 |
Tia Maria
by chrisandmark
One of my favourite tipples is Tia Maria, and it has been for years - there's something about the dark richness of it which always leads me to drink far more than I should whenever I open a bottle; luckily for me it rarely leaves me with a bad head, or maybe it would be better if it did as I tend to drink far too much which is worse for ... my liver than my head!
Tia Maria is a rum based drink, originally made in Jamaica it's a 'dark liqueur' which has a strong coffee flavour and a sweet syrupy consistency. I've always adored the beautifully shaped bottle, it's classically styled with an attractive black, red and gold colour scheme - it looks fantastic in my drinks cabinet next to the less impressive spirits bottles, when stored near more modern drinks the sophistication of the Tia Maria design shines through.
Tia Maria is incredibly flavoursome, I don't think it particularly tastes of rum but it definitely has a good warming alcoholic kick which feels absolutely wonderful as I swallow. There's no harshness whatsoever in Tia Maria so drinking it neat (over ice, of course!) is not a problem, in fact that's my very favourite way to drink it! This allows the full flavour to come through, the sweet black coffee taste is completely unadulterated with the addition of lots of large ice cubes chilling the drink to perfection.
Obviously there is the option of using a mixer, or Tia Maria is a good ingredient for use in a variety of coffee inspired cocktails. I'm quite boring in that I only use Coke or Cherry Coke when I drink Tia Maria with a mixer, this is simply because I find this liqueur to be far too heavy to combine with a fruit based mixer although my sister swears by orange juice with her Tia Maria and a friend will only drink it mixed with Vanilla Coke (she lives in the States, where this variety is more readily available than in the UK). I think Coke is the perfect mixer to be honest as it enhances the coffee flavour but softens the overall taste of the drink to the point where you find yourself pouring larger and larger measures when it feels as though the alcoholic flavouring is being sapped out by the fizziness! Cherry Coke adds an extra layer of flavour and this really rings the changes, I feel that using the Cherry variety makes Tia Maria taste almost like a liqueur chocolate rather than a drink - absolutely delicious, but rather more sickly than when I just use plain Coke.
I love a nice healthy slug of Tia Maria in a cup of coffee, the key here is not to listen to the advice of anyone and prepare the drink to YOUR tastes. I remember speaking to a barista once who gave me lots of tips on adding alcohol to coffee, one thing he was adamant about was the fact that Tia Maria should only be added to the freshest filter coffee and you must not put milk or sugar in your hot drink. I stuck to this for a long time before realising that Mr Barista was not the one drinking it, and I actually prefer my Tia Maria in my usual Kenco with a spoon of sugar and a small dash of milk (never cream for me as it makes the liqueur taste 'funny'). It works equally well in hot chocolate, giving the drink a delicious mocha flavour which I simply cannot recreate using any other combination - in actual fact I'm drinking a Tia Maria spiked hot choc right now and can report that it's absolutely wonderful!
Tia Maria has an ABV of 20%, which is about average for this type of drink in my experience. It doesn't taste like an horrendously strong liqueur and to be fair it doesn't get me too drunk even if I get through a good portion of the bottle in one sitting (which happens pretty regularly when I have Tia Maria in the house!!!); I do find it quite sickly after a while however so if I'm not 100% in the mood for a drink, or more specifically a very sweet drink, then I tend to look for something else. Tia Maria currently costs around £13 for a standard size 70cl bottle, this represents excellent value for money in my opinion as it's such a high quality and very tasty drink - I'll continue to buy it for sure!
Read the complete review |
|
|
Smirnoff Ice
by kpdude
Smirnoff Ice is an Alcoholic beverage which belongs to the Alcopop category.
By using the term Alcopop, I mean a pre-mixed alcoholic drink which contains various fruit juices.
Although I don't drink Smirnoff Ice now a days, I did actually come across a shop in Belgium last month that was selling them, and I decided ... to buy a couple of bottles. It was more of a nostalgic purchase more than anything as I used to love drinking these when I was a child.
Now Smirnoff Ice's are only 4% in alcoholic percentage, which is why they are so popular with revellers of the night! Not only this but they taste so good, you can't really taste the alcohol.
They have a slight citrus flavour to them.
The problem I see with Smirnoff Ice is that they are so much more expensive than regular drinks.
I remember years ago paying up to £3 in a bar for a 330ml bottle, which is far too much, especially when it's like drinking a fruit juice.
If you buy these from the supermarket, you can normally get 2 large 700ml bottles for £5, which is far more reasonable.
For those who like something a bit difference, I recommend trying a cocktail called a 'Turbo Shandy'.
It's basically half a pint of Stella mixed with half a pint of Smirnoff Ice.... it tastes great!
Another plus point is that Smirnoff won;t get you bloated on a night out like beer does, allowing you to dance the night away.
All in all, for a refreshing alcoholic beverage, try Smirnoff Ice.
Read the complete review |
