(Wine Enthusiast 12/4/2013)
An essay (with tasting notes) about Scotch and other great whiskies, and the value of serendipity. This was one of my favorite pieces written during 2013.
(Wine Enthusiast online 3/10/2011)
Strong cocktails for strong women in celebration of Women's History Month.
(Food Arts 3/1/2012)
Houston bar manager James Watkins swears he may never buy flavored vodka ever again. That's because Watkins is embracing a new cocktail "killer app": sous-vide technology.
(Slate 12/29/2013)
I drank and evaluated 13 pop-culture wine bottlings, including Downton Abbey, Star Trek, Duck Dynasty and 50 Shades of Grey wine - and lived to tell the tale.
(Wine Enthusiast 11/13/2013)
Dishing with the chef and author about bourbon and food pairings.
(Arrive Magazine 4/1/2011)
Wherever your travels may lead, you're never far from a great cocktail. Check out the latest libations to try across the Eastern Seaboard.
(Wine Enthusiast 12/1/2010)
Scotch whisky has always had a discerning and passionate following. What could possibly be new? Here are 5 breaking trends & 10 highly recommended bottlings.
(Wine Enthusiast 6/9/2010)
A profile of "progressive cocktails" expert Eben Freeman.
(Wine Enthusiast Magazine 3/1/2011)
In the hierarchy of agave-based spirits, Tequila remains #1 and the fast-rising mezcal holds the number two spot, but another agave spirit, sotol, is poised to become a contender.
(Slate 12/23/2013)
An opinion piece about gender-specific spirits.
(Food Republic 3/11/2011)
Once passe, bracing chasers are making a hip return.
(Wine Enthusiast 11/1/2013)
I talked (and tasted) with three top toques who are rolling out their own bespoke spirits.
(Arrive Magazine 7/1/2013)
Frozen cocktails make a comeback just in time to beat the summer heat.
(Wine Enthusiast Magazine 8/1/2013)
Profiles of four fearless females who create some of the world's favorite spirits.
(Wine Enthusiast Magazine 2/1/2012)
In the wine and spirits business, China is a hot prospect. But as the Chinese are learning to appreciate Bourbon and Bordeaux, will Westerners embrace Chinese spirits?
Some spirits companies are betting on baijiu...
(Arrive Magazine 2/1/2012)
Bartenders are embracing beer as a key ingredient for creative drinks.
(The Wall Street Journal 3/6/2014)
Neutral no more, vodka is finally expressing itself. A few industry innovators are pushing the boundaries, with surprising (and flavorful) results
(Edible Manhattan 1/5/2014)
I wrote the cover story for Edible Manhattan's annual alcohol issue: a profile of Coppersea Distilling, a unique "heritage distiller" using 1880s techniques.
(Edible Manhattan 11/5/2012)
At an East Village bar called Tom & Jerry's, you'll rarely find the frothy, rich Christmas-time drink named Tom & Jerry - except once a year, when a group of Wisconsin expats gather to remember an art-world friend.
(Slate 3/18/2013)
In the world of wine and spirits, we've been told that older is always better. But sometimes it's just not true.
(Wine Enthusiast 9/24/2012)
Whether you sip them straight up or use them to upgrade cocktails, these new vermouths are simply stellar.
(Food Arts 10/9/2012)
Not content with artisanal spirits and house-made bitters, bartenders are pursuing the perfect cocktail counterpoint by making their own vermouths.
(Wine Enthusiast 10/19/2012)
Whether served neat or in innovative cocktails, this classic spirit is worth discovering, or revisiting. Feature story, with cocktail recipes and bottle recommendations.
(Sommelier Journal Magazine 8/31/2012)
Cover story! Although cask aging has always been a key factor in the production of certain spirits, the barrel itself has become as important as any ingredient. Cooperage is now a topic on which bartenders need to be well versed. Are you ready to talk wood?
(Reuters | Business Traveller 2/20/2012)
Vegas thrill-seekers are legendary in their pursuit of flash and excitement. However, that doesn't necessarily extend to the drinks --
at the bar, the objective is to make guests feel comfortable, even as they push limits at the poker table.
