[Beer Review] Boulevard Brewing Company – Funkier Pumpkin

A new Beer review from Josh! 

Election Night beer review, no really that's why I'm drinking a full bomber...for the review...

Yup, that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

So this week I grabbed one of the bombers I bought. This is a sour pumpkin ale. That whole idea intrigued me. I like sour beers (hate sour candy, not sure why I like sour beers so much). I like pumpkin beers. A sour pumpkin beer? Sign me up. The added bonus of it being brewed by Boulevard? Let's do this.

I undid the muselet (the word for the wire thingy around a cork, it's French, thanks Google) and popped the cork. The first smell you get when it's opened is a waft of the yeasty aroma you get off a fresh ale. Letting the aroma waft and breath gave way to the pumpkin spice smell you get with many pumpkin beers.

The ale pours with a good head and a beautiful golden orange color. It's well carbonated and you can see the bubbles rising after you finish the pour. It has a light and fizzy mouthfeel that is easy to enjoy.

The first mouthful gives you a forefront taste of the sourness, that moves to an earthy flavor and then to strong nutmeg when you swallow. Then the cinnamon comes out and it lingers in your mouth. The earthy funk (it's a good thing, trust me) in the middle is likely due to the Brett yeast Boulevard grows in house. The taste of cinnamon, nutmeg and sour mix quite well and stays on your lips as you drink.

I like this beer, it's smooth and tasty. Lately I've grown fonder of sours and this one is a new favorite. If you aren't a huge fan of sour ales, give this one a try as the nutmeg and cinnamon lend a good balance to the sourness.

Boulevard Brewing Company – Funkier Pumpkin

8.5% ABV

15 IBUs

[Beer Review] South Street Brewery - Twisted Gourd

Hello all, it's been a week. How are you all? I know I'm ready for a beer. I have been looking forward to this one. The label caught my eye (yes I will buy a beer for a good label design and give it a shot) and then I saw the brewer.

I like South Street. When I first tried them the last huge blizzard hit, and the neighbors, my roommate and I dug each other out. Mine was the first car cleared so I ran to the store real quick and grabbed a six pack. Got back started helping more and handed out some beer. It was a good basic ale and it was a South Street, so I noted the name and now keep an eye out.

Enough of story time, let's get to this week's beer!

This beer pours with a good head (I poured it vigorously) and the aroma of pumpkin comes off of it. Not pumpkin spice mind you but actual pumpkin. The color of the beer is a muddy brown with a tinge of bronze.

The beer is lighter than I thought it would be for such a dark colored ale. The carbonation is good and I believe that is what made the mouthfeel so much lighter than I thought it would be.

The first sip gives a slight taste of chocolate with a bit of pumpkin that flows into the chai spice right before you get the tiny hit of the hops. The hops are bitter but not overly so and they do not in any way overpower the other flavors.

As you drink the chocolaty flavor and a bit of the chai spices linger in your mouth.

It's a weird concept to combine these flavors, but it works and...I want more.

South Street Brewery's Twisted Gourd

8.37% ABV

31 IBUs

[Beauty] Ipsy October Bag

I have been doing Ipsy for almost two years now and really enjoy all the different makeup and facial products I get in it. October was a really awesome month for Ipsy, I was so excited to see that they did a themed bag for the month with ghosts, witches hats and crystal balls on it.

The "Theme" for this months is "Black Magic" and had a lot of darker colors in the bags. I was really happy with all I received this month, but I generally can use everything Ipsy sends me. 

I have received a few different tre'Stique products in Ipsy, from lip colors to eye shadow colors. They have all been great and I really liked the quality of them. This is a lip color called "Fig". It has a matte finish and the packaging turns so more product can come out when you need it too. This is a delux sample size. the full sizes retails for $28.00 on their webpage. 

Ciate' London flick eyeliner in black. I have seen Ciate' London's nail polishes before but have never tried their makeup line. I was really excited to get a black eyeliner in a format I really like. I love the felt tip liners because they are so wonderful to apply and stay on compared to the pencils in my opinion. This liner makes a nice smooth line and it goes on smooth. It retails for $19.00 on their webpage. 

Ipsy loves to send out natural and brown eye-shadows. I was happy with this set because the brown is almost a black color. but would love some variety in their eye-shadow shades... This is by Vintage by Jessica Liebskind. It has a creamy vanilla shade and a dark brown-black shade (colors are called Vanilla and Espresso). The shadow itself is easy to apply and has a decent amount of pigmentation. This is a sample size. the full size retails for $30.00 on their webpage. 

Patchology FlashPatch Eye Gels. I love getting face masks style products in my ipsy bags. I already get Mask Maven each month, but love face masks so much (especially during the winter when my skin gets dry.) These are gel eye patches that go under your eyes to help moisturize and make your skin look awesome! This company makes all types of masks for face, hands, and feet. This is a sample size for two uses a full size retails for $50.00 and can be found here. 

