Mike Literman (1130 reviews)
Buderim Ginger Aussie Style Ginger Brew
I have had some stomach thing. I am not a doctor so I cannot tell you what it is, but after every time I eat, I feel like garbage. I can't eat as much and I need to sit and be quiet or else... I don't know, I feel more sick.
Since only the rich can afford health insurance compounded with the fact that I won't take medicine, I had to take matters into my own hands.
Scouring through my stock, I remembered that I had a hot ginger ale. As we all know, the hotter the ginger ale is, the more natural and good for you it is. I threw this cat in the fridge for a bit, took it out, cracked it open, and took a sip. Hello cured stomach ailments, here we come. Then we had a little bit of a problem. You see, when I read, "hot" I expect HOT. This was more of a sting.
Now, "hot" is a relative term. I am quite accustomed to hot flavors, so although this may be on the lower levels of the ginger beer ladder, it could be too much for, say, a wimp.
Flavor-wise, it's not bad. It has a genuine, earthy ginger flavor that doesn't linger on your tongue. All of the flavors of actual ginger are apparent and the sweetness isn't overpowering.
The Thirsty Dudes crew had to go to Canada to get this Australian treat, even though it says on the bottle that it's available in the US. It was good, but I don't think it's worth a special trip anywhere to try and find.
- Website
- http://www.buderimginger.com
- Country
- Australia
- Sweetener
- Cane Sugar
- Rating
- Reviewed By
- Mike Literman on 5/14/2011
- Comments
- View and Leave A Comment
Buderim Ginger Yank Style Ginger Beer
Dear Jason Draper of the Thirsty Dudes,
This is a ginger beer for you. Do you want to know why? It is because it tastes like ginger. You love ginger. I have seen you put it on tacos on multiple occasions. Is it a sickness? Possibly. Is it an obsession? Probably more so. I know you are crazy about the stuff and for that, I'm sorry. I drank this expecting the spice that I feel I deserve.
Jay, we have been friends for a long time. We have lived together, "spent time" with the same girl, and written many songs about barbecues. I know you and I know your taste buds and I know you would have given this at least a four. You love the earthy qualities of ginger and you love the sting. We love the sting. We love our ginger beer hot. This is a medium burn. Less than a Blenheim but more than a ginger ale. Less than a Goya but more than a...water...
In closing, Jay. I am sorry that I drank this and didn't have the hindsight to give it to you. If I find one again, I will buy it for you.
Lovingly,
Mike.
PS: Tacos tonight?
- Website
- http://www.buderimginger.com
- Country
- Australia
- Sweetener
- Cane Sugar
- Rating
- Reviewed By
- Mike Literman on 3/22/2012
- Comments
- View and Leave A Comment
Qizil Quyu Fizzy Drink Tarragon
When things are in different languages, I no longer fear the contents of the container. Why? Because I drank that Korean "Essence of Chicken" drink that tasted like pee and I don't think that anything will be as bad as that. This little green gem is quite nice. Why? Well it's tarragon flavored. "Ewww. That's a spice or an herb and I don't want to drink something that's off a spice rack." Well that's a lame response. Open your mind up then travel to around Turkey where this drink was made, shell out like $2 or 1.57120 Azerbaijani New Manat and enjoy a nice, anise-like drink.
I, for one, enjoy anise. I can never have enough. Black licorice, those little red anise candies in the dark red wrapper, or black jellybeans and I'm set, dude. This drink can be added to the list. I liked it. If you've ever had Ouzon then you know what this is all about. This might be stronger, if you’re an adult when it comes to your flavors, it's great.
I wonder where I can get it around here. I'm sure there is some dusty old Eastern European bodega somewhere around here that would have this. You know the one. It's the place with all sorts of unpronounceable cuts of meat and cured fish that you have never seen and everything has a light dusting of dust on it. You've never seen anyone in there but they have somehow been open for like fifty years. It's got to be a front, right? I mean, you can't stay in business legitimately. They're probably fighting hens in the stockroom for a cut of the profits.
I'm going to start putting tarragon in everything I make from now on. What a delicious start to my culinary career.
- Website
- http://ayan-az.com/
- Country
- Azerbaijan
- Sweetener
- Sugar
- Categories
- Soda Pop
- Rating
- Reviewed By
- Mike Literman on 4/4/2012
- Comments
- View and Leave A Comment
Brazil Gourmet Premium Nectar Cashew Fruit
I've got it.
