Liquor and Spirits

In A Fried Octopus and Heart Song, Beauty Conquers All

5 Cocktail Recipes From L.A. Bartenders to Celebrate Negroni Week

With Negroni Week in Los Angeles fully underway, it seemed only natural that the participating bars might be in a charitable mood -- especially since part of their drink proceeds are donated to charity. And so, in that same spirit of giving, a number of the bartenders involved opened up their files ... More >>

Suntory Rising: The Rise of Japanese Whiskey

In Lost in Translation, Sofia Coppola's 2003 cinematic homage to anomie, Bill Murray's character, Bob Harris, travels to Japan and submits to a kind of humiliation by whiskey as the spokesman for Suntory spirits. He endures various slights by pompous art directors, his eyes streaked with mascara and ... More >>

Serious Drinking: What is Cognac for?

Doesn't this swanky French grape spirit reside in the beverage province of rich, white men in their private, paneled rooms? Isn't cognac what rappers grab at the neck and swig from in their bling-y cribs? Isn't it mostly for postprandial luxuriating or sultry babymaking? What, then, is it doing turn ... More >>

Of Moonshine and Men: Cognac, Armagnac Moonshine

Christmas, and the dark season it accompanies, requires spirits to ward off chill. I was thinking this on Christmas Day as my father-in-law brought out brandies for us to try, as the last course of the evening was cleared. For me, it was one of those rare occasions to try a pair of France's most ce ... More >>

The Balvenie Fifty: A $30,000 Bottle of Scotch

In the glass depicted above is a scotch whisky from The Balvenie, a highland distillery that specializes in single malts with lustrous wood finishes. This particular scotch went into a barrel in 1962, and did not emerge until late last year, when the company decided to release it as a single cask re ... More >>

Serious Drinking: Stop the Vodka Insanity

It's time to say it: Flavored vodka is a threat to our cultural existence. It's bad enough that vodka branding has devolved into an almost brazen mash-up of borrowed imagery, aspirational memes poached from music (Chopin), art (Van Gogh), clouds (Cirrus), ice (Iceberg), sky (Skyy), geometry, weird ... More >>

Distilling On Demand: The American Distilling Institute's Books A New Brandy How-To Book From One Of California's Top Distillers

Interested in learning Modern Moonshine Techniques, taking a nationwide tour of 99 Pot Stills, brushing up on a Short History of the Art of Distillation? You really should take a look at The American Distilling Institute's publications. One caveat: Unlike home brewing and winemaking, federal law pro ... More >>

Q & A With Bill Owens: The American Distilling Institute Founder's Cross-Country Road Trip, Industry Trends His Favorite Spirit Stops

If you want to know what's really going on in the craft distilling industry, 74-year-old Bill Owens, president of the Hayward-based American Distilling Institute, is your (always chatty) man. He also happens to be quite an accomplished photojournalist, a skill that he says doesn't always work in h ... More >>

Olympic Drinking: Beer, Gin Whisky

By now you're fully ensconced in the full-on drama of the Games of the XXX Olympiad, a global event featuring feats of human skill so thrilling that you're likely to have to endure a few marathon sessions yourself -- in front of the telly, that is, unspooling TiVo recordings hour after hour, devotin ... More >>

Summer Drinks, Part II: The Americano

When you ask a bartender like Ink.'s bar manager Gabriella Mlynarczyk what her go-to summer drink is, seven times out of ten you'll get an answer that's about staying in the game. Summer drinking is an endurance sport, after all, requiring stamina to get to sundown without collapsing in a heap on th ... More >>

Adam Fleischman Takes Over L.A. Creamery Introduces Bizarro Flavors

Umami Burger owner Adam Fleischman has added another asset to his ever-expanding food empire, which includes 800 Degrees Pizza and Red Medicine, acquiring an ownership stake in the 2-year-old, Chatsworth-based L.A. Creamery. Fleischman plans to expand distribution (the ice cream is already availab ... More >>

Make This Now: Nocino A Recipe for DIY Green Walnut Liqueur

For many, the piles of corn and stone fruits at the farmers markets are all that's needed to assert that summer has officially arrived. A glance at the calendar tells us that last week was the summer solstice, and planetary orbits are a better marker if you're looking for something concrete and pre ... More >>

