In past years we have often tried to add bottles from distilleries familar to us by choosing a special bottling or a distiller’s reserve, but this time our apporoach was influenced by a series of events that we first read about in the New York Times. An article published back in July chronicled the story about how three

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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

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Since the basis for the Greenpoint is the Red Hook, and by extension, the Manhattan, it should come as no surprise that that this is going to be a rye whiskey cocktail with vermouth.

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A Manhattan is typically two parts whiskey and one part sweet vermouth. It’s fair to say that the vermouth is the dominant flavor. Instead of vermouth, the Red Hook calls for the complex and bitter Punt e Mes. Even at half the volume, Punt e Mes exerts its personality

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I’ll try just about anything that has rye whiskey, especially if it also has sweet vermouth. But the Oriental also has lime and curaçao which takes the flavor in an unexpected direction. I guess that sorta makes it a Manhattan Sour.

Oriental 1.5 oz rye whiskey .75 oz orange curaçao .75 oz sweet vermouth .5 oz fresh lime juice

Add ingredients to a shaker with ice, shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a maraschino or brandied cherry.

Is it perfectly balanced? Not necessarily,

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Zarzamora is what they call the blackberry in Argentina. That’s significant for a couple of reasons. First, this drink has blackberries, but more importantly, it contains Fernet Branca. If you recall, Fernet is a bitter Italian Amaro, and it’s one of the strongest in terms of bitter herbal complexity. So, what does that have to do with Argentina?

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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

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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

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Wait, “Best what?” Ok, that’s crazy, but if the Academy asked me who should be nominated for this category, I’d steer them toward this recent article in the New York Times. Have a look at some of the Oscar-contender-inspired cocktails and you tell me who should win!

In the past, my wife and I have often hosted Oscar parties, but this year, like the last several, we have chosen to keep it simple so we can enjoy the event on our own. That doesn’t mean we aren’t shouting at the television or cheering our own selections from this year’s ballot. Still, party or not, it’s a lot more fun with a good cocktail, so imagine my delight when I spotted the Jeremy Renner cocktail in the Times this morning. I just had to try it.

Jeremy Renner by Leo Robitschek,

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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

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Mamie Taylor 2 oz Scotch Whisky .75 oz lime juice 1 oz ginger syrup 3 oz soda (to top)

Add the Scotch, fresh lime juice and

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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

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If you are a fan of spirit-forward drinks, this is another one for your house menu. Upon making it, you might recognize that this is just a Saratoga sweetened with Benedictine. Ok, there’s Peychaud’s bitters too, and by this logic, any cocktail is just another version of something else. You could say it’s like a Monte Carlo, or a variation of the La Louisianne, but these are all just riffs on the Manhattan. If you have done

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In years past we have added the Glenlivet Nadurra to our collection, some Speyside bottles from a tasting we attended, and a year ago we picked up Oban’s 1993 Distillers Edition. We have even received Scotch as a

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First, you will need some Irish whiskey. I’m no expert, but Jameson and Bushmills are both reasonably priced and easy to find. If you want to try a more expensive spirit, go ahead. Can you make a good drink with bourbon or rye? Probably—it’s just not what we are making

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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

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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

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There is also disagreement on the exact proportions of this drink, but most folks recognize the same ingredients. You occasionally see Canadian Club used as the base spirit, but it really should be rye whiskey. You need a lemon and an orange and a bit of grenadine. I had one of these at the M & S Grill a while back and it was very nicely executed. Some prefer it on the rocks, but I like mine served up. How you decide to make

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Like the Scofflaw, this Drink of the Week pokes fun at our “Noble Experiment”, but in this case, it’s more than just words. At the time, since it was not illegal to drink alcohol, only to manufacture, sell and transport it, anyone with a boat could head a mere three miles out, buy whatever they wanted and drink it on

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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

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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,

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For our Drink Of The Week, we set our sights on the classics again, turning our clocks all the way back to the 1880s. Imagine yourself in the days of Jerry Thomas, Saratoga Springs, New York, enjoying the spas—or more likely—the horses, the gambling, the cocktails. By then, the cocktail had established a firm grasp on social culture and the Saratoga

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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

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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

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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

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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”

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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

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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

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Next week marks the beginning of Tales of the Cocktail, an annual event held in New Orleans to celebrate our truly American invention. But it’s more than that. Tales has become something of a Mecca to cocktail enthusiasts and professionals from all over the world. With so many sponsored events and educational sessions throughout the week, attendees have the opportunity to learn from the experts and discover new products and techniques. In addition to hosting Tales of the Cocktail, New Orleans enjoys a deep tradition of mixology and has been host to the creation of many classic cocktail favorites. Perhaps the one most identified with the city is our Drink of the Week, the Sazerac.

A cocktail was at one time a narrow class of beverages following a very specific formula: spirits, sugar, water and bitters. Today, the word is associated with any mixed alcoholic

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As uncommon as Scotch cocktails are, you might expect a working recipe to look better on paper, so when you see what’s in this, you wouldn’t think the combination can work. I have to say that if I set out to create a Scotch cocktail myself, it might take me a while before I would try mixing

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