Month: April 2022

Over the past two decades, the craft beer world has exploded in the US. But just because there are more than 9,000 breweries (most of which are craft breweries) doesn’t mean drinkers have stopped buying mass-produced, little to no-frills, macro beers.

We understand completely. While we love a good, juicy, hazy, New England IPA or bourbon barrel-aged stout, there’s nostalgia surrounding some of the classic domestic beers. For many of us, they were the first beers we ever sipped. For some, they’re beers we continue to drink to this day when we want something simple, crushable, and refreshing that doesn’t cost $20 for a four-pack of 16-ounce cans.

But just because there are so many macro brews at a similar price point doesn’t mean they all taste the same… does it? We’re on a mission to find out by taking ten of the most popular, similar tasting, cheap grocery store beers and doing a blind taste test to see if we can actually name them without peeking.

Here are the beers selected:

• Miller High Life
• Narragansett Lager
• Samuel Adams Boston Lager
• Yuengling Traditional Lager
• Coors Banquet Beer
• Pabst Blue Ribbon
• Budweiser
• Busch Beer
• Natural Light
• Rolling Rock

Let’s get this cheap beer blind taste test started!

Part 1: The Taste

Taste #1

Tasting Notes:

This beer smells a lot like corn and some grains, but really nothing else. It’s really sweet on the nose, almost overwhelmingly so. Sipping it was more of the same with some malts, a little hint of floral, slightly bitter hops, but a more sweet, sugary corn syrup flavor. It’s sweet, crushable, and corny.

There’s not much else going on with this beer, which shouldn’t be a surprise with this group.

My Guess:

Based on my drinking history, I guess this is Rolling Rock because it’s very light with little to no flavor. It’s pretty much just fizzy water and I haven’t had Rolling Rock in years, but that’s how I remember it.

Taste #2

Tasting Notes:

The nose is filled with caramel corn, sweet malts, floral hops, and a slight fruity flavor. The palate is dominated by sweet corn, some grains, fruit esters, and a slight hit of citrus. It’s crisp, clean, and very crushable. A fairly well-rounded, yet light beer.

My Guess:

I’ve had my fair share of Budweisers over the years as I usually opt for the original over the fizzy water they called Bud Light. I’m going to guess this is Budweiser and I’m fairly certain I’m correct.

Taste #3

Tasting Notes:

In a sea of super corny cheap beers, this beer’s nose begins with a dose of biscuit-like malts followed by caramel and then slight corn and some noble hops. The palate continues this trend with freshly-baked bread starting everything off, followed by caramel malts, sweet corn, and floral, slightly bitter hops. There’s also some fruit in there.

It’s very complex and refreshing.

My Guess:

The malt-forward flavor of this beer makes me think that it’s probably Coors Banquet. I’ve always enjoyed this beer because, while it has some corn flavor, it’s more malty and balanced than most of the grocery store staples.

Taste #4

Tasting Notes:

Sweet grains, wet hay, corn, and some floral hops are present on the nose, but it’s fairly muted. The palate is extremely watery with some light grains, some floral hops, and a lot of sugary sweet corn. That’s it. It’s fizzy, watery, and has very little flavor.

My Guess:

I don’t think I’m surer about any beer on this list than this one. This is absolutely Natural Light. It’s fizzy, borderline flavorless, and crushable. That’s it. It couldn’t be anything else.

Taste #5

Tasting Notes:

A heavy dose of sweet corn, wet grass, caramel-like malts, and wet grass met my nostrils when nosing. Sipping it, I found more floral hops, some bready malts, and a lot more sweet corn flavor. It’s crisp, dry, and very refreshing, but doesn’t have much substance to it.

My Guess:

This one is tricky as it tastes like sweet corn and fizzy water mixed together. It’s not terrible, there’s just not much to it. I guess that it’s Miller High Life, a crushable, easy-drinking, yet fairly bland beer.

Taste #6

Tasting Notes:

Nosing it reveals some caramel candy, sweet grains, slight fruit esters, and a lot of sweet corn. The palate is similar with more notes of caramel candy, sugary corn, slight fruit esters, and some floral almost Noble hops at the finish. The finish is clean, light, and thirst-quenching.

It’s pretty much exactly what you hope for in a cheap grocery store beer.

My Guess:

This is a tough one for sure. I’m really having a tough time placing this one. It’s definitely a beer I’ve had many times before, but it’s fairly muted. I’ll go with Pabst Blue Ribbon because I honestly can’t think of anything else it could be.

