Bloody Queen City

11
Jan
2015

Tomato Lime Cocktail Tea

categories: Extras

My dear friend Tammy saw me complaining on Facebook about having lost the Tomato Lime Cocktail tea I bought from Teavana, so she bought me a whole big container of it for Christmas.

“Rich and sweet sun dried tomato, celery, beetroot, carrot, apple, plum and raisins get a quiet-heat and citrus kick from pieces of chili, lime, orange and cinnamon”

The loose tea smells quite good, but not at all like a Bloody Mary or tomatoes, where the Numi brand definitely smelled like tomatoes. This smells more fruity, and as you can see it’s full of big pieces of dried oranges. It brewed into a deep red color, like beets. The brewed tea does not smell as good as the loose tea. It has a very sweet fruity smell with a weird faint underlying vegetable/dirt smell (perhaps it’s the beets again). It’s made me scared to drink it.

Here goes.

Ok it’s not bad. But it is not at all tomato-y or any kind of vegetable-y. I don’t even taste lime. It’s just weird. The over lying flavor is orange, apple and plum. Weird.

I think it might be better as an iced tea than a hot tea. But it does not at all taste like tomatoes, so if you want a tea that does, stick with the Numi.

11
Jan
2015

Bloody Mary Tea?

categories: Extras

A few months ago I stopped into Teavana to look around. I try to avoid going in there because I want to buy all of the teas. But if I’m at the mall, which is rare, I’ll get a drink to go and try not to look around too much so I can avoid temptation. However, I looked around, and I spotted a new tea on the shelf – Tomato Lime Cocktail. Hang on a second. I asked, is that a Bloody Mary Tea?? The girl explained that they had created a line of tea based on popular alcoholic cocktails, and yes, it was a Bloody Mary based tea. I had already ordered my tea to go, but I couldn’t not buy some to take home. So I bought a 1/4oz or so to take home, and it sat in my cupboard for a while – I wanted to find a special time to brew it and review it.

Now that I’m working an odd schedule I thought now was the time. Only I couldn’t find it. What?! I unloaded my entire tea cupboard (yes I have an entire cupboard full of tea), I looked in all my other cupboards, thinking maybe I misplaced it. I blamed my mom for throwing it out when she rearranged my tea cupboard while I was on vacation. It is gone. Poof. *Sadface* Of course, I could just go back to Teavana and buy more, but it was the Christmas season and I avoid all retail locations at all costs from Thanksgiving to mid-January, and I figured with my luck, they’d no longer carry it in store. So I was not about to brave the crowds just to find out they didn’t have it.

Also, I’m a bit terrified of it. How could it possibly be good?

While I was waiting for Christmas to end, I was at Wegmans looking at tea (shocker), and came across Numi Organic Tea, and their Tomato Mint flavor. They have a whole line of “savory” vegetable based teas, including fennel and curry carrot, which also sounded interesting. However those 2 were inexplicably expensive, while the Tomato Mint was cheap, so in the cart it went.

Admittedly I’m a bit afraid of this one too, but here goes! It definitely smells like tomato with a hint of mint. Like you’ve been harvesting the garden, and have a basket of produce in front of you. Smells quite good. And it tastes like tomatoes. Warm watery tomatoes. Hmm. I’m not sure if that’s a good thing. The mint is very very subtle, more in scent than taste. I suppose it’s not awful, it’s not offensive. I’m just not sure it’s something I’d want to drink frequently. Perhaps it would make a good iced tea. That will have to be put on the list to try.

(Now that I went to Teavana.com for the links, they have a 75% off sale which includes Tomato Lime. Oh no. That is not good news for the wallet! But perhaps I’ll have a review sooner than later.)

11
Jan
2015

NYC Again

categories: New York City

J and I returned to New York City again, to see Hedwig and the Angry Inch…again…We couldn’t help it! They announced that Michael C Hall was going to be staring, I couldn’t miss that. And then, of course, they announce that the original Hedwig, John Cameron Mitchell himself will be returning to the role, so yep, we’re heading back again in March.

