Libation of the Week: Yo-Goat Cultured Goat Milk (Blueberry)

Name: Yo-Goat Cultured Goat Milk with Blueberries

 

Brand: Coach Farms

Place of Purchase: Tops Friendly Markets in Baldwinsville, NY

Country/Region of Origin: Pine Plains, NY

Tasting Conditions: Chilled in a plastic bottle

Price in New York: $1.59 for 8oz.

Description:  Blueberry-flavored drinkable goats milk yogurt

Flavor:  Goat cheese with a hint of blueberries.
 

Mouth-feel: Thick, a bit grainy

Aroma: Berries and goats milk

Notes:  I have been on a probiotics kick, so I have been trying different yogurt and kombacha options..  I'm also on a potassium kick, so I have been downing tons of coconut and beet juice.  So, I saw this and I knew that I liked blueberries.  I like goat cheese.  I've even had goat cheese and blueberries together.  So, I purchased and I tried.

I learned that I like goat cheese and blueberries on a bit of pita, or cracker.  Not necessarily as a breakfast drink.  This stuff is goaty goaty goaty.  So, if you like that first thing in the AM, then this drink is for you.

Libation of the Week: Camlica

Name: Camlica

 

Brand: Ulker

Place of Purchase: European Specialties in Syracuse, NY

Country/Region of Origin: Turkey

Tasting Conditions: Chilled in a glass

Price in New York: $0.75 for 250mL

Description:  A fizzy orange soda

Flavor:  A smooth mimosa
 

Mouth-feel: Fuzzy effervescence, smooth carbonation

Aroma: Fresh orange

Notes:  I don't usually like to double-up on the same sodas with different varieties.  I only did Camlica a few posts ago, and I really liked it.  The next time that I went to the European Specialties, I saw that they had a different variety of this wonderful soft drink.  So, I grabbed a bottle and pooped it into the fridge.

This is another high-quality soda with relatively simple ingredients.  There is sodium citrate (probably part flavor/part preservative), potassium sorbate (another preservative that I try to avoid), and beta carotene as a colorant.  The rest is sparkling water, beet sugar and concentrated orange juice.  The taste is very clean orange, with enough fizzy to make it taste like a fresh mimosa on Easter Sunday, minus the alcohol.  If you can find it, give it a try, because from the website I get the impression that this new product might be a limited product.

Libation of the Week: White Gourd Drink

Name: White Gourd Drink

 

Brand: Taisun

Place of Purchase: Oriental Suppermarket in Syracuse, NY

Country/Region of Origin: Taiwan

Tasting Conditions: Chilled in a glass

Price in New York: $1.99 for 10.8 oz

Description:  A crisp, clean summer drink

Flavor:  Caramel and nut
 

Mouth-feel: Clean, slightly astringent

Aroma: Burnt sugar and floral

Notes:  White gourd, also known as winter melon, is found almost everywhere in Asia.  This cucurbit can be eaten as a vegetable, but it is also employed in candy- and drink-making.  For New Years, crystallized winter melon is often paired with candied coconut strips as an offering and a treat.  This beverage is not what I expected.  I did expect the clean mouth-feel, but I was used to either candied or stir-fried winter melon.  This luxurious, caramel-flavored treat was a pleasant and refreshing surprise.  With drinks like this, I often don't know what I'm getting myself into.  Sometimes, I get pennywort.  Other times, I get liquid gold.

Libation of the Week: Camlica

Name: Camlica

 

Brand: Ulker

Place of Purchase: European Specialties in Syracuse, NY

Country/Region of Origin: Turkey

Tasting Conditions: Chilled in a glass

Price in New York: $0.75 for 8.5 oz

Description:  A crisp citrus soda

Flavor:  Clean lemon
 

Mouth-feel: Very effervescent, strong carbonation

Aroma: Clean lemon

Notes:  This is what your day-to-day soda should be.  Not too sweet, but real sugar.  Great bubbles with a clean lemon taste.  Sure, the lemon is artificial, but tastes like a sparkling lemonade and doesn't leave a syrupy film on your mouth.  I like it.  It's cheap and the carved glass bottle is pretty.  A complete soda experience. 

