The steel briefcase arrived inside two other boxes, Russian doll-style. Its combination-lock latches flipped skyward with a gratifying snap. In the briefcase, snug inside custom-shaped foam, lay a device that looked like it was designed by a committee made of Steve Jobs, Q from James Bond lore and a sex therapist. My therapy, however, would be | Read More

We’ve heard about the history of eggnog, but what’s the best recipe for making your own as well as all the equally tasty variations? In one corner: my favorite recipe for eggnog. Cocktail blogger and ace bartender Jeffrey Morgenthaler’s recipe is simple, fairly light in texture and has an intense, eggy flavor tempered with brandy | Read More

For a relatively small city, Portland, Ore., is a big cocktail town. It boasts almost a dozen artisanal distilleries, several famous bartenders and, of course, many fine watering holes. And that’s not to mention the annual Great American Distillers Festival it hosts, or the recently established Portland Cocktail Week. And if you should want something | Read More

Clyde Common, Portland, Oregon Jeffrey Morgenthaler oversees the rotating cocktail list at this airy “tavern” adjacent to the Ace Hotel. One to try: the Cranky Lass with Scotch, amaro, apple cider, lemon, allspice liqueur.

A GQ guide to the next ingredient-obsessed, insanely inventive, and downright culinary wave of cocktails. When classic cocktails came roaring back, we were psyched, not to mention buzzed on flips and fizzes and old-fashioneds. These days, top chefs are taking cocktails to new heights, putting serious talent behind the bar and raiding the kitchen for | Read More

As befits the pointy-headed elevation of all simple things, gourmet attention is now being paid to the humble gin and tonic. Specifically, to the tonic. Why would one bother? What’s broke? Well, since the 1970s, the default Schweppes and Canada Dry tonics in the United States have been made with high-fructose corn syrup, which renders | Read More

Norwegian Wood: This cocktail comes courtesy of Jeffrey Morgenthaler, acclaimed bartender at Clyde Common of Portland, Ore. It makes use of aquavit, a Scandinavian cousin to vodka infused with herbs and spices.

Barrel-ageing cocktails took off in the US after a well-known cocktail maker, Jeffrey Morgenthaler, experimented with the practice in Portland, Oregon. But the concept of cocktail ageing was in fact born in the UK. Mr Morgenthaler had himself been inspired by a visit two years ago to 69 Colebrooke Row, Islington, a London bar run | Read More

There are few fruits with such storied histories as the pomegranate. We’re talking about central roles in famous Greek myths and several Bible mentions. But sadly today, it’s often treated as merely an exotic delicacy. In fact, the pomegranate’s deliciously tart flavor is perfect for cocktails in the fall, which is coincidentally its peak season. | Read More

The barrel is a beautiful thing. It’s an object that’s etched into our boozy subconscious—an old-timey icon for fine drink that’s almost primal. It’s pre–frothy beer mug, pre–martini glass, pre–mustachioed bartender. Yet you rarely encounter one outside of a distillery tour. That is, until the craft-cocktail set started to re-purpose the barrels for aging their | Read More

Thanks to Jeffrey Morgenthaler of southeast Portland, Ore.’s Clyde Common restaurant, the barrel-aged cocktail phenomenon has taken off over the past year. If you’re new to the aging scene, here’s the gist: take an already brilliant drink — Morgenthaler finds his muse in a classic negroni — and age it in a barrel for weeks | Read More