Hipsters Ain't What They Used To Be.

[craigthom]

I guess your point with Cella is that at least lambrusco is a legitimate type that existed before it became an American pop-wine and Lindeman's is, like Yellow Tail and Vendage, in a class of cheap 'starter' wines that at least pose as legitimate varietals.

Yellow Tail may be made from traditional grapes, but it is high enough in residual sugar that it's a stretch to call it a legitimate style. I guess in this way it's a lot like white zinfandel.

[mrviognier]

I guess your point with Cella is that at least lambrusco is a legitimate type that existed before it became an American pop-wine and Lindeman's is, like Yellow Tail and Vendage, in a class of cheap 'starter' wines that at least pose as legitimate varietals.

You'd be right.:grin:

I import some might tasty Lambrusco...real, authentic and having very little in common with the swill Aldo used to shill.

Lindeman's used to be pretty good wine...that is until they went global, and embraced the K-J 'a spoonful of sugar' mentality.

[redneckmatt]

Wait, I'm confused here.

Since when is PBR a "hipster" drink? That stuff around here is known as liquid aluminum and most people wouldn't touch it... and I'm in the target demographic.

[callmeox]

Wait, I'm confused here.

Since when is PBR a "hipster" drink? That stuff around here is known as liquid aluminum and most people wouldn't touch it... and I'm in the target demographic.

Well, if you Google "hipster beer" the first result is a CNN Money article from 2009 about PBR doing well in the recession. That's probably a good starting point. :grin:

[marna]

I went through a Zima phase, which disqualifies me from the hipster class forever. I even managed to miss Zima Gold - with a "taste of bourbon."

Marna

[Special Reserve]

I went through a Zima phase...

I did too, one bottle.

Even though we are in a golden age for both bourbon and beer. I can see why PBR and other nondescript beers remain popular. It is what a large section of the alcohol consuming population want.

[mrviognier]

I went through a Zima phase, which disqualifies me from the hipster class forever. I even managed to miss Zima Gold - with a "taste of bourbon."

Marna

But...if you were drinking Zima while wearing Zubas you were kind of a hipster. Extra points if your wore your hair in a mullet. :grin:

[cowdery]

Aldo Cella, by the way, was played by a New York actor named Jimmy who was a very nice guy. I worked on the brand in the early 1980s. It was a Brown-Forman property.

Reunite was the brand that originally popularized the very sweet, fizzy style of Lambrusco in the U.S. Brown-Forman came later but took the market from them with more effective advertising, promotion and distribution. Wine Coolers killed the Lambruscos, Brown-Forman spent $80 million to buy California Cooler, then that market died out too.

[CorvallisCracker]

By definition, anything that's trendy can't stay that way.

[craigthom]

Reunite on ice! That's nice!

I was working retail when the wine cooler craze hit. They were huge, but I can't remember any of the brands besides California Coolers and Bartles & Jaymes.

This was also around the time white zinfandel showed up. There were some other blush wines, but Sutter Home really took off. And they are still around, so that's one fad with legs.

Is the cheap too-soft-to-be-interesting Merlot fad still going on? I know it was five or six years ago.

[Lost Pollito]

This thread has inspired me to re-visit malt liquor. Thanks.

[tmckenzie]

get wome mickeys or olde english 888 in the quart bottle. mighty fine stuff.

[OscarV]

Might as well get the best if it's malt liquor you want to try.

Haffenreffer Private Stock is real good, imho.

[Gillman]

Glad you mentioned that one Oscar. The last time I saw Tim Sousley, I had some extra beers I couldn't bring home on the plane and asked him to take them to Columbia. They included two large tins of this beer and some Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. Book ends, you might say, of the American brewing experience (one an old-school malt liquor, the other a standard bearer of the craft beer revolution). With his usual kindness, I had a note from Tim not long after thanking me again and saying he enjoyed them. Tim RIP.

Gary

[mrviognier]

Reunite on ice! That's nice!

I was working retail when the wine cooler craze hit. They were huge, but I can't remember any of the brands besides California Coolers and Bartles & Jaymes.

I was working retail, too. Seagrams had Golden, then there was Sun Country in the 2-liter bottle...remember those? There were a lot of wanna-bes, but they quickly fell by the wayside. Cost of production and taxation soon shifted these wine-based beverages to malt. So, in a way, the plethora of Smirnoff Ice, Mike's Hard Lemonade, et al are the progeny of the wine cooler craze.

Which is only fitting. The category has come full circle...after all, the granddaddy of the category was/is Champale...

[Parkersback]

Might as well get the best if it's malt liquor you want to try.

Haffenreffer Private Stock is real good, imho.

You want to stay away from the Common Stock, yeah? I am assuming, it's not nearly as good.

[tmckenzie]

Reunite on ice reminded me of another catchy phrase. What's the word? Thunderbird! Thunderbird when it was apple wine was not bad.

[OscarV]

Ahh, but back in the day a bottle of Ripple with a pack of strawberry Kool-Aid powder poured in made what you were smoking that much sweeter.

[cowdery]

I have a strong memory of Haffenreffer Private Stock in what I think was a 16 oz. bottle. It's a strong and distant memory but i can't remember anything except that Haffenreffer Private Stock was part of it. I wonder what that's about?

[mrviognier]

What's the word? Thunderbird!

How's it sold? Good and cold!

What's the jive? Bird's alive!

What's the price? Thirty twice.

Thunderbird when it was apple wine was not bad.

No, friend...Thunderbird was always bad. :grin:

[Josh]

For those who might be interested, I present http://www.bumwine.com/

[craigthom]

Didn't Colt 45 predate Champale? And for flavored beer, didn't Malt Duck?

Those are the ancestors of Zima and Skyy Blue and all those other flavored beers. Some things only seem to change.

[ILLfarmboy]

I was working retail when the wine cooler craze hit. They were huge, but I can't remember any of the brands besides California Coolers and Bartles & Jaymes.

I'll cop to drinking a few of those in the eighties.

Cut me some slack. I was a teenager. I don't recall the California Coolers but the "berry" flavored Bartles and Jaymes was quite decent. Besides, back then, as others have noted, they were not the malt beverages of today.

A couple on a hot day was refreshing. More than that and they weren't so easy on the stomach. I don't remember them as being overly sweet, but in that regard they did have the same effect as too much really sweet ice tea.

[the Duff]

For those who might be interested, I present http://www.bumwine.com/

[jcg9779]

For those who might be interested, I present http://www.bumwine.com/