Tampa Bay Food Monster

…eating food since 1985.

Posts Tagged ‘orange’

Ski

Posted by Tampa Bay Food Monster on July 12, 2011

THE SODAS OF SUBS-N-SUCH

ski

WITNESS the unholy union of lemon and orange!! resulting in a whitish soda! contained in a green bottle! capped with a silver cap! named after a winter sport. what sort of mad person could devise such a brew, specifically designed to arouse and confuse the senses? with so much going on all at once, it’s a wonder i was able to drink any at all before slipping into one of my violent fits, spilling the rest of the drink around me and shattering the bottle, leaving me scratched and bloodied for the poor people at subs-n-such to find.

as i recovered in the hospital, i would often see flashes of green light, accompanied by strong citrus scents, having forgotten entirely of my soda experience. i complained to the doctors about it so much that they eventually just stopped responding to me. left alone, i sought comfort in the internet, as accessed through my phone. soon, my morbid obsession with the word “ski” landed me on this website. all at once, the soft drink that is ski came back to me, and after weeks of therapy, i think i’m finally able to see ski for what it is – a citrus soda.

ski apparently was developed by the people who made double cola, one of my preferred non-coke colas. ski uses real lemon and real orange in their recipe, leaving the soda a slightly opaque, milky white color similar to squirt, and giving it a more natural, almost pithy taste. it is sweet enough up front, but the flavor resolves into tartness quickly. surprisingly, the makers found the perfect balance between orange and lemon, so that neither flavor is dominant, but both are clearly present. and they work well together. my only complaint here is that it’s not sweet enough, long enough for me. but if you’re into natural flavors, this is a great soda choice. just be ready for the inevitable sensory overload.

a little tart, but a solid soda. perfect when the mood strikes.

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Sidebern’s Grand Floridian Cocktail

Posted by Tampa Bay Food Monster on January 31, 2011

i was recently given an invitation to try out sidebern’s brand new, not-even-on-the-menu-yet cocktail, “The Grand Floridian” (ooooh… caps). i was asked, along with a friend, to visit sidebern’s, try out the cocktail at their bar, and have some appetizers on them. well of course i was totally up for this, being both a rampant alcoholic and a mooch.

…no, i guess neither of those things are true. but i am always up for new eats and drinks, and i was honored to be asked to come try this cocktail. so i went out to sidebern’s, surprisingly for the first time. i’ve been to bern’s steakhouse before, which is one of tampa’s most acclaimed and revered restaurants, and has risen to legendary status. sidebern’s is like bern’s younger and more hip little brother. or sister with sweet facial hair. either way, they came from the same seed, but the results are like night and day. both are upscale, but while bern’s is a more traditional steakhouse, sidebern’s features a diverse, constantly changing menu with a mediterranean feel, and feels all at once more comfortable and inviting than the former.

upon our arrival, we were kindly greeted by sidebern’s general manager, who told us a bit about the cocktail. apparently, multiple restaurants are going to be carrying the grand floridian, but sidebern’s has put their own spin on the original recipe, making this particular drink uniquely theirs. we were shown to the bar and were soon greeted by one of the bartenders, who was really cool and helpful with suggesting items on the menu. not long after we sat down, we were given our drinks.

grand floridian cocktail

SO. the grand floridian is basically a mojito that makes use of oranges instead of limes. and thus the grand floridian is the perfect drink to be featured in tampa and ybor. the orange is fresh and muddled, combined with the rest of the ingredients (including zaya rum, which is apparently a deliciously sweet and smooth rum), and given a nice mint garnish in addition to the mint already mixed in with the drink (the mint coming from bern’s own farm, as tended by sweetwater organic farm). and it was incredible. sweet and delicious, refreshing, with the slightest hint of tart on the finish. the orange was a strong presence, but not overwhelmingly so. in fact, it was the perfect blend of orange and lime, with mild mint notes. it was a beautiful drink.

A++ WOULD BUY AGAIN. i will likely go back just to have this cocktail again.

we also partook in a couple appetizers.

Frog Leg Basquaise

this is the frog leg basquise. the frog legs were served in a light pipérade, with delicious chorizo and cheese on top. the frog legs were surprisingly good, similar to chicken in taste, but without any evident fishy taste. they were very mild. they were also covered in the pipérade, which kind of masked their taste a bit, but was not bad by any means (a nice well rounded spiced flavor). and the chorizo was awesome.

pate melt

we also had the ‘pate melt’, as recommended by the manager. it was pretty much a meal in itself, with a delicious pate (chunky rather than smooth, and made of god knows what), melted tomme de savoie cheese, cornichons (little gherkin pickles), and an intensely spicy grainy mustard. it was a great combination of flavors, and not at all something i’d have ever thought up.

this was an excellent visit, and it really makes me want to go back and do a full write-up of the restaurant. it is so much more than just an extension of bern’s, though sharing the name of such a place affords them the respect they deserve. as for the grand floridian cocktail, if you ever get the chance, try it. it is really delightful, and it just may make you proud to be a floridian.

SideBern's on Urbanspoon

Posted in Drink Reviews, Food, Humor, Tampa Restaurants | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments »

Cactus Cooler – the Official Soft Drink of the Staff of Cowboy’s Rest Christian Camp

Posted by Tampa Bay Food Monster on December 7, 2010

cactus cooler

okay i’m gonna tell you straight up – this is not a cactus drink. I KNOW! WHAT THE HELL? why would they do this to us? …jerks.

the soda is called cactus cooler, allegedly named after fred flintstone’s favorite drink. no one on the internet can confirm this though, because no one who ever watched the flintstones can understand how to use a computer. the astute will have observed that the label clearly indicates this is an “orange pineapple soda”. so don’t expect anything interesting. in fact, don’t expect much at all. this drink was laaaame. and that has some meaning here, because i a.) love soda! b.) love orange soda! c.) love a good pineapple! d.) why can’t i have a cactus flavored drink??

so this soda was not as sweet as i’d like any orange citrus drink to be. i enjoy a decent amount of sweetness there (though not overbearing), and this was more tart than anything else. but ordinarily i could forgive that, seeing as this is supposed to be a orange/pineapple blend. unf-orange-unately (oh yes. yes.) this tastes nothing like pineapple at all. it’s just tart. a tart, crappy orange drink. and i didn’t seem any cooler after i’d finished it than i had before i started! wtf?!

way to drop the ball, dr pepper snapple group.

Posted in Drink Reviews, Food, Humor | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments »

 
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