B. Nektar Kill All the Golfers

First off, I love the CaddyShack reference – Bill Murray at his finest! While drinking this mead, I could almost hear Kenny Loggins singing “I’m Alright.” If you haven’t seen the movie, you are missing out. Go out, get this B. Nektar mead, pick up Caddyshack and enjoy them together – then you’ll enjoy the description on the bottle a little more:

 It’s been a long day. I had to hide out in my burrow for the better part of the day waiting for those damn golfers. But today was my day, I finally did it. I didn’t even need a reason. I wonder if they received total conscience. It’s like a Cinderella story, out of nowhere, a former dancing gofer becomes a killing champion. I had my special drink, a half & half, while i get in touch with that force in the universe that makes things happen. All I had to do was stop thinking …let things happen…and B. The Ball.

B. Nektar has taken the traditional Arnold Palmer (half lemonade, half iced tea) and “meadified” it. They seem to be having a lot of fun with their recipes, labels and descriptions. This playfulness produces some exciting, creative and ultimately delicious results. The one minor issue I have with this particular one is that while the name “Kill all the Golfers” speaks to the Arnold Palmer aspect of the drink, its a dark phrase. Death, blood, killing, etc. make me think of a deeper, darker libation. This works with B. Nektar’s Zombie Killer with its bold red color – but this is a light, aromatic summer drink. I would call it “Gunga Galunga”

KATG pours a golden, muted orange – with a little carbonation. The aroma is overtly black tea, giving way to sweet honey. It smells somewhat medicinal.

Served chilled, a little citrus tang from the lemon comes through first, and works into a balance of sweet honey and bitter black tea. The tea is definitely the defining characteristic. The taste reminds me of brisk iced tea – or one of the other commercially available iced teas. It has almost an artificial iced-tea flavor – which I guess speaks a lot to the formulation. If you can get your tea to taste like the big soft drink corporations want their tea to taste – you’ve nailed the “quintessential iced tea” flavor.

It’s a medium bodied mead, but the mild carbonation lightens it to make it more appropriate as a warm-weather drink. It would be great served on the rocks in a tall glass with a lemon wedge. This should mute the flavors slightly and cut the sweetness – making it a great, refreshing summer drink.