We gathered America’s top bartenders to ask them if it would be possible to judge a fellow bartender by having them make just one drink. We were surprised how many had the same answer: The Daiquiri. No, not that frozen concoction you can get out of a slushie machine at a bad resort, but the simple mix of lime, sugar…

In the basement of the Townhouse in Venice, CA is the Del Monte, a speakeasy that isn’t some newfound faux speakeasy like many that have come into fashion of late, but a bonafide secret bar that opened during Prohibition and still operates to this day. We give you a glimpse inside.

Do yourself a favor (and your liver a…

This is a special time for me, both as a bartender and as a writer. I've spent the past 18 years behind the bar, obsessively learning all I can about my chosen craft, then the last two years committing that knowledge to paper. Last week, all of that hard work culminated with the release of my first book, The Bar Book:…

Up here in the rainy Pacific Northwest we don't see much sun until roughly mid-July, but this year we've been treated to an unseasonably warm spring. I've altered my weekend beverage schedule accordingly. You see, while April and May are usually set aside for Mint Juleps at my house, this glorious sunshine has me…

No home bartender disputes the importance of a quality shaker. Opaque cocktail ingredients like cream, fruit juice, and egg whites need to be shaken hard to be incorporated into a drink. It provides a light, delicate experience; a cocktail full of tiny air bubbles that dance on the tongue. Well, that shaker alone…

Let's just admit it, the Long Island Iced Tea is a bit of a joke. The drink had its heyday in the 1980s and 1990s, but ordering one now will get you laughed out of half of America's so-called craft cocktail bars. That's a damn shame. Because when it's made well—with the proper balance of spirits and fresh ingredients…

Only the saddest of drinkers hunker down alone to tie one on. Alcoholic self-destruction, at it's best, is a team sport. Recovering from the boozing should be a group effort as well. And that's what we're here to help facilitate. As a public service to the hungover, every week we track down the best bartenders in…

Cinco de Mayo has become, in my opinion, something of a farce holiday here in the United States. Originally celebrated by the Mexican state of Puebla to commemorate a victory over the French in 1862, the day has been co-opted by huge liquor conglomerates to pour cheap, mass-market tequila down the throats of frat…

College is generally a dark time for cocktails. I remember a summer back in 1994 when all I ordered at my local watering hole's Dollar Drink Night was my newly discovered favorite: the Vodka Collins. The surly bartenders we descended upon in droves would throw a slug of the cheapest liquor available into a glass,…

There are those mornings when there simply isn't enough energy and hand-eye coordination at your disposal to make breakfast and a cocktail. Here's the good news: We have the drink to solve that problem. As a public service to the hungover, every week we track down the best bartenders in America and ask them to share…

Once upon a time, apple cocktails had a great reputation. Or better put, they had a great reputation until the late 1990s. That's when DeKuyper launched the awful Jolly-Rancher-like liqueur Pucker. (Before Pucker, DeKuyper was best known for its "Hot Damn!" cinnamon schnapps; it should have stopped while it was…

I would wager that when most people think about rum, they imagine tropical cocktails—Daiquiris, Mojitos, Piña Coladas, all manner of big, fruit-forward drinks in the Tiki tradition. And there's nothing wrong with that. I mean, who doesn't love a Mai Tai? But rum has so much untapped potential beyond your…

I've been known to poke fun at my father's drinking stories. Especially his tales of over-consuming blended ice cream Brandy Alexanders back in the 1980s. The classically trained bartender in me thought such a concoction should go the way of jorts and REO Speedwagon.

Last night was a blur and this morning is shrouded in a haze, but hey, we're not judging. We're just here to help. As a public service to the hungover, every week we track down the best bartenders in America and ask them to share their favorite hair-of-the-dog remedies. This week, the perfect marriage of a Michelada…

In the age of mixology, blenders are easily the most maligned piece of bar gear—and for good reason. Reason number one: The noise. Nothing disrupts a sedate cocktail lounge more than the high-pitched wailing of a commercial blender as it chews through large ice cubes. Reason number two: Over the last 30 years blended…

Everyone was Irish yesterday. God help us, everyone was Irish. For those of you who skipped the corn beef and cabbage and went straight to the hard (and hopefully good) stuff, you're probably lamenting any association with the Emerald Isle this morning. We can help. As a public service to the hungover, every week we…

In 1946, Bill Veeck, baseball's maverick owner, had a bold idea that changed the national pastime forever. Disgusted with the racial segregation of the game in the South, Veeck, then owner of the Cleveland Indians, proposed relocating his team's spring home from Ocala, Florida, to Tucson, Arizona. When he convinced…

Many self-proclaimed manly men wouldn't dare order a glass of pink wine, let alone bubbly pink wine. One look at that pale hue, and they think strawberries, bubblegum and Sex and the City. But if manly men believe those qualities bear any resemblance to rosé, they're letting their eyes deceive them.

We know, it's a rough morning after a late night out. Luckily, as a public service to the hungover, every week we track down the best bartenders in America and ask them to share their favorite hair-of-the-dog remedies. This week, a vitamin-packed mezcal cocktail crafted not by a barkeep, but by a man of science.

Much like their namesake, the Grand Tetons (meaning large teat in French) have seduced adventurous men for centuries. Men like David E. Jackson. Legend has it that Jackson, a beaver trapper, spent so much time in the valley surrounded by the Grand Tetons, which his fellow trappers referred to as a "hole," that it…