Cinco de Mayo Tequila Guide - What's 'Bueno' at the LCBO

Cinco de Mayo is not Mexican Independence Day. It’s scarcely celebrated outside of North America. And though in the Puebla state it’s meant to commemorate The Battle of Puebla in 1862, the cultural symbolism in Canada is largely lost.

So, given that your gringo idea of Cinco de Mayo is assumedly centered around a bottle of tequila, pummeling a piñata to death and a guacamole mixer, here’s the essential LCBO-inspired Cinco de Mayo tequila guide…

Tequila, Tequila!

Sauza Gold

Let’s start off with shit that’ll make you swirl. Further on down the list you’ll want to choose your hooch with more care, but stock up on this rail staple first and hide it in the cabinet for the after-fiesta!

$44.95 – $ 39.95, save $5.00 until May 24, 2014

Los Arango Reposado

The handcrafted blue bottle and leather label is enough to make this smooth reposado stand out on your shelf. It’s sippable character and notes of citrus and white pepper might not leave it up there for long.

$44.65 – 750 mL bottle comes with FREE Free Caballito Glass until May 24, 2014 

Tequila Don Julio Blanco

One of the more refined blanco (un-aged) tequilas at the LCBO, the dry citrusy flavour will have your tongue tingling with hints of black pepper.

$79.95 – 25 bonus Air Miles until May 24, 2014

Mar Azul Reposado Sourced from the central lowland region of Mexico this reposado is double distilled in stainless steel and aged for up to 11-months in white oak barrels. A little more complex, with a nutty finish, this limited supply is better stocked on your shelf than someone else’s. $93.10  – Limited supply

Dulce Vida Premium Organic Tequila Anejo

Cask strength is generally a term reserved for scotch or bourbon, but this certified organic brew comes from hand selected agave from the highlands of Los Altos and packs a pervasive 50% punch.

$98.50 – Limited supply

Original article published at View the Vibe

A Time to Refelct

As the air becomes more crisp and the sun sleeps at an earlier hour, the greenery mellows and the school bells bellow. A turning of the season marks a time for reflection. For, the summer has past and the fall is the future. It's a time to look back and remember the rays. Remember the meals and remember the days. Remember the friends, the folly, the fun. The journey has passed, now the story's begun...

As soon as the airplane took off on April 17, 2012, I began to write. In the young hours of the morning, the ink bled through the first pages of my Moleskine as I broke the horizon on an adventure that would take me 139-days into the unexpected. At that moment, there was no foreseeable end. A pile of cash and a one-way plane ride to what I could only imagine was paradise. 

Looking back on the journey, now exactly five months later; from atop the folds in my bed sheets, the fading light pooling on to the hardwood floor of my bedroom through the rectangular panes of my south-facing window in the city of Toronto; so many of the sounds, smells and sensations of Southeast Asia are still fresh in my mind. Some of the best times are a blur. The beaches are tactile. The mountains, so magnificent they're a mystery. The cities, my pulse. The food, my muse. 

Here is the start (once again-- read my first blog of the trip here) of what went down through nine countries, with no plan, some free time, and a major yearning to live it up while I still can. 

...Oh, and did I mention that booze is cheap and phenomenal food is practically free? Ya, that makes for some inspired writing! 

Check back often as my hand-printed pages hit the hardwire.