Dreams of Baltika

Last night I had a dream I was interviewing at Gourmet Garage and was asked why I love groceries so much. It was a very exciting dream. I talked a lot about a new commercial Pepsi had that compares how good Pepsi tastes compared to Baltika. I thought it was funny because Pepsi is the American distributor of Baltika. (None of that is true in real life.)

In real life, Western Beef raised the price of a bottle from $1.88 to $2. It's still a good deal for 51 oz of strong beer if you are ok with the taste.

My brain was apparently thinking about Pepsi's distribution deal with Stolichnaya vodka in the 70s which was how Pepsi got to distribute Pespi in the Soviet Union.

Great Beer News

Baltika Extra Lager is back at Western Beef. The bottle is redesigned, but the price is still $1.88 for 51 oz. of 8% ABV lager.

Why I Keep Shopping at Western Beef

As my unemployment benefits ran out today, my mind turned to converting my illiquid assets to liquid ones. And as far as I can tell, cheap beer is more liquid than a dollar bill, and that's why I go to Western Beef, even in the rain.

Here's what I hauled in today.

The first item is 1% milk. I just started noticing the price of milk, which means I can survive a gotcha question when I run for president. At Key Food, a half gallon of milk is $2.50. The second item there is Vintage tonic water. At Key Food, I can get the store brand for $1. $0.67 is a $0.33 subsidy to my gin consumption.

I got some white beans for $0.67 too. I turn that into a tuna salad that I'll show you sometime. It's pretty good. I served it to my family for Christmas Eve and they liked it.

Next is a jar of anchovies for $3.49. I pay between $4.99 and $5.49 for a similar sized jar at Key Food and C-Town.

And finally, my traditional 3 bottles of Baltika. At $1.88/bottle, my assets could hardly be more liquid.

My Typical Western Beef Trip

Since the weather got nice enough for me to bike everywhere, I've been going to Western Beef a lot. And since I discovered Baltika, I've been going even more. Here's my typical haul: 3 Baltikas, a half gallon of milk, and a bunch of fish products. Baltika is Europe's second largest brewery, according to Wikipedia. These bottles are imported from Russia. They're $1.88 for 51 oz, which is 1.5L. They're 8% alcohol. They only look foamy there because they just survived a ride on my bike. They're either so cheap because the ruble is so weak, their best by date is in 2 weeks, or because they're not that good. I, however, have acquired the taste. It's rather sweet. I'd serve it at a brunch with oatmeal, but not with huevos rancheros.

The sardines and tuna are pretty good prices too. I can find sardines on sale for $1/less sometimes, but $1.15 is the most consistent low price and I eat them a lot. I never find tuna for less than 4/$3.