SZA took to social media to offer Megan The Stallion some moral support. The Texas hitmaker hasn’t said much following the outcome of Tory Lanez‘s trial. Lanez was recently found guilty on felony charges for the 2020 incident in which Megan ended up being shot in the foot. The Candian singer was charged with assault with a semi-automatic firearm, possession of a concealed, unregistered firearm, and negligent discharge of a firearm.
While Megan hasn’t publicly commented about the situation since the trial, she did open up on the stand about how the ordeal has affected her mental health over the past two years.
“I can’t even be happy. I can’t hold conversations with people for a long time. I don’t feel like I want to be on this earth. I wish he would have just shot and killed me if I knew I would have to go through this torture,” she said in her emotional testimony.
SZA, who collaborated with Megan in 2020 on a track called “Freaky Girls” from the Houston rapper’s debut album Good News, took to social media to show the rapper some love.
“Just wanted to give some love to Meg,” SZA wrote on her Instagram Story. “Your beautiful, and we’re all rooting for you [white heart emoji].”
Instagram
SZA and Megan also posed together alongside Normani on the cover of Rolling Stone for its March 2020 issue.
Megan Thee Stallion is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
The beauty of Scotch whisky is that it doesn’t have to cost you a fortune to enjoy. There are plenty of modestly priced (in the grand scheme of things) bottles that absolutely rock. In fact, some great Scotch whiskies are priced under $50. The best part? You can usually find these lower-cost gems on the shelf around the country without too much effort.
These are all wins, folks.
For this list, I’ve pulled 10 of the best Scotch whiskies available right now and ranked them. This is very straightforward. Is the whisky good? Does it cost between $40 and $50? Yes to both? Good, it’s on the list!
When it comes to ranking these bottles, I’m going off taste alone. There’s a good mix of blended whiskies (a mix of single malt and grain whiskies) and single malts below. They all offer something a little different (some are peated and smoky, some are unpeated and sweet) so find the tasting notes that speak to you and then click that price link to get a bottle of your own.
Let’s dive in!
Also Read: The Top 5 UPROXX Scotch Whisky Posts of The Last Six Months
Ballentine’s is a classic grocer-turned-whisky-maker, a tried and true Scottish tradition. In this case, the whisky in the bottle is built from 50 different grain and single malt whiskies that are at least 12 years old. Once those barrels are vatted, the whisky is proofed down to a very accessible 80 proof.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: There’s a nice mix of fresh honey and lush vanilla on the nose next to hints of sweet oak and soft malts.
Palate: The palate leans into the honey with a creamy edge as short hints of wildflowers balance against vanilla creaminess, a touch of holiday spice tied to the malts, and a nice dose of that sweet oak with a lightly charred sense.
Finish: The finish is short and sweet and balances that vanilla and honey cream against florals and lightly spiced malts.
Bottom Line:
This is quintessential blended scotch. The flavor profile is broad but offers real depth. That all said, this is all about mixing up a good cocktail more than sipping — though it’s fine on the rocks.
Arranta translates to “bold” and this whisky leans into that. The hot juice is aged for an undisclosed amount of time in first-fill ex-bourbon casks (that means this whisky was the first thing to go into those casks after they were emptied of bourbon). Those barrels were then vatted, proofed, and bottled without filtration.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Pear candy and honey lead the way on the nose toward woody spices, light leather, and a hint of sour apple skins and stems.
Palate: The palate is sweet and malty with a drive from pear flesh to pit, skin, and tree with floral honey and wet coconut leading to a hint of creamy vanilla sauce dusted with cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice.
Finish: The end leans into pears soaked in honey and nutmeg with a hint of old porch wicker and worn leather gloves on the finish.
Bottom Line:
This is a nice, fruity whisky that leans ever-so-slightly toward mild bourbon notes, making this a good bridge between the two styles. Still, you’re going to want to focus this on cocktails.
