Category Archive for 'Spirits'

“So, I know this underground Sake bar nearby…wanna go?” “Hmm…I never really got into the stuff.  The process is interesting but the taste is pretty rough,” I said.  “But an underground Sake bar, you say?” My fearless guide was my friend, Taylor, an actor turned doctor who somehow manages to know more cool restaurants and […]

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Just before Christmas Eve dinner, the guests of the Royal Family retire to the Saloon to enjoy gin and tonics with the Queen (who drinks a dry Martini).  Afterwards, the guests are seated at 8:30 pm for a splendid, candlelit meal that unfolds in rehearsed waves of grandeur.  White wine is served with the hors […]

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Autumn is the bite of a harvest apple. – Christina Petrowsky All hail the glorious apple.  Man’s relationship with this versatile and forbidden fruit goes back thousands of years.  Today, there are over 55 million tons of apples produced worldwide each year…now that’s some serious fanaticism. I was tasked to bring in 6-8 new ciders […]

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Liquid Potatoes: An Irishman’s Dream

I’m a sucker for all things terroir-driven. If you’ve read my scribblings previously, you’ll know I’ve geeked out on the origins of hops, the tell-tale slate of Mosel Rieslings and the bizarre wines of Jura. To me there is something beautiful about a grape being grown a world away and ending up as wine in […]

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Sweet Georgia Brown

I can think of no better way to spend a lazy Saturday afternoon than around the poker table. Okay, scratch that, how about an afternoon around the poker table with good friends and cocktails? Now you’re talking… And so it was, that we descended upon a friend’s apartment this weekend, our barbeque plans dashed by […]

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Pink Panty Dropper.  Irish Steamroller.  Porch Crawler. Hmm…A list of my nicknames from high school?  Well, no, (despite the sometimes aptness of the names); these are just a few of the many beer cocktails out there.  And with each passing day at the hands of clever mixologists, they’re getting more complex and taking their rightful […]

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If you want to get a drink at a bar in Utah, you are required by law to fill out a membership application, and pay a fee for the right to enter the “private club”.  By making it more difficult to walk through the door, the state believes they are preventing under-age and casual drinking.  […]

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Absinthe: the Green Fairy

So what’s the deal with absinthe, anyways? Am I gonna trip my balls off or what?  Am I gonna find myself chasing dragons and horned demons through the nether world?  Well, absinthe (and its supposed hallucinogenic qualities) is thick with folklore and now certainly back on the world stage in a flourish and this after […]

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NYC Cocktail Joints and Speakeasies

  Sipping on authentic, handcrafted libations is the same as sinking your teeth into a beautiful piece of sushi, or pulling the meat off the bone of a slow-cooked rib.  But drinks alone do not make a bar. In today’s cocktail world, you’ll often find  unassuming entrances, dark lighting, an elaborate bar composed of quality […]

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I can’t say this is particularly awesome…frankly, I can’t say a whole lot about it other than it makes me chuckle.  But I can recommend you pay attention to his hilarious fake-pours, and if this ending pose isn’t a classic than I don’t know what is.

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The kitchen has truly migrated to the bar.  Cabinets have been ransacked, ingredients have been lifted and spun off in wild directions, and bartenders have become mixologists (the closest term to describe the tinkering, oft mad geeky pursuit of flavor and fascination with combinations…the building of formulas a la the chemistry beaker).  In the midst […]

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