Latest / Sips, Suds, & Smokes / Getting Boozy with Mr Ding Ding

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Getting Boozy with Mr Ding Ding · Sips, Suds, & Smokes

• 0:00
  > Announcer>On the next episode of Sips, Suds and Smokes.
• 0:04
  > Dave>We've tried lots and lots of hard seltzers, and most were pretty disappointing. But not all.
• 0:12
  > Dave>Uh, only about 98% of them. We've also tried some vodka RTD's, and again, most were less than appealing, but a few were pretty good. Today we're going to try Kirkland brand hard seltzers and vodka sodas from Costco. Here are those flavors.
• 0:30
  > Dave>The Kirkland brand heart seltzer flavors are mango, lime, grapefruit and black cherry. The, uh, vodka and soda flavors from Kirkland brands are peach, watermelon and pineapple. And, uh, we might have a bonus Kirkland brand product if time permits.
• 0:53
  > Announcer>We'll be right back after this break.
• 1:17
  > Announcer>Brought to you almost live from the dude in the basement studios. Why? Because that's where the good stuff is. It sips, suds and smokes with your smoke and host, the good old boys.
• 1:50
  > Julianna>Suds.
• 1:50
  > Dave>Suds. Suds.
• 1:52
  > Announcer>It's time for more suds.
• 1:59
  > Julianna>Welcome, everyone, to another suds segment where we love you, man. I mean, we really, really love you.
• 2:11
  > Julianna>And when I say we, I mean all of us.
• 2:14
  > Julianna>And when I say you, I mean the be.
• 2:23
  > Julianna>Wow. Nothing more extraordinary than a Ding Ding.
• 2:26
  > Dave>Oh, uh, my Ding Ding's pretty extraordinary.
• 2:33
  > Julianna>Yeah. Okay. I'm one of your hosts, good old gal Juliana. Joining me at the table today is that guy, Mr. Ding Ding, otherwise known as good old boy Dave.
• 2:45
  > Dave>Hi, everyone.
• 2:47
  > Julianna>The weather is getting warmer. Everyone is spending time at the lake or the pool or the river.
• 2:56
  > Julianna>It must be summertime.
• 2:59
  > Julianna>Living is easy, and we all know what that means.
• 3:03
  > Julianna>It is time for another summer of questionable decisions.
• 3:12
  > Julianna>Every year, like clockwork, Good old boy Dave's demented mind comes up with new ways to torture our taste buds.
• 3:22
  > Julianna>So good a boy Dave, why don't you tell us about your latest questionable decision and give us the lineup of this questionable decision.
• 3:30
  > Dave>Well, first off, I think torture might be a bit strong of a word. I prefer something like inconvenience. I inconvenience your taste buds. Anyway, today's lineup might actually be pretty good. In the past, we've tried lots and lots of hard seltzers, and most were pretty disappointing. But not all.
• 3:53
  > Dave>Only about 98% of them. We've also tried some vodka RTD's, and again, most were less than appealing. But a few were pretty good. Today we're going to try Kirkland brand hard seltzers and vodka sodas from Costco. Here are those flavors, the Kirkland brand hard seltzer flavors are mango, lime, grapefruit, and black cherry. The, uh, vodka and soda flavors from Kirkland brands are peach, watermelon, and pineapple. And, uh, we might have a bonus Kirkland brand product if time permits.
• 4:34
  > Julianna>Bonus question. Bonus question.
• 4:37
  > Julianna>Yes. Okay, well, thanks.
• 4:40
  > Julianna>Um, we're going to be tasting these products on the fly. God help us.
• 4:45
  > Dave>There might be flies.
• 4:46
  > Julianna>And giving our taste notes. Tasting notes as we go.
• 4:51
  > Dave>They're not tasting notes, folks. They're neotes because we're fon what's so.
• 4:56
  > Julianna>F with the fingers? Up with the pinky up.
• 4:59
  > Julianna>Um, why don't you give us the suds ratings for today?
• 5:02
  > Dave>Sure. We'll be tasting and rating these seltzers and sodas and bubbly things with our suds ratings and our signature belching sounds. Here are those ratings now. That suc One, that sucks. Give me anything but a bud. Two.
• 5:22
  > Dave>Was that a belch?
• 5:26
  > Dave>Three.
• 5:26
  > Julianna>Ah.
• 5:27
  > Dave>Uh, What a relief.
• 5:32
  > Dave>Four, a body should really not make that sound.
• 5:40
  > Dave>And five, listen to that hang time. Give me another.
• 5:50
  > Dave>Julie's admiring m the cans right now.
• 5:54
  > Dave>She likes it in the can. I just want to tell everyone.
• 5:59
  > Julianna>Okay, so the first thing we're going to do is start off with the hard seltzers.
• 6:05
  > Julianna>Oh, Lord help us. And, um, the first flavor is going to be the mango. So these are 100 calories, they're gluten free, and they're 5% ABV. And I think that's pretty standard.
• 6:18
  > Dave>Yeah.
• 6:19
  > Julianna>For any hard seltzery kind of thing.
