One of the hottest trends this year has been Water Cocktails! You may ask, what is a water cocktail? I had that same question when I first heard the term. …Read More

National Coffee Day: It’s time to get your buzz on and for once we don’t mean with booze … OK, so coffee and booze make a good pair …Read More

Recently, I had the honor of judging not one but two events. Needless to say, I was thrilled with the opportunities and learned so much. …Read More

For any of you movie buffs, the 1976 battle between French wines and their upstart American counterparts entitled the “Judgment of Paris” was chronicled in the highly fictionalized movie Bottleshock. While Bottleshock was certainly entertaining and spotlighted the super cute Chris Pine, it didn’t exactly stick to the story. If you are interested in how the tale actually unfolded, pick up George Tabor’s Judgment of Pari …Read More

Each September marks Bourbon Heritage Month.  While there are other spirits with connections to America – think colonial rum and apple brandy – no spirit is as quintessentially American as bourbon.  Bourbon is an amber colored whiskey that must be made from a mash consisting of a majority of corn, matured in charred American oak barrels and bottled at no less than 80 proof. 

Bourbon is often associated with Kentucky but bourbon can be made … Read more

Long live soda! Or, maybe I should say long live elixirs, potions and concoctions. Long before Coca Cola and Pepsi ruled the “soda scene”, there were local pharmacists, soda jerks and soda fountains that were slinging their wares. And, many people acted as their own alchemists at home brewing up concoctions. Whether knowingly or unknowingly, Andrew Lynn in the The Artisan Soda Workshop harkens back to these days. Ms. Lynn does a terrific job of providing a number of recipes that you can use or adapt to make your own “soda”. I use “soda” loosely as a number of these recipes result in drinks that many would not consider “soda” on their own, yet alone with some well place boozey additions. …Read More

I was a spectator at the Macallan Ice Ball Plunge at this year’s Tales of the Cocktail when I was struck with an epiphany. The booze industry is even more philanthropic than I thought. Almost every person in the industry that we know has donated time, booze, classes, swag and more. Even DOTW has gotten into the act, sponsoring the Martini Luge at the Silicon Valley Humane Society’s Fur Ball and donating multiple classes as fundraising items. …Read More

Rose Courvoisier recently celebrated its first year anniversary as a product. That’s not bad for a new product release in the ever competitive spirit space these days. It seems like new products are being released weekly, if not daily. It’s hard to keep up. Rose Courvoisier is a liqueur at 18% alcohol by volume (versus the Courvoisier cognac that clocks in at a much heavier 36%) that was created by blending Courvoisier cognac and red wine. …Read More

In The Billionaire’s Vinegar, Benjamin Wallace investigates one of the largest, if not the largest, alleged frauds in the wine business. The Billionaire’s Vinegar is a fascinating look into the world of high stakes, high priced wine. Loads of wine obsessed rich people looking to possess rare and elusive bottlings. You can see why this book is fascinating – it quickly caught my attention, and I was engrossed to the end. …Read More