Posted in Spirits on Aug 31st, 2010
Forgo the hearty breakfast and start your day with a cocktail before plowing the fields. Who needs an injection of coffee when Bourbon and mint are on hand? For some hardy southerners in the late 18th century, the Mint Julep was part of their morning ritual akin to shaving and pulling on the trousers. John […]
Posted in Wine on Aug 27th, 2010
Screw summering in the Hamptons. I want to fly my personal jet to Piedmont. Instead of craning my neck to get a glimpse of the latest bimbo from the Real Housewives of New Jersey gallavanting by on horseback, I want to get lost in the vineyards, dine on Braised Rabbit and sip endless […]
I had a roommate who loved car bombs. Let’s call him “Patty”. It started as something he would do at bars, but quickly became a habit he brought home. Nearly every night of the week for months, Patty was shooting them off in our apartment. He’d pour some Bailey’s in a shot glass, top with […]
Posted in Beer on Aug 19th, 2010
This morning I awoke in Seattle to a foggy morning filled with expectations. Mount Rainier was on our minds as my brother and I prepared for our camping excursion to get lost in her charms. After a requisite trip to the REI castle here, we hit up Bottleworks, the local craft beer store where we […]
Posted in Spirits on Aug 17th, 2010
“Daisy had a hint of bedrooms upstairs more beautiful and cool than other bedrooms…of romances that were not musty and laid away already in lavender….It excited him, too, that many men had already loved Daisy – it increased her value in his eyes.” – F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby I’ve read The Great Gatsby many […]
Posted in Beer, NYC Events, Reviews on Aug 15th, 2010
“Epic”: very imposing or impressive; surpassing the ordinary (especially in size or scale); “an epic voyage”; “of heroic proportions” This past Friday night, we embarked on an epic voyage. Like brave conquistadors in search of the riches of the world, our ragtag faction of BrewYorker’s (a group of NY-based homebrewers, probrewers, beer bloggers and all-around […]
Posted in Spirits on Aug 10th, 2010
1920-1933. Prohibition sucked the nightlife out of the scene like one does an oyster from a shell. But the party raged on…albeit behind secret doors and fueled by often dangerous concoctions of bathtub gins and white lightning. And so, many American simply crossed the border to Havana, Cuba where the party heated up in broad […]
Posted in Wine on Aug 9th, 2010
Home to the longest, uninterrupted stretch of quality vineyards in Europe, the Mosel River is home to Rieslings on such a level of spectacularness that I often place a bib on myself to prevent the drool from soiling my shirt. The Mosel flows for 150 miles through Germany and, along most of it’s length, is […]
Posted in Beer, NYC Events, Reviews, Spirits, Wine on Aug 6th, 2010
Dearest readers, I am stoked to share some exciting news with you. In addition to my vinous, brewish and libatious duties here at Grapes & Grains, I am pleased to announce that I will be expanding my reach further into the realm of the blogosphere… I have been invited to join the staff of the New […]
Posted in Spirits on Aug 3rd, 2010
The sight must have been incredible. A whir of flashing metal cocktail shakers streaked the bar from end to end as the crowd crushed in around you. There they stood. Thirty-five “shaker boys” all earnestly focusing as their arms screamed from the pain of ceaseless shaking. It is said that to properly make a Ramos […]
Posted in Spirits on Aug 2nd, 2010
The streets of the French Quarter were given a full shake and an Absinthe rinse for the 5-day fiesta that was the 8th Annual Tales of the Cocktail. Bartenders, barbacks, barmaids, bar wenches and bar geeks invaded New Orleans once again this year for what has become the premier yearly gathering for spirit hounds. Just […]