Taste #7

Tasting Notes:

There’s a ton of freshly baked bread present on this beer’s nose. Along with bready malts, I found caramel-like grains, ripe fruit, herbal hops, and some corn. On the palate, I found a gentle mix of wet hay, freshly cut grass, some corny sweetness, caramel malts, light fruit, and floral, slightly bitter hops. It’s crisp, clean, and very crushable.

My Guess:

I’ve been fairly certain with a few of the beers on this list, but if I get this wrong I’ll be really mad at myself. I believe this is Narragansett Lager and I know this because it’s the beer on this list I drink most often — meaning I’d better know what it tastes like.

Taste #8

Tasting Notes:

Rice, corn, slight malts, and a little bit of fruity aroma on the nose is a decent start for a cheap beer. The flavor continues this trend with rice adjuncts, sweet corn, and slight fruit making an appearance. There’s a strange, slightly skunky, slightly sour tart element at the finish that’s both mysterious and intriguing. Not good though.

My Guess:

I haven’t had this beer in years, but I still get real Rolling Rock vibes from this sample. It’s the slightly tart, skunky, sour flavor that makes me think this.

Taste #9

Tasting Notes:

This beer has a surprisingly complex nose of slight vanilla, dry hay, herbal hops, and a healthy dose of caramel malts. Drinking it, I found flavors of biscuity malts, sweet grains, caramel, and some slight hops at the very end to tie everything together. This is a pretty well-rounded beer.

My Guess:

This was a real toss-up between Samuel Adams Boston Lager and Yuengling Traditional Lager. I’ve had both of these beers over the years, but neither in quite a while. I’m probably going to embarrass myself here, but I’m picking Yuengling.

Taste #10

Tasting Notes:

Caramel, bready malts, slight fruit esters on the nose. The palate is caramel-driver with notes of bread-like malts, biscuity malts, slight fruitiness, and herbal, floral, subtly bitter hops. It’s a fairly complex, well-balanced beer when it comes to cheap, grocery store offerings.

My Guess:

The combination of caramel malts, fruit esters, and bright, floral hops screams Samuel Adams Boston Lager. If I’m wrong, then I should probably stop guessing grocery store beers and just stick to drinking them.

Part 2: The Ranking

10) Natural Light — Taste 4 — GUESSED RIGHT!

ABV: 4.2%

Average Price: $12 for a twelve-pack

The Beer:

This beer was first introduced back in 1977, but in recent years it’s become the official beer of partying. It’s cheap, light, low in ABV, low calorie, and highly crushable. It’s no surprise this malty, corny, sweet beer has become a trendy beer choice.

Bottom Line:

This was by far the easiest beer to pick on this list. Natural Light is bland, flavorless, and watery. Unless you hate the taste of beer, stay away from this one. It’s just awful in every sense of the word.

9) Busch Beer — Taste 1 — GUESSED WRONG!

ABV: 4.3%

Average Price: $6 for a six-pack

The Beer:

Busch beer is the epitome of no-frills. You probably won’t be surprised to hear that this simple, refreshing beer has been made the same way since 1955. While it doesn’t list fancy ingredients like a craft beer, it’s made with “premium” hops, barley malt, grains, and water. That’s about it and that’s all you really need, right?

Bottom Line:

I guessed this beer as Rolling Rock. I guess I couldn’t place it because I haven’t had this borderline fizzy sugar water since my college years. It’s as flavorless and bland as it is cheap.

8) Pabst Blue Ribbon — Taste 5 — GUESSED WRONG!

ABV: 4.8%

Average Price: $6 for a six-pack of 16-ounce cans

The Beer:

Pabst Blue Ribbon should be the official beer of bowling alleys because we always see pitchers available there. This 4.8 percent beer is known for its crisp, easy-to-drink flavor. Yet another beer that won’t win awards for innovative flavors, it’s just a classic, simple beer.

Bottom Line:

I incorrectly guessed this was Miller High Life. It goes to show just how similar some of these beers are and the fact that it really isn’t easy to pick the right ones based solely on smell and taste. This beer doesn’t have much substance at all, but at least the can is cool.

7) Rolling Rock — Taste 8 — GUESSED RIGHT!

ABV: 4.4%

Average Price: $6.50 for a six-pack

The Beer:

Launched originally in 1939 by the Latrobe Brewing Company in Pennsylvania, this grocery store staple was purchased by Anheuser-Busch back in 2006. Available almost everywhere, this pale lager is known for its cheap price and simple green bottle, and light, crisp, refreshing flavor.

Bottom Line:

As with many of the samples, I wasn’t completely confident in my guess. I was glad to learn that even though I haven’t had Rolling Rock in at least a decade I can still at least vaguely remember the flavors. The flavors being those of weirdly tart and tangy, skunky, corn nonsense.

