Create cocktails with unprecedented sophistication. The Porthole doubles up not only as an incredibly effective cocktail infuser, but also as a beautiful artsy addition to your kitchen. In fact, even if you’re not the cocktail type, you can still use the porthole to create flavored water or even oils. It …
Located in the heart of the Monterey Bay Peninsula, right off the historic Cannery Row, stands a little cottage that serves some of the area’s best local wines. Not far off the beaten path you can find a great selection of new world Spanish wines made by some of the …
Brasserie Cantillon, which is certainly the most visited and perhaps the best-loved lambic brewery in the world, started a long-term beer cellar project several years ago in Brussels. The facility where about 10,000 bottles of their treasured brews are stored is called “The Bomb Shelter Beer Cellar. ” Yes. It’s …
The Carry On Cocktail Kit provides everything you need to mix two proper old-fashioned cocktails at 30,000 feet. Simply carry on your kit (don’t worry, it will make it through security just fine), order a mini-bottle of bourbon, and use the custom combination bar spoon / muddler to mix in …
This series is dedicated to my beloved California wine countries. Fittingly, one must start with the Rolls Royce of appellations. It’s California’s most prestigious viticulture area, with plantable land selling for upwards of a million dollars per acre. Located in the center of Napa Valley, the Oakville AVA is two …
Five years after opening, notable cocktail bar Blackbird in San Francisco’s Castro is having its year. First, it announced Brewcade, a new bar arcade imagined by Blackbird owners Shawn Vergara and Tiffny Vergara Chung, which opened nearby in December. Also in December, bar manager Matt Grippo launched the “Winter is Coming” Game of Thrones themed …
There’s a bit of fun going on at the Bar at Edinburgh’s classic Balmoral Hotel. You know how Michelin-starred restaurants offer multi-course “tasting menus” to show off the virtuoso skills of the chef? Well the Balmoral has applied that concept to drinks: a seasonal cocktail tasting menu enjoyed over a …
This tale of travel, sex, and perfectly made cocktails charts the debauched first year of a young bartender’s career in the jäger-fuelled world of late-night bars and clubs. Written by award-winning bartender-turned-journalist Dan Miles, Filthy Still has become a cult bestseller among hospitality workers around the globe. With each chapter …
Childhood nostalgia and adult beverages make a great pair. San Francisco’s latest iteration of child’s play and booze is Brewcade, a Market Street bar-arcade curated by Kai Villegas (formerly of Monk’s Kettle). The bar – opened on December 10 by the owners of neighboring cocktail bar Blackbird – has 25 …
Ice cider is a niche dessert wine coming into its own. Also known as apple ice wine or ice apple wine, ice cider is sweeter and more alcoholic than hard cider. The pressed apple juice for ice cider is left in the natural cold for several months to force watery …
Hard cider has resurfaced as the darling of the beverage world. Now it’s time to meet ice cider. Forget the analogy with iced tea and tea. Ice cider is apple ice wine, similar to Sauternes or a sweet Riesling, and nothing like long-gone Apple Boone’s Farm. Ice cider doesn’t have …
Brut NV Champagne can and often does sell for a lot of money—Krug Grande Cuvee, for example, commands approximately $150 in most markets, and typically more than double that on the wine lists of restaurants smart enough to offer it. The solera system employed in Sherry production is built on …