Ireland is a diverse landscape of endless beauty. On a recent voyage, I set out to discover the Emerald Isle by way of her spectacular spirits. There’s no more obvious place to begin than upon the doorstep of the world’s most popular Irish Whiskey: Jameson.

The Big Apple is always providing access to the excess; the biggest skyline, the best bars, the most delicious food. When visiting La Birreria (200 5th Avenue), a rooftop beer garden in the middle of Manhattan, you get it all. Drink it in.

Though Napa is the famed ground zero for wine in Northern California, a bit north of the herds of red teethed tourists, quaint St. Helena is putting herself on the map. It’s not just a stopover, but is grounding itself in excellent food, myriad colorful shops, and delicious cocktails. Drink Me headed up to St. Helena to check out La Condesa, the stylish gourmet Mexican restaurant that was recently remodeled and spruced up their menu with some tantalizing new dishes, a fresh look on Mexican influenced cocktails, and a redesign of the space. We were welcomed in with a live 3-piece band and a lively atmosphere, a pleasant departure from the relatively quiet town after dark. Chef Mortenson, originally from the other La Condesa in Austin, Texas, is brining farm to table trends of the Bay Area to more traditional Mexican (Mexico city) fare. We started off the the Guacamole Tasting ($15) – [...]

When we last left off on the way up to the Pacific Northwest, I was somewhere around Weed, California, sipping on the suds at Mt. Shasta Brewing Company. It’s been a long journey. Since then, we’ve sampled so much beer and tasted unimaginable amounts of wine. I’m happy to report that Southern Oregon is a veritable wonderland of all things alcohol. Within these lush, verdant hills you’ll find more vineyards and breweries to count. And far more than can possibly be experienced in any one tour. Which means one thing: many happy returns!

As an avid aficionado of craft beer, I’ve long been a fan of Simmzy’s (229 Manhattan Beach Blvd.) in Manhattan Beach, CA. I mean, how could you not? It boasts one of the widest selections of microbrews in this part of Southern California, backs that up with some of the most creative, mouth-watering menu selections, and then offers all of it just about a block away from the beach. The winning combination was such a hit that last year they opened a second location in the Belmont Shores section of Long Beach. The newer space is even bigger and has even more beer on draft. It might sound like it can’t get much better. But it can. More like, ‘canned.’ 

It was a clear, bluebird day on the slopes of Alta earlier this February. I was sipping on artisan cocktails made mid-mountain. Everything was as it was meant to be.

Last weekend, some of us over here at the Drink Me team were lucky enough to join for the world renown Flavor! Napa Valley event up north. We headed up on cold evening for an event aptly named The Appellation Trail: Tasting Napa Valley. After checking in at the Culinary Institute of America, we joined hundreds of tastemakers, winemakers and chefs for a gallant evening of the best wines that Napa Valley has to offer along with incredible tastes from Napa’s top restaurants and live music to fill in the gaps.   Perhaps one of our favorite aspects of the event, aside from the award winning wines, was the ability for us to taste our way though the Napa Valley Appellations. There were over a hundred wineries present, each spaced out by their individual sub-appellations in the valley – which let us taste through the terroir and differences that become [...]

I was in the bad part of downtown Finland, “Helsinki’s Kitchen,” where roving gangs of youths terrorized neighborhoods with ebullient conversation and flagrant loitering. Turf wars were evidenced by graffiti, over-written with spelling corrections. I was warned not to enter after dark, strange advice in a place where darkness is from 3:30 a.m. to 4:10 a.m. I was looking for the beer tram, a tour-n-pour package deal sponsored by the Sinebrychoff brewery. I never found it. Lost tours aside, Helsinki turned out to be a burg with a range of nightlife choices that’d make your head spin faster than a locally-made Valmet hybrid on ice. For example, take the joint with the challenging moniker “Liberty or Death.” It’s a funky book nook you wouldn’t expect to find in the trendy Eira designer district, stuffed floor to ceiling with wooden bookcases, punctuated by post-office-type mailboxes and run by a trio of [...]