As the Varnish does not open until later this evening, you have a few hours to get some lucid reading accomplished. And if you would like to read about what you may be presented with at that estimable downtown bar, you might turn the pages of today's feature food story, a consideration of the current Los Angeles cocktail movement by Patrick Comiskey, our new drinks columnist.

There are more spirits on more shelves than ever before in the history of spirits, recipes from sources new and old, with ingredient lists that require the foraging skills of a master chef. There are experts on ice, on water, on limes, on glass, on bubbles and foams and sourness. There are spheres of influence, by way of New York and Portland and San Francisco and elsewhere, and much debate on the degree to which L.A. is carving out a niche all its own.

Read the story.

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