"jazz" news and stories

Despite what the bottle may look like, this isn't Duke Ellington aftershave, it's cognac. More specifically, it's a 25-year-old XO blend from the French cognac house Meukow, according to Nightclub & Bar Magazine. Bottle Watch says it's a 20-year-old XO, however. Either way, The Duke's 'gnac retails for $150 for a 750 ml. bottle. I wasn't able to come up with any tasting notes, perhaps because it's still in limited distribution. I guess this would be an item that swanky bars or jazz clubs would want to have on their shelves. I guess it's not enough to have Ellington in just your record cabinet. Bottle Watch and N & B have distributor info and pics of the packaging, which looks like it could be a CD box set.

Imagine that you have been handed a large red snow cone or shaved ice on a hot day. As you take a bite, the first sensation is coolness, followed by a flavor that is somewhere between strawberry and cherry, with a faintly bubble-gum flavored aftertaste. Now, imagine that you take a swig of Pepsi immediate after taking the bite from the snow cone and you'll have a very good idea of what diet Pepsi Jazz Strawberries and Cream tastes like.

The soda is definitely more like that syrupy, artificial "strawberry" than like a real strawberry, but the new Pepsi flavor isn't bad at all, especially if you happen to like those red snow cones. As a point of comparison, the Dr Pepper Berries & Cream is a little bit more subtle, but both are interesting alternatives to the now standard cherry-vanilla colas, though it seems like both berry-flavored drinks are a little too sweet to be something you would reach for everyday.

When we first heard about Pepsi Jazz, we wondered whether it would be able to compete with all the other flavored (diet) colas on the market, since it seemed to be joining the game a bit late., especially considering that Pepsi said its first flavor would be Black Cherry French Vanilla. After all, Dr Pepper and Coca-Cola already have their cherry-vanilla colas in stores. Pepsi pinned its hopes on loyal fans switching back once their flavors were released.

Thanks to alert reader Kristina, we now know that Jazz is in the markets - at least, it is in Boston. She says that not only has she seen the first-promised Black Cherry Vanilla Pepsi, but other flavors like Strawberries and Cream and LimeBerry. She was able to taste a bottle of the Strawberries and Cream and reported that "it tasted rather a lot like cotton candy... but in a good way." Frankly, it doesn't sound all that appealing, but LimeBerry sounds intriguing.

Has anyone else tried these new flavors yet?

Update: Click here to read a review of Pepsi Jazz Strawberries and Cream.

The Epi-log, at Epicurious, has a lead on what music celebrity chefs are listening to. Chef and author Anthony Bourdain has a No Reservations playlist that you can download from Rhapsody. The mix is described as being "a dash of classic soul with some tasty pre-punk nuggets and flavorful jazz pieces" and includes songs like David Bowie's I'm Deranged, William S. Burroughs' The Last Words Of Dutch Schultz, and Memo from Turner by the Rolling Stones.

I'm not all that surprised to see the picks from Tony Bourdain, but it does make me wonder what other chefs listen to. Of course, I start to wonder about that only after I wonder how a chef got a playlist up alongside the ones from celebs like Ashlee Simpson and Lindsay Lohan.

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