Ten Ninety, Imperial Witbier and Imperial Porter: I first tried Ten Ninety’s high-gravity beers at the Glunz Expo this spring, and ever since then I’ve been seeking them out at beer tastings (their beers are available on tap in some Chicago bars, but I haven’t come across them yet). My favorite is the imperial porter: brewed with cayenne pepper and pomegranate juice, it’s tart, spicy, and deeply chocolatey. But close behind is the imperial witbier, light but complex, with a rich mouthfeel and flavors of lemon zest and orange peel.
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Spirits:Del Maguey mezcal: Each mezcal from Del Maguey is made in a single village in Oaxaca, and the various microclimates and soils in which the agave plants grow affect the taste of the finished mezcal tremendously. Among my favorites was Vida, which was smoky, fruity, and very complex—and at $40, it’s their least expensive bottle. Another was Pechuga, made with wild apples, plums, plantains, pineapples, almonds, and white rice; a chicken breast is suspended in the still during distillation. It’s fruity, slightly salty, and yes, tastes a little like chicken.
Vander Mill, Totally Roasted: This cider, brewed with cinnamon-roasted pecans and whole vanilla beans, is light but incredibly complex, with flavors so subtle they’re hard to pin down. I could taste nuttiness and a faint spiciness, though I’d have been hard-pressed to identify the flavors as pecan and cinnamon if I hadn’t known ahead of time what they were. The vanilla is more obvious, and there’s a very slight smokiness and an oaky finish (probably from the vanilla). This cider is now available in cans as well as large-format bottles.