• 6:21
  > Dave>And listen, hey, we're gonna rate these things based on what they are, you know? I mean, you can't compare a mango hard seltzer to a triple ipa. I mean, you could, but guess which one's gonna lose.
• 6:38
  > Julianna>Okay, um, so the cans are convenient, right? I mean, they're thin, they're tall, they'll fit in many kinds of coolers. And it's clear they're thin and tall.
• 6:52
  > Dave>Like most of the people who drink them.
• 6:55
  > Julianna>I m don't know about that. And, uh, fizzy. Okay.
• 6:59
  > Dave>Like most of the people who drink them.
• 7:03
  > Dave>Well, they're definitely fizzy.
• 7:05
  > Julianna>Yep. They're that.
• 7:07
  > Dave>I'm gonna be honest with you. It tastes like mango to me.
• 7:10
  > Julianna>The mango isn't offensive. It's not too chemically.
• 7:13
  > Dave>Right. It's okay. There's no really bad aftertaste. It's a pleasant drink.
• 7:21
  > Julianna>Kind of pleasant. Mango water?
• 7:23
  > Dave>Yeah.
• 7:24
  > Julianna>Yeah.
• 7:25
  > Dave>Is there really alcohol in it? I don't know.
• 7:28
  > Dave>They say there is. I guess you have to drink a case of them to find out.
• 7:33
  > Julianna>Yeah. And I guess you'll have a pleasant fake sweetness aftertaste.
• 7:43
  > Dave>Yeah, I mean, it's definitely. It's definitely like mango candy. Yeah, I don't feel like I'm eating a mango by any means.
• 7:51
  > Julianna>No. Gosh, no, no, no, no. Because mangoes are yum. But these. This is not like that. And it's got that chalkiness at the end, you know, aspartine or something. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 8:05
  > Dave>There's some fake sweet, which, uh.
• 8:07
  > Julianna>Okay, fine. I mean, in the grand scheme of things, but is this, like, the world's, uh. I mean, I see a lot of mango for hard seltzers and. And vodka things and. And I mean, rtds in general. Is mango really that popular? I mean, I guess it is, right?
• 8:24
  > Dave>Uh, I mean, I guess it must be. I mean, there's. There's pretty standard flavors on these seltzers. Like.
• 8:29
  > Dave>Like the four here. What I said like black cherry, uh, lime.
• 8:34
  > Julianna>Yeah. Grapefruit.
• 8:35
  > Dave>Grapefruit, yeah. And mango. And I. I think that's.
• 8:39
  > Dave>And maybe it's because those flavors are easier to approximate than other fruit flavors in a way.
• 8:47
  > Julianna>Maybe. Okay. Or just appealing.
• 8:50
  > Dave>But I think you see, like, strawberry kiwi things or kiwi lime sometimes or whatever.
• 8:56
  > Julianna>Oh, gosh. That's a past summer of questionable decision.
• 8:59
  > Julianna>I'm still trying to get over.
• 9:00
  > Dave>I feel like this. If I drink too many of these, I would get a pretty bad headache. And it's more because of the. That aspartame or that sweetener than it is like, alcohol.
• 9:13
  > Julianna>Yeah, yeah. But pools, water, summer thing. I mean, it's very concealable.
• 9:20
  > Dave>Yeah.
• 9:21
  > Julianna>You know, because if you were to take these and, like, put them into a container before you get to said place.
• 9:27
  > Julianna>Perfect. Right.
• 9:28
  > Dave>Yeah. I think. I, um. Think in the we m. We all have to say, if you're buying hard seltzers as your drink of choice, flavor is not the number one thing, you know, that's not the number one component in your decision. But if you're someone who doesn't like beer, you want to have canned beverages with a little bit of booze in.
• 9:50
  > Julianna>Them, um, with a little kick.
• 9:51
  > Dave>Want to hang out, low calorie, you know, you don't want to drink a lot of carbs, then this is your jam.
• 9:57
  > Dave>The real question is, are these as good as some of the other major brands?
• 10:03
  > Dave>Sure. You know, and to me, the fruit on this is as good or better than what we've had in the past.
• 10:10
  > Julianna>And of note, these are made in Las Vegas, so.
• 10:16
  > Julianna>Okay, so what shall we rate the mango?
• 10:20
  > Dave>I mean, Seltzer, as far as that goes. Yeah.
• 10:22
  > Julianna>A three.
• 10:23
  > Dave>Yeah.
• 10:23
  > Julianna>Okay, we're gonna rate it three. Give it up to Kirkland. Okay. Next we shall try the lime.
• 10:33
  > Julianna>And I think lime to me is more common.
• 10:37
  > Dave>All like classic, like, light alcohol flavors. Because, I mean, you know, it could remind you of like a chilada, a margarita.
• 10:46
  > Dave>You know, you can get that vibe from these things.
• 10:49
  > Julianna>Okay. Aroma.
• 10:53
  > Julianna>Limey.
• 10:54
  > Dave>Limey. Limey. Water. Yeah. You know, and this is sort of limey. I think this would be maybe a good mixer.
• 11:05
  > Julianna>This would be a good mixer.