6) Miller High Life — Taste 6 — GUESSED WRONG!

ABV: 4.6%

Average Price: $6 for a six-pack

The Beer:

This beer is referred to as the “Champagne of beers” and, while you likely don’t want to toast this beer on New Year’s Eve, it’s still a refreshing, memorable beer. Launched in 1903, Miller’s flagship beer is brewed with malted barley, proprietary yeast, and Pacific Northwest hops.

Bottom Line:

Obviously, Miller High Life isn’t sparkling wine. But it is slightly fruitier than most of the other domestic lagers on this list and its crisp, dry finish makes it one of the better options from a pretty sorry lot. Sadly, I didn’t realize that and I incorrectly guessed Pabst Blue Ribbon.

5) Budweiser — Taste 2 — GUESSED RIGHT!

ABV: 5%

Average Price: $7 for a six-pack

The Beer:

Budweiser is touted as the “king of beers” and we get why it calls itself this moniker as it’s one of the most popular beers in the world. We say “one of” because China’s Snow is actually the most popular beer in the world. This classic pale lager is known for its balance and refreshing flavor.

Bottom Line:

Regardless of my bank account, the crisp, easy-drinking flavor of Budweiser has always had a place in my life. While some of these other beers might be hard to place on taste and nose alone, I’m not surprised I picked out this well-balanced beer.

4) Coors Banquet Beer — Taste 3 — GUESSED RIGHT!

ABV: 5%

Average Price: $7 for a six-pack

The Beer:

It’s called Coors Banquet beer and it’s the kind of beer we want to drink at a special banquet or all-you-can-eat buffet. Or just in our backyards after mowing the lawn. Brewed with specialty malts as well as Chinook, Hallertau, Herkules, and Taurus hops, it’s known for its crisp, well-balanced flavor profile.

Bottom Line:

When it comes to well-rounded cheap domestic beers, it’s really difficult to beat the complexity of Coors Banquet beer. It’s crushable but still has a nice mix of malts and hops. I’m proud of myself for correctly guessing this beer without a label.

3) Yuengling Traditional Lager — Taste 10 — GUESSED WRONG!

ABV: 4.5%

Average Price: $7 for a six-pack

The Beer:

Years ago, at a dive bar near Yankee Stadium in The Bronx, the cheapest beer on tap was Yuengling so we gave it a try. We didn’t regret our choice. This historic beer is known for its balance of flavor from being brewed with Cluster and Cascade hops as well as caramel malts.

Bottom Line:

How did I mess this up so bad? Proving that it’s never a good idea to blindly guess what beers you’re drinking, I flipped Yuengling and Samuel Adams. Even being wrong, this is still a flavorful, yet crushable beer.

2) Narragansett Lager — Taste 7 — GUESSED RIGHT!

ABV: 5%

Average Price: $6.50 for a six-pack of 16-ounce cans

The Beer:

The beer featured in ‘Jaws’ is way more than simply good product placement. Brewed since 1890, this award-winning lager is known for its crisp, crushable (hence the ‘crush it like Quint’ tagline) with more flavor than many of the other domestic adjunct lagers on the market. The best part? It’s still one of the cheapest.

Bottom Line:

When it comes to price to value ratio as well as the complexity of flavor, there’s no beating Narragansett. I was fairly sure this sip was this classic Rhode Island staple and it was.

1) Samuel Adams Boston Lager — Taste 9– GUESSED WRONG!

ABV: 5%

Average Price: $9 for a six-pack

The Beer:

Brewed since 1984, Samuel Adams Boston Lager is a complex flavorful lager brewed with Two-Row Pale malt blend and Caramel 60, as well as Hallertau Mittelfrüh and Tettnang Tettnanger Noble hops. There’s a reason it’s one of the most popular domestic lagers.

Bottom Line:

I’m a little mad at myself for not going with my gut and picking Samuel Adams here, but I did what I did. I thought, incorrectly, that this was Yuengling and I will sit here in shame because of it. I should have known that the Noble hops were all Sam Adams.

Part 3: Final Thoughts

If you’re keeping score, I got 5/10 correct. That’s honestly a lot better than I expected and I’m fairly proud of myself for being able to correctly guess 50 percent of these classic, cheap grocery store beers. It definitely helped that many are at least slightly different. An all-light beer blind taste would be much tougher.

The Boston Celtics hold a 2-0 series lead over the Brooklyn Nets in the first round of the 2022 NBA playoffs, and in Game 3, it appears they are going to add some reinforcements. According to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, starting center Robert Williams will play for the first time since undergoing surgery on a torn meniscus in his knee last month.

