(SpoCOOL) A Spokane Blog

Like mentioned many times before, we're not sure why Spokane picked up on the froyo craze so late, but here we are all the same, all about the froyo. 

Way up in the wild woods of the South Hill you'll find Blu Berry, which certainly serves up good frozen yoghurt, but offers little to differentiate itself from other Spokane spots. Considering there aren't too many local options up on the hill, that isn't necessarily a bad thing.

The process is what you'd expect: Pick your yoghurt -- YoCream, per usual -- choose from a bunch of rather predictable toppings, weigh in, pay, and stuff your face. Simple, tasty, and nothing you haven't seen before, and that's OK.

Is there any reason to visit Blu Berry over any othe froyo place in town? No, not really. Chill Spot is still on top of the heap, but really, most of these places follow a pretty set formula.

That might not make for an exciting visit, but I'll be damned if I don't like this whole froyo craze, delayed as it might be. And Blu Berry certainly does froyo perfectly well.

There's giving it all, and there's giving it 110%. In terms of making us sweat, the Globe falls proudly in the latter category.

Here we ordered three sets of wings: one with peanut sauce and two Afterburners. When the order came out, it only included one of the Afterburners so we could sample and the next batch could be adjusted accordingly. This we like, and obviously told the chef to do his best. Or worst. 

Now it should be pointed out that the "default" Afterburner is plenty hot with its ghost peppers and all, but when the chef came out from the kitchen sweating, that's when you know you have something special going.

And special it was, in that mouth burning kind of way. It's hard to gauge exactly what has been the hottest wing so far during this journey, but the Afterburner is definitely a contender. Yet it kept its flavor quite well; the sauce actually had a nice sweetness to it, and the burning was mostly felt after swallowing. Hence the name, I suppose.

The chicken itself was pretty good, though it got a bit soggy under the sauce, and the crunch and pull-with-teeth experience we hoped for did not happen. That's too bad. A bit less soggy and these wings could have been a contender.

The peanut sauce wings were similar in that sense, though not very spicy at all. That's OK, really, and they worked soothingly after the Afterburner.

The Globe should be on any hot wing hunter's list. There are many other sauces to choose from, and things can heat up here quickly. That's definitely a good thing.

This must be a contender for the worst and/or longest beer name ever.

But regardless, I've been a fan of Lagunitas for a while now, and their ales often mix wonderfulness with creativity, putting the brewery somewhere between Deschutes and Dogfish Head.

Undercover isn't Lagunitas's best product, but it's worth checking out all the same. This is a strong ale, 9.7% ABV, with a bit too much booziness for it to be an ultra comfortable sipping beer.

It looks good, certainly, with a brown-ish copper color and ever so light tan head. A sniff reveals oak and malts in an almost old-fashioned way. It makes me want to sit on a front porch smoking a pipe in a rocking chair.

Sipping starts off pleasantly enough. Slight hints of caramel waltzes onto your tongue in a perfect harmony with hops, revealing a light bitterness through the back of the mouth. This is all well and good until you swallow, and the booziness rears its ugly head. It leaves an aftertaste, and not a particularly good one at that.

That's too bad, and although it's a risk with high alcoholic beers, better ales tend to hide the booziness better than the Undercover.

Overall it still has a lot of positive aspects, and you should be able to enjoy its finer qualities if you don't care much about booziness.