Featured Articles

Don’t know if you’ve noticed, but when you walk into most craft beer-focused bars these days, the taps run a little bit on the heavy side. 7% IPA, 8% double amber ale, 9% imperial IPA, 6% weissbier, 12% imperial stout . . . I’ve been in places where there were... Read More

Take a close look at beverage menus around the country, and you may start noticing an interesting ingredient in cocktails – beer!  The popularity of craft brews has been growing steadily over the years, resulting in a larger share of shelf space as well as expanded beer lists at bars... Read More

Summer will be upon us in Boston with high temperatures and humidity to match.  For those days when it feels too swampy to even move, we suggest lounging about with a Roof Garden Cooler in hand.  The drink, which comes to us by way of David Wondrich’s Killer Cocktails, is... Read More

LEN ROTHENBERG 63Owner, Federal Wine & Spirits, Boston Federal Wine and Spirits has been Len Rothenberg’s baby for 25 years, and he still thinks of it in terms of a congenial 197Os folk club.  Federal has become a hangout for wine enthusiasts, a ‘coffeehouse’ for the exchange of enthusiasm and... Read More

From the locally crafted to the iconic imports, vodka reigns as it’s poured.  One conspicuous point of distinction has been that several so-called “value” brands have gotten more than their fifteen minutes of fame courtesy of the economy.  Some consumers have traded down and have made the discovery that there’s... Read More

As you’ve probably noticed, we LUPEC ladies don’t devote much time to the discussion of vodka cocktails.  “It’s the predominant spirit on most cocktail lists,” you may be thinking, “so what gives? What do you broads have against vodka?” It’s not that we have anything against vodka, per se.  We... Read More

They say the devil is in the details, but it’s commonly accepted that the details are what can transform the mundane into something heavenly. That said, Adam Lantheaume has become something of an Archangel Gabriel figure to the local cocktail scene, bringing good news – and good products – from... Read More

BARTENDER, I’D LIKE AN “APP-EALING” DRINKNext time a customer asks you for the ingredients in one of those fashionable pre-Prohibition era cocktails and you aren’t quite sure of the recipe, just turn to your iPhone.  Much more discreet and all-encompassing than a battered Mr. Boston Bartender’s Guide, there are dozens... Read More

I was surprised and delighted by the Alto Adige when I first visited twelve years ago. This beautiful alpine corner of Italy does not at all conform to one’s usual expectation of that delightful land, as registered by more southerly regions. Here are the picture-postcard peaks and valleys of the... Read More

Spring is Riesling season par excellence. While I personally enjoy drinking Riesling year-round, from a commercial perspective this is the moment to focus on lighter styled, more delicate herb and floral scented versions, whether they feature discernible residual sugar or not, because of the strong link between Nature’s annual reawakening... Read More