What's that?
I've made a cashew juice.
You can't juice cashews, idiot.
Woah. First thing, I'm a scientist so I am most certainly not an idiot. Secondly you are the idiot because cashews grow from a fruit. Here try it.
Ugh, it smells like puke.
Just try it.
It's hard to get past the smell but it's...alright. It's smooth and obviously nutty. It almost tastes like a light mango juice if it was filtered through a can of Planters peanuts.
Yeah? Awesome, right?
No, not really. It's a good try, and I've learned something, but I really don't see myself drinking this, regardless of it's supposed health benefits. So long as I don't smell it, it's alright, but the thought of drinking nuts doesn't really appeal to me.
Stop being such a scardy cat and/or wuss.
Yeah? Stop inventing strange and gross drinks.
- Country
- Brazil
- Sweetener
- Cane Sugar
- Categories
- Juice
- Rating
- Reviewed By
- Mike Literman on 4/4/2011
- Comments
- View and Leave A Comment
Guarana Antactica None
On a recent trip to Antarctica, Frank was visiting his friend who was a scientist. His friend had lived up there for a couple years and knew the lay of the land. Not much goes on up there outside of polar ice cap research and daily penguin feedings. His friend was explaining to him about how a couple years back, the president of Brazil, Sir Angelico Velasquez, made a deal with the people of Antarctica that if he comes down to their lab, he can crash on their couch so he doesn't have to spring for a night at the wildly expensive Holiday Inn. In exchange, he brings in a case of their famed Guarana drink and he named it after them. Sure, he made the same deal with his own people but Velasquez is not the type of man to stay at a place like the Holiday Inn, not because he's cheap and not because he has anything wrong with them, just because if anyone wants him dead, as people often do, it's much easier to find him at the lone Holiday Inn or Red Roof Inn than if he's staying at one random, lucky person's house.
Frank took a can of the drink after that long history lesson and took a big sip. At first he didn't see what was so special about it. It just tastes like carbonated, sweetened water. Shortly after there was a wave of subtle, tropical fruit flavor. It was right up Frank's alley. Not too sweet and not too strong.
A few days later, Frank headed towards the airport to go home. Once inside, he saw a bunch of large men with guns surrounding a tiny, frail man. Frank knew that was Sir Velasquez and yelled, "Hey Angelico. Have a nice stay." Angelico, without missing a step yelled back, "Hey thanks, buddy. Have a nice flight." Good guy, that Angelico.
- Website
- http://www.guaranaantarctica.com
- Country
- Brazil
- Sweetener
- Sugar
- Categories
- Soda Pop
- Rating
- Reviewed By
- Mike Literman on 12/5/2012
- Comments
- View and Leave A Comment
D'Angelo DUH! Pomegranate Cream Soda
Woah. Strange. It's more of a sparkling or carbonated water than a pop if I was to caste this drink out. It might be the whopping 5% real fruit juice, but it's a good touch. This stuff is pretty good. It’s really sweet, but slamming my taste buds with flavor. It's a lot of pomegranate flavor and not a lot of cream soda flavor. The cream soda flavor rounds out the sweet, bitterness of the pomegranate and leaves a certain smoothness that I can't really describe. This whole drink is taking me for a loop and leaving me quite speechless.
Jay got this for me whilst seeing one Paul F. Tompkins in Toronto. He bought a lot of stuff and brought even more home. A lot of this month's strange oddities have been from said trip. D'Angelo seems to have a pretty large line of drinks so we might have our hands full as if they are this good, we might have to work out some sort of international trade agreement.
- Website
- http://www.dangelobrands.ca
- Country
- Canada
- Sweetener
- Glucose-Fructose
- Categories
- Soda Pop
- Rating
- Reviewed By
- Mike Literman on 10/27/2010
- Comments
- View and Leave A Comment
Cadbury Crispy Crunch
I'm American. I am probably a poor American for the following reasons:
1. I do not own a Bruce Springsteen record. Not my fault. I bought one and it was out of stock.
2. I do not drive a truck.
3. I do not drive an American car, although Mazda is partially owned by Ford so that's kind of close.
4. I am not a Christian, nor religious at all.
5. I am skinny.
I live on the border of the US and Canada. No, really. From where I am sitting, I can see Canada with ease. For this reason, I know what Coffee Crisp and Smarties are. I also know what a Crispy Crunch is. This does taste like a Crispy Crunch, but half of the fun is the crunch that you get from the candy bar itself. Also, who doesn't love to eat something like a Kit Kat over a nice, dark wood desk, love it, then look down and feel accomplished at the mess you've made. Just brush it on the floor. "The help" comes at night, like ninjas with mops. This isn't bad. It's beyond horrific for you, but it's good. It's just lacking what makes the candy bar good.
