The Spirit World

While Northern and Central Italian wine regions are quite well known internationally, think Tuscany and Piedmont, Southern Italy’s wine regions are becoming more popular as these wines find their way onto the world market. Among them, the region of Puglia, which serves as the “heel” of Italy’s boot, has had a renaissance in its wine production. Historically, Pliny […]

After a full meal of turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce and everything else that makes up our holiday table traditions, we don’t really need to eat another bite. But, sooner or later, most of us crave something sweet to end our meal. This year, instead of being seduced by the siren call of those perennial favorites […]

I recently attended the first annual North American Wine Bloggers’ Conference, held at the Flamingo Hotel in Sonoma, CA. Primarily developed by the OpenWine Consortium and Zephyr Wine Adventures, the conference featured a wide variety of activities, many of which differered from your usual conference fare. As a first forray into this arena, the conference […]

Veev is a spirit made from Brazil’s National fruit, the Acai (pronounced ah-SIGH-ee) berry. The Acai is a packed with antioxidants, Omega3s, calcium, vitamin C & E and protein. The spirit also contains prickly pear and Acerola Cherry. I found Veev made from the Acai berry to be very refreshing and clean on the palette.  […]

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 […]

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 […]

When distillers Laphroaig launched their first ever live online whisky tasting, an army of malt fans from around the world made it the largest interactive event of its kind.
From New Zealand to Sweden, New York to Sydney, thousands watched the live WebTV show in London and mailed in hundreds of questions to the eminent panel of […]

A Japanese whisky has been voted the best in the world.
Yoichi 20-year-old is the first variety outside Scotland to win the coveted single malt award from industry bible Whisky Magazine, scotching the hopes of dozens of other varieties, including last year’s winner, Talisker 18-year-old, from the Isle of Sky.
Yoichi, which is distilled near Sapporo City […]

Nothing is more appealing to me when I travel, than having an opportunity to sample some of the locally available food or beverages. When I find that there is not only a local food AND beverage, but that they are specifically intended to be paired together, then clearly this is not an opportunity I can’t […]

Just as Heston Blumenthal popularised molecular gastronomy in food - Eben Freeman is doing it with drinks. 
Molecular mixology is the new avant-garde approach to drinks that mirrors the legendary techniques. Through reinventing, deconstructing and reconstructing familiar drinks then layering and intensifying the flavours.  
Bartenders across the globe are now offering their consumers a brand new drinking […]