LA has been suffering from a long bout of chilly temperatures. I don’t care if it IS supposed to be winter, I was so over it! And then, wouldn’t you know it, just as soon as it’s finally National Hot Buttered Rum Day again, we get the high 70s. But don’t let that stop you…
I had a lot to do today but for some reason I felt compelled to do this post. 2012 was a kickass awesome year for me. I went to Tales of the Cocktail in New Orleans and Portland Cocktail Week for the first time, got a nice LA Weekly Web Award, my Drink Here app…
Looking for a way to get your New Year’s Eve party guests to ooh and aah? Luckily some of LA’s top punch makers — Naomi Schimek of Spare Room, Allan Katz of Cana Rum Bar and Vincenzo Marianella of Copa d’Oro — were kind enough to share their champagne punch recipes with me for Los…
I was gonna do a weekend roundup but since it’s supposed to be the end of the world tomorrow (again) according to the media (for the Mayans, it’s just the end of a key phase on the Mayan calendar), why bother? So here’s a bunch of doomsday parties to get your freak on. One. Last. Time….
Day drinking takes restraint, especially when the rest of your day involves doing something other than taking naps. But for someone like me who loves full-bodied cocktails that are stirred, it’s difficult to find satisfaction in most daytime cocktails. Meh-mosas. Fortunately when someone like bartender Dave Kupchinsky of Eveleigh is making the cocktails, there’s a…
This week’s cocktail adventures had me drinking in near proximity to celebrity types as well as presenting an award about booze. Yes, pretty fancy times which were further enhanced by enjoying rare gems like $3,000 vodka and 22-year-old scotch. Monday For the inaugural Carpano Antica Formula Video awards, I had to present one of the…
How much do you love punch? Enough to indulge in a different one every day for 12 days? Well you’re in luck because Seven Grand is celebrating the countdown to Christmas with a different punch daily til the holiday, starting tonight. Yup, instead of singing that tiring “12 Days of Christmas” song, why not drink…
The inaugural Carpano Antica Formula Video Awards, an award show featuring Fernet Branca and Carpano Antica-highlighted videos by bartenders, were last night. With six categories and 37 videos to cover in two hours, the show was a bit of a booze-infused but PG-13 whirlwind in spite of emcee Dan “The Imbiber” Dunn manning the helm….
Cocktail log, stardate 2012.127: (I’ve always wanted to say that.) This week’s drinking adventures took me from an avant-garde cocktail class at SAAM to a Fernet luge at Cole’s to magic cocktails by Magic Castle bartenders. Saturday During a hosted look-see at the redone Caulfield’s Bar and Dining Room in Thompson Beverly Hills, Beverage Manager…
Tonight Drago Centro will debut bartender Jaymee Mandeville’s new winter cocktail menu. The 10 new drinks, which normally run $12 each, will be on special for the night for $8 each. And these aren’t the winter cocktails you’d expect. Nothing heavy or rich, and there’s only one hot cocktail. “In California, it’s not 30 degrees…
