The owner, Tyson, told me that the name came from his 2 favourite passions and the name comes from 2 meanings. Unfortunately, he once had an alcohol problem but he's been 4 years plus sober. He got a second shot, and now focuses on non-alcoholic beverages, coupled with his second favourite passion, Golf. In golf, the most important shot is considered to be your second shot … thus the name of the store.
The store is small store but carries Non-alcoholic wines, including popular restaurant wines, non-alcoholic alcohol for those who want it, and of course non-alcoholic beer. The beer I tried is called Caddie Beer. It is an independent beer and brewed in Hamilton. It is a refreshing light lager that despite 0% alcohol carries the taste of an alcoholic beer. It is an excellent entry into the non-alcoholic beer market. I'm not as interested in the other products myself, and long ago lot interest in golf, but he carries some cool things like “swing sticks” to help with your golf swings. So next time you’re in Burlington pop in to Second Shot.
Every July, as I've written about in past years, my bandmate Dylan’s wife throws a food and drink backyard party for his birthday … known as Dylfest. It is like a mini food and drink show with excellent food and drinks. Drinks this year included a Jamaican Rum punch, Dirty Shirleys, Korean soju, maple whiskey cocktails and my own entry, the Lemon Licorice Cloud made with the Lebanese liquor, Raki.
Raki is an anisette liquor, akin to sambuca, but stronger. Stronger also than ouzo, and just as if not stronger than the Turkish arak. These are all licorice flavoured liquors with Raki coming in at a 50% alcohol content. For my drink, I mixed one shot of Raki with 2 shots of Sprite, plus a squeeze and twist of lemon. Strong, cloudy, and very licorice forward. The drink brought me back to my time in Greece where we learned to mix sprite with both retsina and ouzos. So, if you are looking for something different, pick up a bottle of raki, at the LCBO.
