Alcademics.com

Glossy Booze: Big October Edition

Glossy Booze is a regular Alcademics feature in which I cover the liquor coverage in glossy magazines.

Bon Appetit (October)lists a recipe for the Highland's Fall from Peter Vestinos, available here. Also, a story on dry cider and one on dessert wines. In November St. John Frizell has a recipe for the coffee/rum drink Koffie Van Brunt.

Everyday With Rachael Ray (October) has a story on "gum cocktails"- not something you get at Tailor, but combining flavors of gum to make new flavors.

GQ (September) had a big feature on the six best drinking cities in the US. They were San Francisco, New Orleans, Chicago, Portland (OR), Nashville, and New York.

Conde Nast Traveler has a list of three tropical island bars in the Bahamas, plus a recipe for the Goombay Smash.

7X7 (September) has a story on Rickhouse. In the October issue, Jordan Mackay writes about relocated NYC sommelier David Lynch. 

Men's Journal (October) list America's best beers here, and the top five beer towns here.

Sunset (October) has beer and food pairings for Octoberfest, and a story on green wine packaging.

Esquire has a recipe for the Grasshopper. Really!

Details lists some "really excellent canned beer,"and a few places in which to drink it.

And the winner for best drink coverage goes to Food & Wine- and they didn't even have any cocktail recipes. Their stories are:

• What sommeliers know best.
•  Understanding Oregon Pinot Noir country
• Wineries by the sea all over the world- France and Spain, US, Australia, Portugal, and South Africa.
• Wines for drinking, not overthinking
• American Wine Awards
• A preview of the F&W Wine Guide 2010
• How to be a smarter wine shopper
• Gruner Veltliner
• 50 classic wines to try
• 15 rules for wine and food pairings

Glossy Booze: Mid-August Edition

Glossy Booze is a regular Alcademics feature in which I note the coverage of alcohol in glossy magazines.

Fine Cooking (August/September) has a story on beer cocktails written by Lew Bryson.

Sherman's Travel (summer 2009) lists which Napa wines to buy now.

In Gourmet (August) David Wondrich writes a story about (wait for it, wait for it, wait for it...) punch!

Mutineer (August/September) has a multi-bartender feature shot at Edison in LA, wine date ideas, breakfast drinks, and minimalist cocktails by blogging's own Rick Stutz. 

 Sunset (August) has a story on Canada's Okanagan Valley wine region and another on summery wine cocktails. 

Men's Journal (September) has a story on San Francisco's breweries and distilleries, and another on better cocktail mixers like Fever Tree bitter lemon and Q Tonic.

Details (September) also gets into mixers with a story on craft sodas including Maine Root and Dry Soda.

Food & Wine mentions SF's Rye on the Road, Portland's Beaker & Flask, top California wine for $15 and less, and Red Hook Winery. 

Every Day with Rachael Ray (August) has recipes for a citrusy beer cocktail, a Caipirinha, a Tomate (water, pastis, grenadine), Pineapple Shave Ice, Almond Float, and four other shave ice flavors.

Bon Appetit has a very, very long recipe for a Bloody Mary with 16 ingredients- plus garnish.

In Readymade (August/September) Alex Day makes drinks with cinnamon, honey ginger, and lavender syrups.

Tequila Coverage in Details and Esquire

In August, both Details and GQ did big tequila stories. Yum.

In Details tequila piece, they recommend El Tesoro Anejo, Siete Legua Blanco, El Jimador Reposado, and Sombra Mezcal. They also write about Phil Ward's bar Mayahuel (using the spelling mezcal), Bittermens Xocolatl Mole Cocktail Bitters, and list drink recipes for classic and improved versions of the Paloma, plus a strawberry drink called La Vida Rosa and a mezcal-beer cocktail called A Beer and a Smoke. The entire story is online here.

