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Recent reading, spirits and cocktails edition
Gin: A Global History, Lesley Jacobs Solmonson — One of the challenges confronting a cocktail writer is finding ways to make drinks sound interesting day after day. Anyone can write a recipe, but...
View ArticleNew posts at The Drink Nation
My first articles for Drink Portland/The Drink Nation are online. This week I review Pierre Ferrand’s Dry Curaçao, the new orange liqueur that bartenders seemingly can’t get enough of. And from a while...
View ArticleA brewery in the White House
We are deep into that part of the election when it’s impossible to escape the flood of frivolous news articles about what the candidates ate, exaggerated gaffes, or pretty much anything except actual...
View ArticleYou didn’t brew that!
I reached out to the Tax and Trade Bureau for clarification about the White House brewery and the legality of hiring personal chefs to do one’s homebrewing. Interestingly, it’s an issue that the TTB...
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Zelda cocktail
Continuing our practice of always having at least one beer cocktail on the Metrovino cocktail menu, the Zelda is replacing the popular Mai Ta-IPA. Fans of pink drinks, rejoice! 2 oz Small’s gin 3/4 oz...
View ArticleProhibition lives on in Alabama
A few weeks ago I wrote about the remaining legal hurdles to homebrewing in the United States. Demonstrating that these laws are still doing harm, agents from the Alabama Alcoholic Beverage Control...
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Beer preview…
Here’s a sneak preview of a porter I’m brewing in collaboration with the extremely talented Ben Edmunds at Breakside Brewing. Keep an eye out for its release in December!
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Aquavit Week at Metrovino
I’ve been making the case for a while that aquavit is an underrated spirit. Many bars don’t carry it at all, and those that do usually only have one bottle. But with more American distillers trying...
View ArticleEt tu, BrewDog?
Politicians in the UK are pushing for a minimum price for alcohol that would increase the cost of cheaper products while leaving high-end alcohol unaffected. According to the website Scottish Grocer,...
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Mixology Monday: Inversion
It’s a good thing Mixology Monday has been revived or I might not have posted a new cocktail at all this month. The theme for February is “Inverted.” Host Putney Farm explains: A while ago, while...
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Hot take on beer
Today at The Atlantic, I have a literal “hot take” on beer: If there’s one thing big beer marketers know, it’s that people like their beer cold. “It’s a simple fact that consumers love ice-cold beer,...
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Berliner weisse beer cocktails
Berliner weisse mit schuss. (Photo by David L. Reamer from Cocktails on Tap.) The first half of my book on beer cocktails features on vintage recipes, drinks created before the modern rebirth of...
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Tasting through Schlafly Beer’s Hop Trial SMaSH Pack
Schlafly Beer from St. Louis recently sent me an interesting package of new beers for review, their Hop Trial SMaSH pack. “SMaSH” stands for “single malt and single hop,” with each beer in the series...
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Alaska: Malt Mecca
Back in May, I joined a few other drink writers for a tour of Alaskan breweries and distilleries. I wrote up the results of that trip for Mixology: Sitting outside the brewpub at Kassik’s in Nikiski,...
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