiled.

After struggling to find Oklahoman wine, most liquor stores divide by wine varieties and not by place of origin, I grabbed a Merlot from Slaughtersville, OK, and made my purchase. Eight dollar wine already seemed to be a little bit of an underdog when it came to finding good wine, but my disposition of saving a couple bucks struck again.

At home later that evening, I cooked the hamburger meat and allowed my wine to aerate for ten minutes before I poured a glass. I had high hopes because my spaghetti turned out to look and taste pretty good. Mom would have been proud that I figured out how to prepare dinner that wasn’t delivered to my front door. I poured my wine, prepared my plate, and dinner was served.

Being oblivious to the tasting processes that I had recently learned, I washed down some perfectly good pasta with a swig of the merlot… not good.

I tried to figure out why I struggled to drink the wine and eat the spaghetti. After examining the bottle, I realized that sometimes the price tag isn’t the only thing to look at when tasting wine. I had gotten the Canadian River Chocolate Merlot. I decided I needed to push through and finish the wine with dinner. Sometimes when experimenting, you are just going to get things you don’t like.

 After suffering through a serving of spaghetti, I still had a half glass of wine left. I looked through my fridge to find something else to munch while finishing the wine. After the spaghetti debacle, I didn’t want to press my luck with American cheese. I noticed a spice cake with cream cheese frosting in the back of the fridge I made last week. Why the hell not?

After cutting a slice of cake and sitting back down, hope seemed kind of lost. I instead stumbled on a happy accident. I found a pairing that worked. The chocolate merlot that was so hard to drink with spaghetti went down great with the spice cake. It was amazing how much a wine changes with how it’s paired. I know from now on, spice cake and chocolate merlot make for a good combo. It would be great for a romantic desert or a girls’ night.

Choc Variety Pack - Choc OPA Black

Choc OPA Black

The choc OPA Black is the third and final beer in the Choc Beer Variety pack. It poured into my frosted glass nicely, creating a healthy head that bubbled around the edge. The OPA Black was the least transparent of the three beers and was a dark brown color, similar to a root beer hue. I agitated the beer and the head held up quite nicely.

 The aroma of the beer was sweet and full. It may be my favorite smelling brew of the three. The scent was characteristic of berries or rich woods. I breathed it through my nose and exhaled through my mouth. The scent doesn’t linger in the back of the throat long, but to me is heavenly.

I agitated the beer once more before taking my first sip. The beer seemed almost slushy because I stuck my beer mugs in the freezer for a couple hours before I used them. The consistency was definitely the heaviest of the three beers. The sharpness of the OPA Black was worth it for the sweet lingering aftertaste. I would go as far to say that I prefer the Black OPA over the regular OPA. From what I understand about drinking a variety of beers to acquire taste, it is usually drinking in a progression from lighter beers to darker beers. I feel that with the Choc OPA Black, the aftertaste is worth the bite more than the less present aftertaste.

 

 

*Final Words – Choc Variety Pack*

1^st choice – The Wheat – It was the most familiar taste and I love the heartiness of a wheat beer.

2^nd choice – OPA Black – The bite seems less painful when followed by the sweet aftertaste of the dark beer.

3^rd choice – OPA – The original OPA is my least favorite because while the bite is about the same as the OPA Black, the aftertaste is less present, which makes for a more challenging drink for me.

Choc Variety Pack - Choc OPA

Choc OPA

Choc beer’s Oklahoma Pale Ale was part of my Choc beer variety pack and my review of it was inevitable. I must say that when it comes to beer, I normally stick to wheat and pilsners. Pale ales are normally too sharp with too much bite, but I am a beer connoisseur that believes that all beers are created equal. That being said, Oklahoma Pale Ale was not my pint of choice.

Appearance: The beer had a lighter color and a bigger head than the American Wheat. The color was still a dark gold but more cloudy.

Smell: The smell was much different than the taste. The aroma had hints of berry or woody scents. The smell was also sharp and bit the senses.

Taste: The taste, like the smell was sharp but not as pleasing. The Oklahoma Pale Ale sinks to the back of the throat and almost curdled. The sharp taste hits the back of the throat and moves forward across the palate. This beer is bitter and though not a personal favorite, my friend Walden thought the beer was sharp but pleasant. He thought it was dry and not overwhelmingly bitter, but enough to make it pop. The beer also seemed to have a bit of acidity. This is definitely not a beer to chug.

Overall: The beer for me left a bad taste in my mouth. Though I didn’t enjoy it as much as my friend Walden; it had its own personality. As the beer warmed a bit, the bite was a little weaker and easier for me to drink. Pale Ale lovers may like this beer, but for me it’s not a first choice.

Choc Variety Pack - The 1919 American Wheat

For my first attempt at reviewing beer, I went to a liquor store and spent thirty minutes looking around the store for the Oklahoma products. After looking over the different beer options, I settled with a variety six pack of Choc Beer. Over the course of this week, I will be reviewing these three beers. So here we go.

1919 Choc American Wheat

1919 American Wheat is a great brew for any wheat beer lover. The deep gold beer has a light and crisp constancy with an earthy flavor that rolls across the palate in a light and delicious manner. When tasting this beer, the most important thing I had to keep in mind was my steps in tasting beers as I outlined in my last post. I will be focusing on the presentation, smell, and of course the taste. I started with the Choc beers because they are pretty prevalent in the Oklahoma sections of the liquor stores.

My first was the American Wheat and it was an excellent choice in starting out my exploration of Oklahoma’s beers.

Appearance: The color is a darker gold and a fair transparency. The head and lace of the beer was very minimal but overall good.

Smell: The aroma is mild with a hint of natural wheat flavor. It has an almost calming and relaxing effect, which is normally my goal in enjoying a beer with my friends. The flavor comes to a head when tasting.

Taste: The beer consistency is light and smooth with big flavor. The organic taste of this American Wheat is crisp yet flavorful. The subtle flavor sweeps gently as the wind goes down the plains. Any wheat beer lover is going to love this beer.

Overall the American Wheat Beer from Choc Beer Company is a great beer for me to start with. I am most fond of wheat beers because making the transition from your generic domestic beers, such as Bud Light or Miller Light was easy. I would compare this beer to a Belgium White Blue Moon or Boulevard Wheat. In my further exploration of Oklahoma brews and wines, I hope to gain more perspective and offer more information.