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 […]
Posted in Spirits on Jul 27th, 2010
“Miner’s lady, stranger to blue water. Dark and dusty, painted on the sky. Misty taste of moonshine, teardrops in my eye. Country roads, take me home. To the place where I belong.” -John Denver Every country has it’s hillbillies. Its backwaters where the yokels live by their own rules. For Brazil, these people are called […]
Posted in Spirits on Jul 20th, 2010
“Oo la la…who is that dashing American in the leather jacket?” “Why that’s Captain Sidecar, mademoiselle. But you be careful with his kind.” The Hôtel Ritz is one of the grandest, most opulent hotels in the world. Built in 1898 in the heart of Paris, its bar saw the likes of Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest […]
Posted in Spirits on Jul 13th, 2010
As the Gulf Coast wakes up to another morning of promises from their good friend, BP, the world waits to see if their latest containment cap scheme will finally stop the gushing oil. After 83 days of being pounded by black crude, the Louisiana Bayou has been sent through the ringer. Add to that, the […]
Posted in Spirits on Jul 6th, 2010
There was a time when pilots were heroes and the nation was fascinated by their exploits in the sky. Captain Sully Sullenberger aside (you are a prince among men, sir), we’ve moved into a new realm of hero. Like Justin Bieber, for instance–I mean, like, wow, how does he get those bangs so perfect? But […]
Posted in Spirits on Jun 29th, 2010
A bullfight is the most hypnotically awful event I have ever seen. I’m glad I went that hot afternoon in Seville, but have no desire to return. Strangely elegant in its mismatched death, one of the haunting images that has stuck with me is that of the bull’s blood being mixed in with the sand […]
Posted in Beer, G&G Videos, NYC Events, Spirits, Wine on Jun 25th, 2010
North Williamsburg. On a rather desolate block, a mini-Mecca for libation lovers awaits in two-story glory. Be you beer geek, cocktail purist or refined wino, this is your place. All under one gloriously designed roof and with a level of hospitality that will warm any NY’ers heart. The Counting Room, at 44 Barry Street in Brooklyn, plays […]
Posted in Spirits on Jun 22nd, 2010
Spin the bottle? No, baby, spin the bar! Why play childish games when we can ride the booze carousel? The Hotel Monteleone in downtown New Orleans, not only has a revolving bar, but is the place to get down to some serious libation business. Today, it’s the home to Tales of the Cocktail, the five […]
Can the spirit of the land be captured in a bottle? Can time, geography and culture be turned into liquid? Yes it can. The Finger Lakes is a place of magic with rolling countrysides, vineyards, orchards, lakes and hamlets that remind me more of Ireland than the US. And there, Finger Lakes Distilling is cranking […]
Posted in Spirits on Jun 15th, 2010
Originally created in Florence at the Baglioni Hotel in the 1920’s, the Negroni was the regular drink of a bar customer named Camillo Negroni. Italians are nuts about bitters and Camillo couldn’t get enough of the mouth-watering sensation of Campari. So much so, that his name lives on in bars around the world. Campari is […]
Posted in Beer, NYC Events, Spirits, Wine on Jun 8th, 2010
Well, hip to the hop to the hippity hop. Looks like I got me a wee bit of press last week. Maggie Hoffman, of Serious Eats, interviewed me about my job and, among other things, my thoughts on beer lists in restaurants. (Mom will be proud to hear her son raving about craft beer, walking […]
Posted in NYC Events, Spirits on May 14th, 2010
Fizzle my schnizzle! Flip my Rick! Sling my ding! The Manhattan Cocktail Classic comes to town, kids! Thats right, fans of the coupe glass. New York’s first ever multi-day event celebrating the lore, the craft and the rich history of the cocktail kicks off tonight. Five wondrous days of booze exploration, appreciation and fascination is […]
Posted in Beer, NYC Events, Spirits, Wine on May 7th, 2010
On Monday, Lincoln Center was descended upon by the food & beverage community who harbored an insatiable hunger and thirst. Between the number of kegs cashed, martinis housed, Champagne guzzled and bites of food gobbled up, if one were to convert the ounces of alcohol and butter consumed to kilowatts, you could have lit the […]
Ah Mezcal, poor Mezcal, so misunderstood. For decades, you sit there, collecting dust, a bottle, a worm, no one will drink. Then the rare occasion, someone is dared, the bottle is opened, passed around, every drop is gone, even the worm, it doesn’t end well. Ah, but then I saw it, the bottle behind, hidden […]