• 11:07
  > Dave>I think we've said that on a lot of these is like, maybe you don't want to drink these straight if you like drinking real things. But, like, you know, you could use this as a mixer and put some real alcohol in it. You might have something.
• 11:19
  > Julianna>Yeah, a real, like a base. Put some.
• 11:22
  > Dave>Put some blanco tequila in this.
• 11:23
  > Julianna>No, Call it a day.
• 11:25
  > Dave>Call it a day.
• 11:26
  > Julianna>Yeah.
• 11:26
  > Dave>Have a nap.
• 11:27
  > Julianna>You don't have a nap. Yeah. Nice, nice.
• 11:30
  > Julianna>Uh, maybe a little bit of rum.
• 11:33
  > Dave>But yeah, that's the same detractor for me on this as with the last one.
• 11:38
  > Dave>The lime's good, the carbonation's fine. I'm okay with that. It's that aspartame fake sweetener at the end that's always going to be a problem.
• 11:49
  > Julianna>The chalk.
• 11:50
  > Dave>Unless it's something you can overlook. You know, maybe. Maybe people do.
• 11:55
  > Julianna>To be continued in just a minute.
• 12:00
  > Julianna>Welcome back, everyone. It is the summer of questionable decisions, what we've all been waiting for yet again this year. Thanks to good old boy Dave, I've.
• 12:11
  > Dave>Been waiting for it all year.
• 12:13
  > Julianna>Yeah, of course you have. Well, right before the break, we. We are doing a taste testing. We went to Costco and found some Kirkland hard seltzers and vodka sodas. And you know what? We're doing this for you. We're taking one for the team, and we're gonna try these out and see how they do. How they do bubbly fart water. And that's the truth.
• 12:43
  > Julianna>That is the truth. So the mango wasn't bad.
• 12:47
  > Dave>Wasn't bad.
• 12:48
  > Julianna>Yeah. And, um, this. Right before the break, we started talking about the lime. The lime's another one.
• 12:54
  > Julianna>That isn't bad. It's just that whole drying out effect.
• 12:58
  > Dave>That you get from there. Dried out.
• 13:02
  > Julianna>Yeah.
• 13:02
  > Dave>Feeling weird. Like, is there even a conversation to have about food pairing with these?
• 13:08
  > Julianna>Like, are we drinking food when we have this?
• 13:13
  > Dave>I'm not drinking. I'm not drinking food. I might eat some food.
• 13:16
  > Julianna>Yeah. Are we eating food when we Have. I mean, I guess we have to.
• 13:19
  > Julianna>So picnicky burgers, hot dogs.
• 13:24
  > Dave>Uh, I think it's like, whatever. Street food, like, whatever. You know, I mean, I don't think it really matters.
• 13:29
  > Julianna>We're at a. We're at an outdoor concert at this point.
• 13:32
  > Dave>You're just chasing it down.
• 13:35
  > Julianna>We're getting suckered into watching Shakespeare in the Park.
• 13:38
  > Dave>You're just trying not to get choked on a piece of chicken at this point, you know?
• 13:43
  > Julianna>Or are we, like, having to hang out with our significant other as they do, like, antiquing or something like that? And we.
• 13:52
  > Julianna>We pour this into a, uh.
• 13:54
  > Dave>Have I ever made you go antiquing so that you had to drink hard seltzer?
• 13:59
  > Julianna>Saying in general, I'm like, I'm. I'm trying to be a guy for a minute, and he's, like, going with his significant other, and he may or may not be happy about it.
• 14:10
  > Dave>So let me just say this, and I'm going to try not to generalize. Right, sure.
• 14:17
  > Dave>But if a guy.
• 14:19
  > Julianna>Uh-huh.
• 14:20
  > Dave>If his choice of drink is hard seltzer, chances are he's not being drug to go antiquing with his quote unquote significant other.
• 14:33
  > Julianna>Okay, fine.
• 14:33
  > Dave>Um, I'm pretty sure both guys are enjoying the antiquing and the seltzer.
• 14:38
  > Julianna>Okay, well, I'm thinking more along the lines of, like, you can put it in a water bottle and make it seem as if you're drinking honey, you.
• 14:48
  > Dave>Can put gin in a water bottle and make it seem like you're drinking.
• 14:53
  > Julianna>Fine, fine, fine. Okay, okay, back to the line.
• 14:56
  > Julianna>What do we think about the flavor of the lime? Where.
• 14:59
  > Dave>I think the lime's okay, but it's. I think the. The. I think the drying in the aspartine is more of an impact on the lime than it is the mango.
• 15:09
  > Julianna>Yeah.
• 15:10
  > Dave>Yeah. So I think we should give this one a, um.
• 15:13
  > Julianna>Two. Yeah. Yeah. I feel like a layer of enamel has just fallen off my chin.
• 15:18
  > Dave>And it's not the lime's fault. All right, the lime flavor in the beginning and middle of this, the lime flavor is totally fine.
• 15:27
  > Julianna>Yeah.
• 15:28
  > Dave>It's the end where the drying and the chalk comes in.
• 15:33
  > Julianna>Okay, fair, fair. All right, moving on.
• 15:36
  > Julianna>Next flavor up for bids is going to be the grapefru. Um, apparently a fan favorite.