But that’s ok, I got to try a few more Bloodies. This was another quick overnight trip, and this time we drove so we didn’t have all that much time in the city, and not wanting to drive anywhere, we stayed in the general midtown area. I didn’t research any places to go ahead of time, and once we got there and I did some Googling, most places that turned up were brunch places, or not within walking distance.

The first Bloody Mary was courtesy of The Carnegie Club – a cigar bar. Blech! One has to make sacrifices for their others.

Pass. $12 in a Tom Collins glass. Garished with 2 olives and a lemon. It was plain tomato juice with some hot sauce. It had no flavor at all, but it did have a lot of vodka. The photo does look like it has some kind of seasoning in it, like pepper, but it really had zero flavor, so it might as well not been in there at all. No thanks.

After The Carnegie Club I was starving, so Google-ing “late night eats in NYC” brought us to Empanada Mama. Holy moly! A whole menu full of empanadas stuffed with all sorts of deliciousness. And they happened to have a Bloody Mary on the menu. I honestly didn’t want it, a margarita sounded much nicer but J made me.

$7 served in a rocks glass. Garnished with just a lime. There was visible pepper and spice, in a house made mix. It was very tasty, though a bit chewy due to all that spice. It didn’t mix well, the spice kept sinking to the bottom and I had to stir it up each time before I drank any. It had a citrus bite to it and a good spice level, and I didn’t even ask for it spicy (I forgot and the server didn’t ask). It’s hard to pin point a specific reason why it was so tasty, but it was good. Though I still think a margarita would have been delicious 🙂

We also stopped into an Irish Pub across the street from the Belasco Theatre right after we left Hedwig, and figuring they wouldn’t have had a Bloody Mary, I ordered a Guinness. J then asked where we could get a good Bloody, and the bartender said they had one. And not just a crap one like you’d guess, but a house made mix. Color me disappointed in my Guinness, but I didn’t want to have another drink there. The bartender let us taste the mix, which had a lot of potential (although straight mix in a glass was like drinking Ragu haha). Perhaps in March we’ll have to stop in and try it (and figure out what the name of the place was).

11
Jan
2015

Trattoria Aroma

categories: Buffalo

Visited Trattoria Aroma for the first time a few weeks ago for a late dinner. I’ve heard a lot about it, as it gets mentioned in “Best of” lists for having a good brunch in Buffalo and thus a good Bloody Mary. I wasn’t intending to have one, and didn’t have one with dinner but waited until after at the bar (with a bogo coupon!) It was mid week, since my work schedule is what it is, so I wasn’t sure they’d actually have a mix ready, but the bartender was happy to make one.

It was your standard bloody in a pint glass with 2 olives, lemon and lime garnish. I tried to watch her make it, but she was at the far end of the bar. I caught her using boxed tomato juice, and Frank’s hot sauce, along with pepper but then she added stuff I couldn’t see. It had a good spice level and liquidity, but it was disappointingly average for a place that is consistently voted as having the best brunch in Buffalo.

But I will give them a pass, because not long after, I read yet another review of Trattoria Aroma’s brunch where they mention their outstanding Bloody Mary – in fact a whole Bloody Mary menu! So it appears that their mid week Bloody is fairly standard, made with the ingredients on hand, but their brunch Bloody is great.

Alas due to working nights I may never find out. Now may be my only chance as I have weekends off for the next 3 months. I just need to find a buddy to wake up and go with me!

11
Jan
2015

Tasty

categories: Uncategorized

I found this jar of peppers in an abandoned convent (“urban exploring”, my other hobby)…looks tasty right?….right??

11
Jan
2015

St Louis Days 3 and 4

categories: St Louis

The last day and a half of my stay in St Louis had to bring us to the other Rooster location, as I had to have the Bloody Fairy. When I saw this listed on their website, there was no choice. If I had no other drink on this vacation, it had to be this one. I can’t say I was looking forward to it, or that I thought it was going to be delicious. But there was no way I could pass it up.

