I spend a lot of time hunched over a VitaMix blender, so I feel like I know my blenders. And the BlendTec (for real) Total Blender looks like one hell of a blender. Now, you may not ever have the opportunity to blend a wallet full of stolen credit cards or a stolen tilapia, but | Read More

I’m honored to read that Gawker had a nice little blurb about Repeal Day today. They didn’t mention this site, but they did point to a fabulous article over at Chow about the new day of celebration. Thanks, Gawker and Chow! The Twenty-First Amendment and I are forever in your debt. Also, in honor of | Read More

Hey Bartender I was wondering if you know anything about the myth (or not) that if you drink too much gin, you could go blind? Thanks! Ashley Hey Ashley It’s – kinda – a myth. But not entirely. Let’s start at the very beginning. There are basically two types of alcohol: ethanol and methanol (ethyl | Read More

Here’s a great video showing how they make shitty low-grade alcohol in a giant factory. The methods may be suspect – making rum out of corn, for instance – but the general idea is the same in smaller batches. Watch the video and then try to forget about having seen tonight’s pork fed offal from | Read More

Jill and Dale DeGroff over at the Museum of the American Cocktail are celebrating Repeal Day with us… Is December 5th marked on your calendars? No? Well it should be. It was on this day in 1933 that the 21st Amendment was ratified, thus ending Prohibition. …and they’ve found some great videos online. Hop on | Read More

Well, the response to Repeal Day hasn’t been this good since the first Repeal Day. I’ve talked to bartenders, bloggers, mixologists, and ordinary drink-minded people all over the country who are getting excited about celebrating December Fifth with me. Paul over at Drink This Blog is behind us all the way, and is spreading the | Read More

Okay, it doesn’t sound so great when you scream it like that, but… The Eugene Weekly’s Best of Eugene poll came out, and I’ve tied with my good friend Jeremy Shank for the second-best bartender in Eugene. You can read the full story here. Scroll down about halfway to see my little name in there. | Read More

Hey Bartender As a novice bartender I find that martini etiquette can be quite confusing, perhaps because the traditional martini and the present-day fad are different. I understand not shaking clear martinis, and I also do not add vermouth to vodka. I suppose I would like to hear your take on what to shake, and | Read More

Art of the Drink (no relation to the previous post) has a great little class on how to present wine in a bar or restaurant setting. This is a great video to watch for service industry people and restaurant-goers alike, as he covers some key points – my favorite being this: it is not okay | Read More

You all know how I feel about vodka martinis, if you’ve read this blog for any length of time. Well, Darcy over at The Art of Drink put it better than I ever could: People seem to fear the vermouth, when in reality vermouth is your friend. It is the vermouth that adds the flavour | Read More

The luck of some people. I suppose congratulations are in order, but wow! “I’ve been waiting on him for about three years,” Kienow said. “We’d just talk across the bar he’s a really nice guy. I hope he comes back in so I can tell him thank you, because the other day I was kind | Read More