• 15:43
  > Dave>Smells so good. Like, this legit smells like grapefruit. Like, it's a very real grapefruit smell to me.
• 15:50
  > Julianna>Okay.
• 15:54
  > Dave>Uh, flavor.
• 15:57
  > Dave>Flavor doesn't follow through as well as the aroma just because it's a, uh, watery grapefruit. You know, it's like.
• 16:07
  > Julianna>Okay.
• 16:07
  > Dave>I don't know how they make it smell so much more in depth chemicals than it tastes. Right. But I mean, like, the. The aroma's a lot more pungent than the actual flavor, you know, and it's.
• 16:24
  > Julianna>The aroma makes you salivate, and then.
• 16:26
  > Dave>The roman makes you think you're about to bite into a piece of grapefruit.
• 16:30
  > Julianna>Yeah.
• 16:30
  > Dave>And then you get something. You're like, oh, well, there's a little grapefruit in my water.
• 16:34
  > Julianna>And then you're like, meh.
• 16:35
  > Dave>Yeah.
• 16:36
  > Julianna>Yeah. A little underwhelmed.
• 16:39
  > Julianna>Okay. All right. But as a mixer, it might not be so bad.
• 16:45
  > Julianna>Right?
• 16:46
  > Dave>It might not be.
• 16:47
  > Julianna>Right. Um, which is fine. Which is fine. So, um, what shall we rate?
• 16:54
  > Dave>I like this.
• 16:56
  > Julianna>Okay.
• 16:56
  > Dave>Well, if he likes it.
• 16:57
  > Julianna>Uh, right. If Mike likes it, then everybody likes it.
• 17:02
  > Dave>I mean, Mike told me he really likes hard seltzers.
• 17:05
  > Julianna>Yes. Especially raspberry hard seltzers.
• 17:08
  > Dave>He said if he could only ever have one drink for the rest of his life, raspberry hard seltzer would be it.
• 17:17
  > Dave>Yeah.
• 17:18
  > Julianna>Yeah. That'll be his dying wish.
• 17:20
  > Dave>Yes.
• 17:20
  > Julianna>Cases of it.
• 17:21
  > Dave>Cases, uh, surrounded if anyone who makes raspberry hard seltzer would send it to his house.
• 17:27
  > Julianna>Yes.
• 17:28
  > Dave>Yeah.
• 17:28
  > Julianna>Yeah.
• 17:29
  > Dave>He'd make a little fort out of all the boxes of it.
• 17:32
  > Julianna>Oh, that would be so cute.
• 17:33
  > Dave>Yeah. In the backyard.
• 17:34
  > Julianna>Yeah. Yeah. Okay. All right, well, we are going to rate the grapefruit hard Seltzer from Kirkland A2.
• 17:42
  > Dave>Yeah.
• 17:44
  > Dave>Just again, just. It starts off great, but kind of let you know.
• 17:49
  > Julianna>And also of note, you know, I think this has a lot to do with it. On the can, it says that you need to serve it ice cold.
• 18:01
  > Julianna>And I think ice cold is super key in this instance, which is interesting.
• 18:08
  > Dave>Because usually being cold is an indicator that there are things they don't want you to taste.
• 18:18
  > Julianna>Right.
• 18:19
  > Dave>So.
• 18:19
  > Julianna>Sure.
• 18:19
  > Dave>Because it really compacts and condenses the flavor into just this little bitty thing. And I actually have tried these when they are super, super ice cold, and these are still pretty cold. Like, they're. We're not drinking it warm by any means, but they. We let them sit out for a little bit just to let the flavors open up and.
• 18:40
  > Julianna>Yeah. And to get the true. Because let's be real, we're gonna grab it from the ice chest and we're gonna drink it. And I don't think we're gonna down this in, like, two seconds unless you.
• 18:51
  > Dave>Pound this and give yourself brain freeze coming straight out of the cooler. It's gonna. You're gonna nurse it for a little bit, and towards the end, that's where you're really going to taste what's in there.
• 19:02
  > Julianna>Yeah. And the sad thing is, is when you say nursing it, I mean, even if you nurse this for five minutes out in a hot day, it's going to drastically the temperatures. Yeah, drastically.
• 19:11
  > Dave>You're going to lose carb, you're going to lose that.
• 19:14
  > Dave>That ice coldness, you know, um, that's, you know, it's like why they tell you to drink Coors Light ice cold. Because there's a reason, folks. There's a real reason.
• 19:25
  > Julianna>Yes. If you're listening to us on this channel, you know what I'm talking about. Okay, so last but certainly not least, we're gonna go into the black cherry.
• 19:35
  > Dave>Could be least.
• 19:36
  > Julianna>And why I.
• 19:39
  > Julianna>Is black cherry a favorite flavor for you?
• 19:43
  > Dave>Well, I think it's. I think it's a popular flavor because it's a different profile than, uh, like it's not citrus. Right. So it's this other stone fruit type flavor that you're getting. You're telling yourself you're drinking a fruit drink.
• 20:03
  > Julianna>You know, I think I just rather regular cherry and not black cherry.