This version of Famous Grouse is built on a foundation of rare Highland whisky. Glenturret peated single malt is at the core of this blend. That’s special in that Glenturret doesn’t really make peated malts — save for the whiskey that’s in this blend.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Like all Highland peaties, this whisky has a balance of smoke and sweetness from the first nose. Imagine damp campfires, falling leaves, and honey cut with woody winter spices.
Palate: There’s a hint of cedar that feels like it was soaked in dark rum and then set on fire. As that fire dies down, you’re left with dried fruits, dates, and a spice cake that leans into cloves and licorice root.
Finish: The end is fairly long and revels in the soot of that burnt cedar box as an old rum note sneaks back in with more raisins and spice.
Bottom Line:
This is pretty easy-going all things considered. It’s not overly peaty or smoky but there are notes there. Overall, this makes a good base for a smoky cocktail.
This is basically Johnnie Walker Black — a slightly peaty blend of over 40 whiskies from around Scotland — that’s been casked again in deeply charred oak barrels for a final maturation. The idea is to maximize that peat and amp up the Islay and Island whiskies’ smokiness.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Clove-forward spice and billows of softwood smoke — think cherry and apple — greet you on the nose.
Palate: The palate has a vanilla creaminess that’s punctuated by bright apples, dried fruit, and more peat that leans more towards an old beach campfire than a chimney stack.
Finish: The spice kicks back in late, warming things up as the smoke carries through the end with a nice dose of oakiness, fruitiness, and sweet vanilla creaminess.
Bottom Line:
This a nice yet easy peated whisky over a lot of ice. The peat is dialed back a bit but does have a distinct ashiness to it. Overall, this is excellent in highballs with a dry and maybe floral-herbal accent or in a cocktail with some citrus.
This expression is a marrying of whiskies from all over Scotland. 65% of the blend comes from single malts from a “distillery near the town of Aberlour,” Laphroaig, and Clynelish. The rest is part Highland malt blend (from the Glen Moray, Tomatin, and Balmenach distilleries) and a grain whisky from Cameronbridge distillery. Those whiskies were barreled in sherry and bourbon casks with a French oak barrel thrown in too.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose draws you in with this subtle peaty malt that feels more kissed by a hint of smoke than drowned in it in a malting room with a hint of stewed stone fruit.
Palate: The first sip is “malty scotch!” That then leads to dry straw, very mild plum, the memory of opening up a bag of charcoal, and almond shells.
Finish: You’re left with a slightly sweet straw and a buzzing maltiness that is more reminiscent of a cleaned-out fireplace than “smoke.”
Bottom Line:
This is just good. It works as a solid mixer or on the rocks pour.
This expression from Ardbeg was first released back in 2020 and instantly became a mainstay of the line (especially for bartenders). The hot juice is aged for only five years in both ex-bourbon and ex-oloroso sherry casks before marrying for the final product. The idea is to give a sense of the quality of the peaty whisky from Port Ellen’s malting house without too much wood influence.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: This is a little abrasive on the nose with alcohol soaking through dried berries and raisins next to a hint of pear candy, woody vanilla, and dried dirt.
Palate: The palate has a hint of smoked plums that leads directly into pear candy with a touch of smoked pork belly buried in BBQ ash.
Finish: The finish is a mix of hot asphalt and soft pear tobacco with a thin layer of salt water calming everything down.
Bottom Line:
This is a great peated whisky to mix cocktails with. As a sipper, it’s a little rough around the edges.
This single malt from Diageo is a great gateway to good single malt. The juice is aged for 12 years — mostly in ex-bourbon barrels and a few ex-sherry cask-matured whiskies — before it’s cut with that iconic Speyside water and bottled.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: This is a delicate sip of whisky that leans into notes of dried florals and sweet fruits counterpointed by spicy oak and worn leather.
Palate: The palate lets the spice amp up a bit while the fruit touches on both orange oils and orange blossoms with whispers of bourbon vanilla, dried fruits, and fresh honey.
