Jose Cuervo Especial Gold

Since it is technically still cold and flu season, I figured, I’d just be lazy and review my cure-all this week.

If you need any proof to the effectiveness of this product, I have not had a cold or the flu in nearly six years. Every other ailment I have ever actually contracted, like food poisoning, have all cleared up in a single night. Tequila, according to my Grandma who is more awesome than yours, is an old Mexican remedy. She drinks it to cure everything, and so do I. So why Cuervo Gold you ask? I have no clue. It’s just what I grew up with. I’m sure if you want to be a complete snob, you can go with a top shelf tequila, but for me it will always be the Cuervo. If you go to the Cuervo website, it says that this is supposed be sweet, with hints of agave, and some vanilla and oak. I call BS. Except for the agave obviously, but there are no hints of vanilla or oak, nor is it particularly smooth. I am able to chug this stuff because I have developed a taste for it. For everyone else, it is basically just the stuff that you mix into a margarita. I usually just drink it with orange juice or coke. This does come in at 80 proof or 40% alcohol by volume, and is probably one of the most readily available product I have reviewed here because damn near everyone that sells liquor carries it. The standard 750ML bottle ranges in price from $20 to $12 depending on where you buy it and whether it is on sale.


Breakdown

The Bottle : This is the gold variety of the “Especial” line of Jose Cuervo, so the bottle looks identical to the silver, but these two have some fairly subtle differences from the rest of the Cuervo family of products. So for not doing the exact same thing over and over again like Smirnoff, I’m going to give some extra points.

Score : 15

The Taste : Like I said, it’s kind of an acquired taste to be drinking it straight up. If you mix it with other stuff, it’s pretty enjoyable, but most people only really get this stuff in a margarita.

Score : 20

The Buzz : I usually polish off an entire bottle in a night, so getting a buzz is no problem. One thing I do notice from this brand of tequila is that I do have more of a tendency to black out, so that may be something to keep in mind if you ever want to try and get on my level.

Score : 20

The Cost : Depending on where you go, it can be either way overpriced or extremely cheap. So keep an eye out.

Score : 15

Total Score : 70

As for it’s ability to speed up my recovery time, I usually get a 750ML bottle, 2 bottles of Fruit Punch Powerade or Gatorade, and a big bottle of water. I’ll usually drink about half of the bottle of water, wait about a half hour, start drinking the Cuervo with the Powerade as a chaser, and once the bottle is finished, drink the rest of the water periodically. It also helps if you have a really thick blanket and a hoodie to sleep in. You’ll be right as rain in the morning.

Cheers

Pearl Vodka

Yes another vodka. I can’t help it, I love Vodka.

Review :


So this was actually a recommendation from the guy at the liquor store. I have to say that I was a little surprised by it. There was not real initial taste to it. Which you would think would mean that it’s smooth, but there is a very distinct aftertaste that I can’t put my finger on. Either way, it did make for a good mixing vodka. I found that it went great with orange juice, as well as those carbonated cranberry juice deal you can get at the grocery store. Pearl comes in at 80 proof, or 40 percent alcohol by volume and is distilled five times to create that clean mouth feel I described. It should be noted that since this is a Canadian vodka,  I guess that means that it is distilled from wheat as opposed to potatoes or rye. It has a cork top instead of a screw top which is cool. I have pretty much only seen this stuff at the liquor store by my house, and Rite Aid. I have only had the 1.75 liter bottles, but they do have 750ml bottles available. At the time that I got mine, the size that I had was only about $18, but prices have gone up recently. They also used to attach a set of bottle shaped earrings to the larger bottles, so this may or may not be an indicator of it being a more feminine vodka.


Breakdown

The Bottle : Pearl has a standard and very plain bottle. Basically the only thing that changes is the label depending on the flavor. Oh, and they do have an interesting variety of flavors. They also do have the cork top, which is always a winner in my book, and the earrings were kinda cool.

Score : 10

The Taste : I am only able to handle about 2 to 3 shots of this stuff straight up before I start getting that weird taste I was talking about. However, it is a great mixer, so I think that kind of makes up for it.

