Ayala - 9 Reviews

You've had a long day. Work was rough. Well it wasn't rough in the sense that you did something wrong and were scolded, it was just a long day and you worked hard. You accomplished a lot, so you feel good about it, but you're just beat. How about you plop down in your nice recliner, let your cat and/or dog curl up with you, grab that book you've been meaning to read (I've seen you eyeing up that Morrissey autobiography) and just relax.

I have a tea that would go perfectly with what you're about to do. It's a chamomile tea with vanilla and bergamot in it. Of course you have no idea what bergamot is, neither did I, so don't feel bad. Not knowing makes this drink a little weird, as there is a strong flavor that you just can't place. That flavor is orange skin aka bergamot. It's used in Earl Grey tea. As soon as I discovered what it was the weird flavor made sense and it made the drink all the more enjoyable. It's like someone made some nice vanilla chamomile tea and let some orange rinds soak in it for a bit. I don't know why someone would do such a think, but it makes for an interesting drink. I have to admit that I prefer that the strength of the rinds and the vanilla were switched, as I would love for this to have strong vanilla flavor, but of well.

Take some sips off of this bottle of tea as you read a few dozen pages of Oscar Wilde Jr's life. Before you know it you will be so relaxed that you will drift off to sleep until your phone alarm wakes you up at 6am and it's time to put in the real work once again.

Peter Ayala was often a hungry man and when he was hungry, he knew there was no better place to go than the Greek place by his house? Why is that? Well it's because they had everything on the menu. What other place could you go where on the same menu they had, gyros, hamburgers, meat loaf, bahn mi, pizza, and quesadillas? Sure, nothing was mind blowing but when Peter was hungry and didn't want to go through the whole, "Where do I want to eat?" thing, he would just go to the Greek restaurant and just get something.

One thing he thought was a classic move, that no place aside from Greek restaurants do anymore, was they put out the little bowl of After Dinner mints. He loved that they had the glass bowl and a little spoon in it and you just helped yourself. He loved those mints. One day when the manager wasn't looking he took a couple more than he normally would. Sure he could just buy them at the store but he wanted to try something a little different.

He went home, unloaded two dozen mints onto the table and filled up an empty two liter of pop with water, put the mints in along with some peppermint leaves and just let it all infuse together. Then, the time was ready. He readied a glass and took a sip. He couldn't have been happier. He was worried that it was going to be too strong but to his surprise it was a nice, refreshing drink that didn't taste like toothpaste or like he put candy inside water. He could make more and more as the summer heat came down, as it was a very refreshing and cooling drink.

He would never tell the restaurant what he discovered but every time after that faithful day he would take twice as many mints as he should have. One serving for him and one for the drink he would always make to cap off his day.

This drink plays out like first time you see a classic midnight movie as a child. It's incredible strange and weird, and when you first encounter it you're not exactly sure how you feel about it. Everything in your body tells you that it's wrong and that you should not continue along this path in your life, yet there is a little spark of interest deep down inside and if you nurture it a great love could bloom.

There were four of us gathered when this drink was opened. Each of us took a sip and we all had the same reaction of this is just not good. One of our friends proclaimed that it tasted like your grandmother doused herself in bug spray, then to cover the smell spritzed perfume all over and then forced you to lick her arm. I did not have such a strong reaction, but my tongue was not pleased. Then for some reason I took another sip, and things started to look like they weren't all that bad. My body had accepted the flavor as something unusual, but unusual doesn't equal bad. Sure the baby from Eraserhead is one of the weirdest things ever thought up/constructed and at a young age it's completely terrifying, but it's also an incredible image in cinema. I'm not saying this drink will have such a profound effect on the beverage world, but it is out of the ordinary and it has merit.

