Drinks – Page 4 – Tiana Feng

Luckyrice’s First Toronto Cocktail Party

July 19, 2015July 20, 2015Drinks, FoodLeave a Comment

On Wednesday, Nash and I hit up the inaugural Luckyrice cocktail event at Berkeley Church in Toronto. Luckyrice is an organization that loves to share Asian culture through food and drink. They have events in LA, San Francisco, New York and Miami and decided to test out Toronto. I find our city is a little unique and the exploration of Asian culture is so common here that I’m not sure we need another event for it.

The event was sponsored by Bombay Sapphire, so all the drinks were gin based. We arrived around the VIP door opening at around 7pm and it was already rammed with people. There was at least a 10 minute line for most drinks. We also arrived with an empty stomach (which probably wasn’t the best decision). There were appetizers being served but the servers were swarmed by people as soon as they came out. We tried a few drinks before we left to go fill our empty stomachs:

The Rivoli’s “His Eminence”: Bombay Sapphire East gin, Marini & Rossi Rosso, Lemon spiced chinkiang & rice wine reduction, honey syrup.

The Rivoli’s “Delicate Warrior”: ST. Germain liquer, Bombay Sapphire East gin, Gekkeikan Plum wine.

Rebel & Demon’s “Mao’s Punch”: Bombay Sapphire East gin, strawberry thai basil white peppercorn syrup, lemon juice, rhubarb bitters.

Brassaii’s “6 shooter”: Bombay Sapphire East gin, aperol, watermelon and jalapeno shrub, dillon’s bitter lime, lime juice, fresh basil.

Out of all of them our favourite was the Mao’s Punch from R&D. It fit the summery weather and contained a perfect amount of sweetness that made it easy to go down.

This Water Is From Iceland

July 10, 2015Drinks, Food1 Comment

My parents went on a trip and had a layover in Iceland for a few days. They brought me back a bottle of Icelandic Glacial water. At first, I couldn’t decide if I wanted to leave it sealed as a souvenir forever or drink it. I decided to choose the later. I’ve been trying to get out of the habit of collecting things without using them. Things are meant to be used, played with, eaten, whatever or they don’t have a place in my tiny apartment. Moving out on my own has showed me that for sure.

Bottled water is a strange concept for people that actually live in Iceland because of their ample supply of fresh water. I think the concept must mainly exist to sell to tourists and abroad.

Anyways, I decided to play water connoisseur (this is an actual job someone actually does by the way). The result was that it tasted like… nothing. Which doesn’t mean that the water isn’t different than our water. Our water indeed tastes like something, usually like the bottle, or fridge, or has a tiny bit of sweetness. This really tasted nothing. Does that mean it’s more pure? I don’t know. Nash drank some and thought it tasted like mineral water, which it indeed is.

Do different waters taste different to you? What is your favourite? I want to know! I should ask for a bottle of water as a souvenir from everywhere so I can drink the waters of the world.

Beer From Gigantic Brewing

June 3, 2015Drinks, FoodLeave a Comment

I couldn’t resist buying this beer from Gigantic Brewing Company because it has a robot on it! The craft brewery is based in Portland Oregon and have other robot beers but this particular IPA is year round.

I also adored the B-Side Brewing label that described the collective as a record label but for beer. Hope to try some more cool beers from them soon.

This particular IPA was super bold and dark. It’s definitely not for the faint of heart and packs a punch like the robot on the label.

Recommended Ciders: Brickworks & Okanagan Pear

March 26, 2015Drinks, FoodLeave a Comment

A lot of the times I prefer cider to beer because I find them more drinkable with meals. Like beers, I’ve been looking to try more Canadian-made craft beers rather than the mass-produced kinds. My recent favourites are Brickworks Premium Dry Cider and Okanagan’s Dry Pear.

The Brickworks also comes in a semi-sweet variety (which I haven’t tried yet). They are made with 100% Ontario apples Their site says that “No apple in our cider travels further than 300 kilometres from the tree to the Ciderhouse.” 5% of all their profits also go to environmental organization Evergreen. Their apple cider is perfectly balanced in term of sweetness. It goes down easy like apple juice but doesn’t feel too sugary.

While Okanagan makes an apple cider I decided to try the pear. On their website there are actually a variety of fruit ciders. Anyways the pear cider was nice and crisp. It wasn’t like the Sir Perry Pear cider that was way too sweet, the Okanagan balanced the sweetness as well as Brickworks.

