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Benjamin Cooper's Z.I.M.A. |
Do
you remember ZIMA? ZIMA, the smash hit easy-drinking malt beverage delivered to
the world from Coors Brewing Company (now Miller Coors) in 1994, is with us no
more (Coors discontinued it years ago) but a mini-revival in the clear, citrusy
beverage is well underway. To wit, Brian Felley & Mo Hodges, owners and
drink-slingers extraordinaire at the just-opened cocktail and oyster bar Benjamin Cooper in San Francisco’s Union
Square, re-built ZIMA from taste memory and put the drink on their opening
menu. “When ZIMA came out, I was in high school,” says Felley. “The high school
ladies did not want to drink beer, they drank ZIMA.” (Insert knowing chuckle here.)
Felley’s
ZIMA includes gin, clarified lime cordial,
Genepy, and candied lime zest. The mild sweetness of the drink, tipped with an
edge of bitterness, is a close match for Coors’ ZIMA. (According to this Food & Wine article,
ZIMA is still produced and sold in Japan, the only country where you can
purchase one of the required ingredients to recreate the original ZIMA.) Even
better, its mostly clear character with just a tinge of white was reminiscent
of 1994 when every new product that entered the marketplace, from alcoholic
beverages to soap, was redesigned and repackaged as CLEAR. Do you remember Pepsi Clear?
Phil Dunphy does. Dunphy, played by Ty Burrell in ABC’s Modern
Family, makes an “everything ‘90’s” quip about ZIMA in Season 5, Episode 22
(first aired on May 7, 2014). When Dunphy’s daughter, Haley (played by Sarah
Hyland) asks: “What’s ZIMA?”, Dad replies: “Just a party in a bottle. Man, that
reminds me of some wild times – crankin’ the Björk in my Saturn before me and
my buddies snuck some Z into ‘Sleepless in Seattle.’” Ah, Phil, ever one for
nostalgia.
Back at Benjamin Cooper, Felley and Hodges keep the drink list fresh
and playful, adding new concoctions as whim and whimsy strike. “There are
always a variety of flavors and textures in our drinks,” says Felley, whose
menu this week includes the $LU$HEE with cara cara granita and a Stoned Ruby
with cachaça and strawberry-tarragon ice. One thing is for sure: ZIMA continues
to resonate in the America’s drink consciousness. For more proof that '90's nostaligia is trending in beverage world, take a look
at Mountain Dew’s about-to-be-released, clear, citrus-flavored Dew Shine.
Labels: ABC's Modern Family, benjamin cooper cocktail and oyster bar, brian felley, dew shine, mo hodges, mountain dew, Pepsi Clear, Phil dunphy, ty burrell, ZIMA