Tuaca

I noticed at a bar that there is a Tuaca machine where the Jaggermeister machine used to be- one of those cooling machines with fancy glowing lights on it to encourage you to try it. I figured they were out to capture the post-Fernet market so I had better try it. It's my job to know these things. Tuaca is an Italian liqueur that tastes like the artificial vanilla that you sampled when you were a kid because it smelled good, and then you learned your lesson about doing that because it's kind of nasty. The bartenders said it's better warm than cold, so that's how I tried it. It was still gross. Generally I don't like many liqueurs, but I especially don't like this one. *update* A Tuaca representative contacted me after reading this blog entry and said that it's much better cold and wanted to know what bar served it to me warm because the staff needed some re-training. I declined to reveal the identity of my source (of liquor) but did go back for a second taste. My bartender insisted that room temperature is better, so we did a side-by-side taste test. It tastes much better cold. My bartender and I had to agree to disagree on that point. Cold it tastes like butterscotch sundae topping on vanilla ice cream. The lowered temperature takes much of the sting of the sweetness out of it, though it's still very sweet. Given the novelty of the cold serving temperature, Tuaca seems like the Jaggermeister/Fernet shot for people who want the ceremony of the shot without the taste of medicine.