The approach to cocktails, however, contributes to a bar’s culture as much as its team and management style. Once upon a time, “it was just craft cocktails,” says Jeffrey Morgenthaler, the consulting partner of Pacific Standard and The Sunset Room in Portland, Oregon. “Now there are the tiki people, the hardcore classics people, the molecular mixology people. So by | Read More

1. Amaretto Sour The original 1970s Amaretto Sour recipe, introduced as part of a Disaronno marketing campaign, was a simple mix of two parts amaretto to one part lemon juice. In 2012, veteran bartender and cocktail book author Jeffrey Morgenthaler, known for updating maligned drinks of the ’70s and ’80s, published this improved-upon variation on his blog. | Read More

The Amaretto Sour is a straightforward cocktail. At least, it was a straightforward cocktail. As its name suggests, the drink follows a typical sour template with a base of amaretto, an almond liqueur. But ever since Jeffrey Morgenthaler kicked up the recipe with a splash of cask-strength bourbon in 2010, taking the drink from club classic to serious cocktail, | Read More

“The Lone Ranger was invented by a bartender in Portland, Oregon, Jeff Morgenthaler. If I remember correctly, he made it as a riff on a French 75, replacing the gin with tequila and Champagne with sparkling rosé,” clarifies Darrick Bourgeois, lead bartender at Pelato and Luogo in Nashville, Tennessee. The name gives a nod to the Lone Ranger, a fictionalized | Read More

Morgenthaler’s been tending bar forever. He got his start at dive bars and sports bars, which means he knows how to be a bartender, not just how to make cocktails. I mean, he’s definitely a famous cocktail guy: He speaks on panels, wrote two books, serves as the lead judge for the San Francisco Spirits | Read More

As someone who embraces the nerdier, more esoteric side of making cocktails, renowned barman Jeffrey Morgenthaler is no stranger to WIRED. His The Bar Book is my go-to for simpler reasons: it’s practical and I learn when I use it. The back cover gives a great sense of what you’re in for as the three biggest words on it | Read More

… “Even sans sugared rim, sours can still lean sweet. The amaretto sour, a 1970s-era drink, has been long — and often correctly — lampooned as particularly cloying. But learning to make a proper one is a game changer. The key lies in fresh ingredients and a modern mind-set. Jeffrey Morgenthaler, the bar manager at | Read More

When it comes to making great cocktails, the most important factor is starting with high quality spirits. But once your liquor cabinet or bar cart is fully stocked, it’s time to think about bar tools. From muddlers and strainers, to glassware and bar towels, having the best barware on hand streamlines your cocktail mixing experience | Read More

Making your own cherries is not as easy as it sounds – they can be surprisingly stubborn about taking up the juice. One of my favourite bartender-drinks writers, Jeffrey Morgenthaler, recommends starting with a jar of Italian maraschino cherries, draining them of their syrup and then rebottling them with a mix of cognac, amaretto and maraschino | Read More

I was not a big gin drinker back in my early 20s. Far from it, actually. In my mind it was whiskey or nothing at all. (Save for water.) But I soon came around, thanks to an ex’s extraordinary force of a grandmother, who taught me how to luxuriate and thoroughly enjoy a G&T. And the | Read More

Bye, pumpkin spice. Hello, turmeric, Oregon pears & fig jam. Jeffrey Morgenthaler  “Summer flavors are about celebrating one or two key ingredients,” says Jeffrey Morgenthaler. “I feel like fall flavors are about piling on flavor on top of flavor on top of flavor.” Morgenthaler would know. The bar manager at downtown’s Clyde Common and formerly | Read More

Let’s face it: The question on everyone’s mind is: When can we get back to normal? And the answer for most of the bar industry is that normal no longer exists and probably won’t for a long time to come. As I write this, we’re hitting seven months of living in the “Upside Down,” where | Read More

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