Finish: The end really holds onto that lightness while fading fairly quickly, leaving you with a cedary leather, more of that sweet fruit, and almost creamy vanilla.
Bottom Line:
This is soft and graceful with a bright and fruity disposition. Overall, this works best in cocktails like a Penicillin, but it’s perfectly fine on some ice too.
This is a pretty unique whisky. The distillery is located in Scotland’s far north Orkney Islands. The whisky in the bottle is a classic peaty single malt that spends 12 years maturing in European and American oak, both of which were seasoned with sherry. The whiskies are then married and proofed down to a very accessible 40%.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: There’s a real sense of rich and almost rummy holiday cake full of dark spices, dried fruits, candied citrus, and nuts with a hint of smoke.
Palate: A touch of fragrant honey arrives to smooth out the texture while adding sweetness.
Finish: That smoke pops back in on the finish but it’s more like a chimney smoke from a house a few doors down on a snowy day than a funky peaty smoke from a bog.
Bottom Line:
This is a lovely blend of deeper fruit/citrus flavors with dark peatiness. There’s a sweetness that ties it all together and makes this a great whisky to have on hand for cocktails or sipping over some rocks.
Chivas is renowned for its iconic blended whisky. This expression — originally created for the Japanese market and released in the U.S. in 2019 — adds a unique dimension to the classic blend. A portion of the whisky is finished in Japanese Mizunara casks, adding a layer of nuanced flavors to the standard Chivas.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Caramel and dark dried fruits mingle with tasty pears, soft orange zest, a touch of leather, fresh and floral honey, and maybe some old oak staves on the nose.
Palate: The palate has a dash or two of winter spice next to walnuts and honey-soaked raisins with a hint of sunburnt heather and wildflowers.
Finish: The finish lets the spiciness warm the palate as pear and leather fade through the end.
Bottom Line:
This is probably the best “on the rocks” whisky on the list.
Glenmorangie’s 14-Year expression spends 10 years resting in used American oak casks. Those barrels are vatted and the whisky is re-barreled into Quinta Ruban port wine casks from Portugal for another four years of mellowing before batching, proofing, and bottling as-is.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose draws you in with a sense of burnt orange layered into dark chocolate and then melted over a singed marshmallow with a hint of malted vanilla cookie tying it all together.
Palate: That dark chocolate drives the palate with a hint of waxiness and woody winter spice next to whole black peppercorns, fresh tangerine, and a whisper of mint chocolate chip ice cream.
Finish: The dark chocolate, woody spice, bright orange, and sharp spearmint all collide on the finish with a sense of soft malted sweetness and faint old oak staves.
Bottom Line:
Delicious. It’s perfect neat, on the rocks, or mixed into your favorite whisky cocktail.
But there was another dish that intrigued me. I kept thinking about “Tyler’s Bullshit.”
(Before we dive in any further — this post contains spoilers. You’ve been warned.)
The pivotal dish that Nicholas Hoult’s dipshit character, Tyler, makes is a symbol of how fanboy narcissism (the dude can’t stop taking pictures of dishes) “drains the magic out of cooking” (chef Slowik’s words) while providing exactly zero real hands-on knowledge about the subject at all. Tyler is tasked by the mad chef with cooking something from scratch to prove he deserves to be part of the club (or cult, if you want to get technical). Slowik doesn’t ask for a masterpiece just a simple, good plate of food. After all, he’s in a kitchen that has “everything” so, surely, Tyler can whip something up to prove he’s more than just a blustering fanboy?
Surely over all those years of “loving” food, he’s learned something tangible?
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Nope. Not a thing. Tyler’s dish is an utter failure on every level from inception to mise en place — “Look everyone, Tyler’s teaching us an undiscovered form of chopping,” Slowik says, his voice dripping with contempt — to his execution.
“Tyler’s Bullshit” ends up being an inedible dish of undercooked, un-seared lamb chops in a leek butter sauce (that’s burnt) with shallots.