Score : 20

The Buzz : I get a fairly good buzz from this stuff. When I was getting it more often, I was usually able to knock back about half a handle in two hours or so, and just coast the rest of the night.

Score : 20

The Cost : Where I get mine from, it is only about $18 a bottle. I haven’t seen any places recently where you could get it for less that $22. So I would shop around.

Score : 10

Total Score : 60

I’d say to at least give this a try, I am going to look for their Apple Pie flavor, because that sounded pretty interesting.

Pinnacle Vodka

I already reviewed a bunch of the flavors, so why not review the original?

Review :

I’ve found myself drinking a lot of this vodka lately. Mostly because of financial reasons, but luckily price doesn’t always dictate quality. I am obviously a big fan of the flavors of Pinnacle, but hadn’t really had too much of the unflavored variety. Luckily, the liquor store by my house started carrying it, so I was able to try it. As far as plain vodkas go, I have to say that this is quality stuff. Fairly smooth, no real burning sensation as you drink it, and decent finish. The store that I get it from also happens to sell my favorite line of lemonades, so I found that it pairs extremely well with black cherry lemonade, and Hawaiian Punch. Since it is not flavored it does come in at 80 proof, or 40 percent alcohol by volume. I have found this one at damn near everywhere I’ve shopped for liquor, so there should be no problem finding it.


Breakdown :

The Bottle : Pinnacle has a standard bottle, so there isn’t much going on there.

Score : 5

Taste : I like the way it tastes. Like I said, it tastes great with a number of mixers, but its not to harsh that I would even need a chaser.

Score : 25

The Buzz : Since it pairs so well, I found myself drinking it fairly quick, so getting a buzz was not a problem. I’m usually a happy drunk when it comes to vodka buzzes, this is no different. I don’t get hangovers, so that’s not really a problem in my case.

Score : 25

The Cost : Again, price is no real indication of quality. If you look this up on the BevMo website, the average price for a 750ml bottle is only about $10. The liquor store I frequent sells it for about $11, so you’re getting a good product for a decent price.

Score : 25

Total Score : 80

So now I think I’ve gone through every Pinnacle product I can find within a 5 mile radius.

Cheers.

Jim Beam Red Stag Honey Tea

I really try not to review similar products back to back, but I haven’t been shopping in a while.

Review :

I was a little worried about another honey flavored liquor, because I have such a love hate relationship with the Jack Daniels Tennessee Honey. My worries were soon laid to rest as soon as I poured a shot. The aroma alone is amazing. Not too sweet, but distinctively honey. The taste was surprising, as it was not very overpowering either. You get a fairly subtle honey taste, but it’s mostly just bourbon. I am not sure where the “tea” portion of the name is coming from, but if it what they used to mellow out the honey, then I’m for it. I wound up drinking nearly the entire bottle in the course of an hour. Word of advice, do not turn the Royal Rumble into a drinking game. With this being 80 proof (40% alcohol by volume) it wasn’t very hard to get hammered. I got this for $16 just like the spiced Red Stag, it usually retails for about $18. Either way it’s a good value in my book. I got mine at Bevmo, but have seen this one at a bunch of grocery stores.


Breakdown :

The Bottle : Standard Jim Beam bottle. Not expecting it to look like a bumble bee or a honey comb, but a little variation other than a label change would get some extra points.

Score : 5

The Taste : This type tasted great. I would even say that I liked it better than the Spiced one, just because I really didn’t need a chaser. I enjoy cinnamon, but after a certain amount of time it got to be too much. The way that I knew I was getting to the end point with this one was that I passed out on the couch for a while.

Score : 25

The Buzz : Granted, my buzz was the result of knocking back an insane amount of shots in a short amount of time. It was a great buzz though. I was still able to walk, which is a good sign, and as far as I know I didn’t spill anything, puke, nor did I piss myself. So A+++.

Score : 25

The Cost : I know that for the Spiced variety I only gave 20 points. Like I said, for both of these, the price that I paid was a good value for their quality. I am giving this one the full 25 points because I did like it better than the Spiced one.

Score : 25

Total Score : 80

I would seriously recommend this stuff highly, even if people aren’t huge fans of bourbon. I am getting it again.