Below are bottle shots of mostly new- and a few just new to me- spirits products that have come onto the market in the last month. These are from my Instagram account and you can get more information about each of them there. Read more →
I attended Bar Convent Berlin 2019. This was probably my sixth trip to Berlin for this most excellent bar show. My talk on CocktailSafe topics had a standing-room only crowd, so my trip was a success. Below are a few observations from the show. Ginsanity There was so much new... Read more →
One of my favorite bartender-visionaries Thad Vogler released a book about learning/purchasing spirits by going to where they're made. While Vogler owns Bar Agricole, Canada's Jen Agg owns Agrikol in Montreal, and also has a book out from a very different owner's perspective, called I Hear She's a Real Bitch. Like Vogler, Anistatia Miller and Jared Brown travelled to Cuba to write their latest book (I think it's their third on Cuba cocktails and bartenders), while Brad Thomas Parsons wrote no doubt his most fun book to date, starring cats that live at distilleries. New Orleans rum legend Brian Rhea finally wrote a book that should be full of tales from his many years in bars, while for newbie drinkers we have Drink Like a Bartender and for sci-fi fans there is a whole book of out-of-this-world cocktails awaiting. Beyond that there's an American history and booze book, a book that tells bartenders how to win international cocktail competitions, a book on cider (and shrubs and vinegars), one on bar cart styling, and finally a brand book from Fever Tree Tonic Water. Read more →
The first page is background about the category, and the rest are some bars in the US that specialize in the spirit, and usually other brandies as well. Read more →
I wrote a piece for Liquor.com on armagnac - not so much on armagnac generally, but on how bartenders might quickly describe to customers armagnac and how it's different from cognac. Read more →
We walked all around this property, up on top of huge wine tanks (I'm scared of heights but I do it for you, dear reader), to a super modern bottling line, and then to the completely incongruously ridiculously small room in the middle of it all, where the single wood-fired armagnac still is slowly churning out eau de vie. Read more →
A visit to the stylish armagnac house of Gelas, where they're making single-varietal bottlings and even barrel-finished armagnac. Read more →
Armagnac Delord is located at the edge of the town of Lannepax in the Bas Armagnac region. It is one of just three armagnac houses that uses pot stills along with the typical armagnac continuous stills. Read more →