Notes

• First, have you entered our Reader Survey yet? You could win a $50 gift card to Cocktail Kingdom just for telling us about yourself!
• We’ve got lots of Thanksgiving ideas for your week! Like how to dress up your bar cart.
• Here’s a Cranberry and Black Pepper Shrub
• Cranberry and Sherry are a fine match
• If you’re at your in-laws and you just have one bottle to work with, get the One Bottle Cocktail book!
• Serving wine and have NO IDEA what glasses to use. Check out this guide from Wine Enthusiast.
• Here’s some appetizer ideas to pair with wine for the day after Thanksgiving...
• If you have guests staying with you this week, make them happy with some Bourbon Salted Caramels. It’s easy to make. Promise!
• Flying out of town? Here’s how airlines are upping their beverage program.
• And finally, if you really want to be lazy and still have drinks for guests this week, just make some punch.

• First! We have a reader survey going on through the end of the month where we want to hear from YOU! Stir and Strain website likes, dislikes, cool things about yourself you want to tell us. Also, one random reader will get a $50 gift card to Cocktail Kingdom as a Thank You (but really, thank you to everyone for participating)!
• Hey look! It’s Ross from Friends possibly stealing some beer!
• Intrigued by Reposado Mezcal? Us too! Here’s a list of 10 brands to check out!
• Also, if you’re looking to purchase a special bottle of whiskey for someone this holiday season and you’ve got some money in your pocket, here’s 13 bottles over $50 that won’t disappoint.
• A great read on the first soda pop—guess the flavor!—and the chemistry behind it (fun fact: I was going to be a chemistry major in college but decided to get a BFA instead).
• When bar patrons go wild...
• Someone let David Wondrich know I’d be more than happy to write a chapter on girl garage band songs that should be played in bars.
• Get your passports out! Here’s some new bar openings from around the world!
• And on a final note, we remember Tom Vaught, icon in the bar world.

Starting November off on a somber note…

• First, remembering Dave Pickerell.
• Not concerned with climate change? Well, maybe you will be when your beer prices sky rocket (although you already should be concerned)!
• Uhhhhh….. looks like someone has been perusing my “adding aroma to cocktails” column on the site...
• Dinner party tidbit: why do we age spirits in oak barrels? VERY INTERESTING!
• A brief history on cocktails garnishes and maybe a push to get simpler again.
• And in case you missed it in the above article, please go read about punch biscuits and then everyone start making them.
• Ok, ok… servers? Is this true? Do you treat a guest like royalty if they give you their leftover wine?
• An argument for keeping the Old Fashioned simple.
• But since we don’t always like simple, just look at all the entries for The Old Fashioned Week over at TheOldReFashioned Instagram!
• Lastly, zero to do with cocktails but tomorrow are the midterm elections. Go vote. Go schedule it on your phone so you don’t forget. DO IT NOW.

Happy October! Put on a sweater and let’s read some news…

• First, we celebrated #NationalCoffeeDay this past weekend by mixing it into a cocktail.
• You may or may not be excited about the Star Wars land coming to Disneyland next year, but we can all be excited for cocktails being served there for the first time in the park’s history!
• GIVE ME ALL YOUR COCKTAIL ONIONS!!!
• Are you a believer in screw top wines? I AM.
• Would you drink from a reusable beer bottle? Or would you bottle your beer with one? Oregon is trying that out right now.
• Audrey Saunders gets real technical about drink ratios, ice, and the perfect Daiquiri.
• I have so many questions about an ax throwing bar here in Los Angeles, but mainly what does their insurance policy cost??
• As we gear up towards holiday party season, here are some good food and wine pairing tips you should learn now.
• If you’re a fan of Japanese whisky, get ready for their gin!
• And finally, science says NO amount of alcohol is good for you. So… I guess I’m out of a job now?

