Hannah’s Siponey Spritz Royale Review
Original review written May 20, 2020
I bet, I know what you’re thinking – “Well this is different!” and you would be right!! “Whiskey for the Ages, how did we get here?” The answer is a great story of connection across the entire country of the US, believe it or not.
When we geared up to record one of our WftA podcast episodes, Women in the Liquor Store Podcast, Dad stumbled on Amanda Victoria, a twenty-year veteran in the whiskey industry. She’s experienced across spirits, with work at Bacardi, and time in New York City cocktail bars. In 2019, she and a partner launched Siponey Spritz Co. After our episode when live, Dad reached out to Amanda via LinkedIn, and after a pleasant dialog exchange, she offered to send us a sample pack of Siponey Royale for us to review.
Fast forward a few short days later, I come home from work to a package on the doorstep and Dad’s happy smile of surprise. He tells me the story, and I’m truly floored by the generosity of Amanda to share her product with us over here in lil’ ol’ Idaho. While none of us partake much in Ready-to-Drink (RTD) offerings, the premise of this immediately caught our attention. Rye, honey, lemon and with a cause of protecting the bees – let’s just get into it!
*Though we are grateful for the opportunity to try a new product shared directly with us by its creator, Whiskey for the Ages’ views and reviews are our true impressions and this review is not sponsored*
VITALS:
– Category: Ready-to-Drink (RTD) Cocktail
– Region: New York City
– Company: Siponey Spritz Co.
– Canned and Packed: Metabrand, Edison, NJ
– Ingredients: 4-year-old rye whiskey, Wildflower Honey, Fresh Lemon Juice, Sparkling Water
– ABV: 7.25
– UPC: 8 60003 96240 4 12 fl oz (355ml) container
– Packaging: 8-Pack Premium Canned Whiskey Cocktail
– Price: $40.00 (Website 2023)
– Availability: Currently limited throughout the United States but soon to be distributed through Whole Foods Market.
Giving Back to Honeybees.
Siponey Spritz Co.™ identified saving honeybees as the “first step in recovering the environment”. We aim to do our part by supporting non-profit environmental organizations that spend 100% of their time saving the planet, with 2% or more of our annual revenue – while we also specialize in making you the best possible drink.
Learn more at Siponey Spritz Co.
ENJOYMENT METHOD:
We enjoyed this one a bit differently, instinctually knowing this one was going to be a barbeque-esque drink to enjoy in the warmer months. We each cracked a can – not to have on its own – but as a drink with a meal Dad actually made with the spare can. And it wasn’t just any meal. This was a recipe provided on Siponey’s website, and it was one that looked good to all three of us. Dad improvised only slightly, and the result were these beautiful grill-smoked chicken thighs. My friends, we did indeed crack the perfect setting for this beverage, but more on those later.
Check out Brian’s review here Elora’s review here!
PALATE:
Again, I must reiterate that the Dawson clan doesn’t regularly indulge in RTD products, so please note that our biases may be slightly skewed. That being said, as a spritz, the carbonation was there, though I do suspect that cross-county travel may have reduced it slightly. Nevertheless, it’s clean drink – sharp with lemon on front, and on the back is where the honey shines.
The honey sits with you the longest and transforms into almost a tea-like quality. If you are someone who enjoys tea or especially kombucha, which can also be carbonated, this is reminiscent of that. It’s the middle ground between the two, with the flavor of tea, but the punch of kombucha.
I couldn’t find a great deal of the whiskey in the drink, but I imagine this would be an easy drink to get in trouble with if you had a few.
GRILL-SMOKED CHICKEN THIGHS – THE RECIPE
Ingredients
- 8-9 deboned, skin-on chicken thighs
- 1 tbsp Kosher salt
- ½ tbsp Cayenne pepper
- 1 tsp onion powder
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- 1 cup Siponey (save the rest for the glaze)
- 4 tbsp unsalted butter
- 1 tbsp rye whiskey
- 3 tbsp honey
- Remaining Siponey (4 oz)
Steps
1. Set smoker grill to high heat and place a large Dutch oven of water on the grill (the water doesn’t have to be hot before adding the ingredients).
2. Add salt, cayenne, onion powder, garlic powder, and 1 cup Siponey. Add the thighs and stir.
3. Bring the water/thigh mixture to a boil (periodically checking for boiling point, stirring upon each check). Let the chicken thighs boil for an additional 10 mins. Once they begin to float, they are ready.
4. Shake off the thighs and place on the grill grate. Grill on medium-high, skin side up for 10 minutes or so, monitoring so they don’t burn.
5. While the thighs are grilling, melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the honey and the rest of the Siponey can and stir to combine. Boil to reduce the sauce mixture for a few minutes then remove from heat. Just before step 6, stir in the rye whiskey.
6. Flip and brush on the glaze to the meat side of the thighs. Grill for an additional 10 minutes.
7. Flip again and brush the butter-Siponey glaze onto the skin. As the thighs are crisping, continue to brush with the remaining glaze.
RECIPE REVIEW
Oh. My. Goodness. These little guys were absolutely to die for, with the boiling of the chicken making them absolutely tender. The lemon of the Siponey added a playful zing, but the honey… the honey married the smoker to create this incredible glaze on the chicken. I’m not ashamed to say that I was the one racing to finish so I could claim the second and third thigh before anybody else.
As Dad mentions in his review, we immediately started thinking about ways that we could replicate what Siponey provided for our chicken, Siponey being unavailable to us in ID. (Maybe that will change with a new deal in place to sell in Whole Foods – we will be on the lookout, for sure.)
It’s a great product to cook with and the dinner I shared with my family is THE setting for the RTD. I don’t even need to think about it. My dinner table was IT.
I think it is well-worth the experiment and the cooking potential for it seems limitless.
Thank you for sharing, Amanda!!!