It only took a few years for Lucky Daye to become one of the prominent voices of modern R&B. In 2019, Daye released his debut album, Painted, which became one of the best R&B releases of that year and scored multiple Grammy nominations. He’s also landed collaborations with the likes of Babyface, Ari Lennox, Wale, Ty Dolla Sign, and more. After dropping his EP Table For Two in 2021, Daye is ready to grace the world with his sophomore album, which he spoke about recently.
Daye previously announced that his sophomore album would be titled Candy Drip after he released its title track back in December. Now, he’s confirmed it will arrive on March 10. He also unveiled the cover art, which displays a close-up picture of Daye, who’s covered in some sticky liquid that looks a lot like honey. The announcement arrives after Daye shared “NWA” with Lil Durk, which is the second single from the forthcoming album.
Shortly after Candy Drip arrives, Daye will head out on a North American tour with singer Joyce Wrice. It kicks off March 18 in Portland, Oregon, and continues for a little over a month before coming to an end in New York City on April 25.
Candy Drip is out 3/10 via Keep Cool and RCA. You can pre-save it here.
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
The biggest NFL broadcasts have found themselves in a period of reshuffling. With Amazon getting the exclusive rights for Thursday Night Football and a number of the most prominent names in broadcasting seeing their contracts come up, there’s been plenty of movement and tons of speculation about who could be headed where.
The two biggest dominoes to fall in recent days are Troy Aikman’s reported move from Fox to ESPN, where he’ll sit in the booth for Monday Night Football, and Los Angeles Rams coach Sean McVay turning down an offer that reportedly could have been worth $100 million from Amazon to join its team on Thursdays. The Aikman news, in particular, is huge, as he was viewed as a potential name for Amazon and leaves a gigantic hole in Fox’s top broadcast team.
According to Andrew Marchand of the New York Post, the possibility exists for Fox to have to replace its entire booth due to both of its members hopping to the Worldwide Leader. Marchand reported that ESPN hopes to get Aikman and longtime partner Joe Buck on its Monday Night Football broadcasts, with NBC’s Al Michaels mentioned as a potential backup plan.
Aikman left for ESPN’s “Monday Night Football” for $90-plus million over five. Aikman could be followed by his longtime Fox partner, Joe Buck. ESPN wants to reunite the duo, while Fox hopes to keep Buck.
If ESPN doesn’t land Buck, it likely will turn its attention to Michaels as Aikman’s potential partner.
ESPN has done a whole lot of tinkering in its Monday booth in recent years, particularly since Mike Tirico left for NBC in 2015 and Jon Gruden left to become the head coach of the Raiders at the end of the 2017 season. Since then, Sean McDonough, Joe Tessitore, and Steve Levy have all taken over play-by-play duties, with Jason Witten, Booger McFarland, Louis Riddick, and Brian Griese all serving as analysts. The constant amid all of this has been sideline reporter Lisa Salters.
As for whether or not ESPN can land either of Buck or Michaels, well, that’s another story. Buck has been a stalwart at Fox for decades, and while he’s their top NFL broadcaster, that is hardly the only sport he calls. He’s their lead play-by-play man for baseball, has done World Series games for decades, and has been one of the first calls the company makes when it wants to bring a level of clout to any sports-related thing it puts on television. Michaels, meanwhile, was the voice of Monday Night Football for 20 years and wore a number of other hats for the network, but has been viewed as the longtime favorite to head to Amazon — Marchand reports that Michaels is “on the 1 yard line” to joining the network, but his desire is “to know who his analysts would be.”
Last fall marked the 25th anniversary of Tupac’s death. Meanwhile, next month will mark the 25th anniversary of The Notorious B.I.G.’s death. Since their deaths, hip-hop has experienced the loss of other major rappers. Some examples include Nipsey Hussle and Young Dolph, who were shot and killed in 2019 and 2021, respectively.During a recent interview with HotNewHipHop, Rick Ross spoke about how impactful their deaths were to this generation.
