Liquor and Spirits

Real Campari-and-Soda Service at Montmartre

Bitter pink Campari with soda water is one of my favorite retro aperitifs, but no one seems to get the proportions right. I find it's always diluted with too much soda, like a watery dive-bar highball.

Aquavit. What Is It?

This glass of aquavit, from Danish restaurant Aamanns-Copenhagen, is flavored with toasted rye bread. Aquavit (or akvavit) is a flavored liquor beloved of Scandinavians, and served in funny little glasses. Derived from the Latin aqua vitae, it means "water of life."

How to Make the Blonde Manhattan from Lilium

Lady Gaga, Scarlett Johansson, Veronica Lake, Danny Bowien. Recognizable names? Sure. Blond New Yorkers? You bet. (Looks like you're one of us now, Danny.) Lighten up your drink order this holiday with the Blonde Manhattan from Lilium in Union Square. Being served as a tribute to the 79th annivers ... More >>

Emeche Cupcakes Puts Booze in the Buttercream: Taste 'Em This Weekend

How can you make the innocuous cupcake all grown up? You spike it, of course. And besides a simple chocolate high, everyone would surely love a little buzz from their dessert. Emeche Cupcakes ("emeche" meaning tipsy en Français) is a tiny bakery brought to Brooklyn by Chicago native Janell Richmond ... More >>

FEAST YOUR EYES ON THIS

NYC Food Film Festival Heats Up

Whitehall's House Concoction No. 4

​The drink: No. 4The bar: Whitehall (19 Greenwich Avenue, 212-675-7261) The price: $13The ingredients: Greenall's London Dry Gin, Yellow Chartreuse, lemon, fresh muddled ginger, house-made orange bitters

5 Fun and Tasty Ways to Get Drunk at Pulqueria

For this week's review, I headed down to Chinatown -- Doyers Street, specifically -- to check out Pulqueria, Christopher and Heather Tierney's new Mexican cocktail lounge and restaurant. The food pleasantly surprised me; standouts included the hibiscus flower enchiladas, a great mushroom quesadilla, ... More >>

Aquavit's Keri Levens on Swedish Fish

Keri Levens has worked as Aquavit's wine director since May. Though she studied art history and art at Rutgers University, she ultimately decided to pursue a culinary career. She chatted with Fork in the Road this week about her work at the restaurant (65 East 55th Street) and how she plays with dri ... More >>

Absolut Wine? Say It Ain't So.; Yet Another Baby Gets Served Booze

​Absolut Wine? Not quite, but the Swedish vodka maker has paired up with Brancott Estate to release a 'sparkling fusion' of vodka and Sauvignon Blanc. [Decanter] A number of Long Island wineries have hired chefs, despite the state law that, in most cases, limits them to serving finger food. [ ... More >>

A Primer to the Moonshines on the Market

Kings County DistillerySome of the fine moonshine available for purchase in liquor stores​ New York City's underground moonshiners might be making jugs of hooch on the down-low, but if you don't have a bootlegger supplying you on the sly, fear not. Liquor store shelves are beginning to be sto ... More >>

Kings County Distillery Already Too Big for Its Britches

kingscountydistillery.comWhiskey grows in Brooklyn.​Brooklyn's first whiskey distillery since Prohibition, Kings County, released its bourbon earlier this month after just about a year of peddling nothing but an un-aged white whiskey. It looks like business is good, because the distillery is a ... More >>

Bourbon Boom Boosts Kentucky Distilleries; S.E.C. Stops Crowdsourced Buyout of PBR

​Kentucky bourbon distilleries have spent at least $150 million expanding their facilities as demand for bourbon explodes in the United States and across the globe. [Daily Mail] Ten of the city's best beer shops suggest 10 of their favorite brews. [Grub Street] The S.E.C. stops two ad execs ... More >>

The Dutch's Naren Young Talks Barrel-Aging Cocktails, Stealing Pickled Ramp Juice

