Skip to content

Category Archives: Beverages

wasabigelatine’s 2009 holiday gift guide

This year, it’s twenty items for $20 or under. Enjoy!

Honey and honey mustard gift set - $12, Chicago Honey Co-op.  Located on Chicago’s West Side, Chicago Honey Co-op practices sustainable beekeeping and honey production while providing jobs for the city’s underemployed. This gift set is a great way to sample their products and support the […]

Cafecito’s hot chocolate

HotChocolate’s hot chocolate is a chocolate and sugar addict’s downfall — my favorite’s the caramelly medium hot chocolate — but at $6 a cup, it’s an expensive and unaffordable habit. So I’m pleased to have found a new chocolate love: Cafecito’s hot chocolate. It’s similar to Mexican hot chocolate, laced with cinnamon and almond flavors, […]

Beverage videos of the week

Is Tom Colicchio mocking Grant Achatz in this Diet Coke commercial? You decide:

Watch Rachel Maddow mix a Jack Rose:

Epic fail: Tropicana’s new look

Following a barrage of consumer complaints, Tropicana has decided to scrap its short-lived minimalist new look:
Redesigned packaging that was introduced in early January is being discontinued, executives plan to announce on Monday, and the previous version will be brought back in the next month.
Also returning will be the longtime Tropicana brand symbol, an orange from […]

Wandering Aengus Cider

We visited a farmer’s market in Portland last spring where we discovered Wandering Aengus Ciderworks, an artisanal cider producer located in Salem, Oregon. Their apples are organically grown, some of which are heirloom English and French varieties. In addition to three ciders (dry, semi-dry, and heirloom blend), they also make a pommeau — apple brandy […]

Tropicana’s new look

By now you’ve probably seen Tropicana orange juice’s new design. Gone is the iconic straw stuck in an orange; it’s replaced with a semi-abstract closeup of a goblet of orange juice. The typefaces have also been modernized and the brand name relegated to a vertical treatment on the right side. It’s so minimal — generic, […]

Chartreuse

By now you’re probably aware of the full-scale absinthe revival happening in the U.S., but my decadent green elixir of choice is chartreuse. Like its notorious cousin, it’s anise-y, high in alcohol, and supposedly contains small amounts of thujone, the chemical in wormwood wrongly blamed for the absinthe-fueled death and dismemberment back in the day. […]

More blood orange beverages

A while back I wrote about blood orange juice, my favorite winter beverage. If you like it a little stronger, Sepia in the West Loop offers a couple of seasonal drinks that really showcase the flavor of this delicious purple-red citrus fruit.
The Blood and Stone, pictured above, is the blood and sand’s deeper, darker cousin […]

Hansen’s Natural Sparkling Water

I’m a big fan of Hansen’s Natural Sodas and a sucker for pretty packaging, so it was a no-brainer to pick up a couple of their new fruit-flavored sparkling waters. The tall, sleek cans are nestled four to a box and the predominately white color scheme and minimalist design is reminiscent of the iPod. […]

More bang for your buzz - Coca-Cola and illy collaboration

Yesterday Coca-Cola and Italy’s illycaffé announced that they’ll be teaming up to create ready-to-drink coffee. No word yet on whether it will be a single beverage or a range of products, but this collaboration is sure to give the PepsiCo/Starbucks partnership a run for their money. I think illy makes a far better espresso, hands […]

Evian Palace Bottle

There’s a current backlash against bottled water in some circles, but how can any design junkie resist the sleek, elegant shape of the Evian Palace Bottle? (I couldn’t help falling in love with its bold, minimal simplicity during an eight-hour Top Chef marathon — that’s some good product placement there.) The luxe packaging is fit […]

Mmm…homemade lemonade

Cool, tangy, refreshing…what’s not to love? Homemade lemonade takes a bit of time, but it’s well worth the effort. Plus, your kitchen will smell like summertime afterwards.
Makes 10 cups. You’ll need a big pitcher for this. Or just halve the recipe as I usually do.
3 cups freshly squeezed lemon juice (about 20 lemons)
2 cups sugar
6 […]