Upgrade your cocktails with these impressive gadgets and techniques. Barrel Aging This technique, developed by award-winning Portland-based bartender Jeffrey Morgenthaler, uses an oak barrel to tame harshness and alter flavor in spirit-driven drinks made with fortified wine, such as a Negroni. The semi-porous wood allows oxygen to interact with the ingredients—mellowing the vermouth in a | Read More

The single most important book for an amateur bartender is Jeffrey Morgenthaler’s “The Bar Book.” Unlike most other cocktail books “The Bar Book” focuses entirely on technique. Before you start bothering with recipes, you have to know how to properly make them. And this is what Morgenthaler’s book offers. It’s an examination of the why | Read More

Portland’s Top Cocktails from the People Who Make Them You can’t make a list of the city’s best cocktails without talking to OG, put-Portland-on-the-map, barrel-aged-his-drinks-before-it-was-cool bartender Jeffrey Morgenthaler. He’s famous for soverymany drinks, so I couldn’t wait to see what he would choose as his finest. The answer: an Amaretto Sour ($14). Made with amaretto, overproof bourbon, | Read More

“Regardless of shape or clarity, the temperature of ice, I would say, is the most important thing,” says Jeffrey Morgenthaler, bar manager of Portland’s Clyde Common, a restaurant where the bar program has garnered six James Beard Award nominations. Although water freezes at 32°F, ice is usually much colder. Ice purists might even go so far | Read More

We asked 10 of America’s best bartenders to submit their finest recipe for the Grasshopper—and then blind-tasted them all to find the best of the best. The verdict on many classic cocktails rests with the method in which they’re made (shaken or stirred); others, by their presentation (on the rocks or up). But at least | Read More