• 20:06
  > Dave>What. What's the difference?
• 20:09
  > Julianna>Um, a little brighter, a little sweeter maybe. I don't know.
• 20:12
  > Dave>Well, the darker the cherry, the sweeter the fruit.
• 20:15
  > Dave>That's what they.
• 20:20
  > Dave>I'm just saying, you know.
• 20:21
  > Julianna>Okay. Aroma on trailer park sangria aroma on. This is chemically, don't you think?
• 20:28
  > Dave>Yeah. More so than the others. Like this one is very clearly manufactured.
• 20:36
  > Julianna>Yes, yes.
• 20:39
  > Dave>Now, the taste to me is not terrible, but I being a black cherry jello fan.
• 20:51
  > Dave>Oh.
• 20:51
  > Julianna>Um, see, but that's totally different.
• 20:53
  > Dave>No, not, not to me because it's manufactured too. It just doesn't have suds and alcohol in it.
• 21:02
  > Dave>I mean, why do you think it's different?
• 21:06
  > Julianna>I just think that the taste of black cherry jello for years has been like.
• 21:13
  > Dave>I hope it's actually a jello flavor. I'm pretty sure it is.
• 21:17
  > Julianna>Yeah.
• 21:17
  > Dave>Yeah. I think we have a box of it up there. Yeah, we should make it and then.
• 21:21
  > Julianna>Yeah.
• 21:22
  > Dave>Compare it to this.
• 21:23
  > Julianna>Anyways, um, I don't know. How do you feel about.
• 21:26
  > Dave>I don't feel great about this one. I mean, maybe if it was ice cold.
• 21:33
  > Julianna>Yeah, I think this is another two.
• 21:35
  > Dave>Yeah.
• 21:35
  > Julianna>Yeah. Okay. So pretty much the Kirkland seltzers and. Or hard seltzers. And this is probably because we're not the biggest hard seltzer fans in general.
• 21:48
  > Dave>Hey, listen, they they got, uh, mostly twos. A lot of times, companies get. They get ones.
• 21:54
  > Julianna>We'll be back in a minute with more.
• 21:56
  > Dave>Yeah.
• 22:00
  > Julianna>Welcome back, everyone. It's that time of year again, folks. If you're just joining us, we are doing our summer of questionable decisions.
• 22:09
  > Julianna>This is the time when good old boy Dave gets excited about things in life and how he can torture us.
• 22:18
  > Dave>I like. I don't like that word.
• 22:21
  > Dave>It's. I'm inconveniencing you for a short amount of time to do a service for all of our beautiful listeners who, um, might be thinking, you know, I wonder if I should switch to hard seltzers this year. You know, is this a year?
• 22:35
  > Dave>I. I just go for it. I just. I say no more craft beer. No. No.
• 22:41
  > Dave>With all your flavor and all your calories and your deliciousness and things that are great. I'm gonna go and get skinny and drink hard seltzers because that's what all the beautiful people in Hollywood tell me to do.
• 22:58
  > Dave>Don't listen to them.
• 22:59
  > Julianna>Oh, my God. Okay, well, right before the break and, um, the first half of this episode, we were talking about the hard seltzers from Kirkland brand. So lots of us go to Costco for the convenience of going there, getting bulk food when we've got parties, graduations, birth, summer birthdays, gotta feed all 12 kids.
• 23:22
  > Julianna>Yeah. I mean, the whole. The whole bit.
• 23:25
  > Julianna>And you've walked past this in the aisle. You've seen it, you've wondered about it. Well, we're here to take one for the team and to say, you know what? We're going to try these for you.
• 23:37
  > Dave>Because I don't know about this team, because I don't know, we. I don't know how many more we.
• 23:42
  > Julianna>Can take because we love you guys.
• 23:45
  > Julianna>Okay, so the hard seltzers we thought were okay. I mean, as far as they go.
• 23:52
  > Dave>Yeah, as far as they go. I like is. Is compared to other hard seltzers, you're safe buying the Kirkland brand.
• 23:59
  > Julianna>Yeah. You are. Yeah. Convenience.
• 24:03
  > Dave>If you've already sold your soul to the hard seltzer devil, then you go right to Kirkland and save yourself a few bucks.
• 24:12
  > Julianna>Yeah. Provided that your Kirkland carries this. Because not all Kirkland or, uh, not all Costco's do carry this, as we found out.
• 24:23
  > Dave>Yep.
• 24:24
  > Julianna>Okay, moving on. We are going to go now to the vodka sodas. The vodka sodas are made in Santa Clarita, California.
• 24:34
  > Dave>And is that by Russian river or, uh, is Russian River Brewing making.
• 24:39
  > Julianna>No, let's not. No, let's not start that room. No.
• 24:43
  > Dave>Pliny. Pliny the Seltzer.
• 24:46
  > Julianna>Pliny the vodka. Okay. No, no, no. Um, but they're also brewing this or making, brewing this. Listen to me. Making this in Pittston, Pennsylvania.
• 24:58
  > Dave>Wow.
• 24:59
  > Julianna>Which is like terrible in between my backyard. Talk about question back home.
• 25:04
  > Dave>Talk about questionable decisions, whatever.
