Triminic

one thing i've noticed over the years about flavored liquor is that with raspberry, you never really know what you're going to get. no flavor is more different across brands.

We decided to go back to an old favorite of ours the other day, Cabana Boy raspberry rum. it makes your head hurt, but it tastes really good without being overpowering or too sweet. we just happened to have some grape soda at home, so we made a mixed drink with it and some creme de cassis we still have.

first we froze the rum to make the water in it freeze so the drinks would be stronger. then, about 1 part rum, 2 parts grape soda, and a splash of creme de cassis. it tasted like the grape cold medicine my mom would give me when i was a kid, generic brand triaminic. aleks liked it. while it was nostalgic for me, i wouldnt drink it again.

Outcome: Fail

however, just the rum and grape soda tasted like just grape soda, so that was pretty good! i dont think this same outcome would happen with any other raspberry flavored liquor tho, cuz they are so all over the place. and it wasnt really worth the headache that crept up while we were still drinking. so, overall, wouldn't do it again.

Jelly Belly Jelly Beans

This post is not about liquor

I love jelly belly jelly beans

to the right is my personal top 10 list

here is a list of new and current flavors i havent tried yet that i'd like to

1. Cafe latte
2. crushed pineapple
3. kiwi
4. lemon drop
5. mango
6. orange juice
7. orange sherbert
8. wild blackberry - a reviewer says about this one: Flavors burst out of the bean to fill your entire mouth with blackberriness.
9. pomegranate
10. cinnamon toast
11. apricot
12. honey graham cracker
    
13. orange crush
14. grape crush
15. 7 up

i'm not so sure about the roasted garlic and the baked bean, but i'm sure the tobasco, and dark chocolate will be big hits

They have a new line of coldstone creamery inspired beans that look good.  especially the apple pie a la coldstone

check out their new line of prank jelly bellys that are look-alikes to regular flavors which are both mixed in together so you never know what you're getting:

"Skunk Spray" (looks like "Licorice")

"Pencil Shavings" (looks like "Top Banana")

"Moldy Cheese" (looks like "Caramel Corn")

"Baby Wipes" (looks like "Coconut")

"Toothpaste" (looks like "Berry Blue")

"Rotten Egg" (looks like "Buttered Popcorn")

"Ear Wax" (looks like "Cafe Latte")

"Booger" (looks like "Juicy Pear")

"Vomit" (looks like "Peach")

"Black Pepper" (looks like "Plum")

a few from bertie botts on there. i think pencil shavings, baby wipes, skunk spray, and black pepper sound like the most shocking pranks.  in my opinion, the candy corn tasted like moldy cheese to begin with!

and how about new mystery flavor ice cream sandwich, and new contest winner acai berry?  yikes!

Mango fizz

1 part mango vodka (i use 3 olives)

3 parts orange fanta

Its sort of a riff on a screwdriver.  except way tastier

Crazy Berry

2 parts blackberry vodka

1 part cranberry vodka

3 parts red bull

2 parts raspberry soda, or raspberry flavored carbonated water, like Canada Dry Raspberry Sparkling soda--it has no sugar, AND no fake sweetener

riff: trade the raspberry soda for cranberry ginger ale, available around the holidays, and the cranberry vodka for raspberry

this is a very tart drink, not as sweet as you expect, so its good if you're trying to keep the calories down, but you still like fruity drinks.  you can even use sugar free red bull.

If you find it is not sweet enough for your tastes, try pomegranate liquer, or creme de cassis (black currant liquer).  Both are available at your regular liquor store, offered by DeKuyper, the people who do Pucker.  It sounds exotic but its really not.  If you can't find them, use whatever else berry flavored you can find--raspberry, cherry, whatever

Raspberry Jam

Raspberry  Jam

One part pomegranate vodka (i like three olives)

One part cranberry juice (try and get the good stuff if you can, but cranberry coctail will do fine)

serve over ice with optional lemon wedge.  

You're not reading this wrong--there are no raspberry ingredients.  it doesn't taste like artificial raspberry flavor, it tastes like real raspberry jam--the floor won't know what hit it