A Bloody Mary made with absinthe.

I’ll let that sink in for a moment.

I have a bit of history with absinthe. I am attracted to the history of the drink and the myth that surrounds it. I invested in a bottle while it was still illegal, and I struggled to find a way to successfully drink it, as it is rather difficult to choke down. The traditional way, with water and a sugar cube (do not light it on fire you noobs!), is still quite wretched. I’ve had an absinthe frappe in New Orleans. I had it in a layered shooter style drink with sambuca and baileys in Kiev, called a Hiroshima (I really ordered it for the name haha), and I’ve drank it straight. It’s just difficult to drink. I really couldn’t imagine what it could possibly taste like mixed with a tomato base. But I knew I couldn’t pass it up, because when would I ever see an absinthe Bloody Mary again?

So we made it to Rooster downtown right before it closed so I could order the Bloody Fairy. The bartender questioned my choice, asked if I liked licorice flavor and I assured her I knew what absinthe was. She said she was making sure because the Bloody Fairy was the most often sent back drink on the menu.

The small size was $5, with a salt and chili powder rim. This time I got the 2 olive and peperoncini garnish with a lemon stuck in there that was missing from the day before. This drink definitely wins the award for Most Unusual Bloody Mary in the world. There is such a strong taste of absinthe it drowns out almost all of the tomato taste from their 17 ingredient house mix. It was not at all spicy, as it seems their house mix is not spiced (they offer a Bloody ‘ell spicy Bloody that I didn’t have the opportunity to try), and I’m not sure adding spice to the flavor of absinthe would be a good idea. It was just so bizarre! So much herbal licorice flavor! Strangely it wasn’t bad though. I really didn’t think those flavors would mix well, but it turns out it might be the only tolerable way to drink absinthe. It definitely has been the best absinthe cocktail I’ve had.

The bartender was surprised I drank it all, she can’t even stand the smell of absinthe when she’s mixing them!

Later on that day we swang by Barrister’s, also on the Best Of list I found before I traveled. Also known for their Make Your Own bar during brunch, we had to settle for a bartender made drink since it was Wednesday.

Served in a pint glass with a salt and chili rim and 2 olives, a lemon and lime garnish, they use a house made mix which was very thick and chewy. There was visible pepper and not at all vinegary. The spice lingered quite a bit and clearly was not from a generic hot sauce like Frank’s. It tasted good, but was just so thick and chewy it was like drinking spicy pasta sauce. I couldn’t quite get past it, it was just far too thick for me. As the ice melted and it got less chewy it was more enjoyable. But I couldn’t order one from there again knowing how thick they are.

My last Bloody Mary in St Louis was nicely prepared for me by my aunt’s personal trainer Kelly. She mentioned my quest to him while working out, and he claimed he made the best one in St Louis and invited us over to give his a try.

(My aunt with Kelly….I mean Kelly’s dog)

Kelly starts with a large jug of Mr and Mrs T’s bold and spicy mix, removes a bit and adds in some of Mr and Mrs T’s horseradish mix, and mixes in some creamy horseradish and even more raw horseradish from a jar. He shakes that up, adds in bacon bits and svedka vodka and voila. Garnished with peperoncini and blue cheese stuffed olives (I passed on the olives), the Bloody had a good taste and spice level from the horseradish. It had a good liquidity and wasn’t chewy at all, and after the last one, that was a welcome change. He said he made them strong and he wasn’t lying, we needed lunch after that! Thanks Kelly!

11
Jan
2015

St Louis Day 2

categories: St Louis

Day 2 brought us to the other restaurant from the Best of St Louis list that I really wanted to go to, Rooster. Rooster is a breakfast restaurant often voted “best breakfast in Missouri” as well as “best crepes, bloody marys and brunch in St Louis”. They were part of the Best Bloodys in St Louis list, and their menu offers 11 different kinds of Bloodys. I narrowed down the list to 3 or 4, and then down to just 2 that I felt like I just HAD to try. They make their own mix featuring 17 different ingredients, it has to be good, right?