Williams suffered the injury on March 27 during a win over the Minnesota Timberwolves and missed the team’s final seven games during the regular season as a result. He underwent surgery shortly after and was given a 4-6 week timetable to return to action, and it was unclear if he’d be able to play in the series against the Nets or if he’d have to wait for a potential matchup with the Milwaukee Bucks or Chicago Bulls in the Eastern Conference Semifinals, if the team made it that far.

Prior to his injury, Williams transformed himself into an invaluable member of the Celtics’ rotation and one of the most fearsome defensive centers in all of basketball. Williams set career-best marks in just about every metric, as he started all 61 games in which he appeared and averaged 10 points, 9.6 rebounds, and 2.2 blocks in 29.6 minutes per game.

Game 3 between the Celtics and Nets will take place on Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. on ESPN.

Food-lovers heading to weekend two of the Coachella Valley Art and Music Festival this weekend are about to bask in a smorgasbord of flavors from the country’s most famed restaurants, caterers, and chefs. In some ways, the event — which has long been a food haven — set a new bar this year, with more international flavors, more than double the vegan options, and more glam dining than festival-goers have ever seen.

Lobster rolls, fresh-caught sushi, tender steaks, and Korean BBQ are just a few of the culinary delights being served to festival-goers this year. From full family-style dining with multi-course meals to extravagant oyster dinners with fresh caviar, a little extra cash at Coachella can take a casual meal to a whole new level. Even the potato chip brand, Lay’s, got in on the action in a “4D” flavor experience with hip-hop beats made from the recorded crunch of potato chips.

If you’re headed to Coachella for weekend two (or willing to live with some serious FOMO), feast your eyes on a whole lot of feasting, below!

Simply put, Alexander Skarsgård is freaking ripped as hell in The Northman. Way more than he was in The Legend of Tarzan, which still astonishes Northman director Robert Eggers. As for the secret to Skarsgård getting even more jacked than he already is: calories. Tons and tons of calories.

Celebrity trainer and movement coach Magnus Lygdback broke down Skarsgård’s workout regiment in a new interview with Variety. On top of learning how to move like both a massive bear and an agile wolf, Skarsgård had to constantly eat during both his training and production. And, man, did he have to pack it in:

Lygdback also curated Skarsgård’s diet, which included eating roughly 3,700 calories a day. Each day, the actor ate more calories than he was burning in order to build maximum body mass. Skarsgård ate five times a day every 2-3 hours (“This will keep your energy up and your metabolism burning,” Lygdback said). The trainer’s rule of thumb for his clients is “eat clean 17 out of 20 meals in a four-day cycle.” Three meals are “treat meals” where you can eat whatever you’re craving. A clean meal consists of a protein (chicken/fish/beef), a vegetable (spinach/asparagus/broccoli) and a slow carb or a fat (quinoa/barley/rice or avocado/olive oil). Skarsgård stuck to this diet during his three-month prep periods, plus the six-month “Northman” shooting schedule.

Interestingly, Skarsgård would toss in a protein shake every now and then, but Lygdback doesn’t consider that material. Just a non-stop stream of protein and veggies is all the trainer prescribes, but Skarsgård presumably needed to mix things up after wolfing down salmon and asparagus all day. (That was his favorite.)

(Via Variety)

Let’s get this out of the way up top, this is just a Tequila Rickey, a type of highball from the 1800s. The name “Ranch Water” is supposedly from Ranch 616 in Austin, a place that has sold millions of dollars worth of this drink since the late 1990s and is trying to trademark the name. More broadly, this is a tequila-based Rickey, which is a combination of booze and fresh lime juice topped with soda water, as all Rickeys are. I guess “Tequila Rickey” wasn’t as ear-catching in Austin. Moreover, you can just order a tequila soda and likely get the exact same thing.

All of that aside, this is a killer and super refreshing drink, especially as the weather heats up. It doesn’t really matter if you call it a Ranch Water, Tequila Rickey, Tequila Soda, or a Tequila Highball — the brightness and drinkability of this concoction is still sky-high.

And since the weather is starting to really heat up nationwide, we figured now was the time to dial in that recipe. Sure, it’s hard to mess up a four-ingredient drink, but balance is key to any good cocktail. So let’s get into it!

Also Read: The Top Five Cocktail Recipes of the Last Six Months

• The Corpse Reviver No. 2 Is The Best Gin Cocktail For Winter — Here’s Our Recipe
• The Black Manhattan Is Our 2021 Thanksgiving Cocktail, Here’s The Recipe
• The Vieux Carre Is The Perfect Whiskey Cocktail For The Holidays
• Celebrate Negroni Week With These Two Iconic Recipes
• The Only Dry Martini Recipe You’ll Ever Need. Period.

