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Thirsty Thursday

Presidente has tropical flavors, corny aftertaste

Lukas Halloran | Staff Photographer

Presidente has a lovely golden color and notes of pears, apples and other fruity, tropical flavors. The aftertaste has a hint of corn.

If you were in Cancun, South Beach, the Bahamas, Puerto Rico or any other tropical place this Spring Break, then there’s a good chance you got to drink a few bottles of the classic Dominican beer, Presidente.

I decided to taste this one on my couch on a chilly, Syracuse spring evening, also known as winter everywhere else. From my experience, however, it may taste a bit better sitting under a palm tree on a quiet tropical beach.

As expected, this Pilsner had a beautiful golden color. The body was full of carbonation, producing a foamy yet thin head. You look at this beer and expect it to be crisp.

Presidente has a variety of smells. I identified corn and a few tropical notes. As cliché as it sounds, it smells like the beach. The taste was pretty tropical up until the finish. It’s sweet and bubbly, and gives refreshing apple, pear and tropical fruit flavors. But soon after, you’ll be hit with a corny aftertaste.

At first, I was kind of taken aback by the aftertaste. But then I learned this beer is brewed with adjuncts, meaning it could have used corn or rice in the brewing process. My guess is that it was corn, because it is a sweet, corny beer.



You could enjoy a Presidente with a variety of foods. It would go well with seafood near the ocean because of its crisp and tropical flavor, or it could match really well with a fruit salad on the beach. To take it a completely different direction, Presidente would also complement a quesadilla or burrito with a side of beans and rice perfectly because of the corn flavor.

Though this isn’t a beer that I’d go out of my way to order, it’s not bad. It just isn’t one that fits with my palate. That being said, it would taste a lot better on a hot day, sitting under the sun on a beautiful beach in the Caribbean. As always, give it a shot and see if you like it, because everybody tastes something a little bit different.





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