For years now, I have been railing against the notion that men should be relegated to drinking one type of drink, while women should be drinking another. It’s silly to me, this idea that one type of flavored ethyl alcohol is somehow more masculine than another type of flavored ethyl alcohol. Because if you really, | Read More

In the world of drinks, there is probably no more maligned category out there than the beer cocktail. But I disagree; I don’t think beer cocktails ever aspired to be taken more seriously. And that’s the great thing about a beer cocktail: you’re not supposed to think about it too much.  There are sort of | Read More

Sometimes a little knowledge can be a bad thing. Just in the past decade, we’ve gone from living in a world where our guests (rightfully) didn’t trust the bar enough to try a cocktail before dinner and would simply drink wine all night, to a world where cocktails and spirits have never been more popular. | Read More

Seasonality. It’s been a buzzword in cocktails for nearly as long as it has in the culinary world. And buzzword couldn’t be a more apt adjective for the term; it’s been used and overused to the point that it’s been co-opted by fast food joints these days. Along with the word “local”, there aren’t many | Read More

If there’s one thing we learn every election season, it’s just how polarized people are about politics. Personally I can’t wait until November 9th, regardless of the outcome, because I’m exhausted with this whole process.  Oddly, another hot-button topic that divides this country these days is the world of spirits and cocktails. For some reason, | Read More

It’s amazing to me just how well the Negroni has exploded in popularity over the past decade. It seems like fifteen years ago, nobody had even heard of it, ten years ago it was a secret handshake among cocktail aficionados, and five years ago it was the hottest classic cocktail out there. And today, it | Read More

I have to say, sometimes I still feel a little nostalgic for the early, heady days of the cocktail renaissance. A small group of bartenders were discovering cocktails, ingredients, and flavors. And I was following along in my little corner of the world, soaking up every new morsel of knowledge I could get my hot | Read More

With very few exceptions, written discussions about hospitality in bars are always, always, always limited to one of two takes on the subject. First, you have the option of reading a diatribe written by someone so jaded from years behind the bar that you’re forced to suffer through yet another “This New York Club Bartender | Read More

If there’s one (bar-related) thing I’m known for, it’s making my own cocktail ingredients. You could say that I’ve made it my life’s work to share everything I know about the subject, on my blog, in my weekly column here, and in my book. You see, way back when I started getting into making cocktails, | Read More

Ordering a drink at a bar should be a pretty painless affair. You ask for a Screwdriver, you should get vodka and orange juice. Every bartender should be able to whip up a Manhattan upon request, and every guest should be able to expect a Manhattan to be more or less the same at every | Read More

Back in 1993, Joe Langhan and an intrepid band of network executives had an idea for a new cable network. It was called the Television Food Network at the time (it was later shortened to the Food Network) and its conception ushered in a new era in food education and entertainment on TV. Suddenly there | Read More

There’s so much talk these days about the revival of forgotten classics, that I feel like some of the revived classics have been forgotten again. As everyone seems to want to climb over each other in a rush to be the first to revive the Tokyo Tea or whatever seemingly unappetizing stirred concoction from the | Read More

As a bartender who has been doing this job for the past 20 years while achieving a modicum of success and respectability in the business, there is one question that I’m asked, without fail, by writers on the regular. And it is as follows: “As a professional bartender, what advice can you give to people | Read More

It’s September, and tailgating season is officially upon us. Just this past weekend, my alma mater – the University of Oregon – hosted a stadium parking lot filled with the usual Duck fans swilling the usual swill: cheap beer in cans, craft beer in bottles and kegs, and all manner of highballs splashed from plastic | Read More

Here’s a thought: when served at pretty much any other bar than the one it was created in, the Zombie was, until recently, little more than a fancy Long Island Iced Tea: strong, drinkable, and an easy one-way ticket to Hammerville. But hear me out: I don’t think it was the Zombie’s fault; I like | Read More