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Seeing it led me to ask — could Tyler have made a good dish out of those exact same ingredients? I mean… lamb chops, salt, butter, leeks, and shallots? Nothing terrible or incongruent, right? All of the elements are there. Tyler is just so inadequate in the kitchen that he’d never have found a cohesive dish in a million years.
I’m not going to spoil what happens to Tyler because it’s worth watching fresh, so let’s focus on the food. I’m going to take lamb chops, butter, shallots, and leek and try making a perfectly edible dish with that. I’m not going to dawdle — this whole dish takes about 15 to 20 minutes from the first chop to service, it’s not hard and you can do it at home. As you’ll see, I don’t go crazy with the plating, either. Lamb chops with leeks in a butter sauce is simple, good food.
All Chef Slowik wanted was a serviceable plate of food from Tyler (under the obvious threat of death) — so that’s what I’m shooting for.
Also Read: The Top 5 UPROXX Food Posts From The Last 6 Months
I’m searing the lamb and placing it under a broiler for a minute with butter while I sear off leek sticks. While the lamb and leeks are resting, I’m going to make a fast quasi-beurre blanc as a pan sauce with the shallots and a ton of butter. That’s really it.
Ingredients:
2 Lamb chops
1 Leek (white with a bit of green), quartered along the vertical
1 shallot, minced
1 1/2 sticks of butter (chilled)
Salt
Pepper
Olive Oil
1/2 cup white wine***
This is all easy to find at most supermarkets. There’s nothing fancy here really.
*I have to use something to de-glaze the pan after searing the meat and leeks. I would use water but Tyler was literally offered everything he could ever need to make this dish, so one substitution for form isn’t the end of the world in my opinion. The end result is still a “butter sauce” as described in the film.
Zach Johnston
What You’ll Need:
Stainless pan, seasoned
Tongs
Kitchen Knife
Cutting boards
Whisk
Spoon
Small pot
Fine mesh sieve
Baking dish
Zach Johnston
Method:
Preheat the oven to 200-degrees. In the meantime, season the lamb chops liberally with Kosher salt, slice your leeks, mince the shallot, and cube the butter. Now, your mise en place is ready. Slowik would be proud.
Heat the pan on high heat. Add a glug of olive oil and let heat until it just starts to spit small lines of smoke. Gently lay the lamb chops in the pan and sear until a layer forms on the bottom about 90 seconds. Turn over and sear the other side for about 30 seconds, just until some color gets into them. Place the chops in the baking dish, add a piece of butter to each chop right on the meat, and put it in the oven.
In the meantime, lay the leeks cut side down and sear off both cut sides and the bottom, about 30 seconds on each side. Remove the leeks from the pan and place them on a wooden cutting board to rest, the cut side down so the outer layer of the leek acts as a blanket to steam the onion inside.
Remove the lamb chops from the oven and place them on the cutting board to rest too, making sure to keep as much of the melted butter on the meat as possible. Put a serving plate into the oven.
Lower the pan heat to medium and add the minced shallot and move around until it starts to get translucent — about a minute. Add the white wine and deglaze the pan by getting all the brown bits off the bottom of the pan and into the shallots and wine. Simmer for about 2 or 3 minutes until the white is 1/2 gone. Start adding the chilled butter one cube at a time and whisk constantly. Do this with an entire stick of butter cubes. Whisk. Repeat. If you keep working the butter in slowly, a sauce will form that’s thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.
Transfer the pan sauce to a small pot via the sieve to remove any bits and the shallots, making sure to push all the juices out of the solids and into the pot. Do not overheat this pot or the sauce will separate.
Fetch the serving plate from the oven. Spoon some of the sauce onto the bottom to make a single layer. Place the leeks, cut side up, on the plate and hit with a dash of extra virgin olive oil and finishing salt. Place the lamb chops on the plate and dab with the butter pan sauce and hit with a crank of black pepper. Serve.
Zach Johnston
Bottom Line
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So, how’d I do?
