The Spirit World

In the spring, when the sap starts running in the trees, the maple producers of the Northern US and Canada start their gathering. Probably everyone has seen photos of buckets hanging from taps on trees, and the maple sap running, or sometimes dripping, into them.
That sap is then boiled for hours to […]

The whole idea behind an American Homebrewers Association (AHA) membership rally is to get new members to join the organization. Even though I try to pass myself off as a beer evangelist I was unable to convince any new potential members to take the two hour trek from where I live on Long Island […]

A few months ago Brenda talked about the Sazerac cocktail but I’d like to give you more of the background and history of this honorable cocktail. The Sazerac cocktail comes to us from New Orleans, where it has had a very long history. The Sazerac is so old in fact that many will attempt […]

After learning about Qi Lapsang Souchong Tea Liqueur, writing about the Aqua Perfecta liqueurs produced by this company and knowing Hangar One vodka I had decided a stop by the St. George Spirits tasting room was in order, during a recent trip to San Francisco. This plan was reinforced when Lucy, from St George […]

Not all vermouth is white
Not all vermouth is dry
Some vermouth is sweet and red
Like grandma’s rhubarb pie.
Yet don’t just prep Manhattans
Or mix a large Negroni
Try some straight
And on the rocks
But hold the pepperoni!
“Hold the pepperoni?” On behalf of myself and The Spirit World editors, I must apologize for the unspeakable silliness of that poem. […]

The long Memorial Day holiday weekend is zooming toward us! For many of us that means three days off and the unofficial beginning of summer. In many places the weather will be spectacular: warm and sunny but not yet too hot or humid. Yet in others while we will be hoping for […]

New Zealand is known for many things: pristine environment; rocky coasts; towering mountains; rugged individuals, sailing competitions. And maybe because of the wildness of the environment and remote location of the country the people have developed a reputation for often taking things to the extreme. This seems to also follow in their cocktail […]

In a previous article, I said that beer should be more expensive. I asserted that expensive beer would be an advantage to the beer lover as well as the beer producer. What follows is my first attempt to explain why (some) beer should be more expensive and how that beer should be labeled.
When […]

Few drinks are as synonymous with the Tiki Bar concept as the Mai Tai, and few restaurants/bars are as tightly intertwined with the Tiki Bar culture as Trader Vic’s. There is a good reason for this connection, and that’s because Victor “Trader Vic” Bergeron was the inventor of the Mai Tai back in 1944.
Back then, […]

I tend to put things off to the last moment so that I can maximize the spontaneity in my life, so I hadn’t gotten around to ordering Lew Bryson’s Pennsylvania Breweries guide before we left New York. Just to show you how spontaneous I am, up until a week before this Pennsylvania brewpub tour, […]