Coolbre.ws turns 1!

I can't believe it's been a year already. Thank you for reading (and occasionally leaving comments). Here's to another year of drinking delicious beverages!

If you'd like to join me for a celebratory cocktail, I'll be at Pegu Club at 6:30 on Tuesday (the 24th). It's a pretty classy joint, but also a celebration of beverages at their finest. I believe all of the cocktails are $12. Cheers!

Pegu Club
77 West Houston St (2nd floor) [map]
New York, NY

Fuck High Fructose Corn Syrup

Starting in April, PepsiCo will be selling new "throwback" versions of Pepsi and Mountain Dew that are made with real sugar. They will also sport retro graphic design. I'm in favor of all of this, but what a weird premise. Remember a couple years ago when McDonald's starting advertising that their burgers were Now Made with 100% Beef! How unsettling. Can you imagine if they marketed the new, improved product as "Throwback Burgers"? "Dude, remember back in the day when food was made from plants and animals?" By the way, as I write this I'm eating a McDonald's cheeseburger. What a hypocrite I am.

For a more in depth look at these Throwback Pepsi products, check out www.BevReview.com

February is Locals Only Month:Lemon Peel Ginger Root Mash

The Boylan Bottling Company (located in Moonachie, NJ) has been producing exceptional soft drinks for over 100 years. In the last few years, they've entered into the fashionable "water drink" industry with their line of Mash beverages. These new beverages, strangely, aren't mentioned on Boylan's website. In general, I'm not a fan of beverages that boast low calories and are full of artificial sweeteners. But what I like about Boylan's Mash is that it bridges the gap between sugary soda and plain ol' water. That said, if you're the kind of person that's acclimated to drinking three Diet Cokes every day, you probably won't like this.

It pours a hazy pale yellow color with light carbonation. The fragrance is very pleasing, like fresh lemon and lime. The flavor is subtle, but refreshing. It treads pretty close to being watered-down Sprite, but is calculated enough that it holds it's own. I don't really sense the ginger though.

Lemon Peel Ginger Root Mash
Is it delicious?: B+
Is it interesting?: C
Drinkability: A-

February is Locals Only Month:Sixpoint Dubbel Trubbel (4th Anniversary Ale)

Sixpoint is by far my favorite local brewery (not that there's much competition). This month they are celebrating their 4th Anniversary with a slew of events and the release of a limited edition chocolate dubbel. On Tuesday the 17th, they'll have 15+ different Sixpoint ales on tap at Barcade in Williamsburg. And on Mardi Gras (the 24th), there will be a Sixpoint beer dinner at Back Forty in the East Village (reservations required). All this on the heels of a supposed run-in with the FBI over their Hop Obama ale and rumors of massive expansion in '09. I hope they have enough time left in their schedule to make delicious beer.

Which brings me to Dubbel Trubbel. For this site, I try to stick to beverages that are packaged and available to the public (so that I'm not wasting my time describing beverages that you have no way of trying for yourself). This post is bending that rule a bit since this beer is not only a limited edition, but also only available at a few bars and a couple stores in New York. I got mine to-go at the Bowery Whole Foods. Dubbel Trubbel is a 9.6% ABV Belgian Dubbel featuring chocolate nibs from the Mast Brothers (of Williamsburg). Unfortunately, this brew seems a bit trubbled...

It pours a very dark brown with an almost neglible off-white head that dissipates very quickly. The aroma is sweet and malty and Belgian with a hint of banana. The flavor is malty and smooth, but has a strange aftertaste that's hard to place. Charred wood? Charcoal? Coffee? Leather? Copper? Asparagus?? The chocolate and hops are hardly detectable. But the alcohol is. This is a tough one to decipher. I guess Sixpoint can't win me over with every beer. But, I look forward to their next experiment.

Sixpoint Dubbel Trubbel
Is it delicious?: C+
Is it interesting?: C+
Drinkability: B-

February is Locals Only Month:Be'er Mayim Cola

Sholem-aleykhem! I'd be a total schmuck if I sat through Locals Only Month without even saying a bissel about Brooklyn's Hasidic community and their kosher delights. Be'er Mayim makes a cola that is light and dry in the schnoz and looks just like you'd expect it to. It has a very thin mouthfeel with less carbonation and less sweetness than most sodas, but enough of a nutmeg-like, spiced cola flavor that it doesn't seem watered down. Plus, I love the ongepotchket graphic design on the can. Vu iz dos bodtsimer?

Be'er Mayim Cola
Is it delicious?: B-
Is it interesting?: C-
Drinkability: B+