Recent Posts

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Historical Drinking & Driving Ads

We often see drinking and driving as recent problem (last 30 years or so) however the deadly combination of alcohol and motor vehicles has been know for over a century. When cars became common place, it didn’t take a genius to realize that driving while intoxicated resulted in serious consequences. One of the earliest observations came from Puck magazine in […]

Blog Post

Detroit Soda Fountain

This photo is a great example of what a classic soda fountain/pharmacy looked like around 1910. The picture was taken by the Detroit Publishing Company around 1910, but no information was provided on where it was taken, though it assumed to be in Detroit. Sandy Levine of The Oakland bar in Detroit suggested that it looks similar to the space […]

Blog Post

Age of Drugs

If you’ve read Fix the Pumps, you may have noticed that one of the reoccuring themes was the competition between saloons and pharmacies (bartenders and druggists) to hook the people on their tonics. Until 1906, when the Pure Food and Drugs Act was introduced, the local pharmacy/soda fountain had no restrictions on what they could serve and the taxes were […]

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Cognac Oil

The world of alcohol is fraught with risks and great bartenders know how to manage them. One method is to insert a low or non-alcoholic drink into the mix. Unfortunately, most non-alcoholic drinks suck, though things are getting better. One area that offers a lot of potential is essential oils and soda fountain techniques. The actual “Holy Grail” would be […]

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French Press Coffee

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 […]

Cocktails

Brandy Milk Punch

My day usually starts of with one or two good size mugs of French pressed coffee or a couple of shots of espresso. Aside from the caffeine kick, I love the flavour of coffee. If for some reason I’m out of coffee (which is extremely rare) I’ll usually opt for some cranberry juice or something not too sweet. My beverage […]

Soda

Fix the Pumps Intro

Print Edition is now available on Art of Drink for $10.95 plus it included a free eBook edition – Fix the Pumps This past October marked the 4th year I’ve been posting on Art of Drink, this being the 459th post. Last year I decided that I should do something a little more cohesive like write a book. Deciding on […]

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. […]

Cocktails

Irish Mermaid Cocktail

Creating a good cocktail is tough, making it popular is even tougher. There are currently thousands of very talented bartenders around the world who take their profession seriously. Many have honed their skills so they can mix high proof spirits with bitter components to make a worthwhile cocktail, which is no easy task. Once you have a good cocktail, how […]

Blog Post

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 […]

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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 […]

Travel

So Tales of the Cocktail Happened

Well, where does one start when Tales of the Cocktail (TotC) has become the most important, worldwide, event for bartenders? Well, this year was the 10th anniversary and it was bigger than ever. That’s great but it also means that the Tales experience has changed. Change is neither good nor bad, just different. What does that mean? Well, TotC has […]