Food & Wine: Cocktails 2008
April 30, 2008
Food & Wine’s Cocktails 2008 has recently been released, and I think that any cocktail enthusiast should add this year’s guide to their collection. Read more
The Aviation Cocktail
April 28, 2008
On the heels of my unintentionally pot-stirring article about Texas wine, I figured I would run with the controversy and write about one of the most talked about and highly debated cocktails of late: the Aviation. Mention its name in the presence of anyone at all interested in cocktails, and you invite upon yourself a dissertation’s worth of material regarding its history and, of course, enough recipes on what makes a “proper” Aviation Read more
North Shore’s Sirène Absinthe
April 26, 2008
The lovechild of Derek and Sonja Kassebaum, North Shore Distillery in Chicago, has plans to release its new absinthe Sirène next week for those of you who live in and around the Windy City. I used to be able to get my hands on North Shore products when living near Chicago about a year ago, but nowadays, I have to settle for my few remaining ounces of their Distiller’s Gin No. 6. I knew I was going to miss out on more North Shore products when I moved away, but their absinthe plans seems to have been classified until just recently. Read more
Real Ale Devil’s Backbone Trippel Finally at the Bar
April 24, 2008
Quady Winery: Deviation
April 23, 2008
Working behind the bar definitely has its ups and downs. Down? Last Saturday. Someone forgets to screw the cap all the way on the gallon of simple syrup; it falls as you pick it up, and you are literally covered from head to toe in a sticky mass of pissed-offness. Read more
St. Arnold’s Summer Pils
April 21, 2008
As the mesquite smoke floats off the coals, past the sizzling steaks, and into my eyes, I retreat into the garage and pop open the beer cooler. After a long day of grilling, I need something to hydrate me long enough to finish off the rib-eyes. My cooler homes a plurality of beer types from different regions; perhaps, I should have a big IPA, a nutty brown, a cellared barley wine, or a black lager? Read more
Carpano Punt E Mes
April 19, 2008
I consider one of my purposes in life to introduce Campari to as many people as possible. I just think you should try and make a difference in the world before you go. But, helping people to appreciate Campari is kind of like teaching a child to play catch. You know you’re going to hit them in the face, Read more
Rhubarb Cocktails
April 17, 2008
While rhubarb certainly isn’t going to abduct you anytime soon or appear in a Will Smith movie, it is almost an alien to the world of bartending. One of the greatest things about working at the bar is the relationship we as bartenders have with the kitchen. When we don’t have time to do it ourselves, our executive chef, Dax, has a habit of whipping up a cool new syrup or ordering us some newly available produce for us to play with. Read more
Apple Tinis & Paris Hilton
April 16, 2008
Sometimes at the end of the day, I get home and gaze into my liquor cabinet—my eyes wandering over the plethora of bottles, contemplating all of the possibilities. Then I get a bit of a panic attack trying to decide what to have. Something new? Something tried and true? Something complex? Something mind-numbingly simple? Something sweet or sour? Something boozy? Read more
The Margarita Alternative: El Diablo Cocktail
April 15, 2008
The measure of a good bartender for the majority of eager patrons in