Naren Young ramps it up.​After months -- or was it years? -- The Dutch has finally arrived. Foodies are duly losing their minds, but drinkies (you know who you are) are also flocking to the place. Head barman Naren Young enlightens us about what they're so excited about, including that barrel- ... More >>

'Very Old' Cognac Sells for $70K; Ice Cube Becomes Spokesman for Coors Light

​Breuckelen Distilling Co. and the Brooklyn Distilling Co. have settled their trademark-infringement lawsuit out of court, although the terms were not revealed. [NY Post] A bottle of Rémy Martin cognac called the Louis XIII Grande Champagne Très Vieille Age Inconnu sold for 50,000 euros ($7 ... More >>

Beefeater Has a New Seasonal Gin: Introducing Winter Edition

A gin for the colder months.​Remember when Beefeater launched its Summer Gin and master distiller Desmond Payne hinted that it might be the first in a series of seasonal gins? Well, it turns out it was. And the next one, Winter Edition, has arrived.

Blue Bottle Enters Phase II: Baked Goods

neil conway/flickrBlue Bottle coffee, pastry-less no more.​Last month, we dropped by The Great Coffee Debate at the International Culinary Center, where we learned from Blue Bottle founder James Freeman that the Williamsburg coffee house was in the process of building a pastry kitchen in order ... More >>

Ask the Critic... Er, Cocktail Waitress: Doing Shots

flickr/_Fidello_So many ways to drink badly​ As a cocktail waitress at an infamous Village dive, I get asked a lot of off-putting things: "Did you go to college?" "Do you do yoga?" "What do your tattoos mean?" "Will you belly dance?" "Are you down for a hotel party in Atlantic City? We'll tak ... More >>

Reviewing Whisky Made From Diabetics' Urine

Mmmmmm​It's like your mother always said: you don't know if you like it until you try it. Think about how much you enjoy brussels sprouts now. And they sort of smell like pee, too! BoingBoing was kind enough to point us in the direction of the special Gilpin Family single malt blend, which is ... More >>

What's Happening This Week: a Beer and Ice Cream Social, an Upstate Farm Tour

As you may know, our weekly dining and drinking newsletter features all the coolest epicurean events in the city. Sign up for it here! Bent Spoon and Beer Table Ice Cream Social Beer Table Monday, August 16 at 7 p.m. Beer and ice cream, together at last. Gabrielle Carbone from Bent Spoon ice cream ... More >>

WHISKEY A GO-GO

Is it bad etiquette to get drunk at a store?

Blue Water Grill Goes Tiki; Coffee Liqueurs Make a Splash

​Eben Klemm, the head mixologist for B.R. Guest Restaurants, which owns Dos Caminos and Blue Water Grill, is trying out "tiki-inspired" tropical drinks for the summer, as well as cocktails made with Riesling. [Washington Post] Several new coffee liqueurs are making a splash, including Firelit ... More >>

Mayahuel's West of East India Cocktail

Go West of East India, young cocktail drinker.​The drink: West of East India Cocktail The bar: Mayahuel, 304 East 6th Street The price: $13 The ingredients: Reposado tequila, Demerara rum, East India Sherry, Falernum, Amaro Nonino, and Xocolatl mole bitters. The buzz: Mayahuel is known for ... More >>

Brandy Library's Ethan Kelley Talks Peat Week, Rare Booze & How Mixologists Can Take the "Joy Out of Drinking"

drinkingtheworld.comLet Brandy Library's Ethan Kelley school you.​Thousands of brown liquor-loving booze hounds will congregate at Pier 60 in Chelsea Piers today for Whisky Live, a trade show featuring dozens of exhibitors and a heckuva lot of stiff drinks. Brandy Library is celebrating the ev ... More >>

Behold, Christmas in a Cup: The Tom and Jerry Cocktail

​Punch may have been the summer's darling, but the holiday season is the perfect time of year to whip up a Tom and Jerry cocktail. This labor-intensive eggnog-style drink probably dates the early to mid-19th century, writes spirits historian and author David Wondrich in the current issue of Sa ... More >>