From my perspective, this was a great lunch. The lamb was a nice medium-rare, perfectly seasoned, and was so good with the butter pan sauce that I was almost licking the bowl clean. The leeks were soft and sweet with a hint of sharpness. I cooked them in a rustic style you see in southern Italy and France where the heart of the leek is cooked sort of inside the outer layers once intense heat is applied and the left to self-steam, keeping the flavors amped up high.
Zach Johnston
You’re left with some greens on the plate but who cares when they’re this good. In short, the leeks balanced out the rich butter pan sauce and meaty lamb perfectly. That’s a good bite right there.
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Plus, you can see that while my presentation is simple (I was making lunch at home, not serving one of the world’s best chefs), this dish still looked about a billion times more appetizing than the plate above.
The central trio of Only Murders in the Building are so popular they almost hosted the last year’s chaos Oscars. But the Hulu mystery-comedy has always been about more than stars Steve Martin, Martin Short, and Selena Gomez. They score some big names. Last summer it was reported that Paul Rudd was heading to the Upper West Side for Season 3, which just started filming. Anyway, guess what? Turns out there were able to also nab one of the biggest screen legends in modern history.
Steve Martin, Martin Short, Selena Gomez, Paul Rudd, and- MERYL STREEP. Only Murders in the Building Season 3 #OMITBpic.twitter.com/kO1wGvLsMv
— Only Murders in the Building (@OnlyMurdersHulu) January 17, 2023
On Tuesday, Gomez took to her Instagram page to share what seemed like a standard video from the show’s set. She was joined by Martin and Short, of course, and there was Rudd, sitting right next to them. But hovering in the background was someone perhaps bigger than all of them: no less than Meryl Streep.
The fact that the three-time Oscar-winner, who is debatably more popular now than ever before, was among the cast for Season 3 was a well-kept secret. It was Gomez who broke it, while Martin shared his own photo of the five hanging out on set.
The filming of Season 3 of “Only Murders in the Building” has begun! A cast to dream of. pic.twitter.com/mvMkJknoEk
It’s not clear who Streep will be playing. A new resident of the Arconia? An old flame of either Martin’s Charles-Haden Savage or Short’s Olivier Putnam? Just a fan of murder podcasts? But having Queen Meryl on the small screen is still a big deal. She predictably made waves when she joined the second season of Big Little Lies. But over her career she’s mostly stuck to film and theater, only deigning television with her presence sporadically, and then sometimes only lending her voice. (She’s done both The Simpsons and King of the Hill.) In other words, when she chooses to do TV you know it has to earn her.
Every once in a while we are blessed with a new Little Guy to become the face of the internet for several weeks or longer, depending on the longevity and likeability of the memes that he (or she!) inspires. He doesn’t have to be cute or even speak coherently, he just has to be 1) a little guy and 2) that’s it. It’s not a science.
You’re all familiar with The Minions that were soon taken over by Facebook moms, or way back when the Care Bears had their meme moment, but there is one little cutie pie who is allowed to come and go as he pleases, just bopping around the universe and returning to our screens every so often, and that is Baby Yoda.
A few things here to note. Yes, his name is not Baby Yoda. Does anyone care? Yes. Are we calling him Baby Yoda? Yes. Are people mad? They always are! So the only choice is to keep celebrating the little green alien and his mighty cup of herbal tea. Baby Yoda (real name Grogu) is making his return in The Mandalorian season three, which is set to premiere on March 1st, making 2023 the official Year Of Pedro Pascal Saving Innocent But Powerful Younglings From The Bad Guys. We can think of a shorter name later.
Of course, we are all collectively happy that our boy is back, though some people are confused since it was a key part of season two that we Mando and Grogu have their teary goodbye. It is explained in an episode of The Book Of Boba Fett, but you know…not a lot of people saw that. But he’s just so cute, that we can overlook that and celebrate the return of our dear friend Grogu.
