The Spirit World

Last week I told you I liked cask conditioned ales. Well, I like them so much I thought I would fly to England and visit some English pubs to try cask conditioned or real ale in its native habitat.
After landing at Heathrow I decided not to head straight for London and instead boarded a […]

Over the last several months I’ve focused on exposing a selection of cocktails that represent some of the best “classic” cocktails and how to make them properly. But this section is “Mixology 101″, and there is a lot more about Mixology then just cocktail recipes. Technique, tools, products, and knowledge are all involved in understanding […]

The October issue of Food & Wine reports on a growing trend - cocktails made with wine. Actually, it’s a returning trend as in the early 1900s many cocktails included fortified wines and we are now coming back around to that, if in a slightly different manner. Today’s wine cocktails are commonly made […]

(Sangria Still Life © 2006 Nika Boyce)
A good sangria is like an attentive partner on your journey into an agreeable evening. The first sips are scintillating, the fruit sings and delights. Soon it is time for tapas or other favorite snacks, priming the appetite for what is to come or to buffer the […]

With cool breezes in the air, the smell of crisp leaves, pumpkin patches and hot apple cider are not far away. Fall is, hands down, one of my favorite holidays, and we go right along with everything the season has to offer; fall foliage drives, decorating our yard for Halloween, visiting local apple farms for […]

Last week it was all apples, this week we are focusing on another fruit of the season, the beautiful pear! Lara has already provided you with the Pear Nectar Martini which would be a great choice for this weekend but here’s another alternative, the Pear Brandy Champagne Cocktail.
I first had this cocktail at one […]

This week we’re staying in the US for Drinks Around the World but going to a whole new area of the country.
When visiting New Orleans one of the little treats I always look forward to are Pralines - those rich, very sweet, nutty candies. It has never bothered me that nearly every […]

I am particularly fond of cask conditioned ales. In fact whenever I go to a pub and find a cask conditioned ale, that’s what I order, no matter what style of beer is in the cask.
A cask is essentially a keg of beer (or firkin) set on its side so the beer can either […]

The Corpse Reviver was in truth more of a “family” of cocktails, than an individual cocktail itself. One of the first accounts of the Corpse Reviver comes from the 1867 “Exposition Universelle” in Paris, where a British Journalist reports:

“At the bar, and from siphon tubes decorated with silvery figures of the American eagle, were dispensed […]

Back in March, when we talked about setting up your bar with Martini glasses, I mentioned that some of my favorite styles were the Cheers and Cheers Too collections from Mikasa.
These oversized glasses leave a little room for sloshing, reducing the number of spillovers, and are etched in different patterns making it easier for guests […]