Michelada

Snack Bar
1224 South Congress 
Austin
Texas 78704

*Guest post by Marina*

The michelada is a drink that sounds so curious I had to try it. Advertised as beer, spicy tomato juice, pepper and lime over ice, I was intrigued because I love bloody marys and this sounded similar but perhaps without the alcoholic kick. I was right. It's a much milder version of a bloody mary, with carbonation from the beer (in this case Mexican Pacifico Clara). It had a good finish from the spice and pepper and the lime added just the right amount of acidity. It was really easy to finish this drink, so it might be more dangerous than it looks...

Lone Star Reserve

Put away your prejudices: there is such a thing as a fine Texan wine. I know for I have tried it. Admittedly, my eureka moment, on a visit to quaintish town Fredericksburg in the heart of the Hill Country wine region, followed more than half a dozen tastes of sickly sweet reds that I wouldn't have wished on anyone.

But the Lone Star Reserve (Super Texan), from D'Vine Wine, was worth the wait. Barrel aged for over six months, this wine is a blend of 50% Sangiovese, 30% Cabernet Sauvignon and 20% Merlot, and boasts flavours of American oak, chocolate and a hint of plums.

I wanted a bottle but the $34.95 price tag put me off. Fortunately, D'Vine, which ships grape juice in from suppliers before crafting its own wines on site, also sold Lone Star Reserve by the glass - or by takeaway plastic cup.

I know plastic cups are strictly frowned upon as wine vessells, and usually I'd agree, but the prospect of walking down Main Street drinking freely in a way that could see me arrested in less hospitable parts of Texas was too great a temptation.

As I wandered with my cup of Lone Star, it was the chocolate that stood out first - this is a highly sniffable wine. Tasting revealed flavours of black cherries and sturdy oak. It was rich, to be sure, but without the cloying sweetness of others I'd tried. You might even have described it as light bodied, had you been there.

The winery suggests trying Lone Star Reserve with smoked brisket, and I say it would be churlish not to. Until then, I plan to acquiant myself more thoroughly with Sangiovese, the Italian grape variety that functions as Lone Star's main ingredient, and to which I have hitherto paid little attention.

Blue Moon

I'm not a huge fan of white beers but for some reason I can't get enough of Blue Moon Belgian White. Brewed in the US state of Colorado, using orange peel and coriander alongside white wheat and oat, this beer is full of flavour yet incredibly smooth and refreshing at the same time. More superficially, I love the striking design of the bottle and the fact it's served with a slice of orange, which brings out the spices and subtle fruit. Unquestionably my top choice of American beer, so far.

HELP! Anyone know which pubs, if any, serve Blue Moon in London? If you find it anywhere please get in touch.

Coffee (Unlimited)

"Coffee?" I hear you ask, full of doubt. "Since when has a bog-standard cup of ground beans and hot water represented a bloggably Good Drink?" When it costs $2 (£1.20), including unlimited refills from a friendly waiter, and tastes amazing. This one (or three) came from Kerbey Lane Cafe, in Austin, but it might have come from any number of places in the States. I've only ever seen the bottomless coffee cup in London once or twice (including in Borders bookshop, weirdly) and I say it's time Britons started demanding it more often. Right is surely on our side. Until that time a never-ending supply of reasonably priced quality coffee is secured across the capital, perhaps we should strive to support those establishments already doing it the American way.

HELP! Know any places in London offering free coffee refills? Please let me know in the comments!

Tequila Flights

Iron Cactus
10001 Stonelake Blvd 
Austin
Texas 78759

Never mind flights "of fancy" - the only flights that matter can be found at one of Austin's Iron Cactus tequila bars. The menu presented me with a bewildering choice of silver, reposado (rested) and anejo (aged) varieties from more than a dozen distilleries. These could be bought individually in two-ounce pours, or as flights of three smaller half-ounce pours, ordered by distillery or by mixing and matching more randomly.

To start I went for a Milagro flight ($8.75). I'd never tried any of its tequilas previously, having been slightly put off by its tacky packaging, but it was one of our waitress's recommendations, and I decided it's just not right to judge a tequila by its bottle. The three Milagro shots (if these were half-ounce pours they were generous ones) arrived on  a metal tray with lime wedges and (nice touch, this) a flip chart describing the drinks laid before me (pictured right). They truly know the way to a drink geek's heart/wallet.

My own sipping notes recall Milagro's silver as smooth and sweet with noticeable vanilla as well as agave flavours. The reposado - aged for six months in oak - retained the character of the silver while adding even more smoothness. My brief note on the anejo (aged for 18 months) was "woody - but not Scotch". This was in response to an unfortunate flip chart claim that Milagro's aged tequila gave "a sense of a fine Scotch or Cognac", a comparison that did the drink few favours since it reminded me that when it comes to depth and complexity, tequila - at least the ones I've tried - is still the immature sibling to a decent single malt. Nevertheless, taken as they are, Milagro's tequilas are fine spirits, and I want some more.

Next, I decided to mix it up a bit, ordering reposados from three distilleries - El Tesoro, Don Julio and Patron (total cost about $10). I have a bottle of El Tesoro's silver at home and like how the spicy taste of the agave plant really comes through. The reposado retained most of this intensity while adding oak and vanilla - a top drink. The Don Julio was a big surprise, since it tasted strongly of chocolate (a decent dessert tequila?) and the Patron - one of the most mainstream of premium tequilas - was frankly boring.

The only downer on our visit to the Iron Cactus - one of five across Texas - was our poor timing: we arrived just as the karaoke night was starting up. Luckily, it takes more than dreadful singing to spoil good tequila.

New Mexican Martini

Chuy's

11680 Research Blvd

Austin
Texas 78759

The New Mexican Martini, which I discovered at Austin Tex-Mex favourite Chuy's, is an astonishing drink, involving green chili-infused El Jimador silver tequila, Cointreau and fresh lime juice. It was served in a shaker full of ice alongside a salt-rimmed martini glass and a garnish of jalapeno-stuffed olives. The chili in the tequila was subtle, but definitely present, and the sweet orange Cointreau, bitter lime and salt rim combined to commit a serious sensory assault on the taste buds. While it resembled a margarita, this was stronger and less sweet - a little more grown up. The way the drink was served kept it cold - pretty important in Texas - and the pecuniary damage was a reasonable $7.75 (4.80 sterling). Despite all the above, I only wanted one of these, the chili heat making multiple servings less appealing. But as a pre-dinner platform for tequila, particularly when that dinner has the word Mex in it, this will fill you with wonder or nothing will.

Buy El Jimador tequila from The Drink Shop here.

Matcha Green Tea Blast

Jamba Juice
600 Congress Ave. #G280
Austin
Texas

The scary-looking green stuff in the polystyrene cup, obtained from US fruit smoothie merchant Jamba Juice, was an excruciatingly cold but tasty beverage, made by blending matcha (powdered green tea), soya milk, plain sorbet, non-fat vanilla frozen yoghurt and ice. I got a 16oz serving, the "small" size (costing $4.25 - around 2.60 sterling), but in true American style they were also offering a 32oz cup - that's two pints! Jamba likes to stress the alleged health benefits of the green tea, which also provides a 75mg caffeine lift in each serving, but the Matcha Green Tea Blast tasted more indulgent than worthy. The guy making mine suggested adding banana at home, and I would also have left out the sorbet, which probably made it sweeter than I needed. For me, this drink was badly timed (brainfreeze in December is not necessarily pleasant, even in Texas) but it was good value, and further welcome evidence that the future will be made of frozen yoghurt.