As recognizable as Cardi B‘s hits are, she’s almost just as well-known for her signature looks — especially her extra-long nails, which she often flaunts online in both pro photoshoots and selfies. Her latest bejeweled look, which she posted on Instagram on Monday (January 16), got plenty of attention from fans but also raised some questions — and Cardi answered one in her typical bold way.
When a fan questioned whether the length of her claws interferes with her “intimate” activities, Cardi hinted at her preferred workaround (and probably gave a sneaky protip to all the ladies out there looking to emulate her lewks). “How does she finger herself with them?” read the fan’s query. “I don’t,” Cardi replied. “I rub it.” Whatever floats your boat, I guess. Fans couldn’t contain their flustered responses, which ranged from impish agreement to thirsty curiosity. We’re ignoring the salty dudes, though.
Cardi’s unfiltered approach to sharing her thoughts always results in hilarious responses from fans. As recently as two weeks ago, Cardi turned a teasing moment with Lizzo into an opportunity to tell the “Good As Hell” singer she “tastes like tamarindo.” She also recently explained why she rapped about “fighting over d*ck” on GloRilla’s “Tomorrow 2,” saying, “If a b*tch goes through your purse and she steals some of your money, you not gonna fight that b*tch?”
Cardi B is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
How do you fairly blind taste test fast food double cheeseburgers? It’s a question I’ve been asking myself ever since my editor first tasked me with what he considered to be a great idea. He’s not entirely wrong, by the way [rarely is, tbh. -ed] — blind taste testing fast food cheeseburgers is an interesting experiment. In theory. But the logistics of how to get it done while still being as comprehensive as our original double cheeseburger ranking from two years ago just don’t check out.
So over the past months, I have steadily ignored him on this matter, hoping the assignment would go away. It hasn’t.
That original ranking consisted of 15 different double cheeseburgers and took weeks to put together. A blind taste test has to all happen at the same moment, so doing 15 is straight-up impossible. Sure, we could round up all the cheeseburgers in question but they’re all going to be cold and if you’ve ever eaten fast food you’ll know that time is the enemy of flavor. Especially when it comes to burgers.
Luckily, an opportunity revealed itself. Along Pacific Coast Highway in Long Beach California there is a Five Guys, In-N-Out, and Shake Shack all within a half-mile radius of one another. So while I can’t round up all 15, I can at the very least do our current top three while still being able to enjoy them in optimal conditions.
In our 2021 piece, the double cheeseburgers were ranked as follows:
3. Five Guys 2. Shake Shack 1. In-N-Out
So without further ado, here are our top three favorite double cheeseburgers, blind taste tested and re-ranked.
Also Read: The Top 5 UPROXX Food Posts From The Last 6 Months
For this blind taste test to be as fair as possible, I needed each burger to have the same build: double meat, double cheese, lettuce, tomato, and onions. All burger sauces were ordered on the side (I’m aware the proper sauces aren’t in front of their respective burgers in the above photo, which was remedied during the tasting) so that the burgers wouldn’t become soggy in transit. I also needed them to be ordered at the same exact time and arrive to me within minutes of each other, so I asked two friends to meet me in separate cars at a parking structure in Long Beach and tasked each with picking up a burger (I picked up the burger from Shake Shack).
They were confused and had all sorts of questions. But once I offered to buy them each a burger, the questions stopped.
I placed three identical orders at In-N-Out, Shake Shack, and Five Guys at the same exact time and dispatched the team for the pickup. When the burgers arrived I wore a blindfold, knowing I’d be able to recognize which burger was which by sight alone (even without their wrappers), had my friends unwrap the burgers, cut them in half, taste tested all three, took notes, and then photographed the remaining halves once the tasting was done.
Sure, maybe this was a lot of trouble for a fast food blind taste test– but I take my job seriously dammit!
PART II — The Tasting
Taste 1:
Philip Freedman
Melt in your mouth good! What a way to start a tasting!
