Tennessee Whiskey
It takes a lot to be Straight Bourbon Whiskey. There are rules about what grains can and must go into the mash, rules about how strong it can be coming off the still, how strong it has to be going in the barrel, how strong it has to be to... Read More
Drinking Patterns and Heart Attacks
People picture science differently. For some, it’s a Gothic laboratory and Victor Frankenstein shrieking, “It’s alive!” For others, it’s a quiet and understated, sterile, well-lighted, modern and nondescript workplace. For still others, science is epidemiology, the statistical study of what affects the health of populations. What science really is amounts... Read More
Bitten by the Grape
“My passion for wine started in my 2Os,” says Mantra Restaurant’s Sommelier David Singer, who is barely in his 3Os today. While working as a server in Toronto and attending college, he always wanted more information about the wine he was serving. Singer says that his five questions led to... Read More
Tempranillo
True, Spain is also home to two other important quality red wine grapes, Garnacha and Monastrell, but these two varieties are qualitatively more successful respectively in the Chateauneuf-du-Pape and Bandol appellations of France. Spain’s best known red wine appellation, Rioja, first brought Tempranillo to the attention of the world outside... Read More
G.A.B.F.
1454 Different American Beers Served to more than 28,000 Beer Lovers Can Only Be The Great American Beer Festival Celebrating its twenty-third year as America’s predominant beer event, the Great American Beer Festival (GABF) rolled into Denver on the last weekend in September. Promoting itself as the “Napa Valley of... Read More
Beyond The Pale Ale
Got customers who’re jaded? Who wants something really different, and doesn’t mean lambic or Baltic porter, . . . been there, drunk that? Help is on the way. Get those geek some beers that will make them go “Huh?” Beers from the Outer Limits. Beers from Beyond the Pale. Beyond... Read More
Aging Gracefully
Like bottles of wine, even in the same case, people age differently. Time may amplify what were once insignificant defects. There is, however, now a large and increasing number of very fit, healthy and active people well beyond the age of 6O. An elderly person who drinks, say, wine in... Read More
Craft Brewing ’08
Fast on the heels of another highly successful year, the American craft beer industry is gearing up for another profitable one and the challenges that accompany success. As the segment continues its development from a tiny niche to a legitimate force in the beverage alcohol marketplace, craft brewers are increasingly... Read More
Tequila
While the spring break party image will never entirely vanish and the margarita will probably remain the country’s most popular mixed drink, the last few years have seen tequila’s image mature from one inseparable from the rambunctious frat kid to one more fitting of a dapper bon vivant. You can... Read More
Spring Cleaning
It’s spring, at last. Time to deep-clean our homes, our lives and our cellars. It’s the time of the year to look at our inventories and see what hasn’t moved since the Truman Administration. Yes, I’m referring to that case or odd bottle of fermented beverage that someone thought was... Read More