In beta form, but still... If you've been missing the link section with various Spokane food blogs, you can now find them right here.
We'll be adding Twitter accounts soon too. Woo!
Have a blog or Twitter account that's related to Spokane and food? Give us a shout -- team@spocool.com -- and we'll add them.
Oh, Redhook, what a roller coaster ride you have taken us on over the last few years. Going from good, to eh, to a comeback, down to something very very sad, and lately back to "hmmm", the latest Winterhook is actually quite good. And as this winter beer season is coming to a close, this ale is a good one to go out on. One where you can sit and bathe in nostalgia of what once was and what might possibly be again, unless Winterhook is merely another peak for Redhook.
It pours a nice dark brown color with a lightly tanned head, about a finger's worth of it. Decent lacing and definitely an inviting looking beer.
Give it a quick whiff and you will find a light mixture of spices and hopiness. This carries over to the flavor; the spices hit first, but are mellowed out by subtle sweet flavors of caramel and just a hint of citrus. The hops hit toward the end, giving your tongue a gentle massage while making it clear that this is, indeed, a Washington beer.
It's a drinkable winter warmer, one that might be just a bit thin as far as the mouthfeel goes, but also one anybody can agree on. Heck, I'd drink it again.
Hopefully Redhook can get back into a more consistent rhythm and produce more beer with this kind of quality. We might add the brewery back into the rotation if that's the case.
Hey, it's almost Valentine's Day! And when we want to enjoy a warm, loving beverage, we don't look much further than DOMA's Sea of Love.
After drinking a lot of Kenyan and Ethiopian coffee lately, AeroPressed, it's almost a bit strange going back to a French Pressed Colombian, but that's where Sea of Love took us, and it almost felt like a homecoming of sorts. There is just something familiar with the flavor, and we mean that in the best way.
We found the beans to have a mellow, sweet scent with a nice hint of chocolate toward the back. A sip instantly reveals this to be be Valentine-y. Here we have something close to chocolate covered cherries, with just a bit of caramel mixed in. Imagine if Hershey's actually used quality ingredients in a subtle way, and you might kind of get the idea. Kind of.
The body here is smooth, almost velvet like, and the aforementioned caramel lingers after each sip.
Sea of Love might not be a flavor bomb, and that is perfectly fine. Instead it's a very pleasant, relaxing cup of coffee, smooth and subtle, not unlike a post-Doobies Michael McDonald. I dare you not to hum "I Keep Forgettin'" while enjoying a cup.
Bonus: Read artist Tiffany Patterson's blog post about the printing the Sea of Love bags.
We're fans of spices and we're fans of Kickstarter here at Team SpoCOOL, and thus we're intrigued by what we're seeing from SAVORx, a company based in Coeur d'Alene.
Taking a decidedly good-coffee-approach, SAVORx is looking to sell spices in their natural format. Whole, properly packaged, and ready for you to grind for optimal fresh flavors. Check out their Kickstarter page for more information on what they need and what they will provide. It all sounds glorious and we are backing the project.
In fact, why don't we just shut up and let them describe it all themselves in this informative video.