With both these ciders I didn’t feel like I was having some “girly” drink. These were authentic to the fruit flavour but tart enough to be an adult drink.

Recommended Craft Beers: Sawdust City Lone Pine IPA & Old Tomorrow

March 18, 2015Drinks, FoodLeave a Comment

I’ve been obsessed with trying local craft beers lately. There are a ton from Ontario alone! In fact the craft beer trend is so popular that Toronto now has stores to buy your own brewing supplies. Most recently I tried Old Tomorrow Canadian Pale Ale. The Toronto ale a full-bodied brew that went down smoothly.

The other beer I had was Sawdust City’s Lone Pine IPA. It was very hoppy!

The best thing about buying local craft beers is also the fabulous designs. The first one pays tribute to the 150 year anniversary of the Charlottetown conference that triggered confederation. Constrastly, Sawdust has a more country vibe because after all it is brewed in Gravenhurst! Anyways, can’t wait to dig for more beer treasures at the LCBO.

Mr. Tea

March 11, 2015Drinks, Food, Shopping2 Comments

I added another item to my Fred and Friends family of products! Meet Mr. Tea. He is the most awesome tea infuser.

I just love his chillin’ smile.

He comes apart in two pieces and you can put tea in his pants.

As he swims in your water, it turns into tea!

I Bought This Beer Because It Has Robots

January 12, 2015January 12, 2015Drinks, FoodLeave a Comment

I had a party to attend this weekend so I trekked to the LCBO (it was -15 degrees Celcius so yes trek is the right word). I’m blessed that Toronto and has a great variety of specialty and craft beers and I decided it would be nice to try them all. I don’t drink that often, so I discover something new pretty much all the time.

This time, I settled for Hop City’s Hopbot IPA. How could I not? The packaging is so adorable. What I didn’t realize upon buying it was that it has a 7.1% IBA also that it has a bitterness rating of 70 IBU (which is more than I would have liked). I was also drinking the previously mentioned Chocolate Beer, so the bitterness was enhanced a bit when I drank one after the other. It does have interesting citrus notes. I wouldn’t recommend drinking it at a party that’s for sure. It’s more of a sit down and enjoy in the comfort of your own home while watching Netflix type thing. Going to do that now.

Chocolate Beer Made by Flying Monkeys

January 5, 2015Drinks, Food1 Comment

Perhaps this post title is misleading because monkeys don’t actually fly so no actual monkeys were involved in making this beer (at least for all I now). The Flying Monkeys is a craft brewery located in Guelph, Ontario. When I stumbled on this beer, in such eye-catching packaging I could not resist. Hell, they probably could have just put CHOCOLATE BEER on the label and I would’ve bought it. This was more obvious. This beer was more than the normal “chocolate” stout. It sounded epic. It was a Manifesto. It had an alcohol rating of 10%.

We saved the one bottle we snagged for New Years Eve. When we opened it the aromas were splendid. It truly did live up to it’s name. It did not smell like beer, but like a comforting chocolate milk. The strange part is, that’s what it tasted like to! The fact it was a beer, only hit you after every sip. It was delightful. Also, I could totally feel it right away after a mug full (I don’t have anything besides mugs at the moment).

I went back to the LCBO the next day to realize that it is no longer stocked in shelves. I guess I will have to wait until next Christmas to buy the entire aisle.

Craft Beer & Music

November 25, 2014Drinks, FoodLeave a Comment

A few weeks ago, I photographed the 4th Annual Big Smoke Fest hosted by Tall Boys. The night featured a great music entertainment as well as a fine section of craft beers.

The most memorable beer I tried at the event was a mysterious one from Nickel Brook Brewery. They had over 10 varieties at their booth but I was drawn to a mysterious bottle with a black label and the numbers 11 05. The friendly rep told me that it was a barley wine beer that had been aged for a year on exactly November 5th. It had a striking 11% alcohol but was smooth and sweet.

You can see the entire photoset of the night on the Tall Boys Facebook Page.

Want Some Sapporo?

May 17, 2014May 30, 2014Drinks, Food1 Comment

Sapporo sent me some beer in celebration of their latest campaign which features animated versions of traditional Japanese ink wash paintings- an art that dates back 1000 years.

Sapporo, which originated in Japan, does have a brewery in Canada. It’s a rice lager so it is light and sweet. The beer is dry but refreshing because it does not leave an after taste and therefore very easy to drink. Since the taste is clean, it could probably be paired with any food.

If you would like some Sapporo, I’m giving away vouchers for free 6 pack over on Ride the Tempo!