• 25:07
  > Julianna>Okay. And again this is. Now this is four and a half percent abv and um, so these are.
• 25:14
  > Dave>Lower ABV than the m. The seltzers.
• 25:18
  > Julianna>Hundred calories gluten free.
• 25:20
  > Dave>So the main difference too that you're gonna find between these vodka sodas and the hard seltzers is so obviously vodka in the vodka sodas, but then also the hard seltzers usually is a malt based.
• 25:35
  > Dave>So they're kind of making beer in a way, but usually using very um, uh, more like cane sugar or something to uh, to make the, the beer. And they're fermenting it and that's where they're getting the alcohol versus using diluted vodka and soda to make these vodka sodas. So you should get a cleaner flavor on the vodka sodas than you do the hard seltzers.
• 26:02
  > Julianna>Yeah. Okay. All right, so first one up we are going to taste is the peach. Peach is a fan favorite.
• 26:09
  > Dave>Very peachy.
• 26:10
  > Julianna>Oh yeah. And you could wave this around your whole body perimeter and smell the peaches.
• 26:18
  > Dave>Mhm.
• 26:20
  > Julianna>A bit fake candy, like peach, but still peach candy.
• 26:24
  > Dave>Peach, but clean. And I, I'm not really getting that drying on these.
• 26:35
  > Julianna>You know, dare I say that maybe this is a little real peachy.
• 26:41
  > Julianna>Like not super sweet peach.
• 26:44
  > Dave>It's not like if you took a peach and soaked it in vodka or whatever. Like it's not that, but it's more like I had some, I, I had some peaches, you know, I mixed in a little bit of the peach juice with some vodka and made a little drink.
• 27:02
  > Julianna>Yeah, something.
• 27:03
  > Dave>It's a little bit more like that. It's not really, but it's more like that than the hard seltzers.
• 27:08
  > Julianna>Yeah. You know, you put, you get a little orange juice and you put this in with it and you got my mother's favorite, a screwdriver. Oh yeah. Because vodka, peach knobs, orange juice.
• 27:22
  > Dave>I have never heard of putting peach snobs in a screwdriver.
• 27:26
  > Julianna>Yeah, I thought so.
• 27:28
  > Dave>Maybe it's just a, it's just vodka and orange juice.
• 27:30
  > Dave>But your mom's kind of bougie, so.
• 27:33
  > Julianna>Maybe there's another name for.
• 27:34
  > Dave>Well, there's a Bellini, but I think that's peach and champagne. So I don't know.
• 27:39
  > Julianna>Yeah.
• 27:39
  > Dave>I think your mom's just a lush. Well, anyways, but that's cool. She's looking for a reason to drink peach schnapps, I think.
• 27:48
  > Julianna>Uh, yeah. Okay, well, I think that this is. This isn't bad, actually.
• 27:55
  > Dave>I am. I am a fan. So far, just off this, the. The vodka sodas are. Are killing it compared to the, uh, to the hard seltzers.
• 28:07
  > Julianna>Yeah. I. And I think it's because, like, the.
• 28:11
  > Julianna>The flavor is a bit better. And maybe it's because the vodka is kind of, like, softening it.
• 28:16
  > Dave>Yeah. Or.
• 28:17
  > Julianna>Yeah. Okay, well, I. This is weird, but I think we're going to rate the Kirkland Vodkin soda Peach A four.
• 28:27
  > Dave>Oh, Mike's gonna roll over in his studio. Wow. All right.
• 28:33
  > Julianna>Um. Crazy.
• 28:36
  > Julianna>Crazy. Oh, it's a fuzzy, uh, navel.
• 28:39
  > Dave>Oh, okay. There you go.
• 28:41
  > Julianna>Fuzzy navel. All right, moving on, the next one. You ready?
• 28:45
  > Dave>Yeah.
• 28:45
  > Julianna>Okay, we're going to do the watermelon.
• 28:49
  > Julianna>Scared of the watermelon now.
• 28:52
  > Julianna>When you think of watermelon.
• 28:55
  > Julianna>We'll be back.
• 28:56
  > Dave>I'll tell you after the break.
• 29:02
  > Julianna>Welcome back, everyone. We are cracking them open and taking one for the team. So, um, today is a summer of questionable decisions.
• 29:11
  > Julianna>And very questionable. Is it? And, um, right before the break, we started talking about vodka sodas from Kirkland brand, otherwise known as Costco.
• 29:21
  > Dave>That's boring.
• 29:22
  > Announcer>As.
• 29:23
  > Julianna>I know, I know. But again, you're, uh, at Costco. You're getting your food for a big party, whether it's a graduation birthday holiday.
• 29:34
  > Dave>You'Re buying your seven pound pack of hot dogs for the party, and you're like, what are we all gonna drink?
• 29:40
  > Julianna>And you know what? Yeah. You see this in the aisle. You've been tempted. So here we are. Okay, next up is going to be the watermelon.
• 29:51
  > Dave>Vodka soda smells like watermelon.
• 29:55
  > Julianna>Jolly Rancher. Mono melon.
• 29:59
  > Dave>Jolly Rancher. Watermelon.
