The Beers of Honduras and Belize

August 2, 2010 - Filed under Drinks

More interesting flavours from interesting places. This time, we’re posting our review of the beers of Honduras and Belize. Honduras was a surprise after Costa Rica’s range of very similar lagers. We found Honduras had 4 distinctly different lagers that were readily available just about everywhere. Belize was also a hit with two light lagers and a stout.

HONDURAS

Salva Vida

A pale lager brewed by Cerveceria Hondurena in Tegucigalpa (as are the other Honduran beers), ‘Salva Vida’ translates to ‘Life Saver’ in English. It’s the most popular beer in Honduras and you’ll find it everywhere for a dollar in local shops or two dollars in tourist priced areas. With a slightly skunky aroma and a metallic finish, it’s thin yet malty. Darker than the other available lagers. Overall an easily drinkable beer. 4.8% Alcohol. Read More…

Posted by: Shim

Costa Rican and Nicaraguan Beverages

March 11, 2010 - Filed under Drinks

In Costa Rica it’s safe to drink the water, but why would you when you’ve got all these other choices? ;) Costa Rica has one major brewery called Cerveceria de Costa Rica which is owned by the Florida Ice and Farm Co., but they brew a variety of beers locally. And there’s a few other canned beverage alternatives too. It’s the local custom to have your beer in a glass with ice, but as gringos we rarely had to ask for it without (‘sin hielo’).

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Posted by: Shim

Bali Beers

June 19, 2009 - Filed under Drinks

Kelly and I are fans of sharing the big beer with a couple small glasses. It’s something we picked up in Brazil at the many restaurants where you get a seat at a plastic table in the middle of the sidewalk or sometimes in the middle of the street. You even get a giant beer cozy to keep it cool. It’s often a little bit cheaper, and there’s something very communal about it. 1 beer/2 glasses is often one of our first translations into the native tongue.

Bintang
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Posted by: Shim

Back Online and a Buck a Beer

April 15, 2009 - Filed under Drinks, Eats, General, Planning, Stuff to do

After almost a month with an over heating video card stuck in 640×480 and $600 later, I’m back online. For most travelers it probably would have been a non issue till they got home using internet cafes in the meantime, but I have a number of client projects on the go and I’m usually not more than an arms length from my PC unless I’m underwater. Luckily I bought an iPod Touch before leaving Canada! I’ve often pooh-poohed how the iPhone and Touch are bulky MP3 players with not quite enough built in features to be true PDAs, but man was I thankful for the WiFi, browser, and email applications these past few weeks, not to mention the countless hours spent playing solitaire when the power was out. I was able to stay on top of client issues and steal Kelly’s Mac for emergencies. It took UPS almost 2 weeks to ship a new video card from New Jersey to Koh Tao in Thailand via expedited shipping. At least I didn’t have to install it with my Swiss Army knife screwdriver… I ended up finding a repair shop locally that had the proper tools, something of a rarity on some of the smaller islands.

So what does a nerd do offline in a tropical country? He stays hydrated…
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Posted by: Shim

Week 25: Things to do before leaving the Philippines

February 22, 2009 - Filed under Drinks, Planning, Scuba Diving, Travel, Weekly Report

With a week left before we head to Thailand, we’ve attempted to mark off the last few random things remaining on our Philippines checklist…

#1. Try San Miguel Strong Ice

We’ve never seen anyone drinking it. Is it a cider? Nope, it turns out that it’s yet another pale pilsen. This time its ice filtered and packing a bit more of a punch. 6.3% alcohol, making it a close second to Red Horse Strong Beer.

San Miguel Strong Ice
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Posted by: Shim

Random Factoid: San Miguel makes good, cheap beer.

December 1, 2008 - Filed under Drinks, Random Factoid

How cheap you ask? Well, at today’s exhcange rate of 39 Philippine Pesos for 1 Canadian Dollar, it’s a mere $0.71 for a can of Pale Pilsen from the supermarket. Now the question isn’t my beer budget. It’s how many situps I need to do to burn off 6 cans of beer. :)

Posted by: Shim

Week 13: 3 Months Housewarming Party

December 1, 2008 - Filed under Drinks, Eats, Entertainment, Weekly Report

We’ve been in the Philippines for 3 months now. Since we’ve finally settled we decided to throw a little housewarming party at our new place and invite a bunch of people over to celebrate. We started out the week by heading into town for party supplies. Off to Hypermart in Dumaguete, we loaded up a shopping cart full of Mexican food supplies, and another cart full of beer, rum, gin, and soft drinks. We nearly cleared the shelves of San Miguel. The grand total? About $200. I love how cheap food and beverages are here. Unless you’re wanting specialty items, nearly everything is 50% what we pay back home. Booze and beer is even cheaper with no government taxation like in Canada. Read More…

Posted by: Shim

Creepy Crawlers

October 2, 2008 - Filed under General

So last week after I updated my Facebook status regarding a bug incident there’s been a fair amount of people asking for more details regarding the critters around us here in the Philippines. And while we’d never want to dissuade anyone from visiting… while in a third world country a person should be prepared to deal with varying types of pesky pest issues.

So, back to the previously mentioned bug incident… I was cooking dinner the other night at the outside stove (some unbelievably tough steaks I believe) and while heading between kitchens for various ingredients, I failed to keep an eye on my can of beer. Cooking completed, we sat down to eat. Then as I finished the last of my beer, I felt the feelers of a fairly large sized cockroach on my lips. Needless to say, I was thoroughly grossed out and sprayed the table with the last swallow of beer. Dumping the roach out of the can, I smashed him good. Incredibly, minutes later when I wondered if the roach had crawled into the can or had been packaged there at the beer plant… I noticed he had managed to crawl a good 2-3 feet from where I had crushed him. I smashed him again, then lit him on fire just to be sure. I can understand why roaches will survive a nuclear blast. They’re near indestructible! Read More…

Posted by: Shim

Cerveza!

September 11, 2008 - Filed under Drinks

I wouldn’t call myself a beer connoisseur. More of a cross-sectional consumer, but I do like to sample a little bit of everything and the Philippines has a few very good beers. All come with little paper hats… which possibly serves some sort of sanitary purpose? Maybe to keep out flies while sitting on the bar waiting to be delivered? Perhaps to mop up the condensation which inevitably drips off the bottle and into your lap? No, it’s actually just so you can wipe off the lip of the bottle…

San Miguel Pilsen – Long live the stubby bottle! The standard beer of the Philippines. Ranges from P25 to P65  (Approx $0.50 – $1.50) depending how touristy the bar is. Light and refresing. Available on every corner in the Philippines and in British Columbia at most government liquor stores. An amusing tagline on the back of most bottles reads, “A truly satisfying beer with a refined well-balanced flavor. Perfected and brewed for over a century. The only beer that nourishes true Filipino friendships.” Read More…

Posted by: Shim