I have a two-page spread in the November 2011 issue of Every Day with Rachael Ray magazine. It has a few trends - stuff like fresh ginger and sherry/port in place of vermouth along with some ice cube tricks (recognize that rainbow ice?). Also it has four recipes I developed-... Read more →
This October I visited the Cointreau distillery in Angers, France. Angers is located southwest of Paris, about equidistant from Paris and Bordeaux. I hadn't realized, but Cointreau was not originally famous for orange liqueur, but for Guignolet, a cherry liqueur. Cherries were brought the region by King Rene', who lived... Read more →
Last night I helped judge the Auchentoshan Switch competition in Las Vegas. Nineteen bartenders competed for a chance to work with Tony Conigliaro at 69 Colebrooke Row in London for two weeks. They'd submitted videos on YouTube and the top 19 finalists were chosen. (Headshots of most of the bartenders.... Read more →
This is a review of the new book Bitters: A Spirited History of a Classic Cure-All, with Cocktails, Recipes, and Formulas by Brad Thomas Parsons. It contains pretty much just what you want out of a bitters book - the history of bitters, recipes for bitters, and recipes for cocktails... Read more →
As part of the Sugar Spirit project, I am starting to be more aware of types of sugar in other countries. When traveling to Italy recently, I picked up a couple of packets of sugar. The "classico" sugar, according to my trip host, would be Italian-produced crystallized beet sugar. The... Read more →
Just for fun in the Solid Liquids Project I put some dehydrated Midori to good use. I made a Deconstructed Midori Sour. You dip the lemon in dehydrated Midori, bite into the Midori-coated lemon, and then do the shot of vodka. With people who do the lime-salt-tequila shot, they use... Read more →
Some new fall/winter cocktails at two San Francisco bars. The Starlight Room Winter Flip and Prize Pumpkin available on the menu starting Oct 30th, and the Meyer Meringue and Double O Denton available on the cocktail menu in mid December. Pitch Black Amsterdam Germain Robin Brandy, Bols Genever, Root, Allspice... Read more →
I wrote a new bar report for CLASS Magazine online. It includes short reviews of Jasper's Corner Tap, Harry Denton's Starlight Room, and Wo Hing General Store. The story is here. Read more →