• 30:01
  > Julianna>Yes, Watermelon.
• 30:02
  > Dave>Watermelon, yeah.
• 30:05
  > Dave>The flavor to me is more cucumber.
• 30:09
  > Julianna>It's very weird.
• 30:11
  > Dave>Well, the flavor between watermelon and cucumber can be kind of similar. And this doesn't have the sweetness of watermelon. There's that. That sugary note of really ripe watermelon. This is almost more like when you get close to the rind.
• 30:28
  > Julianna>Yes. Yes. This is the edge of the watermelon. Yeah. Um, not the sweetest part.
• 30:34
  > Julianna>However, if you're looking for that, this is not that fake sugary sweetness. So this could be a plus for some people.
• 30:42
  > Dave>This is. It's not a Bad flav. I would pair this. I would put some gin in this. I'd make a gin and tonic with this. And, uh, I think you'd be okay.
• 30:51
  > Julianna>Yeah, you would. Okay.
• 30:54
  > Dave>But I love gin and tonic.
• 30:55
  > Julianna>So what would you.
• 30:58
  > Dave>Yeah, yeah.
• 30:59
  > Julianna>Okay, well, we're gonna rate the watermelon vodkin soda A3.
• 31:08
  > Dave>Is it weird that my stomach starting to hurt?
• 31:13
  > Julianna>Okay, moving on. Let's get to the last one. Uh, pineapple. Pineapple's a, uh, fickle woman. You know what I mean?
• 31:24
  > Dave>Like, smells like pineapple, dude.
• 31:27
  > Dave>Like, when you open one of those containers of pre sliced, uh, like the pineapple chunks that you get the grocery store, that's exactly what it smells like.
• 31:37
  > Julianna>Or you go to the car wash and you're cleaning out the inside of your car and, like, it has the flavored air fresheners.
• 31:45
  > Dave>Oh, I thought you were gonna say you find like a. A pineapple under your seat.
• 31:49
  > Julianna>No.
• 31:49
  > Dave>Oh, wow. I forgot about that guy.
• 31:52
  > Julianna>No.
• 31:54
  > Dave>I wonder where that pineapple I bought three months ago was, huh?
• 32:00
  > Dave>I mean, again, to me, this is the, um, this is like the, the peach, um, seltzer all over again. Like, it smells really strong.
• 32:11
  > Dave>And then. Or the grapefruit. I'm sorry, it smells really strong. And then you get it and the flavor just can't back it up.
• 32:18
  > Julianna>And kind of. This is off.
• 32:19
  > Dave>This is better, though, because I still am not getting that fake sweetener at the end.
• 32:24
  > Julianna>No, no, m. I'm not either.
• 32:27
  > Julianna>And that's, um, Actually, that's a plus for me.
• 32:31
  > Dave>I. I say if you've got a choice between vodka sodas and hard seltzers, go vodka seltzer. Uh, or vodka soda every time.
• 32:39
  > Julianna>Yeah. I think that now, sadly, there's only three flavors to the pack.
• 32:46
  > Dave>Yeah.
• 32:46
  > Julianna>That you can get. But I think these three flavors are reasonable. They're not overly sweet.
• 32:52
  > Dave>Yep.
• 32:53
  > Julianna>And, um, I mean, if this is what you're going for, then enjoy.
• 32:58
  > Dave>Um, same calories per can. A little bit less booze, but.
• 33:01
  > Julianna>Yeah.
• 33:02
  > Dave>Okay.
• 33:02
  > Julianna>Yeah, yeah, exactly. Exactly. Okay, well, we are going to rate the pineapple from Kirkland brands vodka and soda thing a.
• 33:14
  > Julianna>Uh, three.
• 33:14
  > Dave>Yeah. Nice job.
• 33:16
  > Julianna>I mean. Yeah.
• 33:18
  > Dave>So I think those, both of those packs are a good value buy if. If that's what you're already into.
• 33:27
  > Julianna>Right.
• 33:27
  > Dave>If you're a hard seltzer person, totally go with that. If you're a vodka soda person, totally go with that.
• 33:34
  > Julianna>Well, and the thing that's nice about this is it's one stop shopping if you're getting your condiments your main parts, your sides, your tablecloths, your paper plates.
• 33:47
  > Dave>And you're just buying all the groceries for the month.
• 33:49
  > Julianna>Exactly.
• 33:49
  > Dave>Yeah.
• 33:50
  > Julianna>Uh, you can go there.
• 33:51
  > Dave>Yeah.
• 33:51
  > Julianna>And you can get it and you can feel okay. I mean, as long as they're ice cold, they'll be fine.
• 33:58
  > Dave>Yeah.
• 33:58
  > Julianna>Now we're gonna get to the bonus, um, M bonus. And this bonus is actually kind of special. So we found the Kirkland Hellas style lager.
• 34:14
  > Julianna>And guess what folks, it's from Deschutes.
• 34:18
  > Dave>In, um, Bend, Oregon, I believe.
• 34:21
  > Julianna>And it's four and a half percent abv. And the thing about this is this is a GABF award winning beer.