Behind the Bar: Highlands' Brian McGrory on Why Scotch Isn't So Scary (Hint: His New Cocktail Menu Debuting This Weekend Has Something to Do With It)

​It's ok, you can admit it: Scotch can be scary. Luckily, Brian McGrory of the recently opened Highlands in the West Village has some practical tips for easing you into the malted spirit. And, if you haven't met the charming Scotsman or been to his cozy establishment, be assured that there are ... More >>

Booze News: Introducing Wine in Plastic; Beware Coffee in Booze

​Awatere Valley, N.Z. winemaker Peter Yealands bottles his wine in plastic bottles, which he's sure will become the convention, just as Coca-Cola went from glass to plastic. He's not the first to sell wine in plastic -- Wolf Blass in Australia does it, as do British supermarket chains Tesco an ... More >>

Introducing Rye House: Union Square Gets a Whiskey Bar

​ Brooklynites are lucky to have their own bourbon bar. Now, American whiskey buffs will be able get their fix near Union Square, where a new rye-centric bar is opening. With Raines Law Room just down the street, West 17th Street could have the makings of a mini cocktail crawl.

A Bartending Competition, in a Honey of a Spot

Jonathan Pogash, making a 'Bee Sting'​Barenjager, the German honey liqueur imported by the same company responsible for the success of Jagermeister and Grey Goose, hosted a bartending competition last night in a bona fide speakeasy located in a basement in NOHO. The password to get in was "Bea ... More >>

Celebrate National Tequila Day This Friday With a Tequila Cocktail

bludgeoner86/flickr This Friday marks National Tequila Day, which was probably dreamed up by booze company executives to sell more of the agave spirit to frat boys and bachelorettes. But celebrating tequila is something many of us can get on board with. After all, it's the spirit of the moment, hav ... More >>

Cookbook Tester--The Essential Cocktail by Dale DeGroff

Chantal is heading to Tales of the Cocktail in New Orleans tomorrow, so you can look forward to insider stories of the cocktailarati. To kick off a boozy week, a test run of Dale DeGroff's book The Essential Cocktail seemed appropriate. DeGroff is often known as the King of Cocktails, the guy who ... More >>

Making the Weather Up Cocktail at Home

Weather Up, the cocktail bar in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn, serves a house Weather Up cocktail that is so simple and delicious that it's one of our favorites drinks in the city. It's just a mix of cognac, amaretto and lemon juice, plus a long strip of orange zest that the bartender uses to rub down ... More >>

We Get Tempted By Tanteo Infused Tequilas

We finally got a chance to try the recently launched Tanteo brand of infused tequilas. Now, I know what you're thinking: flavored tequila? Isn't that just a sneeze away from Bacardi Limon? And the answer is: not at all. Or at least not in this case. Tanteo, which is made of 100% Weber blue agave a ... More >>

Fork in the Road Raises her Cholesterol at Char No. 4

Autumnal Soup from Cercle Rouge

Recipe Improv with Convivio Chef Michael White

Watching the VP Debates? Start Drinking Now

Last Meal: Dave Wondrich Drinks Himself to Death

The Last Sipper

Drinks historian David Wondrich dreams of his last meal

Drinking to Your Health

Boozing through the Common Cold

Homes for the Holidays

Bars to hibernate in when the weather dips

Sign of the Times: A Cunning Little Bar Plays Hard to Get

Packing a Punch

Preferred drink of the cheap, lazy, and incredibly sophisticated

The Taste of Summer

Scouting out the best sangria in the city

Die, Absolut Mandrin, Die

Homemade infusions rescue flavored vodkas from cough-syrup catastrophe

Bizarre Boozin'

Brew Ho Ho

Sud-slinging santas toast the season

Silky Smooth Cocktails and World Beats Transport Imbibers

So Me, Soju: The Korean Rice Liquor That Socks It to Sake

Never Met a Martini They Didn't Like—or Put on the Menu

Morningside Nights

Modern Lovers Troll Columbia’s Bars for Fun and Profit