Rob, Shannon and I have recently been enjoying a classic cocktail called The Last Word. You can find lots of cocktail experts raving about it, from Scott Beattie in his Artisanal Cocktails book to the Cocktail Chronicles blog. And Rob recently had one at Bourbon & Branch. It even merits a Wikipedia entry, although most [...]
Read more >>It was warm last weekend (by Berkeley standards) and will be again this weekend, so the “Creole Watermelon” from Scott Beattie’s Artisanal Cocktails seems timely. As you can see from the picture to the left, there are some interesting ingredients in this one.
I adore spicy cocktails. Not on an everyday basis, but I do like [...]
My mother-in-law just gave me a new cocktail recipe book called Artisanal Cocktails by Scott Beattie, former bartender (or cocktail chef) at Cyrus, a fantastic restaurant in Healdsburg where I have had the pleasure of dining in the past. Needless to say I was eager to try it out.
The perfect opportunity presented itself almost immediately. [...]
So we returned from our year in Paris a few weeks ago and it was only a matter of time before the mixology started. A Corpse Reviver #2 here, an Albert Hofmann there and even a great party at Rob’s house featuring his very own Triolet (not to mention his brother’s smoking-hot band Afrobeat Down). [...]
Read more >>We just spent a few days in Valencia, Spain, with Shannon’s mother. Valencia is a fantastic city for a family vacation, with the new City of Science and Industry, the fantastic Gulliver play structure, a beautiful beach with very fine sand, great food, good art and good prices all around. More details on our other [...]
Read more >>One of the things that keeps me going in life is my search for the cocktalian holy grail, the perfect cocktail that has it all: complexity, balance, and that refreshing drinkability that upon finishing one makes you immediately feel like you’d like another. Well, recently I feel like I’ve discovered just that drink.
One Saturday night [...]
Last night my wife was off at a conference and Rob’s wife (Joyce) was out with a friend, so he and I did what any enterprising single dads would do–we combined forces, treated the kids to a sleepover (chez lui) and conducted some mixology experiments.
Rob was in an inspired mood. I’m sure he’ll have [...]
Cucumber and gin are a classic cocktail combination that haven’t gotten the attention they deserve. One good example is Pimm’s #1 cup, a gin-based concoction, which is often combined with some kind of cucumber. We’re fond of both gin and cucumber in our house and one of our favorite local restaurants, “Grasshopper” (now closed [...]
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