Author: Randy Hanson

Pacific Standard

For the third month in a row, we visited a bar we had never been to before. This was, of course, the luck of the draw as we make our

Tradewinds

Here’s a fantastic cocktail just in time for spring. The Tradewinds is an easy, historic tiki recipe from the 1970’s—a time when the Polynesian craze was waning, along with good

Homemade Coconut Cream

Coconut Cream is the cocktail industry name for coconut milk syrup—an essential ingredient in many cocktail classics. There are several brands on the market, but the gold standard is Coco López

DIY Chartreuse

Have we actually discovered how to make a homemade version of Chartreuse using creative infusion techniques that have eluded everyone for hundreds of years?

Takibi

Straight through (or around the corner) from the Snow Peak store on NW 23rd in Portland, OR sits a Japanese restaurant called Takibi, the second destination on our Bar of

Arak Frappe

A little over five years ago we attended a release party hosted by Jamal Hassan for his release of The Mediterranean Exploration Company’s Oregon Arak, distilled and bottled in partnership

Abigail Hall

Tucked around behind the lobby of downtown Portland’s Woodlark Hotel, Abigail Hall occupies a space that was once the Ladies Reception Hall of the original Cornelius Hotel back in 1907.

Bar of the Month

With most daily routines returning to near-normal at this point, coming out of the pandemic lockdown has felt like a slow process in Portland, Oregon. Pre-COVID life seems so far

Hawaiian Sunset

In our last post, we remarked on the fact that there aren’t very many Tiki cocktails that feature vodka as the base spirit. The Blue Hawaii is a popular exception,

Blue Hawaii

The cold, wet weeks of late winter and early spring always have us looking forward to warmer times. As we start to climb out of the dark, shorter days of

Tequila-Sherry Egg Nog

It’s hard to believe that eight years have passed since we originally wrote about Egg Nog. Holiday seasons have come and gone and we have repeatedly executed that original recipe

Final Ward

It is always difficult to pin us down on a favorite cocktail. Whenever we get asked this question our response is usually a comeback with more questions, like, “spirit-driven, or