Stories about drinks – where they come from, why they work, and how to make them
I’ve loved ginger beer since I accidentally drank one at a family vacation when I was 15 thinking it was a real beer (what a rebel…). That was some too-sweet, mass-produced version in a can, but I was all-in. It took about another decade until I had my first homemade ginger beer at the now-closed … Read more
Pommeau is so intriguing to me, mostly because there’s not much like it out there in general, especially not associated with apples. But to understand pommeau at all, you need to understand brandy first. Basics of Brandy Brandy is just a category of spirit that’s created by distilling wine that’s already been fermented. Often, that’s … Read more
I’m watching the Masters, so a dad joke in the title felt seasonal. Get it? Cynar, artichokes, choke, chalk… Anyways, as I mentioned, Spring is all about growing things, but not much is actually ready to eat yet. Artichokes are an exception; these thistles are best in April, and right around now you’ll see them … Read more
Starting a new job and spraining my right wrist pretty badly on pretty much the same day has not been good for the blog – sorry about that! As we head into spring, I’m going to focus on plants and herbs – some strange ingredients that are going to make for great deep dives. But, … Read more
A lot of my friends are in NOLA for Mardi Gras or Rio for Carnival, and we had paczki at work this week, so it felt right that while I’m in the sunny PNW I should make some drinks that would fit with those celebrations. Those happen to work great as flask cocktails, so one … Read more
Triple Sec generally, and especially Cointreau, have featured heavily on the blog this winter. With winter citrus comes good pairing with a spicy orange liqueur, and that’s the primary theme I’ve explored for the last two months. What’s definitely been missing is any discussion of Grand Marnier; like Cointreau, it’s French and tastes like oranges. … Read more
Once I decided I was going to be writing a lot about triple sec this winter, I knew I was going to write about the Cosmopolitan. I expected it to be a takedown of the cocktail culture of the 90s because the drink sucks but got popular anyway because of a TV show. Unfortunately for … Read more
The Corpse Reviver #2 is the more popular of the two corpse reviver drinks that were created in the late 19th century. The drinks are extremely different, with #1 being a riff on a Manhattan and #2 being its own beast entirely. #2 is tailor-made for this blog because it combines vermouth and triple sec … Read more
The Manhattan is one of the more riff-able cocktails, and the Brooklyn may be my favorite riff. It take the Perfect Manhattan idea, but it replaces the sweet vermouth with maraschino, a cherry liqueur. Context I’m not entirely sure where the drink comes from (a lot of cocktails can be traced to a specific bar/bartender’s … Read more
1,500+ words still wasn’t enough to dive all the way into the world of vermouth, but it’s a good start. To help give a better idea of how each category compares and differs, here’s a side-by-side of two excellent Italian sweet vermouths. I’ll describe how each acts by itself (with ice) and in an Americano, … Read more