My last item is an item I already use in my regular makeup routine, Make Up Forever's Ultra HD Invisible Cover Foundation. I love this stuff, it goes on smooth and covers up blemishes, redness. It is one of the best foundations I have found in my journey to find something that works for my skin! This is a sample size, but fits great in my travel bag so I was really excited to get it. The shade is one darker than I would normally use, so will have to see how that works out for me since I generally use the lightest shade they make. This retails for $43.00. It can be purchased here.

I love how Ipsy is starting to do more themes with their bags. This months was awesome, and I am so happy with all the products I received. Ipsy is $10 a month and you can find out more here. 

[Tea Review] David's Tea Haloween Blends "Stormy Night" and "Witches Brew"

Every year David's Tea brings out a variety of fall favorites, from a great selection of Pumpkin Teas to some other really fun themed teas! I was able to visit a David's Tea and picked up the bat themed sample sizes they had of the two (they also had this is Pumpkin Cheesecake but I had a bag of that at home.) The packaging for these 15g packs is so cute! I love the bat design! They were two for $10.00 so I figured why not, lets try out these Teas with chocolate in them!

The first tea I tried was called "Stormy Night" its a black tea with dark chocolate, ground vanilla bean, cinnamon, allspice, clove, and chilli. It has a great chocolaty, spicy smell to it. Very different from the other teas I drink, it almost has a mild hot cocoa smell to it. 

The taste is weird. The chocolate isn't a dominate taste in it. The vanilla and black tea are with a hint of chocolate in the background. the color is almost that of hot cocoa, very dark and chocolaty looking. With how the tea looked I expected it to have much more of a chocolate taste to it. The tea is refreshing, and I could see this being a great, cold evening in front of the fire tea. This tea runs $10.98 for 2oz. or you can find the smaller serving pouches still in stores (sold out online). check it out on their webpage here!

The other tea I tried from their Halloween line is called Witches Brew. This tea has a great sweet smell to the rooibos tea. It has rooibos, candied bats and witches hats, and cocoa beans in it. Compared to the two teas this one smell wise is the most appealing to me. The taste was also really good. I like this one the best out of the two I tried. The rooibos tea has a great taste with a hint of chocolate, and the little sprinkle candies give it a tiny hint of sweetness that is not overpowering to me at all. I also love the smaller sizes that David's offers since they make a few cups of tea without having to buy 2oz. (which can be a lot if it is a tea you aren't too sure about.) You can purchase Witches Brew for $8.98 for 2oz. or still find the awesome bat bags in stores. 

[Tea Review] Vida Pour Tea's Organic Rooibos Apple Pie Chai

Next up for the awesome Vida Pour tea fall blends that I got to try is their Organic Appple Pie Chai Rooibos. I am a sucker for chai or spiced teas, and even more so when they smell like apple pie. This tea has an amazing smell and makes you want to make a cup to enjoy with some vanilla ice cream to go along. 

This tea is a Rooibos blend with dried apples and chai spices (cloves, cinnamon, and so on.) It has a great apple smell, with cinnamon and clove scents, and just smells yummy. The taste is also amazing! It has a great cinnamon apple taste to go along with the rooibos tea, it is light and not too sweet and really hits the spot on a cold afternoon. 

This tea looks beautiful. I had to use my tiniest infuser since it is Rooibos. It has dried apples, and cloves and cinnamon and is just so pretty to look at, tea wise, and you just want to sit and smell the amazing aroma it lets off. If you want to check out this amazing tea it can be purchased at Vida Pour Tea, in Greensboro, NC. This was a special blend made for fall, so you will have to possibly ask for it to be made. They sell on their webpage and in their store, so even if you are not in NC. you can still get some yummy tea!

[Beer Review] Weyerbacher - Imperial Pumpkin Ale

Time for another beer review! Sorry about missing last weeks (to all 2 of my fans out there :P), I didn't feel well for most of the week, so was worried about not having a clean taste pallet.

Weyerbacher - Imperial Pumpkin Ale

This beer pours with a pleasant aroma of nutmeg and cinnamon. The carbonation is light and I didn't get a very good head out of the pour. That may be on me as I did not pour it very vigorously.

The color is a deep semi thick copper color. Reminds me of the color of a good maple syrup poured over waffles. Taking a drink of this ale gives you a light and crisp mouthfeel which you would not expect from the coloration. It leaves a film on your tongue that will not bad, was very different, I am not sure how I feel about it.

This beer is brewed with nutmeg, cinnamon, cardamom and clove. The cardamom is very strong and very forward. Upon swallowing there is a bit of bitter that lingers in the back of your throat. The cardamom stays on your tongue, it may be part of the coating I mentioned earlier.

