Tastefully Simple Review & Giveaway

Tastefully Simple Review & Giveaway

I was sent a free product to review in exchange for my honest opinion.  All views in this post are mine and I was not compensated for them in any way.

I was contacted and sent product from a company called Tastefully Simple.  

They asked me to choose 3 items to review (yeay 3!!) and then here comes the BEST part.....I get to give my favorite flavor away to 2 of my readers!!  More on that at the bottom, now onto the review.

The flavors I chose were Fuzzy Navel, Piña Colada and the Triple The Fun 3-pack which includes Lovin' Lemon, Juicy Watermelon Margarita & Mango Breeze Margarita.  

The two bigger single containers make 8-8oz servings and the smaller ones in the 3-pack make 4-8oz servings.

What you get when you order one is:

• A container that you use to mix everything up in and then stick in the freezer  
• The powdered flavor mix  

What you need to supply is:

• Water 
• Alcohol type that is asked for depending on the mix you choose

If you choose to make a non-alcoholic version then just skip the alcohol which allows you to no spend any additional money for preparation.  I'm sure you all have already guessed.....I added the alcohol!

The end result is a flavorful slushy cocktail.

All in all, this is a pretty cool way to enjoy a cocktail on a hot summer day!  

For that cocktail enthusiast in your life who seems to have it all, I bet you they don't have one of these!  Give them a fun alternative to serving cocktails.

When I made and froze the first one I opened it up to look inside and saw a frozen block.  I guess I took the directions "stir & serve" too literally.  

I tried stirring and chopping and whatnot to make it drinkable.  Hello, frozen!  Then I decided that the best thing to do is to open it up and sit it on the counter and let it soften a bit.  

I suggest to check it and break it up every 5-10 minutes until it becomes good and slushy.  Once it is the consistency that you want, stir it up really well.  Then you can scoop it into a glass and either drink it or use a spoon and eat it that way. 

I want to thank Tastefully Simple for sending me these fun slushy cocktail mixes to try!  I had fun and enjoyed it.

Want to order your own slushy cocktail mixes?  Check out tastefullysimple.com and order some today!!

Now onto the contest!!  Given that my favorite flavor was the Juicy Watermelon Margarita Mix, Two lucky winners will win one Triple The Fun 3-pack from Tastefully Simple!  

You MUST live in the USA to enter.  I will contact you via the email address you provide.  Good luck!!

UncommonGoods Review and Giveaway

UncommonGoods Review and Giveaway

I was sent a free product to review in exchange for my honest opinion.  All views in this post are mine and I was not compensated for them in any way.

    

I was contacted by UncommonGoods and asked to choose something from their Gifts For Women section here to review.  

The choice was tough.  

There were things I had never seen before!  

I narrowed it down to a few  items and finally chose the Glass Birthstone Necklace.  My birthday is in July, so that's the one I chose.  It came in a cute little box and inside the necklace was in a smaller zip lock pouch with the clasp part closed outside of the box.  

GENIUS!!  

That made the necklace not tangle while being shipped to me!  I like my necklace, it's something that I probably will not find anywhere else, therefore it's unique which I think is great.

They have SO MANY different items to choose from on their site.  They have them broken down into different categories which help you find what you are looking for faster.  

They have a section for Gifts for Wife which has a lot of different items like necklaces, socks, books and jewelry holders which you can check out here.  Along with that they have a section which is a little different as it's called Gifts for Girlfriend.  

You can see the stuff they have there by clicking here.  Now there is overlap on these items, which is to be expected, but there are some other fun things on that list as well.

One of the things that I think is pretty darn cool about Uncommon Goods is the fact that they donate $1 of every purchase to your choice of one of the not-for-profit organizations that they are partnered with.  They've been doing this for 15 years and have donated over $1 million dollars to these charities around the world!  That's pretty awesome!  

A lot of companies ask YOU if YOU want to donate extra money toward organizations, but this company just does it out of their profit.  

Awesome.  

Here are the Not-For-Profits that they donate to: RAINN, American Forests, Women for Women International and Reach Out & Read.

Even though there are beyond plenty of items to choose from on their site, they also have a section labeled "Uncommon Knowledge", which fits in well with their name.  There you will find a lot of information that you never knew.....and never realized you never knew.  I like that kind of stuff.

I know that I will be browsing through their site as Christmas approaches.  Some people on my list are hard to buy for because basically........they already have everything.....so I thought!  This site gives me a brand new wide variety of items to choose for the people who have everything.  I'm excited!!  OK, just thinking about Christmas approaching faster then I am ready for makes me think of cold weather, beanies, hot toddies, gloves and scarves!  Which reminds me.......UncommonGoods has a page for scarves too!!  Oh happy day......time to go check them out as well.  In need of a new winter scarf?  Look no further then here!

