Sunday, October 8, 2017

Bruce Cost Passion Fruit Ginger Ale

In 1984 Bruce Cost issued a cookbook of recipes using ginger, called "Ginger: East to West". Beginning in 1989 he started using his own ginger ale at his restaurants in California. Operations then moved to Chicago and later to New York. 

Unfiltered is listed flat out on the label, but it should be evident by the large amount of pulp in the bottle. I'm a fan of ginger ale so quite curious about a passion fruit ginger ale. This soda is made with cane sugar, ginger, passion fruit, and turmeric. There's a unique scent from this bottle. It has a smell like that of opening a drawer in a centuries old desk found in the back of an antique shop. Turmeric is related to ginger and both have been used for medicinal purposes for thousands of years in Asia. This bottle has a great deal of carbonation, releasing a hiss with each sip from the bottle. The flavor is a bit medicinal. I don't really get much of the passion fruit flavor. Instead it has much more of the ginger and turmeric flavor. The drink straddles a bit of a line between main stream ginger ale like a Canada Dry or Schweppes, and the stronger, sometimes hot ginger beer. I like the nostalgic, apothecary-like aura this brings, but it isn't something I'd be drinking every day. It would probably make a very cook cooking ingredient or act as a good mixer for some drinks, especially a Moscow Mule.

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