(Wine Enthusiast Magazine 9/19/2011)
We posed a challenge: With three basic spirits, how many cocktails could be made? (This story has been among the most-viewed stories on Wine Enthusiast's site for several months.)
(Wine Enthusiast Magazine 9/1/2011)
Savor Bourbon’s flavor along this 70-mile tasting trail in the heart of Bluegrass Country. What to drink, and where to drink it!
(Arrive Magazine 3/1/2014)
Cocktails that prove Irish whiskey isn't just for St. Patrick's Day anymore.
(Wine Enthusiast Magazine 5/1/2011)
Distillers are resting whiskey, rum, even mezcal in barrels previously used to hold wine. In this equation, wine + spirits = so much more than either alone.
(Wine Enthusiast Magazine 3/1/2012)
Dessert-flavored vodkas are on the rise, at a rapid rate.
(Reuters | Business Traveller 4/1/2011)
While most famous for certain other intoxicating substances, Amsterdam has a small but growing cocktail scene.
(Wine Enthusiast Magazine 3/1/2012)
Look for artisanal apple brandies, liqueurs and ciders -- including many with local ties.
(Gotham Magazine 3/1/2012)
As the farm-to-table movement grows, mixologists are embracing the trend at the bar too, making cocktails with organic spirits, agave-based sweetners, seasonal produce and a fresh attitude.
(Wine Enthusiast Magazine 7/1/2012)
Choosing libations with a lower alcohol content and a lighter touch doesn't mean sacrificing flavor or fun.
(Reuters | Business Traveller 3/25/2011)
The iconic spirit in the UK capital is gin -- and you'll find plenty of gin-soaked cocktails to sip in the growing ranks of pricey cocktail bars and nightclubs around the city.
(Inspirato Magazine 7/15/2012)
I travelled to the Cognac region of France for this look inside the spirit once known as The Drink of Kings.
(Food Republic 4/1/2011)
A DIY guide to making your own barrel-aged Manhattans and other drinks.
(Reuters | Business Traveller 3/11/2011)
In addition to some of the finest wine bars in the country, the Bay Area is boasts one of the most lively and influential "craft cocktail" cultures around.
(Reuters | Business Traveller 3/26/2012)
Want to start a lively debate? Ask a cocktail aficionado to select the iconic cocktail of New Orleans: The Sazerac or the Ramos Gin Fizz. (The answer is at the end of the piece.)
(Hamptons Magazine 5/31/2013)
Long Island's North Fork wineries are producing an esteemed collection of unique bottlings perfect for summer.
(Edible Brooklyn 3/1/2012)
Feeling a little rough around the edges? It's OK, honey. Put on your sunglasses like the rock star you thought you were last night, and order a Brandy Milk Punch.
(Wine Enthusiast Magazine 7/1/2013)
The next gen of frozen cocktails moves well beyond the margarita machine. It's time to treat yourself to this delicious deep-freeze trend.
(Wine Enthusiast Magazine 5/23/2013)
Perfect pairings for your Memorial Day weekend grilling-and-chilling extravaganza.
(Arrive Magazine 6/1/2013)
Check out these deliciously complex cocktails that will titillate the most discerning palates.
(Arrive Magazine 3/1/2013)
A look at how bartenders are experimenting with salt as a secret ingredient to help coax out flavors.
(Arrive Magazine 1/1/2013)
Would you like some tea in your drink? A time-honored ingredient adds a new kick to your cocktail.
(Sommelier Journal 2/1/2013)
Can the right glass improve - or ruin - your cocktail? Glassware designers are working overtime to develop new and improved vessels beyond the classic snifters, flutes, highballs, and lowballs for showcasing spirits.
(Reuters | Business Traveller 1/3/2012)
Perhaps Minneapolis never quite got over the Prohibition era of the 1930s. How else to explain the popularity of its iconic cocktail, The Bootleg?
(Reuters | Business Traveller 2/13/2012)
It seems fitting that some of the best tippling to be found in Vancouver is in an area noted for its boozy past.
(Reuters | Business Traveller 4/15/2011)
Gin and tonics, shorthanded as "gin-tonic," is the mixed drink most often found in Madrid. However, the gin-tonic may be slightly different from the ones business travellers know from back home.
(Edible Manhattan 1/1/2012)
Monday night is industry night at Amor y Amargo, the tiny East Village bitters bar that opened last March.