All in all, I really like their site and the items they have to offer.  I look forward to browsing their site and receiving their catalog in the mail (that I just signed up for!).  Let me know what you find and love!

Now onto the fun part!  Who wants to win a $25 gift certificate for UncommonGoods??  How cool is that?  They are offering one lucky reader a jump start on their first order!  Best of luck to you all!!  This drawing will be open for 1 week, so get your entries in!!

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Mighty Mug Review

The Mighty Mug Review

(I was sent a free product to review in exchange for my honest opinion.  All views in this post are mine and I was not compensated for them in any way.)


Have you ever heard of the Mighty Mug?  I had never heard of it until I was contacted by Might Mug to check out their products.

I'm super glad they contacted me!  Not only does Mighty Mug have travel mugs, they also have barware as well......which is perfect for me!  OK, me because I'm the cocktail lady.....not me because I spill stuff all the time......just once in a while.

I don't want to wait any longer!  I want you to see what the Mighty Mug is all about!  Check it out in action.  I also just started my own YouTube channel!  This will be my very first video on there.  So head over to my channel and subscribe today!  

So what did you think?  


Pretty amazing right?


Can you believe it?


Why hasn't anyone EVER thought of that before?


Now you can drink your coffee, tea, wine, whisky, cocktail, juice or anything without accidentally knocking it over!  So we have a friend who is known for his mishaps.  I think this is a product that he (as well as all of us) can benefit from.


Here's a link to check it out on Amazon.  This is the red travel mug that you saw in the video.  While I was browsing on Amazon, I noticed that they also sell pint glasses!!  I think THOSE would really come in handy around here!


Hmmm......we do a gift exchange for our New Years Eve parties.......maybe I'll get a set of glasses for that.  


I hope you enjoyed the video (be kind to me, it's my first video and I already know things I should have changed).  If you would like to see everything that Mighty Mug has to offer check out their website!


Have a great weekend!!


Cheers!

The Cocktail Lady

RIPE Bar Juice Review & Give Away

RIPE Bar Juice Review & Give Away

Somehow an entire month has gone by since I have posted last.  

Somehow I survived the past month.....somehow.  

Between our 4 Christmas parties, our Masquerade New Years Eve party, our good friends 40th "Prom Style" birthday party, our oldest's 16th (gasp.....I said 16th didn't I?) birthday and all of his basketball......somehow we made it!  

I thought January was going to go slow and allow us to ease into the new year.....WRONG!!  

Oh well, such is life.  Tonight we are going to celebrate my grandma's 99th birthday at her favorite Mexican restaurant, so that will be fun!

I was contacted by RIPE Bar Juice and asked if I would like to try their juices.  I agreed and they 2-day mailed me this variety of 6 different flavored juices.......in a shipping cooler!   

I was sent a free product to review in exchange for my honest opinion.  All views in this post are mine and I was not compensated for them in any way. 

RIPE Bar Juices need to stay refrigerated and I will tell you they were nice and cool when I received them!  Once I took them out of their box, I put them right into the fridge.

I decided to tell you about the Bajan Punch and Classic Cosmopolitan for this review.

I tried both of these juices on their own before I mixed them up with alcohol.  They were both quite flavorful.  They would be great to drink in a glass with ice all on their own as well. 

 My first cocktail I mixed up was the Bajan Punch.  This recipe is right on the side of the bottle.

This cocktail was SUPER easy to make.  

Two ingredients, that's it!  

I mixed 2 ounces of gold rum and 4 ounces of Bajan Punch.  Shook them in a shaker and strained them into a cocktail glass filled with ice.  

Easy to make and a nice light refreshing taste.  Neither the rum, not the juice was overpowering.  I think I might make another one and do a 1:1 ratio to see how that tastes.

The second cocktail I made was a Cosmopolitan.  This recipe is right on the side of the bottle too.

Just like the Bajan Punch, this cocktail was super easy to make as well.  

I mixed 1 ounce of vodka and 2 ounces of the Cosmopolitan juice.  Shook and strained my cocktail into a martini glass.  Just that simple.  

Just like the Bajan Punch this cocktail had a nice light refreshing taste to it as well.

All in all, I like the RIPE Bar Juices!  

I am looking forward to trying more creations with them all.  Stay tuned see what I make!  

It's neat that they make happy hour that much easier!  Not a whole lot of mixing required. Just a few ingredients and you are ready to enjoy a nice cocktail. 

Here is a link to the RIPE website if you are interested in checking them out.

