Articles & Recipes
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The Master Cocktails and the Theory of Mixology
How do bartenders come up with new drinks? While it’s entirely possible to mix random ingredients and come up with something good, there is a theory behind the art of mixology. Nearly every cocktail fits a basic template: a master…
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Inescapable Fate
Cocktail writers such as Jennifer Fiedler and Camper English have defined a new category of the tiki genra: Goth Tiki. It’s a trend illustrated with themes such as voodoo, zombies, and skulls. But to be honest, the seed was planted…
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The Marauder
The Marauder is a tiki take on the old-fashioned. The drink is seasoned with Jerry Thomas Decanter Bitters, falernum, and orange curaçao. The recipe for decanter bitters comes from Jerry Thomas’ book “The Bar-tenders Guide,” published in 1862. Decanter bitters…
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Another Old-Fashioned Controversy: What About That Muddled Sugar Cube?
Based on a review of vintage recipes, the “old-fashioned” historically referred to a specific way of making the now defunct-in-name “whiskey cocktail,” as there was a time when cocktail books had recipes for both the old-fashioned and the whiskey cocktail.…
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The Qualities that Make a Great Bartender
The qualities that make a good bartender are going to vary from establishment to establishment. For instance, someone with high-level flair skills may not be a great fit at a craft cocktail bar where there’s an emphasis on precision in…
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The Momsen
The Momsen The Momsen is an elegant and refined elaboration of the Lemon Drop. Subtle floral hints combine with mint and honey to conjure a sunny summer field. The Momsen is a rift on the Lemon Drop. It’s also an…
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The Colonel
The Colonel is a craft take on the dirty old-fashioned. It’s common to see the old-fashioned garnished with a cherry and orange wedge but fine restaurants and craft bars generally stick to the classic form, which is garnished with only…
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Sweet Mash Rye Old-Fashioned
This old-fashioned follows the late nineteenth century rubric for the cocktail. It’s got only a bar-spoon of sugar, two dashes of Peychaud’s Bitters and one bar spoon of Grand Marnier (about 1.5 dashes). Believe it or not, it was once…
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Cherried, Not Cherried: An Old-Fashioned Controversy
A dirty martini might not be a classic martini but it is still a species of martini…so the time has come that we recognize the dirty old-fashioned (one with cherry and maybe an orange slice, muddled or not). But let’s be clear,…
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What is the Craft in Bartending?
What are craft cocktails? Cocktail writers by large recognize that the cocktail world underwent a renaissance at the start of the twenty-first century. In a TED Talk, beverage writer Wayne Curtis discussed the recent evolution of the craft cocktail. He…