American Distilling Institute's 2012 Artisan Spirits Awards Winners

In certain glossy magazine and high-end spirits competition circles, a vodka's photogenic front-page appeal is as important as what's inside the bottle in determining its award-winning value. But with the American Distilling Institute's annual Artisan American Spirits Awards, which were released las ... More >>

Tuaca Liqueur's New Bottle: Or, How To Get A Temporary Tattoo from L.A. Ink's Corey Miller

Tuaca, the Italian liqueur that you may remember as a bar shot staple in the pre-Red Bull days, has a new look thanks to Corey Miller, the tattoo artist of L.A. Ink reality show fame and owner of Upland's Six Feet Under tattoo parlor. Regardless of how we feel about the citrusy vanilla liqueur, whi ... More >>

Mr. Boston's Official Bartender's Guide: How's The 75th Anniversary Edition? A Headless Horseman Halloween Cocktail Recipe

JGarbeeMr Boston's Then (Left) And Now​With more editions than we can guesstimate, the 75th anniversary edition of Mr. Boston's Official Bartender's Guide arrived on our desk with little fanfare (on our end, at least). After all, the book's signature minimalist layout and no-frills recipes are ... More >>

Rum Society: Connoisseurship Made Accessible

On the last Tuesday of every month, downtown's Caña Rum Bar hosts Rum Society, a members-only tasting event that features a rum expert, a rum company representative, and access to some of the finest small-batch rums in the world. September's event featured two plantation rums from Cognac Ferrand, a ... More >>

Church and State:
 Still Stellar Under Jeremy Berlin

Anne Fishbeinthe absinthe wall at Church and State​ Everybody knows Church and State. It's that loud bistro, decorated year-round with strings of Christmas lights. Walter Manzke used to cook there. The drinks used to be good, too. Is it still there? That part of downtown was pretty cool before ... More >>

Drink This Now: Eveleigh's Pisco Punch

With most of the city's top bartenders attending Tales of the Cocktail, this may be the worst weekend in Los Angeles to get a top-quality cocktail. So when they all get back, get thee to Eveleigh, which has, improbably, become a destination for great cocktails and good food amid one of the tackies ... More >>

Rum Report: The Summer Edition, Part One

JgarbeeThe Ron De Barrilito Rum Bottling Line In Puerto Rico​Rum always seems to get the raw end of the piña colada deal. Yes, the spirit has a "sweet" finish, but not in the sugary sense. It's more like a really big inhale of cinnamon and vanilla, with a few other spices in between. Or at le ... More >>

10 Cinco de Mayo Alternatives to the Margarita 2 Cocktail Recipes

Espolón TequilaThe Varnish's Bebida de Puebla ​ Sometimes you just want a quiet place and a well-done cocktail to celebrate the Mexicans' victory over the French in the 1862 Battle of Puebla. Thankfully the cocktail-savvy need not fret, as the following L.A. bars have alternatives for those s ... More >>

New Spirit: Is Tempus Fugit's Liqueur de Violettes As Sweet As It Smells?

JGarbeeInhale​Tempus Fugit Spirits, an absinthe and liqueur importer in Petaluma, has just released Liqueur de Violettes, a floral liqueur based on a 19th century recipe made from -- surprise! -- violets. Those purple petals also happen to be hand picked in the Côte d'Azur, a.k.a. the French ... More >>

New Spirit: Jack Daniel's Tennessee Honey Liqueur Our Huckleberry Variation

J. GarbeeBlueberry Focaccia Homemade Ice Cream Whiskey-Honey Liqueur. Jealous?​The honey craze hit the whiskey and bourbon trail long ago, Drambuie (honey whisky liqueur) and Wild Turkey American Liqueur (bourbon-honey) among them. Jack Daniel's is now joining the game with the release of ... More >>

Happy St. Patrick's Day: Dana Farner On Whiskey Sectarianism, Why It's Okay to Drink Your Dinner [The Idiocy of] Green Beer

Anne FishbeinSommelier Dana Farner ​It is St. Patrick's Day, a time to remind ourselves while eating the traditional corned beef and cabbage (which will be popping up on every restaurant menu) that the All-American salt-cured brisket dish is as native to Ireland as fajitas is to Mexico or G ... More >>

8 Charlie Sheen Cocktail Recipes from L.A. Bartenders

Liza GershmanThe Bitter End cocktail.​The Charlie Sheen train wreck continues to disgust and fascinate us, inspiring Mad Libs, an online glossary, a gastronomic history and Twitter hashtags. But the oddest by-product of the Sheen meme has to be the cocktail recipes. You can thank the actor's t ... More >>

