The Spirit World

Belgium isn’t the only country making Christmas ales. Here in the States we have a thirty year tradition of brewing Christmas ales. True to American tastes our Christmas and Winter beers feature a strong hoppy character. Three of the most widely available are from Sierra Nevada, Anchor Brewing, and Red Hook.
The Sierra […]

Brasserie Caulier in Péruwelz Belgium contributes my next pick for the 2005 list of the twelve beers of Christmas. Their Blonde de Noël (10% abv) is a delightful beer. Buy a case and share it with your friends; you’ll be very popular.
Eyes: Produces a mousse-like head, very white, similar to a meringue. […]

Since you’ve already purchased a nice bottle of Cointreau for use in the Sidecar, we might as well put it to good use. So this week I’d like to visit a cocktail that you no doubt already think you are very familiar with, the Margarita.
The history of the Margarita is unfortunately fairly cloudy. One of […]

This is the last beer of Christmas from the U.S. and it’s a regional brew from Matt Brewing Company in Utica, New York. Saranac Winter Wassail is a spiced beer built on top of a Classic English Ale. The label reports that the hops used to bitter the beer are Fuggles, and the […]

Although our focus on this blog is spirits and the enjoyment of them, we hope that you always do that responsibly. There are many creative, fun and tasty beverages that can be prepared sans alcohol. Occasionally we will feature these drinks in the category, “Drinks for the Designated Driver”. The following post […]

In my last post, I wrote about Italian coffee concoctions that did a great job of extrapolating from a base of black brew. Clearly, the Italians have done an excellent job maximizing coffee in cocktails. But before the creative and perhaps, at times, cloying cocktails, was the simplicity of a black espresso with a […]

As a counterpoint, of sorts, to the post on Italian Grappa, this post will discuss that OTHER amazing drink, Italian Coffee.
As you likely know, there is more to Italian coffee than espresso and cappuccino. Thanks to Starbucks and local cafés across the US, we have developed a taste for Lattes and Frapuccinos […]

My next winter seasonal is brewed by Rogue in Newport, Oregon. The brewery’s website reports that Santa’s Private Reserve “is a variation of the classic Saint Rogue Red, but with double the hops–including Chinook, and Centennial, and a mystery hop called Rudolph…” I can only guess what the Rudolph hop might be. […]