RIPE Bar Juices would like to send one lucky reader 2 bottles (of your choice) of their Bar Juices!  You can enter into the drawing below:

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SIA Scotch Whisky Review and Recipe

SIA Scotch Whisky Review and Recipe

I was contacted by Carin, the owner and founder of SIA Scotch Whisky.  She has created a whisky that she is very excited about and wanted to share it with me.  I was sent the sample of SIA Scotch Whisky you see in the photo above to try and create a new fun cocktail with.  

I was sent a free product to review in exchange for my honest opinion.  All views in this post are mine and I was not compensated for them in any way.  

Carin is a female entrepreneur who is based in San Franciso. 

I thought that was pretty cool given the fact that we live not too far from there ourselves.  

I'm impressed that she took her love of Scotch and decided to do something with it, bravo to you Carin!

SIA Scotch Whisky is a nice smooth blend.  

My mission was to mix it up with a few ingredients that would compliment some of the flavors that are found inside the Scotch Whisky.  

Mission Accomplished!!  

This whisky combined perfectly with the ingredients I chose, and I have to say I really like this cocktail.  

I am not much of a Scotch Whisky drinker, but I could definitely see myself ordering this cocktail at one of the many bars, or restaurants SIA is served at.  

I am impressed with what Carin has accomplished as well as her whisky.  

If you have any Scotch Whisky drinkers in the family, or even friends that enjoy it, I would recommend that you give SIA a try.  I think you just might like it!

Here is a link to the full list of the bars and restaurants, as well as stores that carry SIA Scotch Whisky.  Visit their webiste here to find out more!

Here is my recipe for a Whisky Sour Surprise:

• 1 ounce SIA Scotch Whisky
• 1 ounce lemon juice
• 1 ounce amaretto
• 1/2 ounce cointreau
• 1/4 ounce Elderflower Liqueur

In a shaker, add ice and all of the ingredients above.  Shake and strain into a sugar rimmed short cocktail glass.

Thank You Carin for the sample of your delicious SIA Scotch Whisky!  I wish you all the best!!

The Cocktail Lady

Bacchus Break Silicone Wine Glasses Review and Give Away

Bacchus Break

Silicone Wine Glasses

I was contacted by Bacchus Break and asked if I would review their silicone wine glasses.  They sent me this for free so that I would give an honest review on this item.  All views are my own.  I was not compensated for them in any way.  

I checked them out on Amazon and thought they looked neat......as long as they didn't leak, tip easy or make my wine taste like silicone.  

First of all, when the box came I noticed their logo....on it read "Bacchus Break because drunk people drop shit".......um......heck yes they do!!  

I thought that was pretty funny, so they scored a point from me before I even opened up the box.  

Before you use these flexible wine glasses you are supposed to let them sit out for a day or two (if needed, I didn't need 2 days) to air out so that they can loose their silicone smell.  

I will totally admit........I didn't think it would be completely gone.  I was wrong.

I aired them out for a day, then was a little hesitant to sniff them, but when I did I was pleasantly surprised!  They didn't smell AT ALL like silicone........OK, but would I taste it in my wine?

I poured a glass (the glassed I got are flat bottomed which is pretty neat).......hesitated, and then sniffed and took my first sip.  

NO SILICONE FLAVOR AT ALL!  

I had my husband try a sip or two from the glass too, just to make sure I wasn't missing something.  Nope, he didn't taste anything but wine either.  Amazing!!

I think these stemless silicone wine glasses are pretty amazing.  

They're unbreakable wine glasses that aren't terribly easy to tip and don't leak, which are all bonuses!  

They're perfect for outdoor gatherings, where dropping a glass on concrete is frowned upon. They would make a perfect gift for the wine lover who has everything.....except a pair of these!  

All in all, I would recommend these wine glasses to anyone.  As a matter of fact, one of you LUCKY readers gets to win a pair of these exact same glasses!  When you receive them, we can cheers each other!!

This contest opens now and is open for 1 week!  

Get your entries in and remember you can tweet about it once a day to earn extra entries!!  

Once the contest is closed I will announce the randomly selected winner and send them out an email so that Bacchus Break can send them their very own set of silicone wine glasses.  

Best of luck to you all!

Cheers!

The Cocktail Lady

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SAMU Thai Coconut Water

THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED.  THANK YOU TO ALL THAT ENTERED AND CONGRATULATIONS TO MY TEN LUCKY WINNERS: JENNY, MICHAEL, JEN, CYNDIE, JENNY, NICCOLE, JEN, KRISTIN, KENDRA AND GLADYS!

11/2/2012

SAMU Thai Coconut Water
Review & Giveaway

I was contacted by SAMU Thai Coconut Water and asked if they could send me a case of their Coconut Water to try and review.  I gladly said yes and told my husband about it.  He LOVES coconut water and has tried a few different ones.  I have tried sips of the different coconut waters he has brought home along with him, so I kind of assumed that this one would taste like the rest.  I was wrong.

