Caviar, Vodka, German Beer & Gondola Ride

Last week I did two events with ABC in Long Beach. Both were OK but not stellar.

First was a Vodka & Caviar tasting. Larsson's Vodka from Sweden, Made with 7 different types of potatoes. Good Vodka. One way I found interesting was  grinding black pepper into the vodka. Took the heat away. I rather liked it. They also made a Moscow Mule with real English Ginger Beer. Good drink. The caviar was not special. Just salmon roe & American Paddlefish. It did show how well caviar & vodka pair. The reps also said that vodka should be drank at room temperature. Most vodka is made with grains and just a few distillers use potatoes.

My main gripe about this was it was "advertised" as 3 stations with food & vodka with models attending at each station. What it turned out to be two female reps from the vodka company. You sat at your table and they poured the vodka and explained the drink. Which was fine but false advertising.

Second event was advertised as a "75 minute Gondola Ride" with German beer tasting. Fine except at the 50 minute mark we turned around and headed for the dock. We were told that we could stay on the gondola at the dock and finish the tasting. The beer was good and the pours were very generous but they provided no food or nibblies and this was at 6:00 on a weekday. I did bring a bag of Chex mix and I am sure glad I did. I did not have dinner yet and needed something. Imre the host from ABC ate most of  the mix. He should have been providing it. Jim brought a dozen cupcakes as it was one of his female friends birthday that week.

So what I have learned is read through the lines when ABC puts out a flyer and discount what they say.