The Spirit World

Now that fall has arrived, I often turn to richer flavors in my cocktails.  On a recent visit to The Violet Hour here in Chicago, I tried a lovely cocktail created by one of their mixologists, Kyle, called The Orchard.  It contains apple brandy, fresh lemon, housemade pimento dram, and maple syrup.  Not just any […]

One of my friends and mentors, Bridget Albert, has written a cocktail book.  I know, I know, yes it’s another cocktail book.  But this one is worth exploring.
I attended the book signing party last week at the Drawing Room here in Chicago, and it was a great party full of fantastic cocktails and fun conversations. […]

On the last day of Tales of the Cocktail, we somehow found ourselves meandering around the lobby in the morning. We happened upon a tasting room for Noilly Prat vermouths, and decided to step inside. To be honest, it was the enticing buffet of fruit and pastries that got us in the room. Once we […]

On Monday July 21, 2008, the doors officially opened on a new New Orleans institution, the Museum of the American Cocktail. The push to open the museum was spearheaded by several cocktail luminaries, including of course Dr. Cocktail, the museum’s curator. Many of the greatest names in cocktails have been involved in creating and opening […]

The week we spent in New Orleans last month was our first full week away from our distillery since we opened in 2005. Needless to say, there was tons of catchup to do once we got back from Tales of the Cocktail, and we were exhausted (in a good way). Now that I’m finally back […]

Very soon, cocktail geeks from around the world are convening in New Orleans for the sixth annual Tales of the Cocktail. As mentioned in earlier posts, July means its time for the annual celebration of all things cocktail and spirit, held in the birthplace of American cocktails. I’m so excited to be attending this year!
If […]

For classic cocktail fans like me, Crème Yvette is one of the many ingredients we wish we could find. It’s been defunct in the U.S. since the late 1960’s or so, when Charles Jacquin et Cie stopped production. Thankfully, we have other violette liqueur options to use now, but almost no one has tasted the […]

We recently partnered with one of the best restaurants in the Chicago area to offer a cocktail and food pairing dinner. Only a few places here are doing anything with cocktail pairings - it’s a very new concept for most people. Given the movement toward culinary cocktails and artistry in beverages, we hoped to show […]

Someone recently told me that there is a new lollipop company out there making absinthe-flavored lollipops, so I figured I better investigate. Turns out, its true.
Lolliphile is a new candy company in San Francisco making unusual flavors of lollipops. So far, they’re making absinthe-flavored ones, as well as maple-bacon. They’re working on more flavors too, […]

I attended the 5th annual American Distilling Institute conference earlier this month, and am happy to report that artisan distilling is thriving in the U.S. When my husband and I started our distillery four years ago, there were about 65 small distilleries in the U.S. Now there are 144 in operation and/or under construction. They […]