L.A.'s Best Cocktails

Our 55 favorites and where to find them

High West: The Spirit Of The Rye, Rye West Their Newest Double Rye Release

J. GarbeeThe Regional Whiskey Face Off Continues ​If you follow the spirits circuit, specifically those of the barrel-aged corn and rye persuasion, High West Distillery in Park City, Utah, has probably been on your radar for a while. If not, you'll hear about this young craft distillery soon i ... More >>

For Your Consideration: Beverly Hills Hotel's 10 Best Picture-Themed Cocktails A Recipe

Beverly Hills HotelFrom left to right: the Sleepyhead, Woody to the Rescue, Status Update.​ In honor of the films nominated for Best Picture Oscars, the Beverly Hills Hotel's Beverage Manager Anthony Santiago and Beverage Supervisor Robert Rouleau have created an Oscar-themed cocktail menu at ... More >>

Glass Distilled: Moonshine, Or Great Vodka? Don't Get Telluride's Brad MacKenzie Started

homedistiller.orgCopper Is Usually Your Top Of The Line Beauty These Days, Even At Home​In the distilling world, vodka makers like Telluride Vodka's Brad MacKenzie often prefer column stills. In a nutshell, column stills (exactly what they sound like -- tall rather than squat) tend to make you ... More >>

Paris Hilton Absinthe Stolen Cake = Lamest PR Stunt of the Week

Paris Hilton's 2008 birhtday, not involving absinthe or stolen baked goods or lame PR press-releases​ Some PR creature just sent us the following statement. It's like staring at The Void right in the face, while The Void throws up pungent chunks right in your face: In response to the Lucid A ... More >>

Top 10 Cookbook And Drink Gift Pairings: The Hard Alcohol Edition

J. GarbeeSaffron Makes So Many Things Better. Much Better.​Those crazy low Amazon prices are great if you're buying a new cookbook for yourself, but they quickly deflate that $50 $32 Noma perceived gift value. What better to pair with a cookbook than something to drink? Because those "blueberr ... More >>

Cocktail Book Reviews: Absinthe, Times Three A Post Prop 19 Thanksgiving Cocktail Recipe

Flickr user jennhxTo Get Beyond The Absinthe Drip, We Highly Recommend A Cocktail Book​Here's something to be thankful for in the wake of Prop 19's smoldering remains -- absinthe is still legal after three years. Which means you can serve a Green Fairy cocktail to your cranky aunt on Thanksgiv ... More >>

Last Night: Dinner with Grant Achatz, Courses 1-8

Guzzle & NoshGrant Achatz lectures about his cooking techniques.​ Frozen and chewy. Hot and cold. Chef Grant Achatz is a master of surprise when it comes to the juxtaposition of unexpected flavors, textures and scents. At his acclaimed Chicago restaurant Alinea, it's nearly always omakase, a ... More >>

New Spirits Releases: White Dog, Absinthe, Grapevine and Root Beer Liqueurs

Art in the AgeRoot hot chocolate​In the spirits world, you can count on a new flavored Smirnoff vodka (mango and peach) and Bacardi rum ("torched cherry") every few Happy Hours. And then there's the new stuff you actually would like to taste. Tried any good new spirits lately? Leave us your ta ... More >>

From the Alaskan Dept. of Occupational Hazards: Salmon Flavored Vodka

AP/Mark ThiessenAlaska Distillery's new salmon flavored vodka​We have Wasilla, Alaska, to thank for so many things. Now add smoked salmon flavored vodka to the list. Alaska Distillery, a locally owned and operated micro-distillery in Wasilla, has just released their latest flavor, reportedly t ... More >>

Drink Me: Bourbon

Ben CalderwoodKentucky straight flush​ Bourbon is an American original, that rare beast in the liquor pantheon, and one of a handful of domestic foodstuffs subject to manufacture and labeling standards as rigorous as those for Bordeaux wine or aceto balsamico tradizionale. By law, bourbon must ... More >>

Booze Face-Off: Combier vs. Cointreau Orange Liqueur

It's officially summer cocktail season, and that means margaritas. We've usually got a half-empty bottle or two of tequila lying around, but the orange liqueur tends to require a debit card commitment. On the street it's known as Triple Sec (translation = triple dry), or Curaçao (a variety of Carib ... More >>

