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Your Plans For Sunday: Speed Rack SF

Victoria — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 19:59:44 +0000

What could be better on a Sunday afternoon, after NFL playoffs are over, than watching sixteen of SF’s best females duke it out to see who has the fastest hands in town? Absolutely nothing. Together with Ananas Consulting, LUPEC SF, and Rye On The Road, Speed Rack is rolling into the Brick and Mortar Music Hall on Sunday, January 8th at 3pm. A national tour, Speed Rack is traveling through ten US cities to find the fastest female bartender in the land and to raise $75,000 for breast cancer research and awareness.

Here’s how it works: sixteen top female bartenders (we’re talking ladies from Rye, Hotsy Totsy Room, and Bourbon and Branch) compete head to head in timed trials. If you watch the video on Speed Rack’s website, you’ll see there’s a whole lot of show-womanship and bragging going on. A panel of judges will then score each competitor on both speed and accuracy. The lady left standing at the end of the day gets $500 to compete in the national finals in New York City.

While this pandemonium goes on, you get to sip on complementary punches, cocktails, beer, and food from Beretta. Hop on over to Eventbrite to grab your tickets. We highly recommend the ‘special admission’ option with a Speed Rack t-shirt and coozie. See you there!

Grand Tasting Event – Come Join Us!

Daniel — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 18:59:31 +0000

Join us for the Drink Me’s Grand Tasting Party – filled with spirits, beer, wine and fun hats. There is NO better party going on next friday.

WHERE: 111 Minna // WHEN: Friday, November 4th // HOW: www.DrinkMeGrandTasting.Eventbrite.com

Friday Libation Links

Victoria — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 19:00:41 +0000

Happy Friday, folks! Here’s a roundup of the most fun links we’ve come across this week. So cheers to you, reader, and have a great weekend. And don’t spill your drink on that new iPhone!

Hendricks Gin’s blog always has some of the most interesting and quirky stuff going on. And they always seem to be having more fun than anybody: check out this writeup of London Cocktail Week, the Cucumbermobile, and the Cucumbrella Cup Contest!

Check out these wine labels. Now. We all have an inner data geek, and these brilliant infographic wine labels show you everything you could ever need to know about Five Bells wines… and they still look good on the shelf.

Gothamist grills Garrett Oliver of Brooklyn Brewery on his Oxford Companion To Beer, and the worst beer in the world?

After a handful of visits to Boston in the last year, we’ve become lifelong friends of ‘Gansett (when is it coming to California?). They’re going to make their first year round craft beer; go vote on either Cream or Rye!

NY Craft Beer Week Begins: Freaktoberfest

Daniel — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 17:43:59 +0000

NY Craft Beer Week kicked off this Friday with Freaktoberfest, a party hosted by Shmaltz Brewing Co. that featured representatives from over 20 breweries, a bevy of Coney Island freakshow performers, 2 floors of live music, and a mustachioed emcee named Donny Vomit who juggled knives and swallowed balloons between sets. The third annual celebration went down at Southpaw, a raucous music venue in Park Slope, Brooklyn where beer geeks boogied and sipped unlimited tastings alongside soul singers, industry types, and burlesque dancers.

The spirit of the event was embodied by its highlighted beer and official drink of NY Craft Beer Week: Geektoberfest, a collaboration between Captain Lawrence, Ithaca Beer Co., and Shmaltz Brewing Company, is a blend of seven barrel-aged sour brown ales. The beer, only available on draft during Craft Beer Week, is a spirited, tart ale with hints of raspberry, a kitchen-sink project that brings together sours with history all over the state.

We sampled the national launch of Genesis 15:15, Shmaltz’s new barrel-aged harvest barleywine ale with a whopping 13.4% ABV, brewed with pomegranate juice, fig juice, date & grape juice, aged in rye whiskey barrels – the perfect tipple for the Jewish New Year!

Shmaltz also celebrated the recent launch of the world’s tiniest craft brewery, Coney Island Brewing Company, who welcomed five of the guest brewers they had at their facility this summer (we especially liked The Horny RYEnocerous, a dry-hopped rye IPA, brewed by Fritz Fernow). Other notable participants were Greenport Harbor, a two year old Long Island brewery who served up a double IPA; Ommegang with a palate-cleansing, summery Belgian pale ale; Speakeasy, who shared a two-month release from their Bootlegger Limited Series (Butchertown Black Ale, a roasted but light-bodied IPA-type brew); and Goose Island, a Chicago-based brewery who featured Matilda, a dark, fruity pale ale targeted at wine drinkers, and Sofie, a tart, Belgian-style farmhouse ale aged in wine barrels with orange peel .

Freaktoberfest had all attendees in high spirits, ready to embark on a week-long celebration of New York’s finest brews.