“Losing Nipsey and Dolph for this generation, I’m sure, was just as equivalent or greater to what [Notorious] B.I.G. or ‘Pac was for my generation,” he said. Nipsey was shot and killed outside of his Marathon Clothing store in South Los Angeles back in 2019 and Young Dolph was murdered inside of Makeda’s Homemade Butter Cookies in Memphis last fall. Rick Ross collaborated with Nipsey and Dolph throughout their careers and he even tried to sign Nipsey to his label, Maybach Music Group, at one point.
Rick Ross’ comments come after dropped a video for “Little Havana” with The-Dream — a track from his recently-released eleventh album RIcher Than I Ever Been.
You can read Ross’ interview on HotNewHipHop here.
Nipsey Hussle is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
Not even a potential global catastrophe can stop Peter Doocy from doing his job. It’s just that his job involves annoying White House press secretary Jen Psaki (and sometimes President Biden himself). On Friday, the Fox News correspondent tried to diminish Biden’s work helping to rally world leaders against Vladimir Putin. For his efforts, Doocy was patiently educated on the basics of diplomacy.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki forced to explain to Fox News’ Peter Doocy “how diplomacy works.”
Doocy cited a New York Times report about how Biden repeatedly reached out to China to help with the Russia-Ukraine situation. They turned him down. Doocy then asked, “So what have you guys done throughout this slow moving Russia crisis that has worked?”
Psaki was visibly taken aback by the ignorance of his question, simply asking him, “In what capacity?”
Doocy was then forced to rattle off some of the things Biden and his administration have done to address the turmoil in Eastern Europe. “Well, the President talked to Putin,” Doocy said. “He talked to the G-7. He threatened sanctions. He put sanctions in place. Now he says the sanctions are going to take 30 days, or about a month. Do you guys think the people in Ukraine have about a month?”
And so Psaki schooled Doocy, once more. “Well, Peter, let me just take a step back and explain to everyone how diplomacy works and how our approach from the United States has worked,” Psaki said:
“What the President has done is he has built a global coalition to stand up in the face of President Putin and President Putin’s aggression and invasion of Ukraine. What he has done is he has rallied the world, our European partners, even at cost to them in some capacities, to put in place significant sanctions, historic sanctions, that would have an enormous impact on the Russian financial sector. It is President Putin’s choice to go to war and invade Ukraine. That is what he has done. It is our choice and our responsibility and the role of the President in the United States to rally opposition and make sure they feel significant pain from that choice. That’s exactly what we have done.”
Meanwhile, others in the rightwing have been in disarray. While leaders, such as Mitch McConnell and Lindsay Graham, have denounced Putin’s efforts, others, such as Tucker Carlson and even a certain former president, have praised him, even calling his deadly invasion “genius.”
It’s been more than a year since Kim Kardashian filed for divorce from Kanye West, but the two are still fighting. Earlier this week, Kardashian requested to have the divorce expedited by the court while Kanye himself is still putting up a fight to win her back. Now Kanye has reportedly filed legal documents to have his social media posts kept out of their upcoming hearing. According to TMZ, the rapper has argued that Kim does not know that he wrote the posts despite the fact that they’ve been shared on social media accounts like Instagram.
“Kim claims she read something online allegedly by Kanye and characterizes the posts in her declaration as misinformation,” Kanye’s lawyer says according to TMZ. “Kim needed to offer the social media posts into evidence, and show that the posts were written by Kanye.” For what it’s worth, Kanye’s team did not deny that he’s behind the posts in the documents. Their argument instead is that Kim hasn’t done enough to prove that Kanye wrote them.
On top of that, Kanye’s lawyer reportedly says that the prenup between Kanye and Kim can no longer be viewed as valid, claiming there’s a presumption in California that prenups signed after 2001 are invalid, and that the only way that they can be validated is through a trial or if both parties agree to uphold its terms. It seems that Kanye will not agree to the terms, which means that a full-blown trial will be required, thus stifling Kim’s attempts to expedite the divorce.
