The Spirit World

Lillet is an often overlooked ingredient, while technically it may not be considered a vermouth, like a vermouth it is a aromatized and fortified wine. There are a variety of fruits, herbs, and spices that make up the proprietary recipe for Lillet, one of those spices is quinine, the same ingredient found in tonic water, […]

In New York there’s a five cent deposit on all beer bottles so once a month or so, I load the car up and take all my empties back to the beer store. Last Saturday was the time for cleaning of my basement brewery, so the bottles had to go.
When I got to the beer […]

I believe my first encounter with Falernum, was after a friend just got back from Bermuda, and asked me for the recipe for the “Bermuda Rum Swizzle” that they loved to drink while they were down there. I had never heard of this drink, and so did a little research to see what I could […]

It seems almost sacreligious to have a Kentucky Derby fete, without serving Mint Juleps.  Unfortunately, with Cinco de Mayo this weekend also, that celebration won out in our household, but for those of you planning to watch or entertain with the Derby as your backdrop, you may be interested in this vanilla-flavored version from the […]

One of the first issues that many people encounter when they encounter cachaça for the first time, is that squirrelly little “ç”. That little squiggle under the “c” is known as a “cedilla”, and is usually referred to simply as “c-cedilla”. The cedilla mark itself, is used in conjunction with various other letters (d, g, […]

One of the nonalcoholic mixed drinks I have all the time is a combination of pineapple juice, orange juice, and sparkling water, topped with a splash of Grenadine. I call this my Virgin Sunrise. The Grenadine goes straight to the bottom producing a pink, grapefruit sunburst topped with the pale orange of the juices.
Since I’ve […]