SIP awards

Daniel — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 19:55:19 +0000

We love spirits competitions… they give us insight into the new spirits on the market and get to highlight some of the lesser known brands. The SIP awards that recently took place enlists consumers to choose their favorites. As opposed to some other contests that boast celebrity industry judges, SIP calls for people with no affiliation to the alcohol industry. It’s a relatively new competition – it’s exciting to se what consumers are into nowadays… You can see the full list of winners at SipAwards.com Here’s the shortlist of winners:

Platinum – “Best of Class”

Nadared Vodka

NutLiquor / Peanut Butter Vodka

London Dry Gin / New Amsterdam

Revel Stroke Spiced Whisky

Smokehead Islay Single Malt Scotch Whisky

El Tesoro Platinum Tequila

Antiguo Reposado Tequila

Don Rich Reserva Anejo Tequila

KAH Extra Anejo Tequila

Zignum Anejo Mezcal

Angostura Reserva

Angostura 1919

Donq Mojito

Cruzan Single Barrel Rum

XO Borderies Camus Cognac

Adult Chocolate Milk

Tails Cosmopolitan

Bong Spirits Vodka

KAH Tequila Series

Follow the White Rabbit (Bar Hop) – This Thursday

Daniel — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 16:44:18 +0000

Come join us as we follow the white rabbit down in and out of bars along Polk St. in San Francisco. Everywhere the Rabbit goes, he’ll be brining a hoppy hour menu with discounted drinks. We’ve heard he’s starting off at R Bar (with $3 Sauza Blue Margaritas and more) at 6pm sharp and will be in the neighborhood until 10. Don’t be late for your very important date.

For live updates of the Rabbit’s whereabouts, check out our twitter feed.

Drink Me Island Paradise Party

Daniel — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 18:52:59 +0000

We’ve rented out the legendary and incredible man-made floating island on the San Francisco Bay for a private lush evening with live music, delicious drinks (lots of tasty rums) and spirited tastings. What’s more, we’ve teamed up with Spark, a San Francisco based non-profit that supports women-led programs that ignite global change. All profits from the event will go to support Spark’s efforts.

Who: Drink Me Readers and all (21+) are welcome, but there are limited tickets available, so make sure you don’t procrastinate. We’re teaming up with Spark, an amazing organization that seeks to build a community of global citizens who are invested in changing the patters of inequality that impact women throughout the world.

When: Friday July 29th, 7:30-10:30 (with VIP boarding at 6:30 for an exclusive tequila and margarita class and an extra hour to wander the island). Come after work and watch the sun go down over the golden gate.

Where: Forbes Island, San Francisco Bay (yes, that’s it in the picture on the invite). The incredible man-made floating island near pier 39 with plenty to explore.

Why: How better to get away from the city and enjoy the beautiful summer on the water? All while supporting a great cause.

How: Purchase tickets through eventbrite HERE, and we will be in touch with details about how to get to and take our ferry to the island. The price of the ticket includes everything you will need for the night.

Tickets are $45 or $75 for VIP tickets (with an exclusive tequila tasting and margarita class and an extra hour on the island).

Purchase tickets at www.drinkmeisland.eventbrite.com

See you there.

Abbots Cellar – the adventure continues….

Daniel — Thu, 26 May 2011 17:59:33 +0000

Our good friends over at Monks Kettle in San Francisco have announced they are opening a new space… and only blocks away in the Mission! If you have never been to Monk’s Kettle, you are missing out. Please stop reading immediately and head over there for a beer/bite and then continue reading. Christian and Nat have signed the lease on 740 Valencia – to open Abbot’s Cellar this coming Winter. The new space (which will hold about 95 people including the bar space) will be a restaurant that focuses on beer pairings and seasonal American and European fare. The beer selection will be a bit more focussed than the massive and widespread selection at Monks Kettle, but we know their 100 bottles and 24 tap selection (including 2 hand pump casks) will still be pouring delicious brew. We can’t wait for them to open (and we hope we can get a reservation early on). To keep up with the project, check out abbotscellar.com

Drink Me Interview in The Examiner

Stephanie — Sat, 26 Feb 2011 22:06:44 +0000

Drink Me’s own publisher, Daniel Yaffe, was recently interviewed by The San Francisco Examiner. Check out the full interview here. Special thanks to journalist Kathleen Neves for the opportunity!

Pliny the Younger Release

Miranda — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 21:57:25 +0000

Pliny the Younger is an elusive beer, with kegs released from their natural habitat by Russian River Brewing Co. into the wild only once a year. For two weeks in February, Pliny hunters can enjoy the insanely popular, small batch, triple IPA, with a deliciously sweet, hoppy, and carbonation balance that makes it dangerously easy to drink with an ABV of 10.5%. You may be aware of the similar species, Pliny the Elder, from the same family, and classified as a double IPA with an 8% ABV that can be spotted year-round in bars all over San Francisco.

The Younger was first sighted in 2006, and has become so popular that it has been illegally poached in the attempt to sell it on E-Bay. According to Vinnie Cilurzo, brewer and owner of Russian River Brewing Co., it is only made once a year in a small quantity because it’s a difficult beer to brew that takes a lot of time and tank space, not just to tease the hop lovers.

With this year’s batch already in the midst of its release, Pliny the Younger has already become extinct in some SF bars, but Toronado is tapping the last of its allotment tonight at 6 p.m. If you are lucky enough to catch this rare breed of beer, please be aware that too much close contact may induce morning-after head poundings. But, oh so worth it.