It seems that the clove just isn't there at all until you stop sipping for a bit. Then it peeks out and lingers just a little before hiding again underneath the cardamom upon your next sip.

The bitterness lingers at the back of your tongue and the cardamom is just too overpowering. Out of the fridge it may go well with something sweet, but I wouldn't pair it with anything savory.

I took a chance and decided to let it sit, breathe and get to room temperature. That's the neat thing about beer. Just like wine and liquor, it can change taste depending on how long it is in contact with air and how cold or warm it is.

Turns out it was a good idea! This beer is much better at room temperature. The overpowering cardamom is replaced with the combo of nutmeg, cinnamon and just a little nip of clove. The cardamom is still there but it's part of the taste and mixes well.

I'm going to find this beer again and give it a shot in full at room temperature. I'll write up an additional mini review once I do.

Weyerbacher's Imperial Pumpkin Ale

8% ABV

21 IBUs

You can find Weyerbacher online here and on Facebook here

Beer reviews are done by Josh! Thank you so much for guest posting on these. 

[Geek Beauty] Espionage Cosmetics October BOOM Box!

Espionage Cosmetics releases their Boom Box! every two months. It happened to fall on October this year, and that means a box filled with Halloween goodies. The theme this month is called "Haunted" and I think it has to be one of my favorites ever!

This months box came with a wide variety of items from Nail wraps, to Espionage Cosmetics everything shadow and lip serums, to earrings, hair bows and some cool art!

First I am going to start off with the nail wraps. I love Espionage's nail wraps. I wear them all the time, and the prospect of spooky nail wraps makes me so happy! this months box came with two different deisgns. Red Rum, a murderous design, and then my favorite of the two Graveyard. I cannot wait to put these on my nails! I love the colors in Graveyard too!

Bat Clips! Holy cow, I am in love with these clips. They fit everything I ever want in cute hair accessories! I love bats, I love sparkles, I love black accessories! They have crocodile clips on them, so they will stay in my fine hair! I am so in love with these and cannot wait to wear them everywhere!

Art Print by Nerdy Post. This print is very cute. I love the calligraphy style art and it is subtle enough to put in any room to add that extra nerdy touch. The quality is also really nice and the printing itself it bright and high quality.

Sparks Emporium Earrings. These are so pretty! They are blood red with sparkles on it (and I do love sparkles.) They are post earrings and are well made and sturdy. They look great in and sparkle. They are made by Sparks Emporium.

And lastly this months box came with four of the awesome Espionage Cosmetics Makeup! 2 everything shadows and two Lip Serums, (and two containers to mix in!) I love both of these so much, the everything shadows work great for eye shadow and if you like to do any type of crazy face painting like I do, they work great for that too! 

The Boom box is released every other month and costs $30.00. You can find out more info here! 

[Tea Review] Vida Pour Tea's Smoked Pumpkin Chai Black

I love small tea shops that do their own tea blends. Sarah, owner of Vida Pour Tea does an amazing job of mixing her teas and coming up with some amazing tea combinations and flavors. For fall she made two very wonderful fall blends, Smoked Pumpkin Chai Black Tea and Organic Apple Pie Chai Rooibos.

The Smoked Pumpkin Chai Black has an amazing spicy chai smell to it. I love the cinnamon and how it makes your nose tingle.There is black tea, pumpkin, cloves and other chai spices that make this tea smell and look wonderful! Once steeped the smell of cloves really comes through with the black tea also being dominant in the scent.

The taste of the Smoked Pumpkin Chai Black Tea also does not disappoint. It has a spicy black tea taste that is unique but not over powering with a hint of pumpkin and spice in it. I even had a regular coffee drinker try this tea and they thought it tasted really good.

Vida Pour Tea's is located in Greensboro, NC and Sarah the owner is amazing at making tea blends, this tea blend is not available in the store at the moment, but it can be requested to purchase. Check out their webpage here, and check out their facebook page here. They have lots of fun events going on that you can check out if you are local and they make some great drinks in house! So definitely check out this jewel of a place that I am so happy exists in a town next to where I live!

[Body Products] Fortune Cookie Soaps Antici....pation products

Fortune Cookie Soaps is one of my favorite companies to go to for body creams, perfume oils and all types of body products. They are all themed and many are themed after fandoms I adore! Antici...pation was no different. I heard they were doing a Rocky Horror themed set and I wanted to check it out! So I purchased four of the products in the set and my review of them is below!

The first product I tried when I got my box from Fortune Cookie Soaps was "Janet". I love the whipped creams, they are super moisturizing and not oily on my skin so I always try to grab the ones they make for their lines. Janet really is no different. This one is 4 oz. and retails for 10.99. It smells of watermelon and grapes and is a really pretty light purple color.