David Lynch is more than one of the most distinctive filmmakers in history. He’s also a weather man, of sorts. Every day, more or less, the co-creator of Twin Peaks records a YouTube video of him greeting the world, telling people what the weather is like in his home city of Los Angeles. Sometimes he says more than that. On Friday, Lynch’s report began as usual, albeit with a little mention of Portishead. Then he launched in to a giant pause before addressing the biggest elephant in the room right now: Vladimir Putin ordering Russian troops to invade Ukraine.
“If I could say something to Mr. President Putin, we are, as human beings, charged as to how we treat our fellow man. And there is a law of nature, a hard and fast law. There’s no loopholes, there’s no escaping it,” Lynch averred. “And this law is: What you sow, you shall reap. And right now, Mr. Putin, you are sowing death and destruction, and it’s all on you.”
He went on: “The Ukrainians didn’t attack your country. You went in and attacked their country. And all this death and destruction is going to come back and visit you.”
Lynch then reminded Putin that karma is a bitch:
“In this big picture, in this show we’re involved in, there’s an infinite amount of time, so there’s plenty of time — life after life after life — for you to reap what you are sowing. My advice to you is, ‘Save yourself.’ Save the Ukrainians, save this world. Start getting along with your neighbors. Start building friendships. We are a world family. There is no room for this kind of absurdity anymore. Get with it. Stop this attack. Let’s work together so that all the countries of this world can come up in peace, get along with one another, and solve the problems that we’ve got together. Let’s get real.”
Hello, sun seekers! The All-Star break has officially come and gone, and while some find that as a relief, others, like myself and the true time off connoisseurs out there, find the relief itself (a.k.a. the vacations the break enables) to be the true highlight of this part of the NBA season. To completely revel in this shortest of sabbaticals, this very snappy R and R, I thought it necessary to offer up a mini NBA Summer Vacation Watch in the form of an NBA All-Star Break Vacation Watch.
So, grab a cold bev of choice and some sun tan lotion to put on in solidarity, sit back and dive in – your vitamin D depleted body will thank you.
Jimmy Butler
Though Butler living in Miami may lead some to think he leads a summer vacation lifestyle all year round, well, you’d be a little bit right. But this is also a man who goes for weighted beach runs on vacation and gets 500 (probably) pushups in between strolling the trellised grapes at his favorite Italian vineyard. Anyway, I believe Butler took a vacation during All-Star break because these outfits are even more breezy, the palms look even more exotic, and he shared the kind of quietly reflective “video out of the window of a plane” when it was all over, typical to those coming home from a good vacation. Also, when you’ve been doing this as long as I have, you just get a feeling about these things.
As a digestif, may I humbly present to you Jimmy Butler preparing a s’more in two parts.
Rating: While some might interpret this as “no days off” in the traditional workaholic sense, I’m choosing to look at it as no days off … from vacation.
Pascal Siakam
Siakam is historically excellent at vacations, no matter the brevity of the window. He’s also excellent at accompanying outfits, typically matching sets. There is about a two month window in Toronto where it’s possible to get fits like this off, so his dedication to beachwear means he picked these up fresh in anticipation of vacation, which is something we can all relate to.
Rating: All-Star snub? How about holding a starfish on an ATV on a beach instead?
Klay Thompson
Forever the man of mystery when it comes to where he’s chilling, Thompson did some training, some golf cart driving, and some diving, and knowing him it was probably all in the same day. I’d like to note to any skeptics who are like, “Does golfing really count as a vacation?” It does when you’re doing it barefoot!
Rating: May we all strive to chill as hard and in as many ways as he.
Jayson Tatum
Tatum, Deuce, and the family got away for a quick break where the focal point was this infinity pool. Namely, the suggestion of sitting for long stretches in the infinity pool in this chair, snorkeling around in it like lil Deuce, and taking long, uninterrupted moments to stare at it.
Rating: Or perhaps, as the name of the pool suggests, stare beyond it.
LeBron James
Always a decadent vacation-taker, whether bringing personal inflatables or all of his friends along, James kept it pretty low-key this week. He celebrated national margarita day beside an outdoor fire pit by an ocean — assuming Pacific and farther south than L.A. — and seemed to stay there enjoying the view until dusk, when he shared a pano that revealed Draymond Green was one of his guests.
