blast from the past

i must start this post by saying i do not drink pop. maybe once a month. maybe. if i really need a mcdonald's fountain coke or i go to frisch's and get a vanilla coke.
but i had to try throwback pepsi, made with natural sugar instead of the dreaded high fructose corn syrup. my first taste made me think of diet pepsi, only without the super-nasty aftertaste. that diety-taste disappeared, though, with the second taste. i pronounce the throwback pepsi positively delightful. and it tastes pretty good from a can.

since i am more a coke girl than a pepsi girl, i really hope they make throwback coke. i have been told the reason why coke in a glass bottle tastes so much better is because it has cane sugar and not corn syrup. however, i inspected this the other day and found the bottled coke does have high fructose corn syrup. so it's amazing taste remains a mystery.

pottsville, pa: second star to the right, and straight on till morning

i have discovered the tinkerbell of beer; light, effervescent, and slightly sassy. deliciously girly, yuengling lager might just be my new favorite summer beer. founded in 1829, yuengling is recognized as america's oldest brewery and has remained a family owned company for the duration.

look at that sparkle!

i could drink a number of these. easily.

a tale of two wines

1. a cautionary tale: hoodwinked by a wine shop employee

she told me it was fabulous. she told me it was actually periwinkle colored. she is a liar and i am gullible.

this blend of garnacha, syrah, and tempranillo was so bad i had to pour it down the sink, and i am not one to waste wine. i actually made a puckered, sour face at my first sip. apparently i am a slow learner and kept going back in for more until i just gave up. i was clinging to the hope i would magically enjoy sip number ten more than sip number one. alas, no. down the sink it went.

it is clearly the color of grape jelly, not periwinkle.

2. a tale of unexpected pleasure

it was cold, miserable, rainy day when we visited st. julian winery in michigan. (fyi: st. julian is the patron saint of hotel keepers, boatmen, and travelers) we tasted several of their wines; the whites were crisp and fruity, the reds bland and one-dimensional. all are made with locally grown grapes. i was intrigued by a cherry wine. i love cherries, but i have also come to realize cherry alcohols often cross the line to cough syrup. happily, this was not the case with st. julian's, made from montmorency and meteor tart cherries grown in michigan. it tasted like cherries, real cherries, nice and tart. simply spectacular. i think i would like to pair it with some sinfully dark chocolate.