Libation of the week: Pennywort Drink

Name: Pennywort Drink

 

Brand: Foco

Place of Purchase: Oriental Suppermarket in Syracuse, NY

Country/Region of Origin: Thailand

Tasting Conditions: Chilled in a glass

Price in New York: $1.99 for 11.5 oz

Description:  Good for the kidneys

Flavor:  Sweet with notes of asparagus, spinach, cabbage, Brussels sprouts and grass
 

Mouth-feel: Clean and crisp, somewhat astringent

Aroma: Asparagus and grass

Notes: There are a lot of Asian drinks to sample.  Typically, I enjoy most of them because they are usually sugar water with some kind of juice or extract.  How can you go wrong.

Sometimes, however, the drinks are made for their medicinal properties and not their flavor.  Pennywort Drink is like that.  Made from sugar, water, 42% pennywort leaf extract and citric acid (for preservation, I would guess), this drink tastes exactly as you would expect.  The herby notes are hidden by the strong flavor of the pennywort, which is touted as a blood and urinary tract cleanser.  If you are having blood problems or kidney issues, I will say that there is plenty of sugar in this drink.  However, that spoonful of sugar is barely enough to make the medicine go down.

Libation of the week: The Sam Adams Milkshake

Name: The Samuel Adams Milkshake

 

Brand: Red Robin

Place of Purchase: Red Robin in Fayetteville, NY

Country/Region of Origin: Boston?

Tasting Conditions: Chilled in a glass, topped with whipped cream and caramel

Price in New York: $4.99 for around a pint

Description:  Red Robin says "Trust us."

Flavor:  Creamy, hoppy, tart, sweet
 

Mouth-feel: Frothy.  The Sam Adams glass provides a continuous flow of evervescence to the creamy drink

Aroma: Milky caramel and hops.

Notes: I want to begin by saying that I enjoy Red Robin.  For a franchise restaurant, they make excellent burgers.  Their restaurants have a pleasant, family-friendly atmosphere.  I was pretty excited when I heard about their Octoberfest specials, including the Sam Adams milkshake.  I thought that this was a stroke of genius.  Why hasn't anyone thought of this before.  I love beer.  I love milkshakes.

When I arrived at Red Robin, the Sam Adams milkshake was not on the menu.  Still, being an informed consumer I knew what I came for.  I ordered it.  It came to the table.  I drank it.  It was gross.  

Of course someone has come up with the beer milkshake.  It was probably invented at the same time as the egg cream, the root beer float and the brown cow.  Unfortunately, beer adds too much tartness and too much foam to an ice cream drink.  The milkshake was sour and intensely hoppy and had enough fizz to give me a stomach-ache.

I will give Red Robin props for trying.  I will also give them props for having the foresight to remove this item from their menu.  It just was not good.

Libation of the week: Jamaican Irish Moss

Name: Jamaican Irish Moss

 

Brand: Big Bamboo

Place of Purchase: Oriental Suppermarket in Syracuse, NY

Country/Region of Origin: Maybe Jamaica?

Tasting Conditions: Chilled in a glass

Price in New York: $1.99 for 11 oz.

Description:  A drink to put lead in your pencil.

Flavor:  An egg-free nog, heavy on the nutmeg and cloves
 

Mouth-feel: Creamy and frothy, with lumps.

Aroma: Strong nutmeg and clove, mild coconut

Notes:  I had no idea what I was getting into.  I knew that Irish Moss was some kind of herbal aphrodisiac, but when I first poured the beige, foamy, lumpy mess into my anchor measuring glass, I'll admit I was scared.  Still, for my readers, I pressed on.  The flavor wasn't bad.  Mostly whipped sugar and milk, Big Bamboo's Jamaican Irish Moss Vanilla Drink tasted pretty close to egg nog.  There were some key differences.  One, this drink was much lighter.  Egg nog tends to be stick and clingy.  This drink was creamy but whipped enough to maintain a lighter body.  The egg flavors were gone, as well, and the spice profile leaned more towards cloves.  The actual drink made fresh would contain Jamaican Irish moss, a kind of seaweed with a high carrageenan content.  This polysaccharide acts as a thickening agent in the spiced milk beverage.  Big Bamboo's mix contains several other thickeners and emulsifiers to maintain consistent body.  Still, there is enough carrageennan to clump up with the coconut milk added for fat content.  This is also NOT a low calorie drink.  Still, for what it's worth, it tasted pretty durned good.