Rating: Do I wish this was James singing alone at a beach bar in Mexico? Yes. But sometimes you have to take the vacations that are given.
Kyle Kuzma
Nice of Kuzma’s longtime partner, Winnie Harlow, to offer him some of her expertise when it comes to being in front of the camera for a living. Not too sure where the pair went but I am sure I’ll be thinking about that sea hammock (???) for the rest of my days.
Rating: Like, you just lie there and the ocean gently tickles your body? You’re on it but in it?
Serge Ibaka
Frankly, with another season of his show, “How Hungry Are You?,” launching and being signed to the Bucks, I was worried Ibaka wouldn’t have a chance to get away in the blink-and-you’ll-miss-it All-Star break but, serves me right for ever doubting a professional. Ibaka brought either his own massage table or a very 007 looking suitcase, plus a pair of very short and tight trunks, to a tropical location and enjoyed the hell out of it for a couple days. The man has had a conflicting relationship with the sea, so I’m also happy to see him facing those fears.
Rating: Imagine the ocean is Robin Lopez, Serge!
Rudy Gobert
Well if there was ever a man you expected to see standing ominously atop a vacation villa in fluorescent green trunks and potentially a generation 2 iPod, it’s Rudy Gobert. Gobert also treated us to an art film, entitled “Fire in slow motion.” and set to the Gladiator theme.
Rating: Though some in the comments are clamoring for Gobert to “please get off the top of a building and under a basket,” think about how great the gift of that specific sequence of words is, a gift granted by this vacation.
Jordan Clarkson
It was Jordan Clarkson time … to chill on the back of a boat, wear a crocheted top to a romantic dinner, and watch the Kanye West documentary on a beach with a candy buffet.
Rating: Truth is we’ve yet to find a timezone where it isn’t Jordan Clarkson time.
Myles Turner
Turner went full-on Sedona retiree getting into mysticism for his mini-break and you know what? It’s great. All your chakras should be open to matching shorts and breezy shirt sets like this one.
Rating: You know there were probably one or two crystals involved.
JaVale McGee
JaVale McGee took his family to Playa del Carmen, Mexico, to jump in some cenotes and chill very deeply — including on what looks like the largest hammock known to mankind.
Rating: Move over, Machu Picchu, because this giant hammock is the foremost man made wonder of this world now.
Norman Powell
Mr. Understand The Grind understood it was a good week to put his foot up, and thank goodness, because it’s broken. Powell had a whirlwind trade deadline so frankly wherever he ended up taking himself and his boot is entirely his business.
Rating: But I hope he got home and had to pour some leftover sand out of it.
Lonnie Walker
Lonnie Walker went to the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo and identified very deeply with this rodeo clown.
Rating: I think it’s fair to say, “Same.”
Tyler Herro
Herro got out on the water and in case you were wondering, YES, he did pack a bucket hat.
Rating: He wants to make sure you see it.
Paul Millsap
While I don’t think Paul Millsap got over to Italy for his break, I do thank the proud Italian owners of this well-worn flag and boat who took him for what looked like a wonderful afternoon.
Rating: Trying to think if there’s anything better than Paul Millsap smiling and coming up empty.
Udonis Haslem
The hardest working man in the NBA took a well-earned vacation!
Rating: I’m not kidding!
D’Angelo Russell
It was D’Angelo Russell’s birthday this past week and he was whisked away by his friends and loved ones to more sun soaked parts than Minneapolis, Minnesota. Russell — and by extension us — learned a lot about himself on this trip.
One, that he has a beautiful singing voice.
Two, that he is deeply respectful (we won’t say afraid) of the noble giant sea turtle.
And three, that he loves to dance to steel drums.
Rating: To the point where, in a video after the last video, Russell danced his way down to the beach and the ocean, sort of just gently swaying in the sunset by himself, maybe for hours.
Spencer Dinwiddie
What I know is that Mark Cuban would kill to endorse this beverage on Shark Tank.
Rating: Who said you can’t drink out of fruits and vegetables in the comfort of your own home? No one, so grab that pineapple or acorn squash or whatever you’ve got and have yourself a weekend.
