notes

• First, if you need to fill a stocking for a booze loving friend, partner, or, I dunno, coworker…then check out our gift guide!
• Second, like port? You’ll love it in this hot cocktail perfect for the holidays or any cold day of the week.
• Thinking ahead to NYE, if you’re enjoying some caviar, then try these wines.
• It’s a Christmas miracle! Tiki drive in will stay open until the summer!
• Yo HO HO HO here’s a list of rums you should be drinking right now.
• Man, England gets the best whiskey gifts from Santa.
• Get yourself a bottle of aquavit and glogg ye shall make!
• Love this do-over video of the worst Old Fashioned ever made...
• Like smoky cocktails? Try some smoked beer.
• And finally, don’t be that drunk racoon that passes out from too much mulled wine this year.

• First! We’re still in the middle of our Black Friday/Shop Small Saturday Lightroom Preset sale over on our Cocktail Presets page! Get all six bundled and you get TWO free presets! NO coupon needed!
• Second, we’ve got another bottled cocktail recipe and it’s ready for the holiday season: The Black Christmas* Bottled Cocktail (*you do not have to celebrate Christmas to enjoy this drink)!
• Fever-Tree, maker of all those lovely mixers, now has it’s own bar in NYC.
• It is COLD in Boston. Here are some HOT drinks to try!
• Will PDT be the same after Meehan’s departure?
• I love Chartreuse and I more so that it’s still being made by Monks and only THREE people on earth know the recipe, but my favorite takeaway from this article is the one monk not having any idea what a cocktail is.
• Leftover cranberry sauce? Make some cocktails!
• Tina Turner turned 80 last week, which seems unfathomable to me, but it did spark some GREAT cocktails based on her songs in this article!
• Some feel good news: over 8K was donated to charity from a bar in NorCal when they removed all the dollar bills stuck to their ceiling.
• And finally, if that bottle of booze tastes like sh*t, it might actually in fact be made from sh*t.

• FIRST! We’ve launched our first ever presets for Lightroom Mobile that is JUST for cocktail photography. Check them out! And use code BOOZENEWS19 this week and get any preset for just $5!!
• What beers you should be drinking this fall and, more importantly, why!
• OH SNAP! So you can shake a Martini!
• Looking to spend under $75 and get some great whiskey from around the world? Check out these bottles!
• The holidays are swiftly approaching. Have you been practicing your champagne tower building skills???
• With the holidays coming up, there’s going to be more bubbly bottles being brought to parties than you know what to do with. Here’s a book to help make cocktails with all of them.
• I’m already feeling pretty festive this year, but I don’t know if I’m feeling this festive. Would you drink this?
• If you like beer, and you have kids, these breweries let all of you have a good time.
• A gin and tonic advent calendar sounds pretty fun!
• Move over Seedlip. You’ve got some competition in the non-alcoholic spirits category now!
• And finally, there are some great cocktails at Disney, but I’m not sure about the majority of these...

I’m updating the Booze News today because there was some very sad news I learned on Saturday morning. Gary Regan, author of The Joy of Mixology, and fountain of cocktail know-how, has passed away. This is a huge loss in the cocktail community and his words on cocktails was my first teacher in my home bar. I still reference this book almost a decade after I first picked it up, as it is as relevant today as it was then. One finger-stirred Negroni will be drank in his honor today, and forever onward.

• Oh yes, I’m bringing you Friendsgiving ideas already! Get on these low-abv options!
• Wait wait wait… when did Fernet leave to begin with??
• Seven ways you can judge your bartender...
• Like midcentury cocktails? Buy this book!
• There are so many boozy advent calendars now. Take your pick!
• I want these coasters for all my parties. Especially when people bring their kids.
• Do we need hard coffee now? I like to have my coffee after I’ve been drinking usually.
• If you’re feeling the holiday spirit, the Miracle Bar pop ups for 2019 have started to list locations!
• You’ve been saving that special bottle of wine for… when? Some tips on when to open that one you stashed.
• And finally, heavy boozers can smoke pot to live longer and… WTH? Let’s not encourage this.

• We celebrated Día de los Muertos this past weekend. There was tequila.
• Time to get cozy with Sherry.
• The no nonsense cocktail book you need on your shelf.
• What’s new in the world of Prosecco for 2020!
• Stopping by San Antonio? Here is every brewery you should visit.
• And while you’re in town, tickets are now on sale for the cocktail conference!
• Wine terminology can be confusing. Learn what a cru is and be, well, less confused.
• Are you drinking pox? You should be.
• San Diego Beer Week is happening NOW! Who’s going??
• And finally, the true story about the internet’s most viral cocktail videos.

• First, are you looking for some spooky drinks for this week??? We’ve got you covered!
• Amazon is moving into their own booze labels now. Can I get that with Prime?
• If the idea of traveling to a bar with your tiki mug gives you anxiety, you need this bag.
• And speaking of tiki, ever wonder where the Scorpion Bowl come from? Wonder no more!
• Carlsberg beer is going green… with a paper bottle!
• Thinking about taking a wine vacation this holiday season? Here’s a few for every budget.
• I am not a bartender. I have never claimed to be and I always politely decline anything that I know should be geared more towards bartenders and not me and the weird gray space I fit in here on the internet. That said, I give a big thumbs up here for J.M.’s move with whatever brand he’s talking about.
• This spooky club in NYC looks amazing and I want to go there and drink every ridiculously morbid named drink.
• I’d also like to go to these haunted bars. Road trip anyone??
• And finally, what’s a girl to do to get a champagne vending machine in her office?

• First, we made some very fall drinks this week and then topped them off with cool honey discs and quite frankly why haven’t you clicked through yet???
• Had a party recently and got gifted some not-so-great wine? Here’s how to turn it into something drinkable!
• OMGGGG there is an amazing event where a bunch of cool spirits writers will be talking and hanging out in Kentucky!!!
• And while you’re there, $23 will get you an overnight stay at this Jim Beam Stillhouse filled with, you guessed it, Jim Beam.
• Halloween is coming, so of course you need to know what candy pairs with what wine.
• With the SoberCurious movement, should bartenders and somms be trained in non-boozy alternatives to recommend? I mean, why not?
• Want a successful bar? Take at look at these unconventional ideas.
• What’s your take on shiso? Go or stay??
• Is explaining how red wine is made confusing? Would you like an infographic for that? Here you go.
• And finally, as holiday season starts to approach, remember, Luxardo cherries taste really good with Angostura in a batch of brownies.

• Ok, so first, should you get a countertop ice maker? Do you need all that ice?? (I do.)
• Is mineral water the next big thing? Is this where the sober curious movement is taking us? Or are we sick of flavored sparkling water?
• Big soda desperately wants to be craft cocktails BFF.
• I wonder how much this bar will water down their drinks once they realize they’re losing all their money...
• Why yes I’d love to dress up as a Disney princess and have a boozy brunch and possibly sing with strangers.
• Verdicchio wine is the next ‘big thing’ but… what is it??
• Need a Martini in Boston STAT?? Katie has you covered. Check out the map!
• If you’re in New Zealand, you can have black gin now! Everyone else will need to make due with… charcoal alternatives??
• Hey Los Angeles, come drink in some haunted bars!
• And lastly, f*ck all this.