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 […]
Blog Post
Cocktail Blogging is Dead
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. […]
Bitter Recipe List is Back
For those who don’t follow me on Twitter or Facebook, I have finally recreated the bitters recipe database. It was originally “lost” when I migrated from one hosting company to another, but I have managed to find most of the recipes and have put them back together. I have also been adding more recipes from sources I discovered while writting […]
The Bourbon Box
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 whoever 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 […]
Announcing the “Jerk Off”
It is with great pleasure that I announce the first ever “Jerk Off” which will be held during San Francisco Cocktail Week (Sept. 17th to 23rd). If you’ve read my book, Fix the Pumps, you might understand why this competition is called the Jerk Off, and if not let me explain. A few months ago drinks genius Russell Davis emailed […]
Why Prohibition Didn’t Work
It’s one of those often repeated debates that goes nowhere: Why didn’t prohibition work? Both sides of the debate ante up and henceforth argue ad nausea. So with the help of Google’s Ngram Viewer, I’m going to provide a simple, visual explanation of human nature and why prohibition failed. If this doesn’t explain it, nothing will. Google’s Ngram Viewer is […]
Beverages De Luxe (1914)
Just prior to prohibition, a great little booklet was put out by The Wine and Spirit Bulletin called Beverages De Luxe. It is a collection of articles, and recipes, written by owners of distilleries and others in the business. Some of the contributors include George Brown (Brown and Foreman) and A.M. Hanauer (Hamburger Distillery, Pittsburgh, PA) among many others. Hanauer […]
Layman’s Guide to the 100 Point Wine Scale
When I was at the Moscow Barshow (September 2011) I had the opportunity to judge the cocktail competition that pitted the best bartenders in Russia against one another. Robert “Drinkboy” Hess was also one of the judges and afterwards, we had a discussion on the best way to rate cocktails in a competition. The discussion is ongoing and at some […]
Spirit Resources
Resources for evaluating the price of old unopened bottles of whisky, rum, cognac and other spirits.
Tincture Amara
Popular Cocktail Recipes
As the revitalization of the cocktail continues, it is often helpful to ascertain why certain cocktail recipes are popular. What makes the Margarita, Cosmopolitan and Strawberry Daiquiri the Queens of the cocktail world. This information can then be translated, by new order bartenders, into a method that will help the neophytes and phobic’s, indulge in something new and take them […]
Sodatender or Barjerk
With Tales of the Cocktail 2011 a mere 90 days away (or less) it’s time to start getting your flight booked, hotel reserved and sessions picked. This year I am a co-presenter on two sessions, one of them being “Sodatender or Barjerk” with the esteemed David Wondrich. With my book on soda fountains (Fix the Pumps) selling decently and Dave’s […]