Justin Holiday
It’s very nice when guys forfeit their brief, mid-season vacations for their families. In this case, Justin Holiday took his kids to Disney World, where they had the time of their lives tearing it up under fireworks.
Rating: Honestly extra kudos to Holiday for going back to Disney after the Bubble!
Lou Williams
On the same family vacation theme, Lou Williams spent a lot of his week off trolling his kids and having more fun watching them have fun than if he was on an exotic yacht solo (no offense to exotic yacht solos).
Rating: Sweet Lou, indeed.
Jae Crowder
Yes, Jae Crowder, love is love, or in this case, love is you getting a deep tissue massage in an open-air gazebo adjacent to the beach.
Rating: It takes all kinds.
Nassir Little
I’m of the personal opinion that doing initials on the beach is a lost mode of expression, and I thank Nassir Little for doing his part that this form of communication does not go the way of hieroglyphics.
Rating: What’s nice is if you dig out a wonky looking heart with your toe the ocean will be there to wipe the beach clean so you can try again. The eternal canvas.
Rui Hachimura
Haters will say why does Rui Hachimura need a vacation and real ones will know haters have probably not read this far, also that everybody deserves a vacation.
Steven Spielberg had a rare flop with his recent take on West Side Story, though it wasn’t a complete failure: Not only was it critically acclaimed but it was also nominated for seven Oscars. Indeed, he’s already got his next projects lined up. There’s the semi-autobiographical movie he’s making with Seth Rogen and David Lynch. Now he’s working on a movie about the hero of one of the most exciting blockbusters of the 1960s.
That movie is Bullitt, the 1968 thriller starring Steve McQueen in one of his signature roles, playing a turtleneck-loving San Francisco detective who gets into what many consider cinema history’s finest car chase. As per Deadline, Spielberg has no interest in remaking it. What he does want to do is make a movie about McQueen’s Frank Bullitt, with a completely different storyline.
Of course, who could fill McQueen’s shoes? Spielberg could always tap Damien Lewis, who played McQueen himself in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. And despite following Frank Bullitt on a different case, surely one of the most kinetic filmmakers in history will feel compelled to grace us with another top shelf car chase. After all, Spielberg’s first movie (albeit made for TV) was Duel, a feature length ode to automotive mayhem. In the meantime, enjoy that classic car chase, which will be hard to beat, even for Spielberg.
If you ask your local craft beer head for her go-to pint of choice, chances are she’s not going to name a mass-market Japanese import. Yet if you’re looking for a cold brew to go with sushi or teppanyaki, is there really any other way to go? Would you drop a shot of sake into a Sam Adams? Only a philistine etc. etc. Few would argue that rice-based Japanese lagers don’t deserve their place in the beer solar system, and frankly, they’re pretty good in their own right — light, crispy, and refreshing.
Just as with Coors, Bud, and Miller, the Japanese import market has its own big three — Sapporo, Asahi, and Kirin. And as with their American counterparts (which are also somewhat similar in taste, Bud even uses rice) chances are you have a favorite. But is that choice actually based on taste or something else? Like maybe you just like the pretty picture on the bottle, ever thought of that, dumbass? I kid, I kid.
This is one of those kind-of-dumb, kind-of-relevant questions I find myself asking every time I eat sushi and finally I figured the only way to settle it was with a blind taste test. So I went down to my local Total Wine & Liquor, which tends to have a pretty good selection of imports, and bought every Japanese or rice-based brew I could find. Then, with a group of about 10 adults, we tasted each, collecting our notes and naming our favorites. For the group ranking, I simply added up everyone’s ranking of each beer and then tabulated it like golf: lowest score wins.