• First up, voting closes September 12th (this Wednesday) for Saveur’s Best Blogs. We’re up for best drinks! Give us a vote if you like us!
• Second, did you know it’s Dale DeGroff who coined those cocktail glasses Nick & Nora glasses? He also gives the budding cocktail enthusiast some good advice….
• We just wrapped up a whole week of outfitting you home bar around a house cocktail for under $50 (including booze!). Catch up on all the guides here!
• Here’s some good advice for making an Old Fashioned cocktail.
• I am so behind in my edible gummy cocktail recipes.
• See also Ginhound.
• Should you judge a whiskey by its color? Maybe not. Unless it’s green. Then walk the hell away.
• Here’s something kinda gross: beer made from belly button lint.
• And finally, the more people who can talk about mental illness and addiction in the bar community, the more people will be helped.

• Oh hey! We’re a finalist for Saveur Magazine’s Best Drinks Blog! If you like what we’re doing here, please consider voting for us.
• Like drinking cocktails but want a beer? Try these cocktail-inspired beers for your next drink.
• Is that fancy French rosé really cheap Spanish wine?
• This article has convinced me I need some cocktails with gold flakes in them. And also need to stock up on goldfish crackers.
• Sometimes I wished I lived near a forest so I could make foraged cocktails.
• If you’ve got some marmalade around, I’ve got a cocktail for you.
• Let’s take a journey down the long, funky road of Jamaican rum.
• This “underrated” list of liquors has me confused. When are gin and rum underrated? But yes, the takeaway here is we should all be drinking more Aquavit.
• My guide for how to enjoy an almost labor-free labor day (with drinks).
• And lastly, the Joy of Mixology was my BIBLE when I first started getting into mixology and now there’s a newly updated edition and I’m SO EXCITED. This is a must have in your cocktail book library.

• Looking for a two-ingredient cocktail? I’d like to introduce you to the Suze and Soda.
• I spritz, you spritz, we spritz. Here’s 10 Spritz(es).
• Is that tobacco on the cocktail menu? RUN AWAY!!!
• It’s still hot out. Let’s go drink some frozen cocktails at a bar.
• Get your wallet! Best Asian Whiskey under $100 (and not just from Japan).
• Snoop Dog made the world’s largest gin and juice and no one was surprised.
• This cocktail book has both alcoholic and nonalcoholic versions of drinks for days when you do and days when you don’t. Get it!
• Science saves the day! Here’s the quickest route to visit the top breweries in the U.S.
• If you can paint by number, you can learn wine types by color! And not just red, white and pink.
• And finally, WTFFFFFF is going on with the Seagram’s family?! Two words: sex cult.

Welcome to your August Booze News. Enjoy.

• It’s summer. You should be drinking your cocktail out of a coconut.
• We all enjoy cocktail umbrellas in our drinks (yes, even you). Here’s where they came from.
• Ever wonder how a tiki mug gets made? Check out how Lono Hollywood got theirs with Tiki Farm.
• Get to know your rum types… and how to drink them!
• What some high-speed video of citrus fruits spitting oil 30 feet per second because… why not?
• For those of us who might be buying their wine picked on the bottle, here are some wine’s with epic, and creative, packaging.
• Taking a break from the booze this summer? Here are a few mocktails you should really try.
• The bar industry is doing its part to become greener. Here’s how!
• Need a fun idea for a night in with your friends? How about a DIY Amaro Party?! Yes, you CAN do this.
• And finally, if you’re in London this month, you’re very lucky, as you can get an Aperol Spritz DELIVERED to you.

 

It’s July! We’re back with some new boozy stories for you. Enjoy!

• First, did you see our color changing drink a few weeks back? It’s real pretty.
• Heineken wants you to not drink alcohol if you’re driving. Here’s what they’re doing to prevent drunk drivers.
• Beaver flavored whiskey. You know you’d try it at least once...
• Need a new rosé to try this summer? Here’s 30 F&W approved bottles.
• Another reason to visit Poland besides the sausages… a vodka museum!
• Glitter ice cube DIY. Yup, I’m making these this weekend.
• A new golden age of Tiki? Yes please and thank you!
• And speaking of tiki, rum has come a long way here in the US. Like, real big.
• Heading to Los Angeles this summer? Here’s a list of must visit bars in my town.
• And finally, Arkansas is literally creating fireballs on their highways…with Fireball whiskey.