March 19, 2012
Another St. Patrick’s day has come and gone (along with another Italian Unification Day, by the way—151 years!), and with it the drinking public at large is shuttling away from ordering drinks that feature Irish whiskey as well as odd green beers. For the latter, let’s be thankful, but for the former, the Irish whiskey, well, it’s a crying shame. I say, order and mix up the good Irish-based drinks year round! Don’t be shy about it. And if you’re not sure what to order, or make yourself, check out this Irish drink blog post I wrote pre-Paddy’s on the Seattle Mag blog. Now you’re ready to venerate that particular Saint Patrick throughout the year.
PS: This post may have been influenced by the Irish whiskey I had recently.
March 7, 2012
If you missed it in my earlier Sun Liquor Distillery post, those tipsy ladies at Seattle Magazine have me writing a monthly Bar Hop column, and a new one has just hit the energetic e-airwaves and will soon be on newstands. It’s focusing on new-ish Cap Hill spot Chino’s, which has not only a small host of healthy (and healthily tasty) tiki-ish drinks whipped up by bartendress supreme Veronika Groth but also an array of intriguing snacks. But hey, don’t stop at this summary, go read the Bar Hop.
January 25, 2012
Well, here’s a heck of a thing: those wacky wild folks at Seattle Magazine have decided (when tipsy, I’m guessing) to have me write their Bar Hop column every month. Not sure just what they’d been imbibing when we signed the contracts (which I can’t seem to find now . . .), but they offered and I nodded. It’s not a lot of words, but I plan on making each one bubbly. But wait, what is the Bar Hop column you ask? Well, every month it’s now me highlighting a different local bar/lounge/watering hole/speakeasy/booze parlor/hooch pad, talking about what said snozzled spot is about so you know where to get your drink on. The first Bar Hop article is on Sun Liquor Distillery, where you can go and have a drink with Sun’s Hedgetrimmer gin right where it’s made. A fine, fine thing I think (oh, if you don’t have the new issue of Seattle Magazine, then go get it. Or, read the Sun Liquor Bar Hop column online).
January 18, 2012
I feel that I can write about aging. I mean, my nephew just turned sixteen, so I feel pretty darn aged. But (ah-ha!, the “but”) in this particular case, I’m talking about aging cocktails. As you might expect, this blog being at least nominally about cocktails and not about me musing on my ever-increasing years. Some Seattle bars (such as Liberty, whose swell owner Andrew is pictured to the left), like bars in other cocktail hot-towns, have in the last year or so gotten into this idea of aging cocktails, usually in oak (but sometimes not), to see what it does to the cocktail’s taste. Which leads, often, to tasty things for us cocktail lovers. All of which led to me writing a fairly short, but incredibly awesome (I say, humbly) article on aged cocktails here in the Emerald City for the sweet Seattle Magazine. You, if you’re interested in Seattle bars, cocktails, aging cocktails, booze, bars, or me talking about my grandfather, should go and read it now.
November 29, 2011
Even if you don’t live in Seattle, the general Seattle area, in the western part of Washington State, Washington State, the Pacific Northwest, or even the United States, if you like good liquors and liqueurs and cocktails then you’ll probably want to read my Seattle Magazine article on the host of new local-ish distilleries. I don’t want to say too much (cause when you go read it, you’re going to get a lot of me anyway), but A: though it’s good online, pick up a real, in-your-hands, copy of the issue if you can because the layout and photos and such are fantastic in mag form (even more than the online version, which is also awesome), and B: reading through the article again makes me even happier to live out here. Thanks to all the distillers for talking to me and taking me around, it was one tasty article to write. Oh, also, I have an accompanying article about 12 specific new Seattle bottles-of-booze I thought were worth sipping—ones tasted while writing (sometimes tasted for the 2nd or 32nd time) the main distillery article. You should check those out, and the new liquors and liqueurs coming out all the time, by golly. If you don’t live here, come on by to visit and then check ‘em out. We’ll be glad to see you.
Tags: Bainbridge Organic Distillery, cocktail article, Cocktail News, Distillery, Pacific Spirits, Seattle Distillery, Seattle Magazine, Seattle spirits, Sound Spirits, Woodinville Whiskey
Posted in: Almost Drinkable Photo, Cocktail News, Distillery, Seattle Magazine
