My source of reference is a groovy little iPhone/iPad app called Beachbum Berry’s Tiki+. This app was developed with the full endorsement of Jeff “Beachbum” Berry and it’s filled with recipes that

Take a bigger gulp of this article. . .

Take a bigger gulp of this article. . .

It has been a slow start for spring here in the Twin Cities, so I only just planted my mint a few days ago. I picked out a couple large “Kentucky Colonel’s Mint” plantings at the farmers market last weekend, and I am hoping now that they are in the ground, we will have a summer with plenty

Take a bigger gulp of this article. . .

Normally, the flavors associated with a particular bourbon are achieved by carefully combining whiskey from many different barrels. This process allows master distillers to create the same flavor profile year after year, maintaining a consistent and recognizable product. The single barrel concept is exactly the opposite: individual barrels of aged whiskey are tasted for specific flavor characteristics. Once

Take a bigger gulp of this article. . .

It’s a tricky thing, choosing cocktails on a cruise ship. Do you go with the signature Drink of the Day or pick one from the menu—a list that is bloated with overly-sweet tropical smoothies and misguided classics. It would be easy for a cocktail enthusiast to get discouraged, but it’s a mistake to abandon all hope. After all, I spotted a bottle of Angostura Bitters on the back bar and even some Campari sitting neatly down below. Surely, a little patience, flexibility and some extra gratuity could rescue the situation.

Ingredients and Staff Perhaps the biggest challenge facing the mixologist at sea is the lack of fresh citrus juices. I found this ironic given the Caribbean climate, but for reasons unknown, Rose’s Lime Cordial reigns supreme, as does a variety of mixes and mystery milk. On the other hand, most of

Take a bigger gulp of this article. . .

Leaving a five-year gig at Palomino to work with Tim Niver and Aaron Johnson, both of whom he considers some of the best restauranteurs in the area, Nick helped open

Take a bigger gulp of this article. . .

This week, Bill sent me a surprise, as you can see in the images. He must be reading Summit Sips and enjoying my adventures with ice spheres, because inside the box was a two-part spherical ice making tray

Take a bigger gulp of this article. . .

With the Aviation already spoken for, I decided to describe another one of my favorites: the Paper Airplane cocktail. The 1903 Wright Flyer was definitely lightweight, but it wasn’t made of paper. Orville and Wilbur built their frame out of spruce and covered it with muslin. But anyone who has folded a sheet of paper and tried to make it fly can appreciate their achievement. I am hoping you can also appreciate the flavors of this cocktail.

I’m not sure why this drink

Take a bigger gulp of this article. . .

Take a Negroni and substitute bourbon for the gin and you basically have a Boulevardier. But to put it like that, despite it being a wonderful and delicious libation, is to deny our cocktail its due. Long before most Americans would have even heard of Campari, this recipe appeared in 1927—some twenty years before the Negroni saw print. I might venture to argue that the Boulevardier is also the better drink. Now, I know some of you will take offense to that statement, but for those who

Take a bigger gulp of this article. . .

Before prohibition, when a customer asked for “rye”, everyone knew what to pour. Today, many Americans would mistake this for a piece of bread. It’s no wonder there is confusion—whiskey has many different names. Whether you drink rye, bourbon or Scotch, Irish versus Canadian, blended or single-malt—all whiskey is basically the same product. But I would incite feverish debate (if not downright war) to foolishly claim they all taste the same. Subtle differences in the grain used, the barrel aging,

Take a bigger gulp of this article. . .

Imagine my delight to find out that my brother-in-law enjoys the exact same vodka martini that I do: Ketel One with a twist. It’s so simple that when I thought about posting something about it today for his birthday, I decided to take a more inspired approach—one with a few more “steps”.

Eleven months ago my wife and I visited the man of honor in San Francisco where there’s no shortage of great cocktails. During our visit, the better part of one evening was spent hanging out in the loft we rented, dancing and drinking Whiskey Sours. We also laughed about what our names might be if we were rap musicians.

Ok, so none of us is about to make it big in the music industry, but there’s no reason we can’t enjoy another cocktail dreaming about it, right? I decided to dedicate

Take a bigger gulp of this article. . .

I’ve made plenty of flavored syrups in the past, but never passion fruit until recently. I could buy passion fruit syrup, but I held off because I wanted to make it myself. However, fresh passion fruit or its juice is pretty hard to find. It turns out, much of the passion fruit juice that’s out there is grape or apple

Take a bigger gulp of this article. . .

I love the name of this drink partly because it’s actually a nickname. Most cocktail gurus agree that this drink was once referred to as “My Suffering Bar Steward” which seems to recall a time before ice machines and soda dispensers. Imagine a poor, suffering assistant scurrying to and fro to keep the ice bin full and to retrieve ingredients for the barman. Plenty of drinks are named for the men behind the stick, but it’s not unreasonable to believe that in a loud, crowded bar, someone might fancy a misheard

Take a bigger gulp of this article. . .

Umami, or savoriness, is considered by eastern cultures as an important component of taste in their cuisine. It is the flavor produced by amino acids such as glutamate that we normally associate with beef, mushrooms or that “rich”

Take a bigger gulp of this article. . .

Last week was a busy one for tasting whiskey in the Twin Cities. A few weeks ago, the world saw the release of Maker’s 46, the new bourbon whiskey by Maker’s Mark. As the bottles were arriving at the local shops, I got word of a Maker’s 46 release party being held

Take a bigger gulp of this article. . .

Makers Mark is a delicious bourbon made in Loretto, Kentucky, and like most bourbons, the creators pride themselves on tradition. In this case, it’s four generations of tradition that has resulted in a recipe that has remained unchanged in 52 years! According to Bill Samuels, you don’t mess with perfection. However, after more than five decades, he decided it wouldn’t hurt to try something new.

