Trunk Tea: Free from spirits...
But not free OF spirit!
Back during Lent, I went to see a movie with my friend Missy at Sidewalk Cinema, Birmingham's only nonprofit, independent theater. Besides supporting a local business and not lining the pockets of a big conglomerate, one of the fun things about going to Sidewalk is that they serve food and drinks – bar drinks. In fact, they have a lovely bar that you can visit even if you're not going to the movies.
But here's the thing – I had given up alcohol for Lent, a fact that I had not mentioned to my friend. I figured I'd get a Coke or something, even though I don't usually drink sodas. Lucky for me and to my great delight, Sidewalk has a number of nonalcoholic, non-soft drink options.
The one that caught my eye was a spirit-free Aviation by a Birmingham company called Trunk Tea. Emily Wines founded and owns Trunk Tea, which is located at Birmingham's startup hub, Innovation Depot.
In case you're wondering, as I was, about the name (my mind went to an elephant's trunk, but that's just me, I'm sure), the website says that her grandfather, who traveled extensively across Alabama, would carry his own supply of liquor in the trunk of his car, because some areas were "dry counties" where alcohol wasn't available. He called his stash "Trunk Tea." As Hank Jr. would say, this practice became a family tradition and was passed down through the subsequent generations. Over time, "Trunk Tea" came to represent the idea of being prepared for a celebratory drink on the road. Today, Wines has used this to build a brand that offers quality beverages that celebrate the spirit of simple pleasures and good company without the spirits.
Just so you know, there are still 24 dry counties in Alabama out of 67, although a number of them have wet cities. I don't understand the point of that, but maybe one of you can enlighten me.
Back to Sidewalk. I chose the Aviation because I love a "real" aviation cocktail and the hint of violet you get. Also, I'm a gin girl. I enjoyed it so much that when I saw the Trunk Tea Aviation for sale at the Pig on Clairmont (that's the Piggly Wiggly grocery store on Clairmont Ave. in Birmingham, Ala., if you're reading this from somewhere else) along with a Cosmo and a Caipirinha, I snapped up one of each flavor and brought them home to do a taste test.
I kept mine in the refrigerator, although they are shelf stable, so they'd be good and cold when Ricky and I tried them. We each made our own tasting notes, and here's what we thought.
COSMO
A traditional Cosmopolitan is made with vodka, cranberry juice, lime juice, and Cointreau, an orange-flavored liqueur.
I could definitely taste lime followed by cranberry, which is consistent with a traditional Cosmopolitan. It was extremely tart but had a good mouthfeel. Even though a Cosmo is not effervescent, for some reason, I expected this one to be fizzy, but it wasn't. Maybe I got that impression because it comes in a can.
Ricky found the Cosmo to be very tart up front, not sweet to his "buds" at all, and fruity in a citrus way.
The Cosmo is described on the can as "tart, fruity, citrus," which is spot on. It only has 3 grams of added sugar which would account for why it seems so tart. It does contain monk fruit sweetener as well as cranberry and lime juice. It's finished with orange flower water and orange oil, but that subtlety in flavor was lost on us. Many alcohol-free drinks try to use hot pepper to mimic the burn of alcohol, but Trunk Tea doesn't do that, and I like it.
CAIPIRINHA
The Caipirinha is a Brazilian cocktail made with cachaça (s sugarcane hard liquor), sugar, and lime.
I found the Trunk Tea Caipirinha to have a very mild, almost musty (in a good way) flavor with a fairly bitter back end. It contains pure wasabi oil, and I expected to get more of that through my sinuses, but there's no real bite to it. This one felt particularly greasy on my lips.
Ricky found it to be slightly citrus forward with a weak hint of spice and a little bitter at the back end.
Trunk Tea describes its Caipirinha as "light, herbal, funky." Of the three we tried, this one has the least added sugar, with only 2 grams, but it too contains monk fruit sweetener. It is made with green tea, which means it is the only one of the three that contains caffeine. There's some wheat grass powder in there, which probably accounts for the "funky" flavor. It also contains the aforementioned wasabi oil as well as lime oil, and left a visibly greasy residue on the glasses we were using.
AVIATION
One of my all-time favorite cocktails, the Aviation is made with gin, maraschino liqueur, crème de violette, and lemon juice.
I detected the definite taste and smell of violet with a hint of juniper and cherry finished by lemon. It does have a somewhat perfumey taste because of the violet extract, but I like it.
Ricky said that he found it slightly fizzy and citric. He got the faint odor of perfume and found that this one had a little bite to it.
"Floral, dry, vibrant" is how the Aviation is described. With exponentially more sugar than the rest, 19 grams, as well as monk fruit sweetener, this one is definitely more sugary, but there are no oil-based ingredients. Trunk Tea also uses butterfly pea flower powder to give this drink its signature violet color.
After our tastings, Ricky and I decided to rank the drinks in order of our most to least favorite. Maybe because the Aviation was the first Trunk Tea I ever tasted, I ranked it first, followed by the Cosmo and the Caipirinha. Ricky picked the Cosmo first, followed by the Aviation and the Caipirinha.
While we tasted these libations straight from the refrigerator, we both thought that they would all fare better served over ice. We also both agreed that if you are looking for an alternative to alcohol but want the experience and flavor of a cocktail, Trunk Tea is one of the best options we've found because all three are pretty close approximations to the drinks after which they are fashioned. And the fact that it's made right here in Birmingham makes it taste just that much sweeter.