I was sent a free product to review in exchange for my honest opinion.  All views in this post are mine and I was not compensated for them in any way.

Here is what I received:

They sent me a case of the water and an Information Packet which talks about the company as well as gives you a few "cocktail" recipes.

When talking with my contact at SAMU she told me this, "We're trying to break free from the image of coconut water as a health drink and encourage consumers to try it as a mixer. It's a great, lighter alternative to sodas and juices. SAMU makes a great mixer for rum and vodka (especially vanilla), as well as more complex cocktails."  

I have never thought of using coconut water in my cocktails, until now!  SAMU Thai Coconut Water, in my opinion does taste a bit better then other coconut waters I've tried.  There are two ingredient inside each can which are 100% Pure All Natural Thai Coconut Water and Pure Thai Sugar.  I have a feeling it's the Pure Thai Sugar that makes this coconut water taste that much better then it's competition.

I look forward to trying SAMU's cocktails in my brochure as well as trying to find other cocktails to mix it with.  Stay tuned while I mix it up with SAMU.

I'm very excited to be offering 10 very lucky readers one case (12 cans) of SAMU Coconut Water each!  If you like coconut water, you will really enjoy this one!  It's good to drink it by itself and would be a nice mixer for cocktails too!

Here are the rules.  You must leave me one comment below and you MUST include your email address (even if you think I already have it).  If you do not leave your email address, I will have no way of getting in touch with you if you have won and will have to draw another name.

This contest will run from Friday November 2nd through 10:00 p.m. PST Friday November 9th.  Good luck to you all!

Belaya Rus Review

11/9/2012

Belaya Rus

I was contacted by the good people at Belaya Rus Vodka and asked if they could send me a bottle of their vodka to try and review on my blog.  

I happily agreed and the vodka was sent over.   

I was sent a free product to review in exchange for my honest opinion.  

All views in this post are mine and I was not compensated for them in any way.

This what I received:

First things first, I love the frosted bottle!  

I thought that was pretty cool.  

I opened up the bottle and poured myself a little sample of the vodka to try it.  

I thought that Belaya Rus Vodka was pretty good.  

I'm not sure what vodka (taste wise) that I can compare it to, because it has a taste all of it's own.  

Belaya Rus did not make me quiver while drinking it straight, like some vodkas can, which I thought was nice.  

I also tried Belaya Rus with some cranberry cocktail juice to see how it would taste in a mixed drink.  

I liked it a lot mixed with the cranberry cocktail juice!!

All in all, I think Belaya Rus is a good tasting vodka and I will definitely be using it in my blog for upcoming cocktails!

Thank You Belaya Rus for sending me a bottle of your vodka!

You can find Belaya Rus on facebook as well as twitter, or you can go straight to their website. 

Arctic Chill Ice Balls

**Some links in this post are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you follow the link and make a purchase.


Happy Monday everyone!  

I was contacted again by Arctic Chill to review another one of their items.  Back in November I reviewed their Stainless Steel Muddler which I used to make my very first Mojito.

In the mail I received a free box of 4 BPA free Silicone Ice Ball Makers.  They sent me this for free so that I would give an honest review on this item.  All views are my own.  I was not compensated for them in any way.   

They all looked like this one:

I filled them all up with water and found out that you are not supposed to fill them up completely to the top.  

Once filled completely, I poured out a little bit of water so that during the freezing process the water wouldn't come out of the hole on the top and spill onto the drawer they were sitting on.  

I still haven't perfected that yet, but either way it's not a big deal if they do spill out.  Ice is easy to pick up and toss into the sink.

Here is what one of my ice balls looked like:

Some of them had cracks in them, some did not.  

The ones that did have cracks were absolutely fine to use.  

The cracks did not go all the way through the ice balls so they did not crumble when I removed them from their mold.  

The ice balls are pretty easy to remove from their molds.  You can basically peel back the sides a little and the ice ball will come out.  Only 1 time out of 8 did I need to run warm water over the outside of the mold for 2 seconds to release the ice ball.  

Here is a photo of the mold after I removed one of the ice balls from it:

All in all, I think these molds are great.  

Last weekend I hosted a small brunch and made a punch in a punch bowl.  

I used 4 of these ice balls to chill my punch and they worked perfect.   

They took their time melting which was nice because I didn't want my punch watered down.  These Arctic Chill Ice Ball Makers ** would make a great gift ** for that person who has everything, or even for that person who doesn't.

Thank you again Rizzi for sending me another great product!

Cheers!

The Cocktail Lady

**Some links in this post are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you follow the link and make a purchase.