Are you familiar with Thunderbird wine? Are you familiar with James Mason? Well, if not, get acquainted with both in this stellar commercial:
Thunderbird is categorized as a “bum wine.” My only knowledge of T-Bird was via my college buddy Pete. He would always talk about hanging out, being all badass and drinking Thunderbird out of the bottle. I don’t know who he was with when he was drinking it because I never saw him do it. It must have been when he was off-campus hanging out in North Oakland. I wonder if he was drinking Thunderbird when they found the dead body in the ravine behind his house (this was all before Pete pulled a George Jefferson and moved it on up to Squirrel Hill).
I cannot take credit for any part of this beverage except that I cut the lemon and froze the ice. This commercial inspired us to try Thunderbird on ice with a slice, and Cleveland christened it as The Mason.
So, how is a Mason? To quote Mr. James Mason himself: Thunderbird has an unusual flavor. It’s not great, but that flavor is nowhere near as bad as I was expecting. It’s not as sweet as I imagined, either. I thought it was going to be sickeningly sweet like Boone’s Farm, but Thunderbird was more citrus than sugar. Now, if one were to drink it in bum-fashion (lukewarm and out of a paper bag) this would be utterly dreadful, akin to drinking a warm Zima. Yeah, imagine that one.
But if you’ve got the shakes or want to get a girl blackout drunk and only have $3 in your pocket, well, to once again quote James Mason, it’s an exceptionally good drink for every occasion!
For more on the legend of Thunderbird go here.
Awesomeness from the Wikipedia article: Low-end fortified wines are “more popular for their effect than their taste” and “are often consumed to cause drunkenness.”