Ranch Water

Ingredients:

• 1.5 oz. reposado tequila
• 1 oz. fresh lime juice
• 2 oz. very fizzy mineral water
• Ice

If you’re making this in Texas, you are almost required by law to make it with Topo Chico. I don’t have that on hand, so I’m using an equally highly fizzy and slightly sodium forward mineral water, full-fizz Gerlosteiner (they make two other versions one with less fizz and one with a lot less). Beyond that, it’s simply a matter of good ice, fresh limes, and a decent tequila.

On that last note, I like to use a reposado for a little more depth. The “original” recipe calls for a plata or blanco, and that’s fine too. You don’t really need to break the bank though. Something like Altos Reposado makes a great highball tequila for drinks like this.

What You’ll Need:

• Collins glass
• Paring knife
• Hand juicer
• Barspoon

Method:

• Fill the glass halfway with ice.
• Squeeze one ounce of lime juice over the ice — about one to one-and-half limes — and place the two smashed lime halves on the ice.
• Add the tequila and top the glass with ice.
• Stir gently and serve.

Bottom Line:

I’m ready for summer and a constant flow of these beautiful highballs. It’s so refreshing, bright, citrusy, and easy to drink. I think the reposado adds a little touch of spice and oak to the mix, which is a nice counter to all the citrus and mineral water.

Overall, this should be in every home bar arsenal. These are so easy and quick to make. They’re also very quaffable, so maybe set up a “make your own” bar if you have some friends over this weekend. It’ll save you squeezing limes all day and night.

Alexander Skarsgard is a bit of an enigma: on the one hand, he is a very down-to-earth guy, on the other hand, he almost ran over teenage activist Greta Thunberg (it was an accident). But one thing’s for certain: he and Nicole Kidman have great chemistry!

In a Twitter Q&A with the two stars of The Northman, the duo share what they took from the set of the Viking epic. “I was given the sword, but I couldn’t take it home on the plane,” Kidman says. “They had to send it to me, you can’t take a huge Viking sword on the plane! They got it to me.”

Skarsgard, on the other hand, got to take home something that is somehow scarier than a Viking sword.”I got a bloody g-string, a thong,” Skarsgard admits, while Kidman starts laughing to herself. “That’s how much they like me. Covered in blood, it’s framed on my wall, over my bed. So thanks, guys!”

The duo also discussed if they would ever co-star together again. They famously played an abusive husband and wife team on the hit drama Big Little Lies. Kidman says she would love to work together again no matter what: “I’ll be his wife, his mother, his sister. That’s what I’d like to do.”

Skarsgard adds that it would have to be a little lighter. “But maybe let’s find a project in which we don’t kill each other or try to kill each other. It’s incredibly dysfunctional.” The actor insists they should do a corny rom-com or a musical together. “One of those where on the poster we’re leaning up against each other, like ‘this gal!’”

We are now just a couple weeks away from the release of Warpaint’s anticipated new album, Radiate Like This, which will be their first LP in six years. Today, the band offers an advance look at the album with another single, “Hips.”

The song is, as many Warpaint songs are, carried by an infectious groove, atop which eerie vocals and instrumentation lay. The band’s Emily Kokal compares the song to “gyrations of the birth of a new world.”

Theresa “TT” Wayman also previously said of the new album, “We got really lucky because the foundation of what we’ve recorded was recorded together. It would feel really disjointed if we had to write it from scratch from afar. It’s actually been amazing that we’ve been separate and had time to record the top layers and we can get even more considered with them. It’s really helping us that there are no time pressures and money constraints. […] I’ve been thinking a lot about lyrics and so I’ve been thinking about [Bob] Dylan a lot and how he strings a story together. He finds these perfect ways to say something that is so normal, it’s something that everyone experiences, but he unlocks this great metaphor for it.”

Listen to “Hips” above. The band also recently announced 2022 tour dates, so find those here.

Radiate Like This is out 5/6 via Virgin. Pre-order it here.

The RX is Uproxx Music’s stamp of approval for the best albums, songs, and music stories throughout the year. Inclusion in this category is the highest distinction we can bestow, and signals the most important music being released throughout the year. The RX is the music you need, right now.

Blxst is approaching his career the right way. After earning attention for himself in his hometown of Los Angeles and its surrounding areas, the West Coast crooner stepped out on his own for the first time with his 2020 debut project No Love Lost. The eight-song effort, which was later extended to 13 thanks to a deluxe reissue, was the perfect curtain-opening moment he needed to make himself a name recognized across the country. Blxst secured that the following year when he was enlisted as a member of the 2021 XXL Freshman Class.

