My latest article for DRiNK is on cocktails with Irish whiskey – check it out. Irish whiskey has a habit of getting overlooked. Researching this article was the perfect opportunity to remind myself of how excellent the stuff is. Unlikely to ever become the world’s favorite mixer, Irish still deserves to be used in cocktails more often. Mind you, it is so pleasant straight that it hardly needs messing with.

Since writing the article I got to make a couple of visits to beautiful Taipei, where I happily stumbled across – and out of - Speakeasy. Read the rest of this entry »

I recently did some experimenting with amontillado sherry and Dominican Republic rum. While I do not drink it nearly often enough, sherry might be my favorite wine – it has amazing complex flavors. Rum of course is something I ingest rather more than my fair share of. It seemed efficient to try to combine my rum and sherry drinking, hopefully to the benefit of both liquids.

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My latest story for DRiNK was on the Bamboo Cocktail. Follow the link to check it out. I like the Bamboo for a couple of reasons. First, it is one of a relatively small number of cocktails that use sherry. Sherry seems underrated both as a wine to drink straight and as a mixer. Second, it is sometimes nice to drink cocktails that contain no spirits.

Around the time I was putting that story together I also did some experiments with amontillado sherry and Dominican Republic rum. I think I got at least one winning drink out of it, maybe two. More on that a little later.

A new issue of DRiNK just came out. This issue looks at  single malts, and so I wrote an article on the Rusty Nail. It’s an excellent drink for the northern winter so mix one up.

Much as I like peated whiskys, I think this drink works better with something lighter. Incidentally, if going that route, the recently released Drambuie 15 might be fun to experiment with. It is dryer than the regular Drambuie, and contains a higher ratio of single malt and older whiskys. I have not yet played with it, but am sure it would make a good Rusty Nail.

While writing this article I decided I rather liked Rusty Nails with a grapefruit twist instead of the standard lemon. A very simple way to take this cocktail in new directions.

No experiments for me right now though. I am headed to tropical Burma where I will no doubt imbibe a Pegu Club or two.

The new issue of Drink is out. The theme for this issue is rum, well known as one of my favorite topics. Fittingly, I got to write not one, but two articles. . . Read the rest of this entry »

My latest article for DRiNK is on the Pegu Club. It’s a great drink so go check it out. Special thanks to the translator for an excellent job on the Chinese. I did not make her life easy, what with poetry and other assorted weird stuff. The art work is also nice.

DRiNK is a good magazine, and it’s mere existence shows how much the cocktail scene in China has changed since I started this blog.

Years ago I remember sitting on an airplane here and leafing through a hospitality magazine that had somehow ended up in the seat pocket in front of me. It was not bar specific – more like a general restaurant magazine that included wines and spirits info. I forget the title. Anyway, the quality of information was shocking. An article on French wines was illustrated with colorful Belgian beer bottles. Well-bred ladies were cautioned to always add the ice before pouring their wine. Doing things the other way round would be most uncouth! Another article summarized the main categories of spirits and liqueurs. Having no idea what Angostura Bitters were, the writer came up with a tale about elderly Dutch men doing shots of the stuff by the fireside during winter.

I will link to a few other articles I have written for DRiNK soon.

My occasional writing for DRiNK is one reason things have been quiet. Writing articles that get published somewhere else takes the edge off the urge to write here. Despite that though, I do have a few interesting things in store. Besides cocktail stuff, there may even be a cautionary tale or two about the bar industry.

Next week some of Shanghai’s best bars will celebrate Shanghai Cocktail Week.  Details appear sketchy but promising.  Participating bars will each offer a unique special menu of 50 RMB drinks, available throughout the week.  The event is being held to mark World Cocktail Week, a celebration that has been going on for a few years yet has somehow escaped my attention until now.  What can I say?  Every week is cocktail week at my place. . .

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Havana’s numerous bars are in many ways all rather similar. All of the places listed here serve Havana Club as the house rum. Few have a decent rum selection besides the basic Havana Club range (i.e. the blanco through to the 7 Años). Those that do offer alternatives tend to do so only at the higher end. Popular top shelf rums include Santiago and Vigia 11 Años, and Havana Club Barrel Proof and 15 Años.

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The Daiquiri at the Havana Club, straight from the pages of Graham Greene

While in Havana, when I wasn’t drinking Mojitos I could often be found in close proximity to a Daiquiri. I already discussed the Daiquiri in detail here, so there is no need to say too much more. Still, it would be a shame not to share a few observations on how the drink is made in Cuba.

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As mentioned previously, I had an article on the Mojito published in a China bar industry magazine, Drink (??). Drink does not have a website yet, but you can read the article here.

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