Book Review: The Drunken Botanist
It only came out last year, but Amy Stewart’s incredibly obsessive-compulsive tome, The Drunken Botanist, has already become a staple of the spirits obsessed. The idea is deceptively simple. Whatever you drink — Scotch, rum, tequila, vodka — has its origins in the earth — barley, sugar cane, agave, potato (or whatnot). Where do these plants,…
Bar Review: Hard Water, San Francisco
Hard Water, located on San Francisco’s waterfront just a block from the Ferry Building, is a tiny little place, a restaurant that serves Cajun cuisine and has no tables. Everyone sits either at the bar, a big horseshoe that juts out from the kitchen, or at a ledge around the walls. You’ll take your barstool…
Review: The Glenrothes 2001
It’s been three years since the last Glenrothes Vintage release (the 1998 vintage), and finally the Speyside distillery with the barrel-shaped bottle is out with a new one, 2001, another limited release that sticks closely to the Glenrothes house style. Bottled in mid-2012, it’s an 11 year old single malt whisky. The nose is surprisingly…
Review: Diageo Orphan Barrel Project: Barterhouse and Old Blowhard Bourbon
Everyone loves a good story, and to spin a good yarn around an original tale is becoming a talent synonymous with spirits industry. A brand simply can’t stand on its merits alone anymore. A successful product launch now requires no less than a multi-million dollar yacht, international release parties, the courtship of the tastemaker kings…
Homebrew Review: Northern Brewer – Bacon! Smoked Red Ale
Bacon doughnuts, bacon gum, bacon mints, and now… bacon beer? One of the hottest crazes to sweep the nation lately has been bacon-flavored products, and not even beer seems to be able to escape its allure. In 2011, Oregon-based Rogue Ales teamed up with Voodoo Doughnut to release its Bacon Maple Ale, but now homebrewers…
Review: Sammy’s Beach Bar Red Head Macadamia Nut Flavored Rum
You gotta love a first. For his first line extension from Sammy’s Beach Bar Rum, the “Red Rocker” Sammy Hagar has added a Macadamia Nut-flavored expression to this Hawaii-born product. What the heck is this stuff? Distilled from Maui sugar cane, it is steeped with Macadamia nuts and colored blood red (fruit and vegetable juice…
Book Review: Craft Cocktails at Home
As food has evolved beyond grilled steaks and baked potatoes, so have cocktails. It’s now common to see bar menus stuffed with cocktails that involve homemade tinctures, smoke, infusions, foams, pearls of goo, and god knows what else. Molecular mixology is a real thing, and it’s come to the masses. Kevin Liu’s book, Craft Cocktails at…
Review: Wines of Italy’s Stemmari, 2014 Releases
Stemmari is a major winemaker of Sicily, where it produces wines from both native and international varietals, with a ruthless focus on keeping costs down. Most of its wines are available for under $10 a bottle, and some of these are quite good. The naming system may be a little tricky. The less-expensive, single varietal…
