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THE SEASONAL CHANGES in beer offerings is one of the industry’s strongest sales tactics. Beyond merely pushing beer during big holidays and trying to get by during the rest of the year, the introduction of seasonal beers allows breweries and retailers to offer consumers something fresh and new. Each release... Read More

SUMMERTIME is the right time for two of our favorite things: large format drinking and market-fresh mixology.  The former because who wants to be stuck behind a bar at your next garden party, and the latter because summer is fleeting and so is the local natural bounty! Perhaps the easiest... Read More

THE ORIGINAL WINE COCKTAIL, sangria has been a staple on bar menus for decades – mostly as a profitable way to breathe new life into days-old wine. But with the rise of farm-to-glass ingredients and a focus on quality cocktails, many bartenders are handcrafting sangria with the same care as... Read More

WINES OF THE SAND Sardinia is geographically remote and remote from our quotidian vinous ruminations.  Even most Italians consider the Mediterranean’s second largest island as another country, and Sardinians often refer to mainland Italy as the “contenente”.  The informing grape variety of today’s wines – Carignano – is likewise remote... Read More

SPANISH REDS remain one of the screaming bargains in the wine market. Why? In two words: old vines. As with many wine categories, it’s all about the terroir. Arid, rocky, perched at high elevations, Spain’s treasure trove of ancient vineyards tend to produce grapes with aromatic purity and concentrated flavors... Read More

Wine is geography . . . no more so than in Chile, that long, narrow country squeezed into South America between the towering Andes Mountains and the cool Pacific Ocean. In the long, warm Central Valley and the Coastal Range, both largely dry, mineral-rich and nutrient-poor, lie Chile’s developing wine... Read More

VODKA has gotten something of a bad rep amongst the gatekeepers of the last decade’s cocktail renaissance. It became so dominant as the go-to tipple for modern drinkers that many of these recently enlightened mixologists shunned the stuff in protest, reaching for stronger spirits to build their drinks. In some... Read More

Knowing a little bit about a subject tends to spark a desire to learn more. Whether a detail about the playing style of John Coltrane, the brushstroke methods of Georges Seurat, or the hand-eye coordination of Peyton Manning, a little extra knowledge adds a new level of appreciation and fun... Read More

WITH WARM MONTHS upon us and even hotter weeks ahead, our bibulous tastes inevitably switch around this time of year from dark to light. The Gin Sling is a simple and historic place to start. A direct precursor to the cocktail and was once considered as American a tipple as... Read More