Everything about this burger just works. The beef has this wonderful depth of flavor, it’s meaty and savory, with a noticeable crisp and crunch to it and a salty component courtesy of the cheese. The tomatoes offer a burst of flavor that compliments and accentuates the savory qualities of the beef with a nice balance of onion that doesn’t overpower. I can’t really taste the lettuce all too well but it does add to the mouthfeel.
With a dollop of the sauce, I’m getting a nice sense of tangy complexity. The bun is soft, airy, and subtly sweet.
Taste 2:
Philip Freedman
Really dry compared to Taste 1, the onion massively overpowers the tomato and the lettuce has a watery flavor that I find off-putting. The beef is good but isn’t quite as complex as Tasting 1 with a much drier texture. I’m getting a lot more meat here though, it’s almost laborious to chew through. This one is definitely thicker than Tasting 1, too. Not sure you need a double from this place because the ratio of meat to bread weighs heavily on the meat side.
The bread isn’t anything to write home about, it’s dense, dry, and flavorless. With a dollop of sauce, I’m getting a more savory bite but it tastes like straight mayo.
Taste 3:
Philip Freedman
A step up from Taste 2… but not by much. The beef patties are considerably thin here but the ratio of meat to cheese offers a nice balance. It feels gooey on the palate with a pronounced salty flavor. The onions are a bit sharp, but the tomato and lettuce are juicy and refreshing. Of all the burgers, the tomato and lettuce are best represented here. The bun is way over-toasted though. It has a hard, toast-like texture to it.
The sauce makes all the difference, it makes the whole thing much more palatable but still not quite as good as Taste 1. Where Taste 1 had a depth and complexity to its meat, this one just tastes like salty beef.
Part 2: The Ranking
3. Five Guys
Philip Freedman
Five Guys retains its bronze medal! The beef was just too dry here to really wow me and the sesame seed bun was easily the least flavorful of the bunch. The mayo also couldn’t compare to Five Guys and Shake Shack’s house-made burger sauces, but that’s the problem with Five Guys, it’s not fair to consider the chain a regular burger spot. Five Guys is at its best when you add things like grilled jalapenos, bacon, A1 sauce, and any other creative topping you’d like to the mix. With the strict parameters of this particular build, it never had a chance so it doesn’t surprise me it came in third.
If this was a bacon cheeseburger blind taste test, this might’ve clinched the top spot.
The Bottom Line:
Five Guys is delicious, but when it comes to a classic universal burger build, it just can’t compete with In-N-Out and Five Guys.
This took me a little bit by surprise. In-N-Out was my top burger on our 2021 ranking and although a lot of people sounded off in the comments that it won because as a Southern Californian, I have some sort of bias towards In-N-Out, I still stood by my choice and still think that, for the price, this is the best fast food double cheeseburger you can buy. But that’s the thing, for the price.
I can’t deny our number one choice, even if it is almost twice as expensive. In-N-Out is great, and while its greatness doesn’t always translate to people who come from other states hearing stories of this burger chain serving the best burgers, only to have their expectations not met, that doesn’t mean In-N-Out doesn’t make a truly delicious burger. There is a reason it has the reputation it has in the first place.
The Bottom Line:
Consider the crown stolen. In-N-Out makes a great burger, but it doesn’t compare to today’s number 1.
Without question, Shake Shack makes the best fast food double cheeseburger, period. Done.
You can actually taste that Maillard crust, it adds a whole new sensation to the mouthfeel of this burger and locks in the juices of the beef so that they explode across your palate once you bite into this baby. Everything single component of this burger is expertly sourced, nothing comes across as superfluous, the tomatoes are vibrant and juicy, the sliced onions add complexity without overpowering, the bun is a work of art, the cheese is perfectly melted, salty, and creamy, each bite is perfection.
Right now Gavin Newsom is trying to revoke my California citizenship but I have to call it like I see, er, taste it, and Shake Shack’s burger is simply the best.
The Bottom Line:
Our new champ, Shake Shack easily makes the best fast food double cheeseburger in the game.
