Tasting Time

My friendly FedEx delivery man has been at my house again recently and he’s left some goodies. Here’s a sampling of what I’ve been sampling lately…

Voga Italia Wine

First, let me say that I love these bottles. They have re-sealable caps, but no one is going to accuse these of cheapening the wine’s look.  I wish I had room to store these bottles and urge other winemakers to check them out because I am a believer in the screw cap and Voga Italia has proven that it can be done with class.

The Voga Italia Premium Sparkling, a bland of 80% chardonnay and 20% pinot grigio, was delicious. It was full of citrus and tropical fruit and would be easy drinking with any food. I wasn’t a huge fan of the Pinot Grigio. I do like light white wines, but felt that this one needed a bit more flavor. Voga also makes a rose, a merlot and blend, which I have not tried yet. All of the wines sell for under $20.

Angel’s Envy Bourbon

Angel’s Envy is the only Kentucky bourbon that is finished in barrels that have been used for port wine. The result is a bit more fruit flavor mixed in with the vanilla and oak you usually get with bourbon. The mash bill – 72% corn, 18% rye and 10% malt – also allows for a slightly sweeter whiskey.

Since I’m not generally a big whiskey drinker, I brought in some “experts,” who agreed that Angel’s Envy was good stuff.

Bitter Truth Liqueurs

I enjoy tasting new (and especially unusual) liqueurs so I was excited about receiving Bitter Truth Liquers. They offer a selection, all of which are made to use for mixing or stand on their own:

Ice Mint-When I first saw this I was thinking Peppermint Schnapps, but it was nothing like that. It’s not thick or sticky, but it does have a strong mint flavor which holds its own on ice or with club soda.

Apple Pie-This does taste like your grandmother’s homemade apple pie, but with an alcohol kick. It’s fine by itself, but sounds even better pictured in an iced tea.

Grape-This one is lacking grown up taste and is a bit of a cross between grape bubblegum and cough syrup. It’s also tough to think of what to mix with this.

Apricot-This liqueur is a good mixer in sweet drinks. It has a very strong, almost jam-like flavor so it needs to be mixed with soda or into a cocktail.

MilkBite

Every once in a while I also receive products without alcohol! The new Kraft MilkBite bars fit into that category. When I first was asked to try them, my thought was “oh, another granola bar,” but this product is very different. It’s a milk and granola bar that’s available in chocolate, oatmeal raisin, mixed berry, peanut butter and strawberry.

I received the chocolate and strawberry. The good news is they were both very good, with more substance than regular granola bars. I would definitely recommend them, but since they contain milk, you need to refrigerate them so you won’t be leaving them in your pocketbook.