Once again, it's time for Mixology Monday! Mr. Mark Holmes, of Cardiff Cocktails, is hosting, and he's looking for a batch of herbal cocktails. Roots, spices, and beans can be used as ingredients as well... [Update: Check out Mark's Roundup for MxMo LXXIII] As far back as we can look, the use of fresh herbs... Continue Reading →
Search me. After a reading a number of articles on Serious Eats about all the pumpkin beers that are (or were) out and about on the market, I headed to a couple of the local booze shops to buy some. Nothin' and nada. No luck. I'm serious. No pumpkin beer! Well, maybe a few straggling bottles... Continue Reading →
Sometimes, simpler drinks are better. True, you can whip up some smoked air to mix with your cardamom- and saffron-infused gin (the gin itself being homemade...who needs commercial gin, right?) and pour it over all the passion fruit juice ice cubes and Cointreau caviar you want -- but that concoction sounds like something best left to the... Continue Reading →
It's February...and it's time for another cocktail night! We're scaling back a wee bit and mixing up two drinks, rather than our usual three, to give more attention to our chosen cocktails and allow everybody to sample the ingredients, not to mention some homemade limoncello. Well, OK, it's also to give the bartender (me) a... Continue Reading →
Ever heard of aquavit? No? Well, neither had the cashier at Pop's. My bottle of Linie received an intent stare and a question when checking out. Completely understandable, given that Scandinavian liquor hasn't been flying off the shelves in this country since...well, it's never flown off the shelves. It went something like this: "So...what is this?" asked the puzzled cashier.... Continue Reading →
The Lauer household has been decked out for Christmas and logs are busy crackling away in the fireplace (or rather, they will be, if the temperature drops to the 40s during the day...not likely). There also happen to be a fair number of drinks being made to stave off the cold weather. While we won't be mixing any hot drinks... Continue Reading →
Right now, applejack is quite possibly my favorite spirit. Sure, I love sipping whiskey and trying out new gins, and cognac is great and I'm gradually warming to tequila, but I'll always love applejack. For those of you familiar with this quintessential American spirit, skip ahead a few paragraphs and get to the drinks. For... Continue Reading →
Not too long ago, Jason Wilson wrote an article about a curious liqueur named ROOT (I'd prefer that it was simply "Root," but Art in the Age seems rather fond of the all-caps title). I was very intrigued, but not by the fact that he described as an American amaro based on the predecessor of... Continue Reading →
A while ago I ordered a copy of Left Coast Libations, a cocktail tome I had seen mentioned once or twice in the Blogosphere and had paged through while sitting at the bar at Merchant. While I still recommend it to anyone interested in craft cocktails (you gotta love Ted Munat's devil-may-care sense of humor, the meticulously researched recipes,... Continue Reading →
Happy 4th of July! In keeping with the spirit of the holiday, it's time to drink American...liquor, that is. Though this next cocktail tosses in a few European additions, the base spirit is good ol' American apple brandy. What could be more apropos than cultures coming together in the form of a cocktail? Newark 2... Continue Reading →
Tempered Spirits 