©iStockphoto.com/Scukrov It’s sometimes difficult to explain to casual observers, but as with enjoying many other parts of the culinary world, there’s a certain aspect of drinking well-made cocktails that borders on rapture. And as with anything that brings such pronounced joy, many fans can trace their enthusiasm to a particular “aha!” moment, when the proverbial clouds parted and the light came down, and all of a sudden their perspective on what’s good permanently changed. But how to share that excitement with others? What’s a good way to try to create that sense of sudden wonder in a mixological virgin? This was the question posed to the larger online cocktail community for the most recent round of Mixology Monday; using...
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©iStockphoto.com/Rpsycho Francis Lam of Gourmet wants mixologists to know that they should nix the fancy title because in the end, they're really just bartenders. Lam understands that making elaborate drinks is a serious craft, but is it a revolutionary profession? Do they deserve a new word? And is "mixologist" too pompous? Besides, being called a bartender isn't so bad. There are plenty of good things a bartender does, according to Lam: "They give that broken-hearted bastard an ear and a dram and a kind word. They keep a birthday party happy. They lube up a first date... They make a bar worth going to." Looks like Lam should have done some fact-checking, though—commenters have already pointed out that "mixologist"...
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Nothing puts your guests in the holiday spirit like a little holiday spirits. From books to bottles to shakers and bitters, there are plenty of gift ideas from the cocktail world that can add pizzazz to celebrations throughout the year.
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In last Friday’s San Francisco Chronicle, drinks writer Gary Regan offered readers a brief guide to the basics and terminology for ordering a drink. I wish I’d had such a lesson when I was first starting to frequent bars. Throughout my twenties and well into my thirties, I was a dedicated beer drinker—partially because I really liked beer but also because I was so flummoxed when ordering an actual cocktail. There were so many options that left me mystified—what drink, what spirit, what brand, shaken or stirred, straight up or on the rocks, with a twist or no—that I simply didn’t know the answers to provide in order to get a drink I’d like. Part of the reason I started...
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