Every now and then, a company or an agency hired to do PR for a company will offer to send us something to try. Sometimes I’ll say yes and, if there’s a natural fit for our audience, I’ll write about it. Other times, there’s not a natural fit for our core audience, but I’ll still do some quick, off-the-cuff reviews of something I was sent in the instance a few readers out there might be interested—even if it has little to do with Milwaukee. This is an example of the latter.
Here’s a collection of rapid reviews of stuff that was sent to Milwaukee Record headquarters over the summer. Coincidentally, they’re all beverages. If you’re craving takes on beer, vodka, canned cocktails, hard tea, and a home Pepsi Challenge kit, then you’ve come to the right place.
Hi & Mighty Canned Cocktails
A few Fridays ago, I was shocked to hear a knock at our office door. I reluctantly answered (lest it was a reader who was angry about our coverage of, like, The Hop or something), but was happy to see a Milwaukee comedian I know who apparently is also a sales rep for Hi & Mighty. The Indiana-based distillery has started to make inroads in Wisconsin of late by way of its line of canned cocktails. He gave me six different cans so I could sample Hi & Mighty’s diverse offerings. The gin-forward Peach Shake Up, Lemon Shake Up, and Cherry Shake Up were each refreshing and tasty (but be warned of the peach’s sweetness). I also legitimately love seeing gin entering the vodka- and tequila-heavy canned cocktail realm.
Outside of the gin offerings, I imagine the Spiced Apple Sidekick (a brandy-infused spiced apple cider beverage) is probably a bit polarizing, but I ultimately liked it and see it as great option in autumn. Speaking of brandy, the Sipper Club is a 7% ABV take of what an Indiana company imagines a Wisconsin old fashioned to be. It’s not an exact match (watered down and paling in comparison to in-state canned old fashioneds we’ve tried), but it’s still decent and I applaud them for recognizing the almighty brandy old fashioned. Last and least, we come to the vodka riff on the Lemon Shake Up, which is billed as being “Lite,” and that distinction absolutely extends to its flavor. It’s akin to lemon La Croix with a little vodka poured into it. Besides that unfortunate dismount, Hi & Mighty is worth a shot if you happen upon the brand in the wild. Maybe stick to the gin drinks to be safe.
Indeed Brewing Company’s Day Tripper Pale Ale
Have I already had Indeed Brewing Company’s Day Tripper Pale Ale on numerous occasions through the years? Yes. Did I instantly reply to their PR person when they invited me to pick up a six-pack of the beer in their new-look cans and packaging? Also yes. Just as I suspected, this beer I’ve already had from one of my favorite breweries in town was terrific and the packaging is pretty snazzy to boot. I didn’t need a six-pack to come to that conclusion, but I’m not complaining!
Lake Hour Vodka Iced Tea
Lake Hour describes its canned cocktails as being “kind of like a hard seltzer, but good.” Based on the four tea-incorporating offerings someone repping the New York-based brand sent me, I’d like to respectfully say I disagree with that statement. Each Lake Hour Vodka Iced tea has 113 calories and features real fruit juice (seemingly a small amount) that combines with vodka and different teas to make something that, while it sounds wonderful on paper to this devout iced tea/Arnold Palmer enjoyer, mostly misses the mark.
The Green Tea is a tad bland. Raspberry is artificially tart (if not downright sour) and the worst of the lot. Blackberry isn’t far behind its berry counterpart, but it’s always nice to see blackberry flavor in stuff. With a smooth, tea-tinged taste that’s devoid of any bitterness, the Earl Gray is by far the best of the bunch and the only one we’d personally consider buying. Perhaps Lake Hour’s “Seltzer Variety Pack” is a different story, but unfortunately the company’s line of Vodka Iced Tea just isn’t it.
Milwaukee Uncut Tropical Pale Ale
“Milwaukee Uncut” wasn’t just a popular Grindr search term when the RNC was in town last year, it’s also the name of a popular Milwaukee podcast. The Milwaukee Uncut folks recently brought their ongoing partnership with 3 Sheeps Brewing to the next level by collaborating on a limited edition beer. The aptly-named Milwaukee Uncut Tropical Pale Ale is a summer-suited brew that leans slightly more tropical (with the presence of unspecified fruits…but I detected a hint of pineapple and maybe guava?) than pale ale. That’s not a shot at the beer whatsoever, but merely a preemptive warning to you Untapped critics and hop hounds out there.
If you’re looking for something to sip while soaking in the sights, sounds, and sun of Milwaukee’s summer, you can do far worse than this 3 Sheeps collab with Milwaukee Uncut. This is another example of two good things joining forces to make another good thing. I believe four-packs of the beer are sold out, but you can still try it at Ray’s in Wauwatosa from 3-6 p.m. on July 26, at Drink Wisconsinbly Pub from 5-8 p.m. on July 30, and on draft all around the state (including Nutz Deep in Marshfield, apparently).
Pepsi Challenge
I try not to drink much soda (aside from mixers in palomas and old fashioneds), but it’s safe to say I live in a Coke Zero household. So when I took the Pepsi Challenge at Summerfest last month, I “lost” by correctly identifying Coke Zero in a blind taste test and naming it my favorite zero calorie cola or the pair I had sampled. Would that pattern extend to an at-home version of said challenge? I was fortunate enough to be able to find out when a home edition of the Pepsi Challenge was mailed to me in association with the Challenge’s 50th anniversary.
The box features a small straw and two eight-ounce cans of zero calorie cola. This time around, I picked Pepsi Zero. Not making any accusations here (stand down, Pepsi legal team!), but after cracking the box open and examining the cans, my Coke Zero was about two months older and was a little bit flat. Who knows, maybe Pepsi Zero is truly the superior diet cola.
Zyr Vodka
In June, I got an email with “A Patriotic Pour” as its subject head. It was in regard to Zyr, an Illinois-based distillery that was promoting its American-made vodka. I had some apprehensions about a product that used patriotism as a selling point in the year 2025, but since they offered to send a bottle my way, I figured Zyr was worth a try. With a cost that appears to hover around $30, it’s priced noticeably higher than other popular American-made brands like Tito’s and Wheatley. I’m far from an expert when it comes to spirits, but I am someone who really tries to find that balance of quality and affordability when stocking my home bar.
So is this Peoria-produced spirit worth it? After using it for vodka lemonades, espresso martinis, Moscow—sorry, MERICA—mules, and having it on the rocks, I can confidently say no, it’s not. At least not to me. The bottle is gorgeous, the label is cool, and it’s nice to know it’s made in the Midwest (having pivoted from its Russian affiliation after the country’s invasion of Ukraine), but beyond all that, Zyr Vodka kind of gets lost in the shuffle and is (at least to my admittedly unsophisticated palate) interchangeable with its—usually less expensive—domestic contemporaries.