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Liqueur Gone Wild

It's easy to love a beer that markets itself with talking bullfrogs and is phonetically simple enough for even the drunk person at the bar to request at last call ("Gimme a bud.")

Anheuser-Busch might do best to stick with its roots (beer) and stay away from producing liquor-based products

The American landscape would be far different without it—college campuses and Monday Night Football certainly would not be nearly as enjoyable, not to mention that without this cheap, accessible beer, "Girls Gone Wild" might not even have been possible. Recently, the brewer has faced a quick decline in sales as well as a failed "Bud Pong" marketing campaign which turned controversial and brought sales down even farther.

By 1957, Budweiser became the single largest-selling beer brand in the world, known for its light flavor and as a satisfying complement to a burger and fries. Beer has long been a staple of American culture.

In fact, the U.S. is the world's largest brewing nation. Some of America's greatest historical figures like George Washington and Thomas Jefferson were brewers. In 1876, the St. Louis-based brewery, Anheuser-Busch, launched a brand named after the Czech brewing town of Budweiser. Now Anheuser-Busch is attempting to embrace a new kind of liquor, appropriately called, Jekyll and Hyde.

Jekyll & Hyde, produced by Anheuser-Busch, is made up of two separate flavors in interlocking bottles

In mid December, I attended a Jekyll and Hyde promotional party at one of New York's hottest midtown clubs, Stereo. The club was transformed into a rococo Victorian-era strip joint and the staff looked like they stepped right out of the pages of a Victoria's Secret catalogue.

On this night, however, the fetish frenzy would not have been complete without the presence of Marilyn Manson's wife, Dita Von Teese (who has recently filed for divorce from the Goth icon). Though she is regarded as the world's number one Burlesque dancer (averaging $20,000 an hour) she did not perform, but rather, sat on the sidelines watching other dancers take the stage.

In addition to celebrity attendees, the music was spun by A-lister DJ AM. While the DJ may have a killer resumé, the music was the worst part of the night. Well, second to that of the sickeningly sweet alcohol for which the event was being held. The Jekyll and Hyde liquor was more-or-less a liquefied Jolly Rancher failing to disguise the foul taste of the 60 proof cocktail.

Truth is, I drank this mysterious concoction throughout the night, without complaint. But, if you tell me something is 60 proof and free, then I will find a way to chug it like a 300 pound frat boy. Even in this case, I was able to devise a means to down the poison. I did discover that, in combination with teriyaki chicken skewers, the drink was almost pleasant tasting.

A tip from Kate: a skewer-ful of chicken teriyaki makes the Jekyll & Hyde go down

Once I discovered and devoured the chicken alongside my beverage, I was much more content (and intoxicated). Sitting in the VIP section, I uncovered another practical use for my chicken skewers--catapulting. Yesiree, since this section rests on a platform above the rest of the club, it lends itself to being ideal for a NEW drinking game appropriately called "Teriyakyll and Hyde."

So naturally, I locked myself in a proper gaming stance and sent my chicken bits sailing into the heads of the unsuspecting attendees as if I were Alexander the Great (in Prada pumps) seizing an ancient (half-nude) city. This inside-joke with myself only lasted a couple of seconds before I salvaged my ammunition to accompany my undrinkable Jekyll and Hyde spirit.

In actuality the good and evil split personalities was not intended to be manifested in chicken teriyaki wars, but instead are named to reflect the two liquor components of the drink. According to the company, the cocktail is composed of two liqueur bottles. Jekyll is a scarlet red, sweet spirit tasting of wild berries, while Hyde is an herbal tasting, black spirit that floats on top when poured over the red-colored Jekyll. The two products are meant to be served together, although consumers can drink them separately as well.

Jekyll & Hyde inspires evil behavior, much like the potion in its namesake Robert Louis Stevenson novel

From my own experience, the drink is nothing more than grape cough syrup hidden behind a stylish marketing scheme. Anheuser-Busch would be better off sticking to their playing field--sports bars and keg parties. It is sad that even inside a revelry where women danced in vintage lingerie on table tops and celebrities are notorious (not note-worthy), it was the chicken that kept this party from turning ugly.

Why, even the poison in Robert Louis Stevenson's novel "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" is claimed to be painful to consume: "He put the glass to his lips, and drank at one gulp. A cry followed; he reeled, staggered, clutched at the table and held on, staring with injected eyes, gasping with open mouth." 'Nuff said.