The lineup:
Sapporo Premium Beer, 4.9% ABV from Japan
Sapporo Pure, 4% ABV from Japan
Kirin Ichiban, 5.0% ABV from Japan
Asahi Super Dry, 5.2% ABV from Japan
Yoho Brewing Suiyoubi No Neko Belgian Style White Ale, 4.5% ABV from Japan
Master Gao Puffed Rice Chinese Pale Ale, 7.6% ABV from China
Kigen Kawaba Pearl Pilsner, 5.2% ABV from Japan
Kigen Kawaba Snow Weizen, 5% ABV from Japan
Kigen Kawaba Sunrise Ale, 5% ABV from Japan
Hitachino Nest Japanese Classic Ale, 7% ABV from Japan
Doesn’t taste like much either. Feels like a low cal or an NA, almost a hard seltzer. Not offering much other than light sweetness. 5/10
Reaction Upon Seeing The Label:
I guess I was way off thinking this one was an NA or a low-cal option, though in my experience, most weizenbocks are darker and with higher alcohol content. This “snow” weizen just didn’t seem to offer much flavor, to me. That said, it wasn’t bad. It was easy enough to drink, just not very interesting. It was light enough, but it lacked the bigger bubbles and hop bite of the more standard rice pilsners.
Taste: Orange and hoppy, with another flavor I don’t recognize. Maybe an herb or something? This one is fine. Not in love, just maybe a little too complex for me and it kind of dries my mouth out. 5/10
Reaction Upon Seeing The Label:
Master Gao’s is a 7.6% ABV brew that’s “unfiltered and unpasteurized,” and meant to taste something like a brut IPA. I pretty much never order IPAs (I tend to prefer more color and fewer hops), so perhaps not surprisingly, it wasn’t my favorite. Maybe it was a little funky. I actually thought I was tasting some kind of orange hibiscus Belgian wit.
That being said, I never would’ve guessed it was the booziest of the bunch, so… if you’re looking for something like that, it’s not a bad choice.
Look: Golden and foamy. Smell: Smells like another rice lager, this one with a little more of that uriney pils smell. Taste: Decent rice lager, but not as good as the last version of this [which was sample 3, the Kawaba Pils]. This tastes more like a cheap American lager, like a PBR or Hamm’s. 6/10.
Reaction Upon Seeing The Label:
To partly answer my question in the introduction, it turned out Kirin Ichiban was my least favorite of the big three Japanese brews. I guess for me that would make it the Coors Light of Japan (Coors Original still rules). I don’t know how to describe the malt component of a pils, the part that’s not the crisp effervescence, other than uriney, and this one was definitely leaning toward the uriney end of the spectrum.
That being said, I thought it reminded me of a PBR, and I’ve happily drunk a good many PBRs in my life.
7. Hitachino Nest Japanese Classic Ale — $4.49 a bottle.
Hitachino
Original Notes (tasted fourth):
Look: A nice caramel amber color, clear.
Smell: Sort of a raisin-y bran smell. Like raisin bread.
Taste: I love the caramel malt of this, but the raisin/prune flavor isn’t my favorite. Tastes boozier than the others. Seems like it’d be good in smaller doses. 6/10
Reaction Upon Seeing The Label:
Hitachino Nest has a ton of different varieties, but for whatever reason this one was the only variety I found on this particular day. The “Japanese Classic Ale,” “a recreation of the first Japanese beer made in the Edo period,” describes itself as like an English IPA. But the “P” in IPA stands for pale, and this one was clearly not P. So, it feels more like an amber ale. I generally like amber ales, and this one was okay, but it was strong on that raisiny prune kind of flavor you tend to get in Scotch ales, dark Belgians, and some ambers. This one was made with British hops, so the Scotch ale similarity would seem to check out. The high alcohol content was also evident in the taste, which was almost like a barleywine.
Again, this feels like more of a slow sipper suited for smaller glasses, so tasting it alongside crispy happy hour chuggers (something something your mom) probably wasn’t its ideal habitat.
Taste: A fine watery lager. Very clean and not bitter, but kind of boring. A replacement-level lager. 6/10.
Reaction Upon Seeing The Label:
Sapporo Pure has fewer calories (90) than Sapporo Premium Lite (110), and slightly higher alcohol content (4.0% vs 3.9% for Sapporo Premium Lite, which the store didn’t have anyway), so it seems to be going for that Michelob Ultra market. Which I admit I don’t entirely understand. Is that the beer you drink when you’re training for a marathon, or pop open on the way to a rock climb? Either chill out and have a real beer or put some vodka in a water bottle and become a full-blown alcoholic.
