Month: September 2009

  • A Visit to the House of Remy Martin Cognac

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    In France recently, I had a tour and dinner at the house of Remy Martin in Cognac. They don't allow photography in the cellar, so this post is a little light on the pictures. (Suck it up and read.) We entered the building at night so it's hard to recall exactly what the house complex…

  • Cognac Tesseron Visit

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    While in France recently I visited the cognac house of Tesseron. This brand is notable for having probably the second largest collection of old cognacs in demijohns in all of Cognac.  Cognac can only age for so long in barrel before the spirit becomes flabby and loses its aromatic qualities. For cognac made from grapes…

  • Cognac Visit: Bache Gabrielsen

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    While in the Cognac region of France, I stopped in to cognac house Bache Gabrielsen for a visit. I was greeted by fourth-generation family member Herve Bache-Gabrielsen and taken to their tasting room around a wooden table in the upstairs office. Bache Gabrielsen is located on a small, nondescript street in Cognac. There are few…

  • A Day at Hennessy

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    The first stop on a big trip to Cognac, France last week was Hennessy. I met up with my host Cyrille at the Hennessy office, one of the Hennessy buildings that dominates the waterfront on the Charente River in the small city of Cognac.  First we talked a bit about sales. Hennessy sells the most…

  • All About Cognac

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    I went to Cognac last week to learn about cognac. I learned a lot. So what is cognac, anyway? Cognac is an aged brandy distilled from grapes in the Charente region of France. The Cognac region is separated into six delimited subregions based primarily on the makeup of the soil: Grande Champagne, Petite Champagne, Borderies,…

  • Beverages by the Bowlful in San Francisco Magazine

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    My latest story in San Francisco Magazine is online here. The pictures are way better in the print version.   Beverages by the bowlful By Camper English, Photograph by Shaun Roberts Though punch predates the classic cocktails San Franciscans have been sipping for the past few years, it has taken a while for local mixologists…

  • Oakland Names Official Cocktail

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    … and it's the Mai Tai. Or maybe not. (Apparently they don't fact-check the newspaper's blogs.) Instead it was official Mai Tai day in Oakland, and they're trying to get the drink recognized as the city's official cocktail. For a debate on the origin of the Mai Tai, read this, and for Trader Vic's version…