October 10, 2011
I guess I’m getting old. I don’t say this because my fortieth birthday is approaching like a speeding bullet, but this: I know that cocktail carbonation is the hot new thing right now, but if someone hands me another carbonated Manhattan I’m going to cry into it, I swear. Believe me, I’m all for innovation | Read More
June 16, 2011
Contrary to what you may have heard, there’s more to my job than coming up with cool mezcal cocktails and bitching about having to write the schedule. At the end of the day, I’ve got to approach this career as a professional, with an eye on business. One of the more challenging parts of my | Read More
December 10, 2009
While this is a topic that has been covered by pretty much every cocktail blog under the sun, I haven’t yet written about it. Why? Well, for one, I’m lazy and never got around to it. But after having made various versions of grenadine for years at my bars and after doing a little research | Read More
March 20, 2009
Hey, here’s a fun way to illustrate karma. If you’ve, say, built a large web presence upon a not-so-generous string of public criticisms of bar-related web videos [1, 2, 3, 4], then one day somebody will ask you to appear in a series of videos yourself. That’s what happened last month when Imbibe Magazine called | Read More
March 6, 2009
Speaking of great cocktails made with cachaça, let’s take a moment before the weekend and see what our old friends at the American Bartending School would do when confronted with a bottle of the stuff. In this segment, we’ll learn how to make the Brazilian classic, the caipirinha (kai-peer-EEN-ya) 1. Announce to your friends that | Read More
May 22, 2008
Some of you are here to find out how to make my pinot gris reduction for the East of Eden, and as the directions will tell you, you’ll need to reduce the wine by half. But how can you tell when a liquid is reduced by half without pouring it into a measuring cup every | Read More
May 9, 2008
I considered naming this article “How To Take an Order Behind the Bar”, since there seems to be a problem with bartenders and servers not fully understanding the vocabulary used in their workplace. I was reminded of this while reading this thread on the StraightBourbon.com forums some time ago. Yes, there seems to be some | Read More
April 24, 2008
As far as I’m concerned, springtime is Dark and Stormy season. As the rain pummels the ground here in the Pacific Northwest, a little window of blue sky nestled between two dark clouds in the neighboring distance makes me wish I were watching the rain fall from across a dark ocean, my little Caribbean fishing | Read More
April 21, 2008
I own a small library of books on the subject of bartending. Some of these books are geared toward the professional bartender, while others are written for the home mixologist. But regardless of the intended audience, almost every book I own heartily recommends that we use paring knives for cutting fruits and garnishes. The Art | Read More
March 28, 2008
The Sazerac has been making a big comeback over the past year. It’s popping up on cocktails menus, bartenders are recommending them to their customers, and it’s even being suggested as an official state drink. But after being served a warm shot of rye with a drop of Peychaud’s last week at a restaurant here | Read More
February 14, 2008
I found this video on the DrinkBoy forum this weekend, posted sometime last year. Those of you who have been reading for a while will know that I always love a good instructional video, as I’ve remarked upon time and again. To recap, here’s the recipe: 1. Chill an 8-ounce cocktail glass. 2. Pick your | Read More
July 10, 2007
The mojito education bus keeps on rollin’ on over here. Thanks to Joe Bartender for finding this brilliant (read: boobalicious) instructional video embedded below: To recap, here’s the recipe: 1. Pick some mint for your mojito. Wink! 2. Put some ice like America. 3. Split half of the cup to half of the cup (to | Read More
July 5, 2007
Well, it’s mojito season here in the northern hemisphere, which means it’s time for a little lesson for the novice and experienced mojito drinker alike. Follow these helpful hints, dear reader, and you won’t dare go wrong. Do use crushed ice in your mojitos. Crushed ice will melt faster, which is a good thing in | Read More
June 13, 2007
On a busy night, there is always one guy lurking somewhere in the bar who will try to make you a rose out of a paper cocktail napkin as a romantic gesture. This man is Satan and he drives a van. Do not trust him.
March 23, 2007
Oh my God this is so awesome I want to die. Andrea from Brooks Nightclub and Whatever had me totally captivated for, like, a whole fifteen seconds – right up until the part where she says that a “Mint Julep is like a Mojito, but with bourbon” That’s when the Rose’s Lime Juice started happening | Read More
These are the books and tools I use every single day to make drinks at home and behind the bar. Clicking on a product takes you to Amazon, which helps me keep this site running, so thank you in advance!
