Today, July 24, is National Tequila Day. And to get in the mood, we had an informal tequila tasting in my kitchen. We tried several brands that have arrived in the last week or so and a few little bottles procured from the media schwag room at Tales of the Cocktail. Before we get into what we tasted, here are a few quick facts about tequila and agave:
– Although there are more than 200 … Read more
I was doing some research on tequila and mezcal, and one bar was consistently mentioned with raves: Mayahuel in New York.
Tequila has often gotten a bad rap, due to its associations with spring break, hangovers, and the whole “eat the worm” thing. But it’s a very versatile spirit, as is its often-ignored cousin mezcal.
Mayahuel bartender Phil Ward loves the agave spirits, as evidenced by this great quote from his interview with BlackBook:… Read more
Starbucks is opening a Seattle location that will serve beer and wine—with more to come. If the experiment goes well, the concept could be tested in other cities.
The test move to sell alcohol is clearly an attempt to fight off growing competition from McDonald’s and Dunkin’ Donuts, says Ron Paul, president of Technomic, a restaurant consulting firm.
Starbucks experiments with new name (@USA Today)… Read more
This is the first in a series of reports from Tales of the Cocktail 2009.
I arrived in New Orleans on Tuesday, the day before Tales of the Cocktail would be in full swing. Still, there were a few events scheduled for the evening. First off, the bloggers reception held at M.S. Rau Antiques on Royal Street. There, I was fortunate enough to meet many of my fellow cocktail bloggers and see some really amazing … Read more
What an amazing idea! “A Good Appetite” came up with this tasty-sounding recipe for Oatmeal Stout and Heath Bar Ice Cream.
I’ll have to try to make this one myself.
… Read moreThe ice cream base has a slight bitter flavor but also a bit of a toffee flavor from the stout. The sweetness of the Heath bar is a good foil to that bitterness while the toffee in it helps bring out more of that toffee
In honor of its 250th anniversary, Guinness is offering you the chance to win “remarkable experiences” like a trip into outer space or to a traveling, underwater bar in Norway or Black Eyed Peas concert at a secret venue.
Personally, I’d go for the space travel, which would be on Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic, the world’s first spaceline. But a submarine bar and hanging out with the Black Eyed Peas are also pretty tempting.… Read more
The first session I attended during last week’s Tales of the Cocktail in New Orleans was a panel titled “2009 Big Trends in Cocktail & Spirit Service.”
The panel consisted of Jim Meehan, Michael Waterhouse, Devlin Tavern, and Simon Difford (Source Guide) and was moderated by Ryan Magarian (Aviation Gin).
The program covered the 4 Ps of Cocktail Service Success, not unlike the 4 Ps of marketing: product, precise execution, promotion, passion.
It was here … Read more
Tales of the Cocktail kicked off today on Royal Street in New Orleans. Ann and Paul Tuennerman, Founder and Executive Director of the New Orleans Culinary and Cultural Preservation Society and Tales of the Cocktail, opened the festivities with Herbsaint Frappés and Creole Juleps, the official cocktail of TOTC 2009.
Joining the Tuennerman’s was Robert Hess of Herbsaint which is celebrating their 75th Anniversary. To honor this unique flavor of New Orleans, the New Orleans … Read more
Patrón recently launched it’s new and improved “Patrón Social Club,” a place where tequila aficionados can learn more about the brand, ID their bottle, learn about Patrón-sponsored events, and try out some very good tequila cocktails.
What makes this different from the ordinary spirit brand website is the way they have brought in content from some of the blogosphere’s top voices. They include, Urbandaddy, Thrillist.com, Daily Candy, and going.com, and cover a wide range of … Read more
Are you going camping or hiking? Are you going to space?
If the answer to either of these questions is “yes,” then Trek’n Eat has the product for you: powdered wine.
This red wine can be easily toted in its lightweight dry form. Add water and you have wine with 8.2% alcohol content.
You adventurous types out there will have to let me know how it is. I’m sticking with the non-dehydrated stuff.
Trek’nEat Red … Read more