"charbay" news and stories

Coming of drinking age during the Bartles & Jaymes wine cooler craze, I don't usually associate elegance with a pre-mixed drink from a bottle. But the last decade has changed some of that, with the movement toward all-natural flavors with no artificial coloring.

Back when I first learned to mix drinks, I would still occasionally grab a bottle of Jose Cuervo margarita mix for a camping trip. This never compared to the freshness of using squeezed limes, but sometimes the convenience of a bottled margarita was just too tempting when you are feeling rushed or just don't want to be bogged own with several different bottles and the accoutrements for making the drinks from scratch. This was back in the day when I didn't pay attention to whether or not the mix had high fructose corn syrup or FD&C Yellow #5. Now with companies like Stirrings, you can grab an all-natural mix and add tequila and feel pretty good about yourself.

Charbay released all-natural aperitifs that are meant to just be poured and drank in flavors of pomegranate and green tea. Like everything this company does, the aperitifs taste fresh and are made with a lot of attention to detail.

As you may have noticed, we at Slashfood usually keep an eye out for interesting types of booze, both new and old. I recently came across a website for Charbay Green Tea Vodka. The Charbay roster also includes other fruit flavors like Meyer lemon, blood orange, pomegranate and key lime. They also produce a "clear vodka," and I guess the distinction is necessary because the other vodkas seem to be rather brightly colored. I've yet to see the green tea vodka in my liquor store, although I guess I haven't been looking too hard. I can't really imagine mixing it with anything, and although the Charbay site says it's a "sipping vodka," they do offer some cocktail suggestions. At any rate, the stuff seems to have garnered a lot of praise. Anyone tried it?