- Website
- http://www.cadbury.co.uk/
- Country
- Canada
- Sweetener
- Sugar
- Categories
- Milkshake
- Rating
- Reviewed By
- Mike Literman on 3/3/2011
- Comments
- View and Leave A Comment
Kiri Spruce Beer
Dad, I don't want to go camping. I love spending time with you, I really do, but the thought of getting all muddy does not thrill me. Oh, I won't get muddy? Dude...sorry, Dad, it's been raining for like 3 days. They don't make boots waterproof enough to keep that much out of my feet. Not to mention, when you have a bonfire, you smell like it for days irregardless of how many showers you take. Sure "irregardless" is a word. I just used it in a sentence. It's always cold and there are so many mosquitoes that, as an adult, I feel that I am rightfully scared of contracting malaria. Can't we just stay home and drink that case of Kiri Spruce Beer? It tastes like spicy trees. Seriously, it tastes like if you bottled a forest and spiced it up a bit. I'm not trying to cop out here, but it really sounds like a miserable time. Look, I'll go, but I want to listen to my tapes in the car. I just got this fresh new Tony! Toni! Toné! album from The Wall that I really want to listen to. If we can listen to that, drink a refreshing, conifer flavored drink in the truck, and stop at a Denny's on the way home, I'll go. Sweet, see you in the truck!
- Website
- http://www.kiri.com/en/
- Country
- Canada
- Sweetener
- Sugar
- Categories
- Soda Pop
- Rating
- Reviewed By
- Mike Literman on 3/24/2011
- Comments
- View and Leave A Comment
Beaver Buzz Dam Good Citrus
Smell: Not bad.
Taste: Almost like a natural orange juice but with a strange aftertaste, almost dry. Then sometimes is gets a little strange. It sticks to your palate for a long time. Unwelcomely long. Uninvitedly long.
Burp: Disgusting. Seriously, every burp tastes like you just burped and bile came up. What's strange is that when you burp, it resets your taste buds like when your Nintendo, original, not Super Nintendo, game doesn't work and you hit the reset button 40 times to try and get 720 to work so you can see that dude that is clearly inspired by Rodney Dangerfield. So if you drink it and it starts to get grozz, just burp, make matters worse, and then have everything back to before you took your first sip.
This is along the lines of the FRS drink in its citrocity, but doesn't end up tasting like orange flavored chalk at the bottom of the can.
- Website
- http://www.beaverbuzz.com
- Country
- Canada
- Sweetener
- Sucrose
- Categories
- Energy Drink
- Rating
- Reviewed By
- Mike Literman on 4/13/2011
- Comments
- View and Leave A Comment
Cadbury Caramilk Caramel Chocolate Milkshake
Greg's got a sweet tooth. I love it. I drink a lot of drinks with sugar in it, but it's never sweet enough. Rumor has it, and you could probably ask to confirm, that he once lined up Cadbury Creme Eggs and ate three, one after another. He was the person I had in mind when I brought this drink in. I have been holding on to it for just the right time and today, this dreary, spring day.
I gave it to Greg to try first and with the blink of an eye, half of the bottle was gone. He must have been jonesing for something sweet. I did mention that I brought something in for him, and when I presented him with this, his little mouth probably started working. He had a good "woah" face on when he tried it, which means that it's good. I gave it a whirl, liked it a lot, gave it to Zack to try and he said that it tastes like "liquid Rolo's" which I don't think that I could top in a description, so I won't.
I let Greg finish the rest of the bottle, which he promptly and swiftly did. I think he liked it, and I think that he thinks that you would, too. Take a trip north to Canada, get a little bottle, and share it with your friends because it's got a heart-stopping amount of calories for one person to commit to.
- Website
- http://www.cadbury.co.uk/
- Country
- Canada
- Sweetener
- Sugar
- Categories
- Milkshake
- Rating
- Reviewed By
- Mike Literman on 5/18/2011
- Comments
- View and Leave A Comment