The online version of Jerry Thomas’ bartender guide is being updated and will be online soon. Thanks for your patience.

When creating a new cocktail, balance is always important. A common rookie mistake is to make a cocktail that has the alcohol content way out of proportion. You know, the one that should actually have the flammable symbol on the side of the glass. Five ounces of Everclear (95% ABV), one-ounce orange juice! The idea being that; it may not

This is the first article, in a series, that will be intermingled with the other posts over the next few months. Basically, I’ve been looking at some scientific research on alcohol, beer, wine and bitterness published over the past few decades. Basically, these are studies that are conducted in a scientific fashion and have been published in peer review journals.

Since this is a site dedicated to all things drink related, and milk is a delicious drink, I should probably tackle the debate over raw milk. This is an interesting topic because it encompasses science, politics, health and flavour and I have become increasingly interested with the future of food, hence my Yokel side project. But let’s talk about milk.

Ever hear of the seven year itch? It’s a term that suggests happiness in a relationship declines around year seven of a marriage. I think that term applies to more things than relationships, like jobs and writing. Many writers pen articles on multiple topics and I’ve decided to do the same to keep life interesting. I’m still going to write

I’ve always liked photography, though I’m not necessarily great at it, but I am getting better. When I started writing Art of Drink I envisioned more photos in posts, but the "work flow" has been too time consuming for a non-paying blog post. However, posting photos to Art of Drink still seemed like a reasonable idea. What I needed was

The inevitable has happened. Tempus Fugit Spirits has sent me a cease and desist letter asking me to stop using the Abbott’s Bitters name as they feel they have a legitimate trademark on it. I disagree and I will explain why below. Though the letter is polite, like all cease and desists, it is implied that it will get much

When it comes to drinks, a good cup of coffee is probably at the top of the list for many people, mine included. Like cocktails, there are decent cups of coffee, bad coffee and great coffee. A decent cup of coffee would be from a coffee shop chain like Tim Horton’s or Starbucks (suspect coffee quality with me). A bad

There, I said it. Actually, it was pointed out to me by SeanMike on Twitter that I have been saying this since 2010 at the first Portland Cocktail week. Before I said it, Rick Dobbs prophesied it back in 2008. Let’s say the writing was on the wall and today the coroner is just about to sign the death certificate.

In the glory days of drink writing (2007-2010) it wasn’t uncommon to receive a couple of deliveries from the “booze fairy” every month. Who’s the booze fairy you ask? That would be whomever was responsible for dropping free spirits off at my door, usually the Fedex guy. Considering most mail is bills, advertising junk, cease and desist letters and demands