(Wine Enthusiast 8/30/2012)
Whiskey has always been considered precious, but these top-notch Scotches set the bar higher than ever before.
(Arrive Magazine 2/1/2014)
A growing number of bars are serving "pre-batched" craft cocktails, pre-mixed and properly capped. When you order one of these bottled cocktails, all that's left is to pop the top and serve - fancy straws optional. Here's where to find them.
(The New York Times 11/23/2012)
Profile of Tirado, the first distiller in the Bronx since Prohibition, which is making "fruit-aged" rums and other products with Puerto Rican heritage.
(Arrive Magazine 11/1/2012)
Write-up of "Hemingway Cocktail Companion" book, including recommendations for bars along Amtrak route where readers can "drink like Hemingway."
(Wine Enthusiast Magazine 3/1/2011)
My Q&A with hip-hop celebrity Ludacris, who is also a Cognac mogul.
(Wine Enthusiast Magazine 8/1/2012)
Did someone say "Foie Gras Martini?" Although he's not a bartender, San Francisco chef Russell Jackson has developed some thought-provoking cocktails.
(Reuters | Business Traveller 7/2/2012)
In Italy's fashion capital of Milan, the last thing you would want, dear traveller, is to be considered unfashionable.
Luckily, the aperitivo, or "aperitif" is here to save you from that fate...
(Wine Enthusiast online 4/18/2011)
A new website takes a non-traditional approach to the traditional Seder meal.
(Reuters | Business Traveller 4/22/2011)
From Enron to Exxon, Houston has long been a city associated with big business. And when it comes to drinking, the big dog in town is tequila.
(Sommelier Journal Magazine 2/1/2013)
Can the right glass improve - or ruin - your cocktail? Glassware designers are working overtime to develop new and improved vessels beyond the classic snifters, flutes, highballs, and lowballs for showcasing spirits.
(Wine Enthusiast online 4/18/2011)
Alexander LaPratt, of New York’s db Bistro Moderne, won the title on Sunday night in a close and exciting competition hosted by the American Sommelier Association.
(Reuters | Business Traveller 4/8/2011)
Business travel in the small desert city of Dubai can be thirsty work.
(Reuters | Business Traveller 1/10/2012)
In Washington, D.C., even the drinks reference political roots.
(Slate 7/1/2013)
Has the trend in super high-proof spirits gotten out of hand?
(Reuters | Business Traveller 3/7/2011)
My inaugural post for "The Spirited Traveller" column, about where business travellers can find great cocktails in Singapore.
(Wine Enthusiast 12/4/2013)
On the 80th anniversary of Repeal Day, tips for throwing the ultimate celebratory bash.
(Reuters | Business Traveller 2/7/2012)
Over the past couple of years cocktail culture has accelerated in Phoenix - so much so that the city will play host to the first-ever Arizona Cocktail Week.
(Wine Enthusiast Magazine 8/1/2012)
Auchentoshan 1999 Vintage Bordeaux Cask Matured Scotch is entirely aged in wine barrels.
(Wine Enthusiast Magazine 1/6/2014)
We asked eight craft spirit makers what they pour when off duty.
(The Wall Street Journal 2/20/2014)
Are 1970s-style cocktails replacing tiki drinks as the guilty pleasure du jour?
(Wine Enthusiast Magazine 2/3/2014)
My Q&A with "Miss Ella" Brennan, the Big Easy's matriarch of all things food and drink.
(Reuters | Business Traveller 3/18/2011)
While in Shanghai, daring drinkers should cultivate a taste for baijiu, though to the Western palate, it may taste "slightly worse than petrol."
(Edible Manhattan 4/1/2011)
Artisan sodas make a splash.
(Wine Enthusiast Magazine 11/29/2011)
Artisan-crafted spirits can noticeably boost the quality of cocktails. Here are five West Coast distillers whose bottlings are worth exploring.
(Saveur Magazine 11/1/2012)
Rock and Rye, an early barroom staple, made its way into the medicine cabinet during the temperance movement. Personal essay, with recipe.
(Wine Enthusiast Magazine 7/26/2013)
Q&A with filmmaker Douglas Tirola, whose documentary "Hey Bartender" explores how both modern cocktails-and the people who make them-became cultural icons.