Smell: Clean rice lager smell, less of the urine-y malt, but still crisp.
Taste: Not bad, not bad at all. Though it does have a slight… green fruit flavor? I can’t quite place it, but it reminds me of slightly undercooked grain. Another replacement-level lager. 7/10.
Bottom Line: Sapporo placed number two of the big three. Obviously, they’re all pretty similar, and all very drinkable. I found it to be crisper and a little less malt-uriney than the Kirin, though with a slightly undercooked grain flavor. A fairly solid crispy boy in any case.
4. Suiyoubi No Neko Belgian Style White Ale from Yoho Brewing – $30.54 for six.
Yoho
Original Notes:
Look: Pale yellow and clear.
Smell: Very wheaty-yeasty smell. Is that a hef? A Belgian wit? Is that coriander in there?
Taste: Tastes like Franziskaner, or a clean saison. Crisp and refreshing with some wheat. I like it. 8/10.
Reaction Upon Seeing The Label:
“Wednesday Cat,” as “suiyoubi no neko” apparently means in English, is indeed a Belgian wit (see also Blue Moon), and a pretty good one at that (with notes of orange and coriander). Your mileage may vary, as with all of these, but as a fan of Franziskaner and wheat beers generally, I thought this one was great (hey, craft guys, make more wheat beers, and you don’t always have to put a bunch of random stuff in them, wheat is pretty good on its own).
Worth the 30 bucks for a six pack? Maybe not, but hey, it’s your money. “Wednesday Cat” is also a really good name.
Smell: Sort of a Miller-y, with a bread-heavy nose.
Tastes: Light, crisp, refreshing. One of the better versions of these. This one more “cooked” than the last one [sample 9, the Sapporo]. A basic lager, but a higher-end one. 8/10.
Reaction Upon Seeing The Label:
Asahi was, definitively, my favorite of the big three Japanese imports. There are a million beers sort of like this, that you can find in virtually any country, and it’s probably the most common beer style worldwide. So they’re not exactly reinventing the wheel here. But it is a very solid version of it. Truly, not much to complain about here. It’s crisp and refreshing and tastes a little more cooked than the Sapporo, a perfect complement to any fish or rice dish.
Smell: This smells like your classic rice lager. I feel like I can even smell the roasted rice on it, like genmaicha tea. Mostly clean and crisp with just a hint of that uriney pils.
Taste: This tastes like your classic Japanese rice lager. It’s very thirst-quenching, crisp, and light, and not really bitter at all. A top-end rice lager? 8/10.
Reaction Upon Seeing The Label:
Basically, the same Czech pilsner brewed with rice style as the mega breweries, but from a smaller brewer. In theory, I suppose you would expect a beer that costs almost 25 bucks for a six-pack to be a step up from the eight-dollar versions of it, but with imports, you never really know where the money is going. Surprisingly, this one did taste exactly like a more expensive version of your basic Japanese rice lager. A sort of boutique pils, if you will. It’s probably not going to be available at your local sushi joint, but I’d be buying it if it was (assuming it wasn’t like 18 bucks a pop, which based on the bottle price could very well be the case).
Look: Sort of orange-brown with nicely foamy head.
Smell: Has that vague rum raisin kind of smell like [Hitachino Nest]. Very boozy.
Taste: Tastes better than it smells, the crispness balances that rum-raisiny malt very nicely. I actually like this a lot. 9/10.
Reaction Upon Seeing The Label:
Not surprisingly, given my beer tastes, I chose the amber ale. This one had some of the same rummy, raisin bread notes as the Hitachino Nest, but, maybe thanks to the lower ABV and the crispness and carbonation, I liked this one a lot more. It offered that same caramel-toffee malt flavor that I love so much but the old pruney flavor that I don’t love was much more balanced in this, existing more on the nose than on that palate. Obviously, this one doesn’t really fit the rice lager profile so it’s a bit of an outlier, and not everyone enjoys medium-hopped reds and ambers as much as I do, but it’s a great beer.