Let's compare that with Esquire, where they did their own big tequila story. In this one they have Things we think we know about tequila, which was sort of a waste of space if you've ever had 100% agave tequila. (Wondrich didn't write it.) They also have a sidebar on mescal (spelled mescal), and quick recipes for the Paloma and Margarita. Then they list ten tequilas as the best examples within their category- Highland and Lowland in each aging category. The reviews are online here in slideshow format to make you click a lot. Here's the short answers though:

	Highland	Lowland
Blanco	El Tesoro Platinum	Arette Blanco Suave
Reposado	Siete Leguas and Gran Centenario	Partida and Cuervo Tradicional
Anejo	Chinaco	Herradura
Extra Anejo	Gran Centenario Leyenda	Cabo Uno

Glossy Booze: Late July Edition

Glossy Booze is a regular Alcademics feature in which I talk about the alcohol coverage in magazines.

Gourmet (July) has a ton of liquor content this month: an essay on cocktail parties, a Negroni recipe, a brief mention of big ice, a recipe for Fresh Tomato Bloody Marys in a brunch story, Fresh Mint Juleps in an American party story, a Black and Tan recipe in an afternoon meal story, and several recipes for cocktail-flavored ice pops. (More ice pop recipes here.)

Saveur (July) has six drink recipes on one page: Book Club Sangria, Kentucky Club Margarita, Michelada, Longhorn Bull Shot, Cucumber Cooler, and the Chico.

Food & Wine (August) lists light wines for hot days and big balanced reds.

Chilled Magazine, which is more of a drinking magazine for nightclub types, has several stories on vodka and stories on the Thirsty Traveler, Sam Adams, molecular mixology, and flair bartending.

GQ (August) has a quick note on lower alcohol wines for summer. In the July issue, they list recipes for the Ramos Gin Fizz, Rum Fizz, and Gin Fizz.

Entrepreneur (July) has an entirely lackluster cover story interview with John DeJoria of Patron.

 Bon Appetit (August) has a great profile of Boston bartender Misty Kalkofen, a quick recommendation of swizzle sticks, a story on fizzy drinks, and perhaps the spookiest picture of a Bellini ever taken.

Glossy Booze: Late June Edition

Glossy Booze is regular Alcademics feature; a round-up of spirits stories in magazines.

Details (June/July) has a story on punch and places to get it around the country, plus a small feature on Hauz Alpenz products. 

ReadyMade (June/July) has another story by Alex Day, this one on ice. Looks like some good advice on how to freeze and split a pan of ice.

Town and Country  (July) has a feature on new food and drink cookbooks for summer.

GQ (July) has three fizz recipes: the Ramos Gin Fizz, the Rum Fizz, and the Gin Fizz.

Mutineer (June/July) has a story on the movie Beer Wars, a feature on craft distillers of the Pacific Northwest, a big story on absinthe, a tour of Maker's Mark, and an interview with Max Riedel of Riedel glass.

Bon Appetit (July) has some recommended blanco tequilas, lists a recipe for the Strawberry Muddle (recipe: muddle strawberries. add prosecco),and a story on IPA beers. 

In Esquire (July), David Wondrich takes a break from writing about cocktails to tell us we don't drink enough champagne.

In Food and Wine (July), we have a recipe for Peach Sangria, a story on creating a wine list, a story on texture as a wine pairing guide, one on Argentinian wines, some recommended restaurants in which to drink wine, and the best beers for wine lovers.

Men's Journal (August) has a ton of booze coverage: recommendations for High West whiskey, Sam Adams Imperial White, and Firefly Sweet Tea Vodka, plus a story on four summer classic cocktails with a twist with recipes by Sean Muldoon of Belfast's Merchant Hotel, Chris Hannah or Arnaud's, Jamie Boudreau of Tini Bigs, and Jeffrey Mortenthaler of Clyde Common. There is also a recipe for an Heirloom Bloody Mary, and Jimmy Buffet recommends a drink that's just rum, coconut water, and a slice of lime.