That same year, Blxst reconnected with his frequent collaborator Bino Rideaux for a sequel to their 2019 EP. Both Blxst and Bino had seen their careers grow exponentially since 2019’s Sixtape so it was only right that they used their brighter spotlight for Sixtape 2. A common theme in Blxst’s career is taking advantage of strong moments to boost his own stock, and after collaborations with Nas, Snoop Dogg, Rick Ross, Buddy, YG, Mozzy, and more, he’s back with a new body of work now that a new set of eyes are on him.

Fresh off the release of his 13-track project Before You Go, we caught up with Blxst to discuss the project, his growth, and more.

After the success of No Love Lost, when did you realize it was time to go back to the drawing board for a new body of work?

I think it was slowly but surely. I was traveling a lot last year so I know it was that time, but I was trying to find that balance between being on the road and still being creative, which was a challenge but we knocked it out. We managed to make it happen.

What were some of the things that helped you find this balance and successfully work on this project as you were on the road?

Everything bro. Managing time away from the family, self-care, even all the way down to working with a personal trainer and making sure physical was right. It was finding a balance for me, that’s pretty much where I was at with it. I feel like that kind of bled into my music, my different experiences, that’s what Before You Go was compiled of.

You’re in a much different spot than you were before No Love Lost. You’ve worked with a lot of new names like Nas, Snoop Dogg, Kehlani, Rick Ross, and more. Has your established position made things easier for you? And how do you keep that initial hustle alive?

It’s crazy. I feel like I’ve built a crazy momentum and I’m just capitalizing on it right now especially following up with another body of work. No Love Lost was my first body of work and this one is my first full-length body of work, so I’m excited to see the responses from that, especially coming off a crazy feature run, like you said, with Nas, Snoop Dogg, Kehlani, Rick Ross, it’s been crazy.

Before You Go seems to have that “no hard feelings” attitude that No Love Lost has. In your opinion, in what ways are the projects similar, and what sets them apart?

Yeah, I think this one is an elevated version of No Love Lost. Like you said, it was no hard feelings, but for this one, it’s more unapologetic. This is me, love me or hate me, but before you go, this is the message I gotta tell you. Whether you want to come on this journey with me or not, that’s your choice. For my fans, to my relationships, to everything: before you go, this is what I gotta tell you.

Before we dive into the project, I like how you and Bino took a moment during the rises in your respective careers to lace another project with Sixtape 2. How has y’all relationship improved since the first Sixtape with all that’s happened in your careers?

Man, it’s crazy just to see the trajectory of where we both started to where we are now. Just off the collaborations from Sixtape alone, I feel like that was my door for people knowing who I am individually. I think I just made sure I was well-rounded. I didn’t want to be stuck as a producer as well, so I made it an intention to go hard as a solo artist. Respect to Bino as well for giving me that platform. I think it’s a mutual respect overall.

What was your muse or influences for Before You Go?

I think just my day-to-day experiences: traveling, managing family time, personal time, and self-care. That’s pretty much what I pulled my inspiration from, those challenges, those hurdles I was facing, and facing that transition of also becoming an executive outside of just being an artist. Looking at success from a different perspective. I think I had a mind shift over this past year from the success of No Love Lost. You’ll hear that in the music, you’ll hear the growth for sure.

I want to talk about the music on the project, starting with some of the features. How was it to work with Arin Ray on “Fake Love”? It’s been a while since I’ve heard from him and it’s great to see that y’all connected for one.

I’ve been listening to Arin Ray for a minute. That Platinum Fire album he dropped, that’s my go-to when I’m on the airplane. This was before I was even Blxst, so double back and be able to work with him, I think that was a full-circle moment for me.

A couple of songs later we have “Couldn’t Wait For It,” your second record with Rick Ross. How validating it is for you to have a star like Ross who wants to work with you more than once, in addition to the other big names you’ve collaborated with?

That’s legendary, I can’t make this sh*t up. It don’t get no more co-sign or stamp than that, that’s the biggest. That’s inspiration, especially as I’m aspiring to be an entrepreneur like he is as well, outside of being an artist, I think that was a dope realization for me that he f*ck with me in that light.

“Still Omw” is one of my favorite records because it’s the epitome of “the job’s not done yet” in terms of what you want for your career. With that, what is peak success for you and when would you feel like you’ve completed your job as an artist and creative overall?