The problem was that we all went into this expecting what we universally accept as iced tea. The thing is that this bottle does not contain any traditional tea and it is an herbal infusion. Once your brain isn't expecting black, green or white tea it can begin to properly process the flavors this drink contains. The main herbal flavor in this comes from the rooibos, which is actually a legume from South Africa. It's also known as red tea, so there is a chance that you may have had it before without even realizing it. After that comes the floral taste of the rose petals. This is where the majority of the weirdness of this beverage comes from. In the western world, we're not accustomed to ingesting flowers, and while it's not a terrible thing it does take some time to become acclimated to it. Underneath it all lies a light cinnamon flavor that rounds everything out.

At first sip, I thought I wanted nothing to do with this tea, but now that I'm near the bottom, the floral taste that seemed so overpowering in the beginning seems more like an afterthought. This beverage is very interesting, and if you're looking for an adventure, pull one of these from your local grocer's shelf and then head down to the independent theatre in your town and check out whoever the new Lynch, Cronenberg and Waters are for the current generation.

If you took three different sized dudes, lined them up, insulted their mothers individually, and openly welcomed punches in the face, that's what this drink is like. Three different sized fists brutally assaulting your kisser. Three fists, at three separate times, pummeling your money maker.

This drink was awesome on the shelf and awesome in my mouth. Well that sounds gross. Eh, you know what? I'll leave it. You can taste everything but they don't share the spotlight, which I might enjoy more. You get a blast of cacao, then nutmeg, and then cardamom. Just like a two years old boy, there is no sharing going on and unlike that two years old boy, I like it.

This new line...Ayala. You're on to something, friends. I'm on to you and you're on to something great.

I've been gone for a long time and what happened when I was gone? Nothing. I mean, a week isn't that long of a time but it's long enough in my head for something like a political re-election, groundbreaking ceremony for a new pizza and taco place, or an entire new line of drinks to come out. Jay and I went to the grocery store yesterday and discovered that wasn't true. Neither of the other two were true either, so we are nil for three. Even though no new lines were out, Jay did a fantastic job of collecting older stuff that we hadn't done. That is your answer to the next couple weeks of drinks that have been on shelves for years. They need to get done and we'll take care of them.

While at the store, I came across this little number, offered it to Jay, forgot Jay doesn't like lemon, and claimed it for myself. I went home after a scorching day of bike riding and zoo-ing and treated myself to the soothing tastes of lemon and ginger. Do you want to know what I got? Just that: lemons and ginger. There was no bite to the ginger, but I think that with herbal water like this, you don't want it. It's just the flavor of ginger but you do get a bit of lemon, more than you might get with lemon water, too. If you like both, you've got a great drink with no calories and just flavor. I'm a big fan of the entire Ayala stuff and this doesn't fall short. It's less dramatic than the clove and cinnamon one, but this one is for a different audience.

Blah blah blah I like flavored waters.

This is different, though. It's relaxing. Yes, it's a given since lavender kind of runs the table on relaxing scents/soaps/tastes. When was the last time you tasted it in nice water, though? Never? Oh, then read on and learn yourself something. This has such a strong initial scent of lavender. It is, as Jay and our friend Dan said, a bit reminiscent of Fruit Loops. That's not bad at all. You drink, and it mints out and cools you down and then, at the very end, you are left with a nice return, sequel if you will, of that lavender gentleman.

Ha. Lavender gentleman.

This was a fun drink. Every flavor was adequately represented in a golden light. The drink had a vanilla nose. You drink it and you get the mint and on the way down, the cool taste of the lemongrass and then to round out the trip back to vanilla.

I liked this a lot and am excited they decided to make some flavors in a much larger bottle.

It's...alright. I mentioned before about how I don't really like drinks that taste like water with other flavor aftertaste. I mean, I am a fan of light drinks but it's a little tricky with flavored water. Berry Bot is a little too light for me taste. I think that with a titch more zing, this drink would rule. I was excited for the clove and cinnamon but I only got a little cinnamon and even less clove.

I was very impressed by this. I was a bit leery as some flavored water tastes like water after you ate something. This tastes like a nice cold tea made from natural bagged or loose tea. It's got a nice subtle bite from the cinnamon and a hint of orange. It was only $1.50, which means that it's easy to buy and not feel bad about it.