And if I may say, Kawaba’s labels are very fantastic.
Part 2: Group Ranking Results
10. Hitachino Nest Japanese Classic Ale, 7% ABV from Japan
This dark, high ABV, sorta prune-y tasting IPA got the most votes for last place, as well as the highest cumulative score, which is again probably not surprising considering it’s almost a barley wine and we were tasting it against light lagers. It’d probably be a fairer test if we tasted it alongside ambers or IPAs because it’s really not a bad beer.
9. Master Gao Puffed Rice Chinese Pale Ale, 7.6% ABV from China
My panel thought this one was fruity, acidic, interesting, lemon, stinky, and bitter, among other things. Again, this one should probably have been tasted alongside other IPAs where it would fit better. I will say I didn’t think it tasted that boozy for a 7.6% beer, and no one called it out as such.
8. Kigen Kawaba Snow Weizen, 5% ABV from Japan
This one was polarizing, with more than one vote for the worst (including my own) but also multiple votes for favorite. Just goes to show, one man’s “watery” is another man’s “clean.”
7. Kirin Ichiban, 5.0% ABV from Japan
Another one that ended up being weirdly polarizing, tied for the most number one votes but also ranked near the bottom from other tasters (like myself). Either “the perfect light beer” or “skunky” and “uriney” depending on the taster. The lowest cumulative ranking of the Japan Big Three, but also had the most number one votes, as I said, so go figure.
Mileage may vary.
6. Sapporo Premium Beer, 4.9% ABV from Japan
The number two ranked of the Japanese big three, both from me and cumulatively. Tasters called this one “meh,” “fine,” and “crisp,” to go along with my own read that it tasted undercooked somehow. A bit surprising that it tested lower than its lighter cousin.
5. Kigen Kawaba Sunrise Ale, 5% ABV from Japan
Again, not particularly surprising that my personal favorite rated much lower among tasters who don’t like darker toffee-flavored malts.
Whatever, half these idiots were drunk anyway.
4. Sapporo Pure, 4% ABV from Japan
My panel called this one “easy drinking” and “no recollection,” with lots of votes for second favorite.
3. Yoho Brewing Suiyoubi No Neko Belgian Style White Ale, 4.5% ABV from Japan
Most people noted the citrus and wheat notes in this one, and most of the votes had it middle or high middle, a sort of non-polarizing sub-fave.
2. Asahi Super Dry, 5.2% ABV from Japan
My favorite of the big three turned out to be the cumulative best of the big three and even received a number one vote. One taster called it “skunky on the back end,” but most found it “enjoyable,” “refreshing,” and “crisp.”
1. Kigen Kawaba Pearl Pilsner, 5.2% ABV from Japan
Our cumulative favorite turned out to be, perhaps not surprisingly, the slightly more boutique take on the baseline rice-infused Czech pilsner. I had it as my number two, and the majority of the tasters had it in their top three, even the ones who called it “the perfect Mexican beer” and “this is Budweiser.”
Here’s to hoping they start importing more of it.
Vince Mancini is on Twitter. You can access his archive of reviews here.
Joe Budden had some high praise for Cardi B, and she decided to show some love right back. The notoriously critical hip-hop personality, who runs his own show, The Joe Budden Podcast, was discussing her rise to fame and nothing but love for the New York rapper. “Cardi B is a superstar,” he said. “And you can’t argue that she is not.”
Joe Budden speaks on @iamcardib being a super star in Rap.
“Cardi B is a super star and you can’t argue that she is not”
Well, as she does with most things — good or bad — Cardi B caught wind of the clip, which had been circulating on Twitter, and decided to respond. Of course, the high praise meant more to her because she has a long history with Budden, who also came up in New York as a rapper.
“I told y’all he always believed in me……that’s why I always got love for him even when he gets me mad …That’s my mean uncle,” she wrote on Twitter, sharing a very old photo of the two together, way back before Cardi is where she is now. Considering how many people try to come after Cardi due to her success, it’s nice to see someone in the game — and a man, no less — give her the credit she’s due. Now, superstar, can we get a new album?
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