Man, I think ultimately, I feel like I’m still fresh to everything. I got a foot in the door, but at this point, I gotta show my consistency. Also, I got to make it a point to make sure everybody else around me is equally or more successful than I am, whether that be putting other artists on from my city. It’s a lot more to do and I feel like it’s a long way to go, but I feel like I’m on the right track.

What song on this project do you feel speaks the most to where you’re at in your career?

I think you hit it right on the nail with “Still Omw.” It speaks on where I started, what I’m doing right now, and my aspirations for where I want to be. I want to be that executive in the next five years where I could sit back and not be so obligated to do things outside of just being a creative in general. That’s what I’m leaning towards, but that song is close to my heart for sure.

After listening to this album, it’s safe to say that Blxst has still not made one bad song yet, how often does that saying come into mind when you create?

I ain’t gonna lie, saying that was like a gift and a curse because now it’s like people are waiting for me f*ck up you know? I like to challenge myself and hold myself up to a standard where I can always be the best version of myself. So yeah, that line always comes to mind whenever I’m making something cause I’m like damn now I can’t f*ck up (laughs).

With this project, want do you want people to keep in mind as they listen?

I just want them to grow with me. This is the journey, I’m learning as I go, but I’m still not stopping the creative process as far as people knowing what’s going on in my day to day or what I’ve been experiencing. A lot of times, I be second-guessing myself still, but I want people to see that I’m human as well. It’s cool to second guess yourself as long as you face your fears. It’s cool to be scared, but you still gotta face your fears.

Before You Go is out now via Red Bull Records and Evgle. You can stream it here.

The Brooklyn Nets acquired Ben Simmons at the trade deadline and have waited for his debut ever since. Upon joining the team in a move that sent James Harden to the Philadelphia 76ers, Simmons has sat on the sidelines, in large part due to a lingering back issue that has prevented him from ramping up his on-court preparation.

With each passing day during the regular season, it seemed like the possibility of Simmons suiting up for the Nets got slimmer and slimmer. Ultimately, he was unable to play before the playoffs rolled around, and then all of a sudden, Brooklyn started to seem way more optimistic about his ability to contribute. It turns out that’s going to happen, because according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, Simmons has gotten to a place where he’s ready to suit up and play in Game 4 of Brooklyn’s series against the Boston Celtics on Monday evening unless he suffers a setback.

Boston currently holds a 2-0 lead on the Nets, with Game 3 taking place on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at the Barclays Center.

Simmons has not played in a game since Game 7 of the Sixers’ Eastern Conference Semifinal series against the Atlanta Hawks, a game and series which led to him receiving scrutiny for how he performed. In the aftermath, Simmons made clear he did not want to be a member of the franchise anymore, which led to a lengthy dispute between himself and the Sixers as the team withheld his salary.

One of my favorite phenomena of being extremely online is when a celebrity or politician gets dragged for a bad food share. Sometimes it’s a gross picture, other times it’s merely giving voice to an odd habit. This week’s main character was, of all people, the master of pulp horror novels, Stephen King.

King, who does have a charmingly idiosyncratic Twitter persona, shared this extremely weird recipe for salmon unprompted:

And they said he couldn’t do endings!

Obviously, it was mostly, if not solely the microwave part that made it weird. Reading the recipe, I was thinking “sure… sure… yep, classic… uh-huh… wait, what?”

Everyone who sent this to me or who I shared it with had basically the same reaction — a physical recoiling at the mere idea of cooking salmon in a microwave. And I get it. Someone once exploded a fish in our suite microwave in college as a prank and it stunk like hell for weeks (sidenote: good prank).

Then again, I also saw this guy cook a brisket in a microwave a while back and it weirdly didn’t look half bad. Maybe microwaves get a bad rap? Maybe they’re useful for something other than reheating leftovers and lukewarm tea?

After plenty of roasting, Stephen King jumped back on the TL to tell people not to knock his recipe until they’ve tried it, so I set out to do just that.

Olive oil, lemon, and some nice-lookin’ salmon, just like he said. One thing I’ll always remember about choosing fish is what a professional fish buyer told me at a fish auction in Hawaii: “Just use your eyes and your intuition. We were built for this.” Which is to say: if it looks fresh and bright, buy it. If it doesn’t, don’t.

Call it about a tablespoon of olive oil. I have some more expensive olive oil than this, but why waste it on microwave salmon? Anyway, this stuff is fine.

In between these two pics, I seasoned the fish. Stephen King didn’t strictly say that, and I realize that he’s a 74-year-old writer from Maine, but I’m going to give him the benefit of the doubt here and assume seasoning the meat was implied. Anyway, I’m a grown-ass man, I don’t need to eat unseasoned meat to know it tastes bad.