His family has built an empire around a product that has become the go-to standard for bourbon drinkers all over the world. In fact, even at the Seelbach Hotel, right there in Louisville, if you order a Mint Julep, they reach for Maker’s

Take a bigger gulp of this article. . .

If you have visited your grocery store recently you may have noticed that fresh cherries are in season again. Seeing those dark, ripe cherries ready to burst inside the little plastic bins always makes me think about the same thing: homemade cocktail cherries. You may wonder, what’s the point? Can’t you just buy a jar of bright red maraschino (mar-a-SHEEN-oh) cherries that last forever? Sure you can, but allow me to explain what you are really getting inside that jar and you might reconsider that purchase. Besides, it’s not hard to make your own maraschino (mar-a-SKEEN-oh) cherries for special cocktails. As you noticed, there’s a pronunciation difference here, but that’s just the beginning.

Understanding the point of making your own cocktail cherries requires a brief walk through the history of this garnish. Originally, cocktails were decorated

Take a bigger gulp of this article. . .

Kimberly and I have a new favorite location for great food and even better cocktails, but it requires a little planning to get there from St. Paul. That’s because this destination is all the way over the Rocky Mountains in Portland, Oregon. The object of our affection is Clyde Common, a Downtown/Pearl District hot spot that is helping to define the cocktail revolution.

Before I jump right into the cocktails, it’s important to mention that first and foremost, Clyde Common is a restaurant. The decor has a basic, modern look that reminds me of a warehouse. The stenciled labels on the wall identify the “KITCHEN” or the “BAR” with a somewhat industrial look that is softened by wooden tables and candles glowing from every corner.

We were seated in front of the open kitchen at a huge table that seats perhaps 20 guests. This “common” seating arrangement was

Take a bigger gulp of this article. . .

The Mint Julep is probably the oldest cocktail there is. Today, it’s a southern tradition that has been popular for centuries, and it’s also the official drink of the Kentucky Derby. That’s because the Julep we know is usually made with delicious Kentucky Bourbon, but it wasn’t always so.

Early accounts of the Julep represent this drink as a medicinal libation, or more specifically, a vehicle for its

Take a bigger gulp of this article. . .

Take a bigger gulp of this article. . .

Take a bigger gulp of this article. . .

Our first day on the Kentucky Bourbon Trail® started with a drive through Bardstown which is south of Louisville. Although we’d spend the evening in Bardstown, we drove straight on to Loretto for a tour of the Maker’s Mark Distillery. Along the way we passed Jim Beam and Heaven Hill. I had heard good things about the Maker’s Mark tour, and since it was somewhat off the beaten path, we decided it might work best to start there and make our way back to Bardstown in the afternoon.

Our arrival was timed perfectly and we started a tour of the grounds, crossing Whiskey Creek to visit each building in turn. Along the creek stands one of the oldest liquor sales buildings called the Quart House where customers used to come and fill up their quart jugs. Those days are gone, but the

Take a bigger gulp of this article. . .

The Seelbach This first day was supposed to be dedicated to “getting there” but once the car was parked we definitely made the most of it. We arrived at the hotel and were greeted by valets, eager to help us with our bags. It’s actually pretty quiet this time of the year in downtown Louisville—this is the calm before the storm. In  about a month, it will start to pickup as everyone prepares for the onslaught of over 100,000 visitors on Derby Day.

As you can see from the image

Take a bigger gulp of this article. . .

A few weeks ago I posted a teaser about our upcoming tour of the Kentucky Bourbon Trail®. Well, it’s time to kickoff the bourbon trail series starting with a special Drink Of The Week and a perfect start to our exploration of Kentucky bourbon country. Click here to see all of the Kentucky bourbon posts on one page. New posts will be added over the next few days so you can see how the trip progressed. The first destination of our tour was the Seelbach Hotel in Louisville, KY.

The History Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the Seelbach Hotel is a perfect example of gilded-era luxury and beauty which recently underwent a $12 million restoration. Its turn-of-the-century Beaux Arts Baroque style served as the backdrop for Tom and Daisy Buchanan’s wedding in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby. Once a fellow resident of St. Paul,

Take a bigger gulp of this article. . .

Bourbon whiskey is the only true American spirit, and the heart of production lies within the state of Kentucky where legendary distillers have crafted the world’s finest bourbons with over 200 years of tradition. Our goal is to explore the area, experience those traditions and enjoy the countryside. There’s also plenty to see outside of the distilleries, so we hope to take in as much of the local culture as we can.

Since this is a road trip, the first leg of our journey will be the long drive to Louisville. It’s about a twelve hour trip from the Twin Cities, but if we leave early enough, we should

Take a bigger gulp of this article. . .

The sour is an important cocktail classification. There are many examples. A typical sour cocktail consists of a base spirit, a souring agent and a sweetener. In this case, the base is bourbon, and the souring ingredient is lemon juice. Sugar (or simple syrup) is the sweetener. Did you think I was going to use a store-bought sweet and sour mix? You must know better than that by now!

Sour mix itself probably started

Take a bigger gulp of this article. . .

So, what is the Old Fashioned? Well, it’s a drink that has earned it’s own glass, for one. While there are many variations, and some that take additional ingredients way

Take a bigger gulp of this article. . .

Origins We cannot be certain how exactly the Manhattan cocktail came into existence. It’s no surprise that most people believe it originated in New York, but the specific circumstances surrounding

Take a bigger gulp of this article. . .

While I normally enjoy creating delicious cocktails using only the best, fresh ingredients, I wasn’t about to back down from a challenge. Armed with a few ideas, I wandered around the back of the house to inspect the herbs. Even with autumn upon us there was still hope for adding a bit of freshness to this drink. Finally, I came up

Take a bigger gulp of this article. . .