- A vacuum tumbler to speed up the booze infusion process. - Spoon-straw (stroon?) from Little Branch. - You know how microbrews are all going EXTREME with bitter hops? Now Bruichladdich is aiming for the extreme peat with Octomore. - Angostura orange bitters are now available in the US! And... Read more →
... or are you sick of all the Sex and the City cocktail tie-ins? I don't deny the show's importance in kickstarting much of the current cocktail craze, but I think it's safe to say we've collectively moved far beyond the Cosmopolitan. Labels: trends Read more →
While trying to find the History Channel's Modern Marvels episode on whiskey on Netflix and iTunes (no luck), I stumbled across their sugar episode. I figured it would include some information on rum, which it did. Molasses is a byproduct of sugar production that can be fermented and distilled into... Read more →
The New Yorker dedicates five pages to the hangover. Most of the information is not new, but there are some interesting cultural anecdotes: Elsewhere on the international front, many people in Asia and the Near East take strong tea. The Italians and the French prefer strong coffee. (Italian informant: add... Read more →
Here are a few San Francisco events clogging my inbox: May 22: 7 Leguas at Elixir's Cocktail Club. May 22: Mr. Smith's Whisky Club holds a tasting of Bowmore 12, Achentoshan 18, and Glen Garioch 3 Wood, with Guest Speaker David Stoop. May 24 and June 2: Uva Enoteca has... Read more →
It's over two weeks since I've been to Beretta, and I'm getting the shakes. I meet there last night for drinks and I find the menu lacking the cocktail I most want: the Rangoon Gin Cobbler. What to do, I ask Eric Johnson, my man behind the stick. Relax, says... Read more →
Last night I helped judge the Hendrick's gin cocktail competition at Rye. Hendrick's likes to make things interesting in their events and marketing, so for this contest bartenders not only had to create a cocktail showcasing one of the botanicals in Hendrick's, they also had to recite a limerick to... Read more →
I ran into Scott Beattie of Cyrus last night at Absinthe's SF Cocktail Week finale event. He had big news to share- as of last weekend, he's no longer be working behind the bar there. He'll still be running the show, though, so your drinks will be just as tasty... Read more →