Recess is one of the most coveted times of day for elementary school students. It’s a time when they get to run, climb and talk as loud as they like to get all of their sillies out before heading back into the classroom. But several students at Glen Lake Elementary School in Hopkins, Minnesota, noticed not everyone was getting a chance to play.
The school has multiple students that have physical disabilities that keep them from being able to play on the available playground equipment. Because the equipment isn’t wheelchair accessible, the children who use wheels to get around have to sit on the sidelines and watch their classmates play.
This reality didn’t sit right for the other students at Glen Lake. They asked their teacher, Betsy Julien, how they could make it so the other kids got a chance to play alongside them during recess. When they learned that new, more accessible equipment would cost $300,000, the kids didn’t let it deter them. They committed to raising the funds however they could, and got to work with the help of their teacher.
The kids started collecting spare change, holding bake sales and even cold calling businesses in an effort to raise the money for the adaptive playground equipment. For months, the students worked to raise the money and they recently reached their goal with the help of the community. Rhys Riley, a student from Julien’s class, told CBS News through tears, “I was just really happy that we made it.”
One of the students who would get to use the new playground equipment told CBS, “First time I set foot on this playground, I’m probably going to start crying from seeing the effort all the school has made.”
Now that the goal has been reached, these kiddos aren’t stopping. They’re focusing on raising enough money to get adaptive playground equipment for other schools in the district so no kid has to sit out during recess. The empathy and determination of these kids is absolutely inspiring.
Watch the interview below, but be prepared—you’re going to need tissues.
Michael B. Jordan is getting another stab at the Tom Clancy universe. After Without Remorse saw its theatrical release get ported over to Amazon during the pandemic, the film didn’t exactly light up the charts with stellar reviews. However, Paramount is willing to give Jordan another chance to reprise his role of CIA operative John Clark in a sequel that’s already packing some serious power behind the camera.
John Wick director Chad Stahelski will helm Rainbow Six, an adaptation of one of Clancy’s more popular titles that became a fan-favorite title in the world of gaming. Via The Hollywood Reporter:
Jordan will once again be playing Navy SEAL-turned-CIA operative John Clark, one of Clancy’s more popular characters, who appeared in the late author’s Jack Ryan spy books. Clark also headlined two novels, Without Remorse and Rainbow Six, with the latter spawning a line of video games.
It should be noted that Rainbow Six was always part of the plan when Jordan was announced in the John Clark role all the way back in 2018. Paramount is apparently committed to seeing that plan through and willing to chalk up Without Remorse‘s lackluster debut as a victim of COVID. Also, bringing in the John Wick guy certainly can’t hurt. Stahelski is an incredible get for a franchise that nobody thought was still happening. Not to mention, Jordan is most likely looking at another major boost to his star power when Creed III hits later this year.
The Cincinnati Bengals were in a whole lot of trouble in their Wild Card game against the Baltimore Ravens. While Baltimore went into the game without Lamar Jackson at quarterback, Tyler Huntley got the Ravens down to the doorstep with a chance to make it 24-17 early in the fourth quarter. Huntley tried to sneak it in, but instead of going low and through Cincinnati’s defense, Baltimore’s QB attempted to jump over the line and had the ball poked out of his hands.
Bengals defensive lineman Sam Hubbard managed to scoop it up, head 98 yards in the opposite direction, and scored what ended up being the game-winning touchdown. It was one of the best moments of the weekend, and it became slightly better when the Bengals’ communications folks posted the following on Twitter:
On Tuesday, the team released the video of Hubbard taking off and making the biggest play of his career. While there was no audio of Hubbard while he was running, the aftermath of the play was pretty spectacular.
Hubbard saying he was terrified of getting caught is, of course, very funny, but in the moment, Ravens tight end Mark Andrews really was booking it in an effort to chase him down. He was ultimately unsuccessful, and as a result, the Bengals have a showdown with the Buffalo Bills this weekend with a spot in the AFC Championship Game on the line.
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