So my aunt and I headed out to their new location on South Grand because it had longer hours than their downtown location, only to find out that their menu is different, and they didn’t have the one Bloody Mary I really had to have – the Bloody Fairy. And the bartender didn’t even realize the 2 locations had different menus. What?? Ok, fine, I settled for my 2nd choice, the Bloody Samurai.

Made with wasabi, soy sauce and sake instead of vodka, the small size was $5 and garnished with wasabi peas! The photos from the Best Of article showed the drink also garnished with olives and peperoncini, clearly they were missing in mine. Perhaps a difference in location as well. My initial thought was that it was delicious, but then I thought it was a little weird. I think it was the sake, as in general I’m not a huge fan. The mix seemed to have a good taste, a nice spice level and good flavor from the wasabi (which I love). In the end, though, I thought it was pretty good. I had to get used to the difference in taste from the sake is all.

My food was pretty delicious too – a southwest scramble with eggs, black beans, spinach, cheese, onion and salsa.

My aunt and uncle recently moved to St Louis, which was the reason for visiting, but I planned it around a Buffalo Sabres game, which was on Day 2. So before heading out to the game we stopped into The Scottish Arms. My aunt knew they had a nice Sunday brunch with a make your own Bloody Mary bar, but being a Tuesday, they of course didn’t offer this. They did have their mix made though, however I was not ready for another one yet, but my aunt was, so she ordered their Smoky Bloody Mary.

I did taste it, and it did indeed have a very smoky taste. Very Very smoky. And pickle-y. And very smoky. Did I say smoky? Served in a pint glass with 2 olives and a lime garnish for $7. It was smoky. Haha.

The Buffalo Sabres lost. Badly. Of course, because they are terrible this year. And that’s ok. One game closer to McDavid!

11
Jan
2015

St Louis Day 1

categories: St Louis

I have returned from St Louis, unscathed. The trip was a bit touch and go for a moment, as the verdict in the Michael Brown case was initially going to come in the day I was traveling to the city, and some…trouble…was expected, but the verdict was postponed so, game on!

I was going to post from the road, but it seems the tumblr android app does not allow for posting photos inline, so I decided to just save it all for when I returned.

So let’s go!

I had some free drink tickets for Southwest Airlines that had expired in December 2013 that I brought along with me, because I figured it couldn’t hurt to ask if I could use one. They’ll say no, and I’ll have my water and continue with my craps class homework, or they’ll say yes and I’ll have a dreadful Bloody Mary. At first the flight attendant said no, but on second thought, I guess because I did ask, she said yes, and took all 5 of my tickets in exchange for one Bloody Mary.

There we go! An airplane Bloody Mary. Made with Mr and Mrs T’s Bloody Mary mix and Finlandia vodka with a lime garnish – a bigger slice of lime than you get in most bars. It was pretty dreadful of course. You have to be pretty desperate to order one on an airplane, but I figured it had to be done for the sake of the website. It was pretty damn strong though and gave me quite the headache almost immediately.

My aunt and uncle picked me up at the airport, we caught some dinner, and in the evening headed to the first destination on my list of Bloody Mary bars I wanted to try while I was visiting. I had googled “best bloody mary in St Louis” and Sub Zero came up. Voted the best vodka bar in America, they have the largest selection of vodka in the country and boast a menu featuring all sorts of creative cocktails and several different kinds of Bloody Marys.

They don’t make their own Bloody Mary mix, they use Zing Zang’s, but I had only just recently heard of this brand so I was interested to try it. They don’t seem to sell it around here, or at least not where I’ve looked. The best of list recommended their Pepper-infused Mary featuring their house made 4 pepper infused vodka.

