ciroc

More New York Temptations Promised For LeBron James

Last week I wrote about a couple of chefs (Michael Symon from Cleveland and Jean-Georges Vongerichten from New York City) trying to influence LeBron James with free meals. Since then the deals have only gotten sweeter, at least on the New York side. Fans who want the basketball phenom, shown at right accepting the Spike TV Guy's Choice Award for "Unstoppable Jock," to come to New York and play for the Knicks just keep ladling out the promises. The NY Daily News rounds up a few more which include enough food offers to make sure that James never pays for a meal again. Bo Dietl offered a regular seat at Rao's, the chief cook of Smoke in Da Eye offered LeBron unlimited barbecue and Bob Bertrand of The Original SoupMan pledged free soup for life. That's not all, Bliss Spa has offered him treatments and the Palm Tribeca seeks to tempt him with hickory-smoked ribeye steak with jumbo Nova Scotia lobster for two.

Samantha Choi of the Classic Car Club Manhattan offered him an annual membership worth $10,000 and all sorts of New Yorkers filled up a trailer full of gifts outside Madison Square Garden so that they can be delivered to LeBron James in Cleveland. Hotelier Andre Balasz has offered LeBron a loft suite at the Mercer Hotel in SoHo and Alexandre Petrossian will send over a snack of Royal Ossetra caviar sandwiches. Sean Combs posted his appeal on Twitter promising LeBron James free Sean John clothing and Ciroc vodka for life. On the Cmon LeBron website, Iron Chef Mario Batali appears in video (after the jump) in a Cmon LeBron T-shirt upping Michael Symon's promise of an Iron Chef meal a month to an Iron Chef meal every two weeks in New York City.

What's next, will Los Angeles weigh in? Some rumors have David Geffen buying a share in the Clippers and bringing LeBron James to Los Angeles to enliven the much-maligned franchise. Could Chicago be far behind with promises of a lifetime of free deep dish. For LeBron, whose is facing a July 1 deadline, the culinary possibilities seem nearly endless.

Tags: bliss spa, ciroc, expire-images:2010-7-11, lebron james, mario batali, mercer hotel, michael symon, nbc, New York Knicks, Petrossian, sean john

Continue reading “More New York Temptations Promised For LeBron James”

Tasting Ciroc Vodka's New Flavors

by David Kiley (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Spirits

New Coconut and Berry flavors from French vodka maker Ciroc are finally making it into circulation after months of chatter and small sampling. I'm not a huge fan of flavored vodkas with the exception of Ketel One Citroen. And I looked at the Coconut Ciroc with great trepidation and wariness as most coconut flavored liquor I have sampled in the past reminded me more of certain cab drivers' hair products than a whiff of the Caribbean.

All my doubts in place, though, the Coconut Ciroc surprised my senses. It helps that the distillers started out with Ciroc--made from grapes rather than wheat, potatoes or the other usual source material for vodka. Ciroc is one of my favorites to begin with, slightly oilier than many other vodkas and not as hot on the tongue. The Coconut is gentle, and makes for a very nice base for some Caribbean inspired cocktails. I tried one suggested by Ciroc combining Ciroc Coconut with 5 oz. of pineapple juice, a quarter oz. of fresh lime juice, soda water and rocks, garnished with a lime wedge. Nice.

I admit to preferring the Berry on ice after being stored in the freezer. It was also good straight up coming out of the freezer. I was not wild about the Ciroc suggested cocktail that combined the new flavor with Sprite, sour mix, grenadine and a lime wedge over ice.

Flavored vodkas keep proliferating chiefly because of women, especially women 21-39. The marketing phenomenon has made flavored vodkas one of the fastest growing niches in the spirits business. Of course, it also It also helps to get more shelf facings at liquor stores.

Prices: Around $36 per 750 ml bottle.

Tags: berry vodka, ciroc, ciroc berry, ciroc coconut, ciroc vodka, coconut vodka, Flavored Vodka, liquor

Diageo Restructures, Cuts Jobs

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Spirits

Last week I mentioned a production slowdown at a Johnnie Walker factory but it looks like the cost cutting at drinks giant Diageo is far more widespread. Diageo has announced that after a "global review" it will institute a reorganization that will cost 150 employees in North America their jobs. The changes will take place next month. To cut costs Diageo will merge its beer and wine organizations, Diageo-Guinness USA (DGUSA) and Diageo Chateau & Estate Wines (DC&E) into a "total beverage alcohol approach" according to an article in Wine Business. The jobs lost make up four percent of Diageo's 3,700-person North American work force.

Diageo is the company behind many of the most popular brands including Guinness, Johnnie Walker, Bailey's Irish Cream and Ciroc vodka (shown with celebrity spokesman Sean Coombs above). Liquor is traditionally one of the safe havens during a recession as people enjoy their liquor as much, if not more, in a down market.

Tags: ciroc, diageo, johnnie walker, JohnnieWalker, liquor

Is Diddy Cheating On His Vodka With Tequila?

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Spirits, Celebrity Shopping

Endorsement deals are a great way for celebrities to make extra money. Increasingly they also seem to be getting the endorsers in trouble because deals usually come with a certain level of brand loyalty. The latest in the hot seat is P. Diddy who has a deal with Ciroc vodka. Several sources have reported that Diddy has been seen drinking the pricey 1800 tequila which my colleague Jared Paul Stern mentioned the other day. Usually this wouldn't be a huge issue but P. Diddy has received $100 million to be the brand builder for Ciroc. Eurweb reports that he has issued a press release saying that he's given up "champagne and tequila" and that his PR folks say that the reports of his tequila swilling are false. The NY Post reported just a couple of weeks ago that he was seen drinking Malibu rum and pineapple cocktails, which he also denied.

Source

Tags: ciroc, diddy, puff daddy, sean combs, tequila, vodka