Jonas Halpren

Arthur’s Day – Celebrate 250 Years of Guinness

Today, September 24th, 2009, marks the day 250 years ago that Arthur Guinness started the great brewing tradition that is Guinness. The folks at St. James Gate are planning a worldwide party to celebrate with such acts as the Black Eyed Peas, Tom Jones, and Sean Paul. The party starts at the St. James Gate Brewery and continues with live music throughout Dublin and in other cities such as Lagos and Kuala Lumpur.

The party … Read more

Resveratrol Supplements Instead of Red Wine?

We’ve been hearing for a while now that red wine is good for our health. And resveratrol is the name of the compound that supposedly wields these healing powers.

You may have seen ads online or spam in your inbox hawking resveratrol in pill form. (Although, I’d prefer it in the form of a glass of red wine.)

Naturally, drug companies want in on the action. GlaxoSmithKline has paid $720 million for rights to resveratrol … Read more

Bar Smarts Wired

This fall Pernod-Ricard has partnered with the Beverage Alcohol Resource (BAR) to bring the world an online version of their Bar Smarts bartender training, education and certification program.

Bar Smarts Wired takes one through 4 modules covering distillation, the spirits, mixology basics and practical applications of mixology. The $45 course is an amazing deal. You get a top-notch mixology program, complete with pdfs for easy reading and entertaining videos featuring the likes of Dan Wondrich … Read more

Skyy’s the Limit Cocktail Competition

At the recent SF Chef’s food, wine and cocktail extravaganza, Skyy held a cocktail competition. The competition was held over 3 days and featured 6 top San Francisco bartenders. Each day featured spirit and secret ingredient, Iron Chef Style. The semifinals pitted 3 bartenders from a larger field of 15, the six would vie for a spot in the Finals. The finalists and winner would be picked by a panel of 3 judges. Cocktails would … Read more

Great Cocktails Start at the Door

Tonight, I found myself near what I had heard was one of the best new bars in San Francisco and thought I’d give it a try. The place is called, Rickhouse, and is owned by the same folks who own Bourbon & Branch. Unfortunately, I was not able to actually get a drink. Initially, I was very impressed by the enormously compressive drink menu. The ladies next to me admitted that it was a little … Read more

Watermelon Granita

This Week’s Drink is brought to us by guest blogger Caitlin D. (@catincal).

I’m the kind of girl who giggles for no reason, loves twirly dresses and is the first to grab a karaoke microphone. Oh, and I love cocktails.

I’m a huge fan of outdoor dinner parties in the summer and love matching a festive, seasonal drink to a traditional BBQ menu. One of my favorite bartenders, Esteban Ordonez, created the following recipe with … Read more

National Tequila Day Roundup

Today, July 24, is National Tequila Day. And to get in the mood, we had an informal tequila tasting in my kitchen. We tried several brands that have arrived in the last week or so and a few little bottles procured from the media schwag room at Tales of the Cocktail. Before we get into what we tasted, here are a few quick facts about tequila and agave:

– Although there are more than 200 … Read more

Tales of the Cocktail 2009

This is the first in a series of reports from Tales of the Cocktail 2009.

I arrived in New Orleans on Tuesday, the day before Tales of the Cocktail would be in full swing. Still, there were a few events scheduled for the evening. First off, the bloggers reception held at M.S. Rau Antiques on Royal Street. There, I was fortunate enough to meet many of my fellow cocktail bloggers and see some really amazing … Read more

Win “Remarkable Experiences” from Guinness

In honor of its 250th anniversary, Guinness is offering you the chance to win “remarkable experiences” like a trip into outer space or to a traveling, underwater bar in Norway or Black Eyed Peas concert at a secret venue.

Personally, I’d go for the space travel, which would be on Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic, the world’s first spaceline. But a submarine bar and hanging out with the Black Eyed Peas are also pretty tempting.… Read more

2009 Big Trends in Cocktail Service

The first session I attended during last week’s Tales of the Cocktail in New Orleans was a panel titled “2009 Big Trends in Cocktail & Spirit Service.”

The panel consisted of Jim Meehan, Michael Waterhouse, Devlin Tavern, and Simon Difford (Source Guide) and was moderated by Ryan Magarian (Aviation Gin).

The program covered the 4 Ps of Cocktail Service Success, not unlike the 4 Ps of marketing: product, precise execution, promotion, passion.

It was here … Read more