$9 in a pint glass with a salted rim. Garnished with 3 olives and a lime wedge. The Bloody had a strong celery taste and was very salty, and very pickle-y. It had a good strong spice level with visible black pepper. It was a bit thick and needed some chewing. It was good, but I didn’t find it mind blowing. I think the Bakon Bloody might have been a better choice, but I stuck with the Pepper-infused since the article had recommended it. If you go here you won’t have gone wrong, but I think I expected more. And if you like vodka, this is the place for you. They have a club which keeps track of all the different types of vodkas you drink, and you earn points and prizes including a jacket when you’ve tried all the vodkas they offer.

Before the night was over we also stopped into their favorite neighborhood restaurant, the West End Grill and Pub, for a quick snack and one more Bloody Mary.

This Bloody was quite the opposite of Sub Zero’s. Served in a pint glass with 2 olives and a salt rim, the flavor and spice came strictly from horseradish as opposed to peppers or hot sauce. It was very liquidy, but not too much so, and since I like horseradish I found it to be quite good. I found a couple limes hiding at the bottom as well.

And so ends day 1. Stay tuned!

11
Jan
2015

Fallsview Casino

categories: Niagara Falls

Jason and I have been taking Craps at work – learning how to deal Craps – so we went across the river to Fallsview Casino to play, because what’s the best way to learn? By losing your money! Or in our case, breaking even! Hooray! A few years ago I learned that there was this secret bar at Fallsview, down the hallway past the stores, up an unmarked elevator, down a hall…and voila, a bar with a fantastic view (during the day) of Niagara Falls. Jason didn’t know it was there either, so after we were finished playing we went up there and had a drink before heading back home. ~~I think it’s called O3, but I’m not sure.~~ It’s called R5. (Hey, I knew it was a letter and a number!)

This is my first Bloody Mary served in a Hurricane Glass! For $6.50 (Canadian) I was surprised at how cheap it was. Drinks on the casino floor (not free in Canada, and also crappy) push $10, so I figured it would be the same at the fancy secret bar, but nope! Garnished with celery, lemon, 2 olives, a cherry tomato and peperoncini, I was impressed. Add the salted rim for a nice touch. Nice spice level, but it was probably straight tomato juice with added Worcestershire and Tabasco. Their menu did offer options on flavors, with different kinds of Tabasco, like Chipotle but the bartender didn’t ask my preference (perhaps because I just asked for super spicy). It was good, just fairly standard. They get points for the garnish though.

The bar has a giant cocktail menu, which is unfortunately not online, and they serve a small selection of appetizers. They have some extremely expensive cocktails that include precious stones for that special occasion, in case you’re looking 🙂

I am currently on my way to St Louis to visit my aunt, to watch the Sabres lose some more and to taste some Bloodys! I googled some “best Bloodys” for St Louis and found a few potential locations. We’ll see!

11
Jan
2015

The Griffon Pub

categories: Niagara Falls

Niagara Falls, NY is a bit of a tragic city. We have this amazing natural wonder of the world, but the area immediately around it is lacking in attractions other than the casino. Go a few miles away and we have an outlet mall and shopping district that finally, FINALLY, after years has more than just Applebees, to eat at. We now have The Griffon Pub. The building used to be this fairly crummy diner that I would eat at from time to time with LeighAnne when we lived near by, and The Griffon totally remodeled it into a comfy gastropub. Since they are more of a pub than a cocktail bar, they have an extensive beer list, they do have a full bar, so I asked for a Bloody Mary to see how they’d do.

Served in a pint glass for $6, this Bloody was garnished with 3 olives, a lemon and a lime. It was very spicy despite no visible pepper or horseradish, and no Frank’s Hot Sauce flavor either. It was more citrus-y than you normally get, and pretty decent. Given that The Griffon isn’t a cocktail bar, maybe they just have a really good pre-mix.

The Griffon’s menu is fantastic. We went back to back days because we were in the area, and have gone back at least one other time since. There are just so many things we want to order. This time I had the Chicken and Waffle sandwich – holy crap, it was delicious. I had another one at a different gastropub a week later, and it didn’t hold a candle to the one from The Griffon. The staff has been super friendly each visit, and they have always been busy (last visit we had to eat at the bar). Finally something good in the Falls!

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