Glossy Booze: Early June Edition

Glossy Booze is a round-up of cocktails and spirits stories in magazines.

GQ (June) has a story on how to brew your own iced coffee, plus a recommendation for the Sodastream home carbonator.

Men's Fitness (June/July) mentions Le Tournment Vert absinthe.

In Playboy (June) they tell you how to make a Blue Blazer, recommend some summer brews, and have a story on rum with a few recipes.

SOMA magazine (Spring 2009) more or less repeats the press release on Rubyy blood orange energy drink.

Esquire (June) offers a package called The Collected Wisdom of Esquire as it Relates to Drinking, in which David Wondrich deconstructs the Old-Fashioned and then there's some chatter. Plus they updated the Best Bars in America list for 2009. San Francisco additions this year are The Alembic and Tommy's Mexican.

Bon Appetit (June) lists the recipe for the Grapefruit Gimlet, Campari and Soda, recommends some Spanish cavas, and has a story about kitchen wine cellars.

Food and Wine (June) has a picture of Rosangel tequila with completely the wrong colored liquid in the bottle, has the "Combier Margarita" which is just a Margarita with product placement, recommends round ice cube trays, does a nice piece on the brew scene in San Diego, lists 10 recommended summer white wines, gives a recipe for Dushan Zaric's Port and Tonic, and lists wines to pair with grilled food.

Sunset (May) has new wine bars selling half-bottles, and a list of western white wines for under $15.

In 7X7, Jordan Mackay asks local sommeliers to pick an expensive wine and a bargain wine that tastes similar to it from their lists. He also has Daniel Hyatt's recipe for the Promissory Note.

Men's Journal (June) has a few gift whiskies for Father's Day (Aberlour 12, Glenrothes 1991, Laphroaig 25) plus a story on organic alcohol brands.

Glossy Booze: May Edition

It's been a while since I've done a Glossy Booze- a round-up of alcohol stories in magazines that come to my house- so this is a big one.

Coastal Living (May) lists three frozen drinks for summer.

 Food & Wine's big May travel issue lists 7 Best Bars, crisp new chardonnays, 5 terrific chablis, has a story about going to wine school, and one about New Zealand's next great wine frontier.

Imbibe (May/June) has a big fat story on stocking the home bar, plus drinking in Las Vegas, smoked beers, aged coffee, and climate change and wine.

Playboy (May) has a mention of Zwack, a mini-tour of Mexico, and the Drinking Man's Guide to Cinema.

GQ has a story by Adam Sachs on how to drink all night and stay halfway sober. [story here in PDF] In the May issue there's a story on building a better bachelor party.

Men's Journal (May) Lists some bargain Spanish red wines, plus a sidebar on sherry.

Details (May) has a story on going off-menu with your drinks.

Conde Nast Traveler has a story on hot new bars and clubs.

 Esquire (May) lists the Michelada, Tom Collins, and Spinnaker Swizzle as three drinks for a warm day and a crowd. The latter drink contains aged rum, aquavit, Grand Marnier, simple syrup, lime, and bitters. Interesting.

New York Magazine (April 6) has a recipe for the Blood Orange Margarita.

ReadyMade (April/May) has a story on constructing a classic style cocktail with spirit, citrus, and sweetener with NY bartender Alex Day.

7X7 Magazine (April) has a profile of Jacquie Greaux of Batiste Rum. 

Alcademics in Mutineer Magazine

In the April/May issue of Mutineer magazine, there is a 12-question survey with a bunch of cocktail bloggers, including your pal Camper of Alcademics.

It's fun to see how different answers are on some topics (making your own ingredients, ingredients we'd like to see used more) and how similar on others (absinthe, vodka vs. gin).

The magazine, while still finding itself editorially, seems to be coming together rapidly. This issue is a big improvement over the others I've seen. They've got a more equal distribution of writing on wine, beer, and spirits, and have expanded into coffee as well.

A subscription is ten bucks for one year (six issues)- less than the price of a cocktail in many bars.