By: DeoVonte “Deo” Means

Disclaimer- (1) According to the Surgeon General, women should not drink alcoholic beverages during pregnancy because of the risk of birth defects. (2) Consumption of alcoholic beverages impairs your ability to drive a car or operate machinery, and may cause health problems. Your friends at The Flyy-Life, remind you to drink responsibly.

In the past few weeks, social media has been ablaze with commentary on the new trendy alcoholic beverage Cappriccio. Opinions have varied from being dubbed the “New Four Loko”, some saying it caused them to black-out and not remember the previous night to others saying its effect was little more than Kool-Aid. There was even an article published and widely circulated that claimed the drink causes the spread of HIV! Of course I found the HIV correlation to be absurd and bit over-reaching, but as someone who vividly remembers the hysteria and experiences around 4 Loko during it’s early days (before the government made the manufacturer alter the recipe to calm the public outcries); the journalist in me was a bit intrigued to get the truth. Just to be safe, I decided to conduct my experiment on a Friday evening after work in the safety of my own home, with a close/trusted friend I’ve known for years. I wanted to make sure that if the effects of this drink did, in fact, make me belligerent, extremely intoxicated or any other wild side-effects that I would at least be in a safe environment where the risk of harm/injury was mitigated and greatly reduced. So as planned, after work, I made a quick stop at my neighborhood Binny’s Beverage Depot and picked up three bottles which to my surprise were actually inexpensively priced at $4.99 a bottle. As the bottles chilled, I prepared myself and companion a quick bite to eat, and then the games began!

Capriccio is a Sangria wine that’s 13.9%. Although this is still considered a pretty high alcoholic content for a wine, I realized it was nowhere near Hennessy’s 40%.  Therefore the rumors that this drink had the same effect as a night of drinking straight Hennessy could not be validated in my opinion. As we drank, I did conclude that the overall taste was not flattering to my tongue but this could also be due to my preference of strong, earthy wines such as Pinot Noir. With exception of Chardonnay, I’m not a big fan of sweet wines. Next, I took notice of the density of the wine at consumption. Capriccio tended to have a heavy “resting” effect on my stomach and I realized perhaps this was the cause of many people feeling a sense of “blacking out.” Most beverages and foods that have a heavy effect on the stomach, tends to also make the person drowsy so I could realistically imagine someone that’s inactive at the time of consumption,  falling into a deep and peaceful sleep after consuming a few glasses. We continued to drink, talk and interact and I must admit I was a bit anticipating the moment when “all hell” would break loose, but it never happened. I’ll admit that we both felt a “lovely” buzz that led to lots of laughs and even an in-depth, emotion-filled conversation; but at no time did either one of us become belligerent, uncontrollable or unaware of our surroundings. We did enjoy a good night’s sleep, but neither of us experienced a blackout nor any symptoms of a hangover on the next morning.

Personally, I concluded that due to the taste, I probably wouldn’t make Capriccio my new beverage of choice, but there are three distinct occasions I could foresee myself serving it. 1) I think it might make a nice punch for an intimate setting with friends. Taking into consideration its Sangria, it could be mixed with fresh or frozen fruit, or perhaps Ginger Ale and it would make a dope evening drink to facilitate conversation. 2) A romantic evening with a date/significant other. Similar to 1, I do believe the drink would make a nice addition to an evening where you want to relax and let your hair down but not really be overly intoxicated. 3) An evening alone whereas you might want to be a bit more lit than what a beer or basic wine might produce, yet not so intoxicated whereas you are unproductive and unable to function the next morning. Of course, this article is my own personal experience/opinion and alcohol effects as all differently. Whatever you do, I just encourage you to remember to drink safely and responsibly. Is Capriccio the new Four Loko, I do not believe so. Is it another drink that will give you a buzzed feeling, yes, but isn’t that the reason we drink anyway?   Cheers…..Deo