I’m calling this “Day Zero” since the events don’t officially start until tomorrow. Although, you’d never know it by the sheer quantity of cocktail luminaries amassed in the French Quarter right now. My day started with an internal miscommunication about the actual date of my departure (that’s what I get for booking the trip three | Read More

To Tales of the Cocktail, that is. You see, after last year’s debacle there was no way I was going to miss this one. In fact, I was so excited about going that I somehow showed up to the airport a day early, embarrassed as heck and thanking the nice young lady up and down | Read More

Thanks to the recommendation of some good friends this weekend, I’ve added Twitter to my list of preferred web applications. Their sage advice couldn’t have come at a better time: I’ve been busy readying myself for Tales of the Cocktail in New Orleans next week, and have been concerned about how I’ll connect with everyone | Read More

I just looked at the calendar and realized that today is a crucial halfway-point in the year – and that I only have six months to prepare myself for my favorite American holiday: Repeal Day! Last year was a big year for Repeal Day. We saw the launch of RepealDay.org, the official home of Repeal | Read More

I love to cook, but sometimes after a long weekend it can feel like work to me. After a begrudged visit to the grocery store last night, I came home with a beautiful head of butter lettuce, some Oregon gorgonzola cheese, locally-grown Evonuk hazelnuts and two Tombo tuna steaks. I knew what would put a | Read More

The Kentucky Derby is this Saturday, and many of those watching this historic event will be doing so with mint juleps in hand. Sounds like the perfect time to jot down a couple of notes about this classic American cocktail. The mint julep is another of those drinks shrouded in mystery, so in an effort | Read More

First of all, my apologies to everyone who asked, “Do you hate my eyes?” this month after having to see my name in print a whopping three times. But for those of you who missed even one, here’s a wrap-up. And no, I don’t hate your eyes. First up, I was quoted in a Wired | Read More

One interesting fact about nature is that there are hundreds of near-Earth asteroids hurtling through space right now as we sit here and play on our computers. What is of particular concern, though, is that if one of those asteroids had landed on the Teardrop Lounge on Saturday, Murray Stenson would have had to teach | Read More

There are a few reasons why I’m more excited than ever for Mixology Monday this month. First of all, I’m beside myself because our host is Jimmy Patrick, who is a fellow bartender and a good friend. Bartenders are a surprisingly rare breed in this little cocktail blogger community of ours, so he and I | Read More

Last month, I followed seven other bartenders into the Teardrop Lounge on a cold December afternoon in Portland, Oregon. The eight of us had previously spent a lot of time talking online about our common interest in craft bartending, advanced techniques, housemade ingredients and specialty spirits, but this was going to be a different sort | Read More

It’s official! Starting on Monday, January 7th, my co-bartender Scott Butler and I will be officially heading up the bar at Bel Ami, located in the Midtown Marketplace at 1591 Willamette Street here in Eugene, right across the street from the bar where I learned to mix cocktails all those years ago. This is a | Read More

One of my favorite things about the holidays is getting to spend a lot of time in airports. Since I’m usually stuck safely behind a bar five nights a week, it’s nice for me to get right in there with a swarming throng of people and be corralled through a series of lines for an | Read More

Yes, these are the words that I hear ringing in my ears as I find myself reading the news that Forbes Traveler has sympathetically chosen to include me in its very illustrious list of Cocktail Movers and Shakers this year. Another drink-slinger who’s putting the Pacific Northwest on the cocktail map is Jeffrey Mortgenthaler[sic], bartender | Read More