10 Barrel Brewing Golf Tea & Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke irons – two awesome adds to your bag

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With a fun foursome assembled for early summer golf in Seattle, I figured what better time to course-test a recent addition to the 10 Barrel Brewing family, Golf Tea, alongside my new sticks, the Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke irons.

10 Barrel’s Golf Tea is a Phil Mickelson-inspired canned cocktail with serious punch (10% ABV to be exact) made with house-made lemonade, iced tea and vodka. Taste-testing was conducted on the 7^th tee box and testers (myself included) were thoroughly impressed. A perfect balance of lemon, citrus and black tea flavors – a tad bit sweet, tad bit tart, and super easy to drink. One taster did comment it could use a little more lemon. He then added that he can’t really taste anything ever, so we’ll chalk that comment up to that to his nonexistent taste buds. All tasters agreed, Golf Tea would be even better served over ice.

Another taster, upon finishing his Golf Tea, rattled off his best few holes of the day. So, 10 Barrel’s promise, “Crack this open for a better game” definitely held true. As an added selling feature, the Golf Tea can also double as a literal golf tee if you’re so inclined. For the record, my Golf-Tea-fueled drive was 260 yards up the right side courtesy of my long-term standby, Callaway FT-5 driver.

Which leads me to part 2 of the story: my new Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke irons.

It’s worth noting that I’m not just some sort of Callaway fan boy. I’ve been hitting Mizuno MP-54 irons for years and they’ve served me well. But not playing a ton over the last few years, I was looking for something a bit more forgiving on less-than-flush contact, and maybe with more distance too.

Ready for an upgrade, I popped into Pro Golf Discount with an open mind and a semi-open wallet. The club fitter, Robert (super nice, knowledgeable guy), did a few quick measurements assessing my ideal grip size, lie angle and put me up in a simulator for swing speed analysis. Results: standard grip size and lie, stiff shafts. Next, he had me hit the new Mizunos. They felt better, but not like a significant improvement.

Then he set me up with the Ai Smokes. They look great behind the ball with a blade-like feel, thin top edge and just a tiny bit of offset. And when I hit them, well, I smoked the Smokes. After a handful of 170-yard 7-irons mostly down the middle with tight dispersion, I was sold.

IRL on the course, the clubs have performed just as well. I’ve been hitting many more greens in regulation. Off-center contact has been impressive with shots straying less, traveling nearly full length and finding greens where they wouldn’t have with my old Mizunos. Shots on the sweet spot offer great feedback. When you pure one, there’s a certain feel that’s particularly satisfying. Maybe that’s the Ai part of the Ai Smokes.