opinionated alchemist

 Ok - just a quick post here. I tried Budweiser Zero. No - lets rephrase it: I drank it, because I got it as sample, but didn't expected anything. However: it is actually pretty okay. And here is the kicker: I never liked Budweiser - and really reject to drink it - but Budweiser Zero taste to me far better than its alcoholic siblings. Look - I don't want to lie- it is not a craft beer (nor an alcohol-free craft'y beer). But compared to the normal Budweiser, I didn't tasted any off-flavors. It is a very light beer, which taste like it. And to be honest, I even could not make out, that it was alcohol free. There are many alcohol free beers, which might taste better - bigger aromas and flavors - more bitterness and so on. But you mostly directly detect, that it is alcohol-free - you just taste it. But Budweiser Zero? It is tough to tell - it could be very much a light and low alcoholic beer... So... would I drink buy it for myself? Absolutely. I would probably put it into

Do you have also the feeling that last year passed light-speedy fast?  And to be honest,  there hasn't been a lot of room for trends to stick - except everything related to the pandemic (we are talking about take away, in different iterations, ghost kitchens and so on). I try not to go too much in this trends and stay with true beverage related trends (products and all) - if you are interested, let me know, if you like to see another article about trends, which are more venue related... So which trends can we predict for 2022? Alcohol-free spirits This is a big one. It seems to really penetrate the market. Even here in Dubai - even the major supermarkets start to carry those spirits. I do think though, that there is definitely a lot of area of improvement. Some products are good (e.g. gin) - some are simply not enjoyable (until now I could only try one "0º Whisky which was simply disgusting! Alcohol-free spirits are changing totally the paradigm for alcohol-free cocktails. 

In the last year, there has been some change in my life. This isn't so unique - as the pandemic has been challenging for most of us. While the bar was closed and I have been on unpaid leave, I left "my" hotel and joined an independent restaurant (new opening) as GM.  Unfortunately this didn't worked out very well. Hence after half a year I left (close to be totally burnt out) and rejoined my "old hotel" - now not anymore as Bar Operations Manager, but as Beverage Manager. Besides of "hanging out" in the evening behind Noir (again - now even with more emphasis) - my duties are also updating the beverage lists of the other restaurants. The cocktail discussed is for the Levantine restaurant. Now the Levant is the area on and around Lebanon. This area is rich of culinary culture and traditions - but not so much of alcoholic drinks (and yes - Lebanon is a great wine producing country - and they also create arrack... and: especially Beirut is known for t