Drink Me: Chartreuse

Ben CalderwoodThe Black Rock: Chartreuse, crémant champagne and crushed cacao nibs, created to toast the resolution of a certain six-season long mystery ​ The 2005 documentary feature Into Great Silence, depicting the the pious ebb of life at France's Grand Chartreuse monastery, tested the cr ... More >>

Do As the Romans Did: Turn Old Wine into a Cocktail

Supreme Council Of AntiquitiesShe'd Like Her Kir Extra Dry, Please​CNN reported this week that Egyptian archeologists have discovered a three-foot-tall female mummy dating to 300 B.C., the first Roman mummy found in the Bahariya Oasis (southwest of Cairo). Fashionistas would be pleased to lear ... More >>

Sneak Peek: Thirsty Crow, Silver Lake's New Bourbon Bar

Elina ShatkinThirsty Crow, Silver Lake.​ The skunk butts are long gone (rumor has it they'll decorate the dressing rooms at the Henry Fonda Theater). So is the collection of beer cans lining the walls. Few traces are left of Silver Lake's much maligned faux-trucker bar Stinkers, which closed o ... More >>

Stinkers Bar to Re-Open as Thirsty Crow A Look at Their Bourbon Menu

1933 GroupThirsty Crow's Scotch menu​By now you probably already know that Stinkers bar in Silver Lake will re-open on April 23 as Thirsty Crow, a thematic shift that moves the venue from Ironic Truck Stop Chic to Grampy's Neighborhood Bourbon Bar. Named after one of Aesop's Fables -- in whic ... More >>

Duke Wins NCAA Title: We Need A Margarita A Mint Margarita Recipe

IU Student News BureauSomeone Really Should Make These Butler Students A Drink​Ya, Duke won the NCAA title. Barely. That Butler half court heave at the buzzer was about as close as you can get to popping the Champagne without a bottle opener. Thus, Squid Ink offers you a Barely Blue Devils/Alm ... More >>

Put Hair On Your Chest: Have Dinner With Jack Daniel Tomorrow Night

JackDaniels.comThe man behind the alcohol​The real Jack Daniel died 99 years ago, not of alcohol poisoning, which would have been somewhat poetic, but rather, of blood poisoning. He forgot the combination to his safe, kicked it, then his toe got infected and he died. Clearly, if I'd lived back ... More >>

Get The Chef A Drink: What 10 LA Chefs Pour When They Need a Stiff One

Two waiters didn't show up for their shift, the rookie line cook spilled vinegar on the $500 truffle, and Kogi just had to park a few feet from the valet stand. How do chefs cope when Saturday night's dinner service turns into a Kitchen Nightmares episode? Sometimes they pour themselves a stiff drin ... More >>

Sazerac Rye Gets Good With Liquor Gods in New Whiskey Bible

It was announced today that Sazerac 18 year-old rye whiskey (fall 2008 release) is the best whiskey in the world, as rated in the 2010 edition of the Whisky Bible by Jim Murray. (And no, that's not a misspelling; that's how Murray spells whiskey). Murray is an Englishman and his Bible is the best se ... More >>

Milkshake Madness at BLD with Pastry Chef Mariah Swan 2 Recipes for Spiked Milkshakes

Mariah Swan, pastry chef at both of Neal Fraser's restaurants, BLD and Grace, had an epiphany last year. Why not take a childhood favorite, milkshakes, and make it more grown up by adding alcohol? Thus Milkshake Madness was born at BLD, held the last Sunday of every month. Swan transforms classic ... More >>

The Hot Toddy: A Drink That Revives, Cures, and Kills

Deborah StollHot Toddies​The Hot Toddy is the most famous of wintry drinks, which means it is typically the most poorly made. That watery sort of lemony concoction with whiskey poured into a glass too hot to hold turns out to be not all that satisfying. But the hot toddy is actually a deliciou ... More >>

The Whiskey Sour: Pretty In Pink

IMDBPretty in Pink​Andie: So what do you want to drink? Duckie: Oh you know, beer, scotch, juice box... whatever. More than anyone, John Hughes mined the psyches of the high school teen. In honor of his passing, the following is a recipe for the whiskey sour, a drink that, unfortunately, shar ... More >>

Where to Drink Now: The New Cocktailian's Guide

The New Cocktailians

The farmers market–loving, sleeve garter–wearing ladies and gentlemen of the bar taking over L.A.'s restaurants one glass at a time