(Hamptons Magazine 8/1/2013)
Drawing inspiration from the aperitif/aperitivo culture of the French and Italian Riviera, a growing number of Hamptons restaurants are offering lower-alcohol libations designed to be paired with lunchtime dishes.
(Reuters | Business Traveller 1/30/2012)
In Wisconsin, the brandy Old Fashioned is king.
(Reuters | Business Traveller 1/17/2012)
So what do they drink in Lisbon, Portugal, if not Port?
(Wine Enthusiast Magazine 5/1/2011)
To most, "classic" cockails mean a drink with pre-Prohibition roots. But one Seattle bartender looks to 18th-century France and ancient Rome for inspiration.
(Wine Enthusiast Magazine 3/1/2013)
Refreshing and aromatic, this is an adaptation of a drink dating back to 1903, a time when horseless carriages were still considered opulent oddities.
(Wine Enthusiast 10/10/2013)
Feature story on rye whiskey and cocktails that celebrate its speakeasy past.
(Reuters | Business Traveller 7/11/2012)
A bartender in Kiev, Ukraine would have a hearty laugh at the sweet-toothed flavored vodkas that fill out the shelves in the U.S. And then he might push across the bar a shot of fiery pepper-infused vodka.
This is the original flavoured vodka, my friend.
(Wine Enthusiast Magazine 4/1/2013)
No longer just for show or simple flavor enhancement, the garnish has gone from functional first mate to kooky captain, guiding the sipper through a psychedelic sea of aromas, textures and tastes.
(Wine Enthusiast Magazine 4/1/2013)
This crazy-easy recipe produces a batch of must-have neutral sweetener for use in mixing cocktails. Flavored variations also are included.
(Gotham Magazine 2/25/2013)
Jean-Georges Vongerichten's Flatiron temple to virtuous dining crafts cocktails for power players.
(Wine Enthusiast Magazine 5/1/2013)
A grown-up's guide to celebrating Cinco de Mayo, with recipes and suggested premium tequila bottlings.
(Reuters | Business Traveller 9/20/2011)
Lucky Mexico City-bound tipplers have plenty of good things to drink. But the tipple of the moment is smoky mezcal.
(Loews Magazine 9/1/2011)
Power breakfasting with the rich and famous at the New York's Regency Hotel.
(Wine Enthusiast Magazine 5/2/2013)
Louisville, KY mixologist Colin Shearn created an original "tequila julep" for Wine Enthusiast.
(Food Arts 2/11/2011)
Ironically, just as cocktail menus have become an industry standard, it's become a knowledgeable wink among savvy imbibers to ask the bartender to stray from the list.
(Imbibe Magazine 5/1/2013)
Celery lends an earthy zest to springtime cocktails.
(The Wall Street Journal 7/19/2013)
Distillers are going to ever greater lengths-the South Pole, outer space-to produce bourbons and Scotches worth writing home about.
(Reuters | Business Traveller 9/12/2011)
One of America's oldest cities, Boston is practically drenched in history. And much of that history took place in New England's taverns and bars, lubricated by venerable rum.
(The New York Times 5/10/2012)
An essential journalistic skill no one tells you about: bartending. (Essay/Op-Ed)
(Wine Enthusiast Magazine 10/1/2013)
Olive oil is having a major mixology moment at some of the world’s best bars. Here’s everything you need to know about this slick trend.
(Wine Enthusiast Magazine 4/18/2013)
3 beer cocktails to shake up this spring.
(Hamptons Magazine 7/1/2013)
Carbonated cocktails find favor at Hamptons-area bars and restaurants.
(Reuters | Business Traveller 1/24/2012)
The iconic tipple here is a spirit called arak.
Although inexpensive, arak can be found at bars catering to locals and budget-minded tourists, Bali's more upscale restaurants and cocktail lounges tend to promote pricier rum and vodka drinks, mixed with tropical fruit such as mango and passionfruit, and Asian-inspired flavourings like ginger and lemongrass.
(NPR Kitchen Window 6/2/2010)
A recipe-driven narrative on grown-up uses for maraschino cherries. Most of the recipes and all of the photos for this story are mine as well.
