BEER GEEKS AND SCIENCE
IT’S AMAZING what can be accomplished in the course of drinking a few pints. While out at a tavern one night, a group of Spanish specialists in fluid mechanics found themselves bewildered by why beer in bottles foams up when the top of one bottle is tapped sharply by the... Read More
BEER FLAVORED JELLY BEANS
LIKE JELLY BEANS could possibly get any yummier! For more than 1OO years, the Jelly Belly company has been a leading name in the jelly bean industry, with flavors like Buttered Popcorn, Toasted Marshmallow and Bubble Gum. Now comes perhaps the best one yet: Draft Beer was debuted as the... Read More
NEW TWIST IN THE STOPPER DEBATE
FOR YEARS debates have raged as to the proper closure for wine bottles. Now, the cork industry has come up with a new-style stopper to halt the wine industry’s search for alternatives. Called the Helix, it ‘twists to open’ and uses a special glass bottle with an internal threaded neck... Read More
NORTH AMERICAN WINERIES ON THE RISE
IT WAS a good year for the wine business in the US. Winery production was up 6.3% in 2O13, according to the latest data from wines & vines magazine. The number of wineries grew to 8391, a gain of 4.3%. Additionally, the average bottle price rose from $9 to $1O.85.
SOUTH AFRICAN WINE EXPORTS ON FIRE
IT CERTAINLY was a banner year in South Africa as the country’s wine industry exported a record 5.52 million hectoliters (hl) in 2O13. The figure is a 26% increase on the previous record on 4.17 million hl achieved in 2O12, with shipments to the UK driving the growth. It is... Read More
FUNERAL HOME ADDS A WINE CELLAR
HERE’S SOME clever marketing. A Florida funeral home said its newly installed wine cellar is intended to offer a different type of memorial gathering than the traditional service. Seth Minso, general manager at Hodges Funeral Home in Naples, said he believes the business is the first funeral home in the... Read More
NO BOUNTY FOR BURGUNDY
IF YOU ARE a Burgundy enthusiast, prepare to pay more for those coveted bottles. A series of record-low harvests means France’s most highly prized wine will be rarer, and more expensive, than ever. Cellars in Burgundy are currently lying half empty. Where there would usually, at this time of year,... Read More
$6OOK FOR A BOTTLE OF SCOTCH
THERE SEEMS to be no limit to the amount of money collectors are willing to spend on single malt. A rare bottle of Macallan whisky recently set a world record for the most expensive single malt whisky soldatan auction. The six-liter bottle of the highly sought-after Macallan M in a... Read More
DIAGEO BOOSTS TEQUILA PORTFOLIO
DRINKS COMPANY Diageo has added to its tequila offering with the acquisition of super-premium brand Peligroso. The deal comes three weeks after Diageo and rapper-turned-business mogul Sean “Diddy” Coombs teamed up to buy luxury tequila brand DeLeon. Peligroso, founded by two avid surfers, is popular in the action sports and... Read More
DRIZLY APP
CONSUMERS in Boston and New York City can now have beer, wine and liquor delivered to their doorstep, thanks to Drizly, a new iPhone app. Conceived by three classmates from Boston College, Drizly is unlike any existing or rival system for delivering alcohol beverages. It gives consumers the convenience of... Read More