I used a basic store-bought rub, Alpine Spice (Pappy’s, Slap Ya Mama, Old Bay, or basic salt and pepper all work here, imo).

Basically half a lemon. Is that going to wash some of the seasoning off? Yes. I thought about dampening the paper towels with the lemon juice but I needed to stay true to what Stephen King described.

I’m not very crafty, but it’s sort of like a ghetto papillote? It’s not the worst idea.

Now, I know my microwave, and three minutes seemed like a LONG time for that size of salmon. “Big but not too big” is pretty vague. Maybe my supermarket’s portions are smaller than what Stephen gets in Maine. Once again I gave him the benefit of the doubt here and started with 90 seconds.

It looks… not terrible, but maybe a little sad. I’m willing to bet you’ve had worse salmon than this at a restaurant before. Now, it’s already at 156 degrees and climbing. That is, in my opinion, way overcooked for salmon. I sampled a little bit.

Again, not terrible. It’s seasoned, so mostly you taste that. The skin is the worst part, basically throw away, but we knew that going in. And a lot of people, including my wife, who was the first person to get me to enjoy salmon (my parents used to cook it all the time, and it stunk up the whole house. I was well into adulthood before I enjoyed cooked salmon), doesn’t eat the skin anyway. I’m going to assume that’s the case with Stephen King as well. The meat part alone is… slightly overcooked but fine.

Was King cooking a bigger filet than I was? Three minutes seems insane. But hey, it’s his recipe. And he’s about the same age as my parents, who always cooked their salmon beyond all recognition. After I took a bite I popped it back in the microwave for another minute (2.5 min total, still short of King’s suggested 3) just for the sake of thoroughness.

202 degrees and climbing. The salmon is now hammered to shit.

Most of the previous description still applies, though it’s a little mushier now. It’s… edible. I ate the whole thing, but it didn’t make me want to throw up, it was just… kind of sad. The weirdest part to me is the beads of fat that have collected on the plate. The fat isn’t supposed to bead like that? My wife walked in the kitchen and says “Ugh, it reeks in here.”

This is, again, the person who got me to enjoy salmon. We make salmon all the time. Non-microwaved salmon that isn’t hammered to shit doesn’t make the kitchen smell like this.

Stephen King’s microwaved salmon isn’t that gross, at least it probably not gross enough to warrant a physical recoil upon just hearing about it. The bigger question is… why? Is it a time saver? What are we getting out of the microwave here?

I had another salmon portion, so I decided to do it my way. All the same steps — rub with olive oil, rub with seasoning, some lemon juice — and then stick it under the broiler instead. I turned on the broiler. I got out my broiling rack. I put the salmon on the rack, skin side up. I even used some of the flabby skin from the microwaved salmon underneath to protect the meat from sticking to the rack (you can also just oil or butter it).

I tried to get it a decent distance from the coils, so that it would crisp the skin by the time the rest of the meat was only just cooked through.

I pulled it after just under seven minutes.

It’s definitely got a little more char than I intended, especially for photographing purposes. But you can get a little char on skin and fat, it still tastes fine. If I had it to do over again, I’d put it one rack lower, lower the broiler a smidge, or wrap it in parchment paper and cook like four minutes, then unwrap and let the skin char for four or five more.

The meat read about 111 when I pulled it. It got all the way up to 128 before I took a bite.

In my version, which admittedly has some flaws, the skin is now edible. The meat has retained some color, and it’s flakier and actually has some juice. I wouldn’t say it tastes miles better, but it’s distinctly improved and doesn’t look like it was cooked by a sad divorced man. And what did it cost me? Three more minutes? Having to clean a broiler pan (which took maaaybe 45 seconds longer than throwing away some paper towels)?

And yes, you could improve it more than this pretty easily. Maybe you want a sauce (I’ve been reading Bill Buford’s book about training in France, so from time to time an imaginary Frenchman shows up in my brain to berate me any time I serve anything without a sauce — No sows? Putain de merde!). Not strictly necessary, imo, but simple enough.

Here’s Zach’s cheffed-up version (trusting the Native American who grew up in the Pacific Northwest to know salmon better than me seems like safe bet):

He cooks it skin-side down, like my wife does, with some lemon and onion slices. So much prettier! And that took… what, five minutes? The point is, a simple salmon cooked with olive oil and lemon is already really easy. There’s no need to get the microwave involved, unless you desperately need to save five minutes to write a few hundred more pages. And leaving the microwave off won’t stink up your house/mansion/dank horror hovel.

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Read our Top Chef Power Rankings here. Vince Mancini is on Twitter.