• 34:31
  > Dave>Yeah. Um, from one of the law, you know, not from one of the better craft breweries in America. I would say yes, consistently for years and years and years.
• 34:44
  > Julianna>I mean, this, this one gold at 2023 GABF.
• 34:49
  > Dave>Yeah.
• 34:49
  > Julianna>So that's like, that's kind of impressive because it's relatively recent.
• 34:53
  > Dave>Yeah.
• 34:54
  > Julianna>And um, I mean we are fans of Deschutes here at sipsas.
• 34:58
  > Dave>You can buy a case of this for. I forget. But it's, it's very cheap compared to other similar beers. And this is a super tasty light lager that you could have in your fridge. You don't worry about hops falling off or anything crazy.
• 35:18
  > Dave>It's a good drinking hella slager.
• 35:22
  > Julianna>Clearly we've been drinking this before the episode.
• 35:25
  > Dave>Absolutely. And it is just super tasty.
• 35:29
  > Julianna>And to make it even cooler, you are seeing the Deschutes logo on.
• 35:34
  > Dave>I know, right? Like I. So I've had other Kirkland brand beers that are brewed by mystery breweries and they hide them and stuff.
• 35:42
  > Julianna>There's no mystery with.
• 35:43
  > Dave>I hope they continue this trend of partnering with really good breweries to make signature beers because like, that is so cool, you know, that they're, that they're really doing that. And like you could feel really good about buying that beer if you're a beer nerd or if you're just somebody who wants to drink like Sam, like if Sam Adams is your jam usually or one of these other Hellas beers, you know, buy this one.
• 36:15
  > Julianna>Yes. And it's completely worth it.
• 36:18
  > Dave>It's very affordable. It's great flavor.
• 36:21
  > Dave>That is one of the best values in beer I have seen in a long time.
• 36:25
  > Julianna>Yeah. It really is. And a Helles lager is very approachable. It goes with so many different food styles.
• 36:32
  > Dave>Yeah.
• 36:33
  > Julianna>That really. It's a winner.
• 36:35
  > Dave>Yeah. You drink it while you're watching the ball game, hang out, eat Some wings, eat a burger, eat a pizza, whatever.
• 36:43
  > Dave>Um, eat a steak, you know, whatever. It's all going to be good. And it's.
• 36:49
  > Dave>Yeah, man, I cannot believe.
• 36:51
  > Julianna>I mean, if you're out camping, you know, with the gang, um, which is something a lot of us from Pennsylvania do.
• 36:58
  > Dave>Yeah. You can roll it. You come roll up to the campsite with a case of that.
• 37:02
  > Julianna>Oh, and everyone's a fan. And four and a half percent abv. Yeah, dude, like, wow.
• 37:12
  > Dave>Great. Sessionable lager. Yeah, very cool.
• 37:16
  > Julianna>That's just crazy. Well, we are going to rate this bonus beer. Um, this bonus thing for the summer, questionable decisions, which is the Helles Lager from deschutes and Kirkland A5.
• 37:29
  > Dave>Nice.
• 37:37
  > Julianna>So, honestly, I mean, I know this is a questionable decision, getting hard seltzers and vodka sodas from Costco of all places, but in the grand scheme of things, it's actually one of the better questionable decisions we've made.
• 37:53
  > Dave>Well, and I feel like they are a place that takes pride in what they do, and they want to keep their customers, their members happy, you know, and so you don't make people happy by putting kind of iffy stuff out there.
• 38:08
  > Julianna>Right. Well, I think this was a really good episode. What do you think?
• 38:14
  > Dave>Me too. Yeah, it was great.
• 38:16
  > Julianna>And that's gonna do it for us today, folks. Taking one for the team and we're still alive at the end of it.
• 38:22
  > Dave>Barely.
• 38:23
  > Julianna>Barely. Good boy. Dave, thanks for being here.
• 38:26
  > Dave>I like this.
• 38:29
  > Julianna>Thanks, Mike. This is good old gal, Juliana. Keep on chuggling and catch you next time.
• 38:36
  > Announcer>We hope you enjoyed this episode. If you're listening to us online, do yourself a favor and tap. Just tapity the subscribe button.
• 38:45
  > Julianna>Give it a little tappy. Tap, tap, taparoo.
• 38:48
  > Announcer>The easiest way to listen to our show is to ask Siri, Alexa, Google, Uncle Larry, or whoever it is that talks to you on your phone play podcast. Sip, Suds and Smokes. We love your feedback and you can reach us at info at sipsuds and smokes dot com. Our tasting notes flow out on Twitter and Instagram with our handle at Sip, Suds and Smokes. And our Facebook page is always buzzing with lots of news. You'll also be able to interact with the thousands, millions and millions of other fans on those social media platforms. Do us a favor, take the time to rate this episode. If you're listening to us online, that's a big help to us and we get to see your feedback as well.
• 39:31
  > Announcer>Come back, join us for another episode, and keep on sipping.
• 39:36
  > Dave>Um, it.
• 40:25
  > Announcer>This has been a one tan hand production of Sips, Suds and Smokes. A program devoted to the appreciation of some of the finer slices of life. From the dude in the basement studios. Your host, the good old boys will see you all next time.