This was another random find as I walked around my local Canal's liquor store. I was amazed when I saw these. I recall making Jello with alcohol in it back in college, but other than that, I can't think of too many other edible boozes. I know that some foods, like rum cake, or beer battered shrimp, technically have alcohol in them, but I mean ones that have a significant amount. All of these came from the Cooloo company, and I tried three kinds--the mai tai, the cosmo, and the paloma.
Cooloo is one of those companies with an almost nonexistent online presence. The official company website only has a brief product list, a list of places that stock their wares (stores in New York and New Jersey only), a contact page, and a very brief and undetailed company history. I wasn't even able to find out the founder(s) name, when the company started, or other very basic information. Cooloo's Twitter account, as far as I could see, only has two posts, both from July 2019, and they're only promotions about their products. The label on the pops does mention they're based in Lakewood, NJ, but that's about all the further data I know. I did learn, though, that evidently popsicles with alcohol is a growing market. I read a Huffington Post article rating some of them. Alternate companies include Buzz Pop, Claffey's, Skinny Freezer, and Frutapop. Also, aside from the three I tried, Cooloo also make a pina colada kind and a gin and tonic one.
Therefore, to flesh this out a little, I'll discuss the featured cocktails a bit. The paloma is made from tequila, lime juice, and either grapefruit-flavored soda or actual grapefruit juice. Sometimes a lime wedge is stuck on the side of the glass, along with a dusting of salt on the rim, like a margarita. The origin of this drink is quite mysterious. Some credit the famous cantina owner and bartender Don Javier Delgado Corona (about 1923-2020) as having invented it at his beloved establishment in Tequila, Mexico. However, according to an online source I read, Corona himself denied this. I also read a long, exhaustively detailed explanation of the drink's possible origins on alcademic.com. It's a long back and forth article, looking for the first reference to the paloma cocktail in books, menus, etc. Most agree that it's probably a Mexican invention, but grapefruit wasn't really grown much in Mexico until the 1960's, and the first major grapefruit soda, Squirt, wasn't sold in Mexico until 1955. The first definite reference to the exact drink appears to be even in the 21st century. So no one really knows for sure. The name "paloma" means "dove" in Spanish, and is believed to reference an 1860's Mexican folk song "La Paloma."
The cosmo, or the cosmopolitan, if you're not into the whole brevity thing, to quote another cocktail lover The Dude, also has a nebulous and disputed history. A possible precursor, which contained gin and Cointreau, dates back to the 1930's. Some credit Neal Murray with developing the drink, in Minneapolis in 1975. Others say Cheryl Cook made it first in South Beach, Florida, in 1985 or 1986. But the consensus leading candidate seems to be Toby Cecchino and Melissa Huffsmith-Roth, in 1989, in the Manhattan bar called The Odeon. Regardless who invented it, the gay community in Provincetown, Massachusetts, certainly helped popularize the beverage. And the popular HBO show "Sex and the City" in the late 1990's/early 2000's did so as well. In fact, the cosmo may have become too popular for its own good, and now there's a bit of a backlash against it. Some bars even refuse to serve it. Anyway, a cosmo is usually made with vodka, triple sec, lime juice, and cranberry juice.
Finally, there's the mai tai, the drink which usually consists of rum, lime juice, curacao liqueur, and orgeat syrup (which is made with almonds, sugar and either rose water or orange flavor). There is a controversy about who invented it, but unlike the other two the dispute is much more simple. Basically, most credit Victor J. Bergeron with creating it in 1944, in his South Pacific-themed tiki bar "Trader Vic's," near Oakland, California. A few say competing tiki bar owner Donn Beach first made it in 1933, in his California restaurant "The Beachcomber." But still others claim that Beach didn't take credit for the mai tai, and just noted that it was similar to a drink he started making back in 1933, called the QB Cooler. Beach did invent several drinks, most notably the zombie, so he clearly did have potent mixology skills. Also, it appears that Beach started the whole tiki bar idea in the U.S., so it appears that Bergeron was inspired by (or put more harshly, ripped off) the theme for his later place. Anyway, alternate versions of a mai tai sometimes involve adding amaretto, grenadine, orange and grapefruit juice, and something called falernum. Bergeron claimed the name was the reaction by early consumers who were Tahitian. "Good" in the Tahitian language is "maita'i." (An online English to Tahitian dictionary confirmed this.)
Cooloo freeze pops, mai tai flavor: These had an orange color. They were pretty good. Not too strong an alcohol taste. Decent--pleasant fruity flavor. Liked overall.
Cooloo freeze pops, cosmo flavor: Had a pinkish color. Also very fruity. Okay. Maybe not as good as the mai tai, but alright. I was surprised that it didn't have a more detectable cranberry taste.
Cooloo freeze pops, paloma flavor: Color was a dull pinkish-white. Once again, decent fruity taste, was okay. As with the others, the pop hid the alcohol well. I usually hate grapefruit juice/grapefruit flavor, so I was kind of shocked that I didn't hate this one. The grapefruit flavor obviously wasn't strong at all.
So, all in all, I liked all three of these, but didn't love any of them. I didn't have any problem finishing them or anything. Although I did find it odd that all three of them tasted so similar to each each other. I don't know if I could have told them apart from a blind taste test. Folks who like the liquid versions of them will probably like these frozen, I would think. So I guess I would recommend them to people looking for a different take on consuming booze. They were undeniably a rather fun, whimsical way of getting some liquor into you. Also, each one was 5% alcohol, and cost about $1.79 before tax, so they were relatively cheap. And if I see any of the competing alcohol-infused popsicle brands for sale, I'll of course buy them and report back on them on my blog, possibly as an addendum to this post.
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