Nylon Blogs

We learned three very important things last Friday.

One, that June is National Iced Tea Month. Two, that there is such a thing as spiked green tea. And three, that it’s actually pretty good.

Last Friday, the digital team took a break from updating the website to try Suntory ZEN Green Tea Liqueur. (The things we do for you…) Consensus? Although Faran wasn’t a fan, the rest of us were pleasantly surprised by the bright green liquid…

 Shruti: I actually quite liked it…It [would have been] the perfect drink for middle school parties, so your parents don’t actually know you’re drinking any booze.

Kelly: Totally refreshing. I expected it to be really sweet since it’s technically a “liqueur,” but it was nice and light – like actual tea except alcoholic.

Faran: I just didn’t think it tasted very good. It was too sweet. If I took very plain vodka and dumped sugar into it, I’m not sure it would have tasted any different.

Mai Lynn: It’s pretty delicious. Though in the field of green tea-flavored edibles and drinkables, I have to say it’s defeated by mochi…Definitely a contender though.

Rebecca: Simultaneously the best and worst type of liquor, because it doesn’t taste like alcohol - it’s easy to drink, which means you drink way too much of it.

The words “booze” and “brew” have long been synonymous in the beer world, but now there’s something new:

Uncrate has a spotlight on Jeremiah Weed, their sweet tea vodka of choice.

It’s the second “tea” drink we’ve seen since Friday, when a bottle of Zen Green Tea Liquor showed up in the office and promptly drained (gee, where could it have gone?).

The new trend fits perfectly with our current political climate:

If you don’t believe in the Bailout Tea Parties that conservative Republicans across the country are setting up, get your friends together, pour some of this stuff, and have an American celebration of your own.

Just make sure you recycle the bottles afterwards.  Michelle Obama would like that.

NYLON contributing writer Karen Ruttner has a Budweiser tank top.

It’s got their logo printed all over it.

She got it on eBay for like $10.

Now, whenever she wears it, people - Japanese tourists, hot guys, famous rock stars - ask to buy it off her for astonishing sums of money.

Apparently, the guys at Supreme caught on.

They’ve made an entire line of streetwear featuring the iconic Budweiser logo.

It’s available for a very limited time on the Supreme website, starting June 11 (and June 13 if you live in Japan).

Go get some and make Karen jealous.

It says something when even a 10-year-old girl knows about Appleton Rum.

As it turns out, my landlord’s daughter is just as excited about the bottle sitting in my apartment as I am. While I can’t explain her interest (although I think she mumbled something about a recent trip to Jamaica), mine is totally justified, considering how good this stuff is.

It helps that the Jamaican rum company has Master Blender Joy Spence (the only woman with that title to work at a major distillery). From fresh ginger to champagne, she’s come up with series of cocktails that manage to make this drink taste even better.

Since it’s Friday, I’m sharing a few of them with you. Bottoms up! xxRebecca

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There’s a bottle of 1800 Tequila sitting on the mantlepiece in my apartment, instead of being poured into shot glasses, because the artist-designed bottle is just too pretty to touch. (Noticing a trend in my life?)

Now they’re making it even harder to actually get drunk off the stuff, thanks to a new “Design Your Own” feature on their website.

Just upload a photo, sketch, or any other piece of art, and 1800 Tequila will use it to customize the bottle.

Yes, even your favorite cover of NYLON could work. After all, we know a thing or two about getting a buzz…

You: Spending Memorial Day weekend at the pool/park/beach/rooftop BBQ.

You: Too hot for red wine, too early for vodka, too full for beer.

You: Loading up on Zipang’s sparkling sake.

Last weekend, I tried out the latest addition to the world of buzz-inducing bubbles. Each bottle is a single-serving and has a pop lid, so you can bring it along on your adventures without breaking your back from the weight or attempting to use keys/counters/rocks to open it up.

But is it any good? The fact that I finished off two bottles before my friend even arrived says it all. So much for sharing… xxRebecca

Examine the gorgeous drink at left.

It was conjured at The Randolph, a new hideaway on Broome St. where the bartenders are basically chefs with alcohol proofs, and you never quite know what you’ll get.

Example: Last night, when my friend (and my sometime model) Abby and I paid a visit.

In the span of two hours, we got homemade ginger beer, strawberry rum syrup, a burnt orange gin, and something that tasted like liquid cinnamon and looked like a neon sno-cone.

We got Israeli mint sprigs (which, we were told, are far superior to American mint springs because of their taste, their texture, and their mandatory army service).   We got a bowl of hand-churned whipped cream sweetened with honey and rum.  Then we got that dizzy feeling that leads to those two dangerous options: go dance or go home.

Anyway, back to the drink at left.

Was it inspired by

a) the Empire State Building

b) those popsicles you can get on the 4th of July

c) my aura, after a long night of drinking.

www.randolphnyc.com

There’s been some confusion in the office recently over a six pack of beer sitting by the NYLON digital department’s desks.

And by beer, I mean ginger beer.

Which isn’t alcoholic, but everything thinks it is (and thinks us total boozers).

But there is a non-alcoholic beer that will finally give you a buzz:

Root beer.

Three Olives has a root beer flavored vodka. I haven’t tried it out yet, but it’s sitting in my apartment, waiting to be turned into a spiked root beer float.

And seriously, although this might be the second booze-inspired post of the day, the ginger beer sitting by our desks really won’t get you drunk. Promise.

Let’s not pretend:

By the time Thursday rolls around, you probably need a good stiff drink.

And while we’re fans of vodka here at NYLON, it’s usually the fruity versions from Stoli - strawberry, orange, maybe lime if we’re a little crazy.

That’s a bit different from Referent Vodka, who have a new horseradish flavor found on Liqurious.

The good news:

Making a Bloody Mary just got much easier.

The bad news:

Mix it with orange juice and seltzer in a hurried, forgetful moment and you’re basically doomed.

I always thought Big Red was just a gum.

Then today, I saw it on a truck in Austin, Texas as a soda.

The can says it’s been around since 1937, and yet, I have never seen it in my life.

So Texas girls, help me out:

What is “red soda,” what does it taste like, and where do you buy it… besides on the hoods of trucks at a concert?