There's not an entry about me in the new Oxford Companion to Spirits and Cocktails - surely an oversight - but there is one by me. I was asked to write the entry for "Ice, Science of its Use." I did it in two and a half pages that took... Read more →
For the Alcademics Book Club, we're reading Sweetness and Power, about sugar. Every time I read about the history of sugar, particularly the heyday of slavery-powered production in the 1700s in the Caribbean, I'm always like, "What happened to Portugal-controlled Brazilian sugar?" The Portuguese were early leaders in sugarcane production... Read more →
I have just started contributing a couple stories a month to Bevvy.co. My first one just went live and it's here. It's about oleo saccharum. Read more →
I wrote this story, which first appeared here on AlcoholProfessor.com. Reconsidering the Smashing Legacy of Carry Nation in Three Books by Camper English Carry Nation, the anti-alcohol crusader, was a nutjob who heard voices that told her to smash up saloons. She was also a towering hulk of over six... Read more →
The other month I came across a citation of something I wrote in a book that I'd not previously known about. This lead me to do a Google Books search to see if there were any more, and there were - a lot! So this post is more or less... Read more →
Below is a collection of new spirits launches this December from my Instagram page. Click on over to insta for more info. Read more →
Nobody gave me a huge diamond chain for the holidays this year, so I had to make my own. I used the typical cooler method for directional freezing, and Put a clear plastic box with holes drilled in the bottom in the cooler. The holes allow trapped air/impurities to be... Read more →
Years ago I learned how to cut up slabs of ice using only an ice pick, but boy have I improved my technique since then. But the method is the same: Fill a cooler with water and put it in the freezer with the top off. After a couple days... Read more →
I was reading a book for one of my book clubs and accidentally learned something about bar history. The Barbizon is ostensibly about a hotel for women in New York, but really it's about the changing role of women from the 1920s through the 1970s through the lens of the... Read more →
I had the opportunity to check out the new bar-focussed restaurant The Madrigal last week. The cocktails come from Mike McCardle, formerly of Shakewell in Oakland. The bar is located on Van Ness right near the opera/symphony to take advantage of pre-show crowds. It's a nice space and you can... Read more →