Alcademics.com

Gaga for Vodka

Lady Gaga's new video "Bad Romance" has some product placement in it, this time for Nemiroff vodka. I usually don't care about things of this nature, but when Lady Gaga does something it's good to pay attention. In her previous video for LoveGame, people were apparently drinking Campari out of the bottle on the subway while watching Gaga dance. How this impacted sales of Campari I do not know.

In Bad Romance, we get a flash of the bottle in the beginning then a second shot of it being poured into a glass around 2:28. 

(If you can't see the embedded video, click here.)

I did some internet sleuthing to find that this bottle is Nemiroff Lex. The Nemiroff vodka website says, "Nemiroff Lex is the vodka for the Great, the Successful, the Courageous, for those who change this world and hold it on their shoulders."

Whatevs.

A hint of the production is in this poorly translated section (with my bold-ings): "The delicate bouquet, emphasized by the linden-tree blossom flavour, inimitable irreproachably mild taste… The alcohol used in its production is aged for up to 6 months. Besides the classical vodka purification technologies, the water-alcohol mixture that is used for production of Nemiroff Lex undergoes additional processing with a specially prepared adsorbent." I'm guessing the "adsorbent" is additional filtering.

Additional information on the branding of Nemiroff from 2003 can be found in this story on brandchannel.com. It's a Ukranian brand that Wikipedia says, "At the end of 2006 Nemiroff became the 'second largest vodka producer in the world' (by sales), trailing only Smirnoff." Guess those sales must be outside the US.

Anyway, that's what I can find for now.

P.S. How many outfit changes are in this Lady Gaga video, like 35?

A Non-Alcoholic Rock Opera

For your weekend entertainment: the Battle for Milquarious, a rock opera with the aesthetic of Barbarella and the music of Jesus Christ Superstar, brought to you by the milk processing board. Enjoy.

DVD Review: Beer Wars

I received a copy of the new documentary Beer Wars, released this week. I found it to be both interesting and annoying.

The story is about the big brewers versus small ones and how hard it is in the current system to launch a small brand. It was interesting to learn how both shelf space and distribution are controlled by major brands, how they'll release "category killer" products just to knock out the competition from upstarts, and how much money is spent lobbying congress.

The big flaw with the film in my opinion is that director/writer/producer Anat Baron chose to focus on two upstart brands to follow as they faced challenges. One was DogFish Head Craft Brewery from Delaware- what you'd think of as a small brewer you'd want to succeed. The other is New Century Brewing Co, who are releasing a caffeinated beer. It's hard to feel bad for this brand's founder as she faces challenges and tries to sell out to the bigger companies when they run out of money.

There is also a theme about the American Dream running through the film as the small guys try to compete, countered by Nazi-sounding war marching music when they'd show footage of the large brands. Tacky.

Director Baron doesn't seem to care about the difference between craft products that consumers may want to succeed and small entrepreneurs trying to make a fast buck, but then again she was once the General Manager of Mike's Hard Lemonade, which she calls a beer.

So yes, this DVD has many interesting facts about the beer industry in America and I think is definitely worth watching. I just found it hard in the end to sympathize with Baron about the big bad beer brands when I didn't care if half the featured small ones failed.  

Tequila and Fernet, Together at Last

I haven't had the Manana Despues yet, but I fully support it in theory. It's a version of the Fernet Branca Cocktail from the Savoy Cocktail Book, using blanco tequila instead of gin.

Jay from Oh Gosh! has the recipe video with Tiffany Short of The Gibson here. Yes she pronounces Fernet incorrectly, but to be fair I wasn't sure we were saying it right in San Francisco until Count Branca came to town and confirmed it.

A Catchy Tune About Drinking Irresponsibly, Brought to you by Patron Tequila

Oh my, this advertisement song by Paradiso Girls featuring Lil Jon and Eve called "Patron Tequila" kind of has "major club hit" written all over it.

I kind of love it, cheesy as it is. I have the refrain stuck in my head, where I do not want it. It goes like this:

I want Patron, tequila
I'm drunk on margaritas
And Patron, tequila
Me and my mamacita

The call to get shitfaced is repeated not just in the line "Who wanna get drunk?" that's called out many a time, but also in this verse:

By the end of the night I'm gonna have you drunk and throwing up
By the end of the night I'm gonna have you so! messed! up!

Methinks people are going to go crazy for the song. And that people at DISCUS are going to go crazy about the song. 

*Update* Patron responds- see comments. 

Cocktail Snobs in 3D

I was fooling around with this XtraNormal.com player thing and decided to make an animation.

Two cocktail snobs walk into a bar and...

(this post contains a movie. click to alcademics.com if you can't see it.)

Chartreuse Tastes Like Hell

So says Rachel Maddow on the Jimmy Fallon show. (Okay, she says it tastes like hell until you mix it with other stuff.)

Rachel makes a Bijou cocktail for Jimmy (gin, sweet vermouth, Chartreuse, orange bitters) in this segment of the show. (It's near the end of the second break.)

Wounds, Rimmed with Salt

Can't get elected to the senate? Luckily you can always fall back on margarita mix! At least that's what Bob Schaffer is doing in Colorado. [link via Gawker via The Atlantic]

Watch the video here.