March 29, 2007
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Why is it that drinks these days have to taste like some sort of junk food in order to be understood by the average person? Take this little story: We were at our local dive bar, playing some video golf and having a beer. The bartender, who had obviously been behind the stick for a | Read More
March 27, 2007
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Our friend Darcy over at Art of the Drink adds to the “50 Signs…” madness with 50 Signs You Are a Bad Bartender, all but one of which I think is right on the money: 48. The solution to every problem is: just add bitters What!? That’s not true? And in the comments, someone sends | Read More
March 23, 2007
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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
March 6, 2007
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Stopped by the Extreme Bartending booth and hung out with founder and president Scott Young for a few minutes. He’s a super nice guy, very much into bartending, and bartending toys, and flair bartending. He always had a smile on his face and loved to talk to everyone about bartending. He even seemed to like | Read More
March 6, 2007
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Stopped by the Luxco booth and sampled some of the sexy, rebranded El Mayor tequila. I don’t know how many times El Mayor has been distilled, but one thing I missed from the silver was a deep, fruity agave flavor. This could have something to do with the fact that my palate was starting to | Read More
March 6, 2007
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I posted an article about the lunatics from Blendtec back in November, and now here I am watching them live and in person, blending golf balls and a rake. Delicious. I tried to get a video at 3:00 PM, but it seems that I forgot how to use a digital camera. Oh, well. You can | Read More
March 6, 2007
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This is possibly the best product I tried all day: a thick, semi-sweet, chilly sake with lots of tropical fruit and coconut flavors. It’s made by Momokawa Sake in Japan, but the product is owned and imported by SakeOne here in Forest Grove, Oregon. Hmmmm… sounds like yet another reason why Oregon is such a | Read More
March 6, 2007
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I met up in the middle of the show floor with the guys from my liquor store here in Eugene and we popped in at the ginormous Pernod-Ricard booth. As I already carry most of the products that they were showcasing, I was interested in tasting their Tezón tequila. Tequila often has a lot of | Read More
March 6, 2007
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Next I stopped by the Flor de Caña booth to sample a product I’d heard a lot about, but had never tried: Flor de Caña 18 Year-Old Centenario Gold Rum. Although the company is headquartered in Nicaragua, they own sugar cane plantations and distilleries all over Latin America. The company has been alive for seventy | Read More
March 6, 2007
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I met up with Marv Ali from the Angostura company at the show. We go through a lot of Angostura bitters at my bar – a lot – but I’ve never had the pleasure of trying any of their other products because my very controlled state doesn’t let us have them. First I tried the | Read More
March 6, 2007
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After waiting for the initial line to die down… oh, wait. We didn’t wait in line. Some people thought they’d just go to the end of the line, two blocks away, and wait to be let into the show. My associates and I? We just weasled our way up in front and were among the | Read More
March 6, 2007
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I’m waiting for them to open the doors to the show, as hundreds upon hundreds of people line up outside in the lobby. Coming up next, I’ve got tons of product reviews from inside the show, and a mixology competition with our friends Sean Bigley, Darren West and Zoltan Andahazy.
March 6, 2007
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9:30 in the morning is a cruel time to try to get 500 bartenders together in the same room, especially in Las Vegas. But the turnout was great nonetheless for two of mixology’s living legends, Dale DeGroff and Tony Abou-Ganim. They started out with a short video presentation hosted by Tony about the bar chef | Read More
March 6, 2007
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My night tonight was the best so far. No strip clubs, no chicken wings, just a big group of real cocktail enthusiasts and three amazing locations. I started my night at the Wynn hotel in a private suite fifty floors above the city, drinking Sagatiba Pura. It’s a brand-new cachaça here in the States, and | Read More
March 5, 2007
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Went to the Convention Center this morning and picked up my pass for the show, I think the real bar manager at Red Agave might be a little miffed if she sees this, but at least they spelled my name correctly.
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!