At first I was really weary about trying the perfume oils, I am really picky with the scents I wear. I received the Lost Girl perfume in the summer travel set and decided to start giving a few of the perfume oils a try when they seem like scents I would like from the descriptions. Gold Shorts is a really interesting scent. It has a faint strawberry smell, with caramel and musk being the main scents. It is pleasant and would be great for special occasions. There is also gold glitter in the perfume oil too, which makes it look really lovely in the packaging. Gold Shorts retails for 7.99.

Just a Jump to the Left is a foaming sugar scrub with a lovely orange color. It smells of bananas, lime and coconut milk. It foams up really well and a little goes a long way. The sugar in it exfoliates your skin and leaves it feeling really smooth. A 3.2 Oz container is 6.99 on their webpage.

The last item I tried is the Science Fiction OCD hand sanitizer. This has an apple smell to me along with the normal slight alcohol smell you have with any hand sanitizer. It retails for $2.89 on their webpage. You can check out the entire line on Fortune Cookie Soaps webpage or by following the links I have put in this post!

[Tea Review] Teavana's Pumpkin Spice Brulee Oolong Tea

This weeks tea is Teavana's Pumpkin Spice Brulee Oolong Tea. This is their seasonal tea that they bring out every year, and since it is easily available to most, I decided to add it into my reviews for Fall this year. 

I got to first try this tea via the samples that they have at their stores. The samples have A LOT of sugar in them, so if you like the sample version, remember that for when you make it at home, that it will take a lot of sugar (Teavana uses their own rock sugar that they sell.) or a lot of honey to make it taste like it does in the store. The actual taste of the tea has a pumpkin spice caramel taste to it, with a little bit of a vanilla after tone. Its good, not amazing, but a good tea to enjoy hot. The smell of the tea has a deep caramel and spice smell to it. 

The look of the loose tea is good. You have the Oolong leaves in there with pumpkin, cinnamon and ginger spices, and cocoa caramel in there as well. It has a great spice smell. Steeping and making the tea was simple, a tea spoon made a great tasting strong cup, that you could then add sugar or honey too to sweeten. The Pumpkin Spice Brulee can be found in stores or online here. It costs $12.98 for 2oz. 

[Beer Review] BadWolf Brewing Company – Don't Call Me Pumpkin

This is a local brew so not available on store shelves. However if you are in Manassas, VA stop by BadWolf Brewing Company and try their beers. I love them and the whole staff is great.

This was a cask version of the beer so the carbonation was not there. It was day two of the cask being tapped, so the bubbles were little to none. When you pour the beer, the smell of allspice and nutmeg . You also get a nice smell of fresh yams. The beer is a deep brownish red and since it's unfiltered it is cloudy.

The first sip (ok, ok, generous mouthful) gives you the yams, allspice and the nutmeg all together but not overpowering. There is a wonderful almost peppery aftertaste that lingers at the back of your throat. You know what? It tastes like Thanksgiving. It really does.

I really like this company's beers because they don't use anything artificial when they brew. This one is great, I am looking forward to getting this one on tap. It is a beer that reminds me of sitting around a large table and looking at a beautiful Thanksgiving spread. Delicious aromas wafting in the air and family around you.

BadWolf Brewing Company's Don't Call Me Pumpkin

7.2% ABV

26 IBUs

This is a guest post by Josh! If you like his beer reviews let me know and I'll see if he wants to keep doing them after the fall ones! 

[Beer Review] Devil's Backbone – Pumpkin Hunter

Beer review part two! I'm enjoying this, I mean I get to drink beer and then write about it. This week I went with a fairly easy to find pumpkin brew that is also local to me. I love local breweries and really enjoy trying out their beers.

The color is one of the things that immediately caught my eye. It has a color not unlike the deep copper that one associates with autumn.  You get an aroma of malts and yeast when you pour this one into a glass. This beer makes a good head and has a bubbly mouth feel.

The taste is very light. It has a little bit of pumpkin and spice when you drink it. As it breathes you get a bit more pumpkin and spice but overall it's very subtle.

This beer tastes, feel and smells more like an Oktoberfest ale. It's smooth and easy drinking. This would be the perfect beer to have as you grill out with friends and look at the changing leaves.

I prefer a lot more flavor in my pumpkin brews, but if you are not fond of pumpkin beers in general, this one will be something I'd wager you'd like. Final say is that it's a smooth, subtle ale that you could share and I would definitely take it to a fall party.

Devil's Backbone's Pumpkin Hunter

5.1% ABV

14 IBUs

This is a guest post by Josh, if you like his beer reviews let me know and I'll see if he wants to keep doing them after the fall ones are over.