The Quest for Local Grains
“We are ready for our first batch of whiskey!” my husband Steve exclaimed. “Where’s the grain?”
For two years we had spent every evening, weekend and holiday building our distillery from the ground up. How could it be that suddenly...
Interview with Distiller Christian Krogstad at House Spirits Distillery
No conversation about spirits in Portland—and Oregon as a whole—is complete without talking about pioneering House Spirits Distillery (https://housespirits.com). Christian Krogstad was early to the craft-distilling “game,” opening the distillery in 2004 after years as a brewer and winemaker—with...
Interview with Camille Cavan, Bar Manager at Quaintrelle
Portland has no shortage of bartenders, it’s true. And plenty with great bar acumen. But to find one who is experienced in spirits and cocktails and also exhibits exceptional service is not always so easy. Lucky for Portland, they...
Top 10 Portland Bars
Portlandia and Powell’s Books, breweries and Pacific Northwest cuisine, Portland (aka PDX) wears the mantle of hipster city… and that it is: a green city situated on the Willamette River, with charming cottages and homes on tree-lined streets and...
When Jörg Met Steve
Excerpt from Whiskey Business: How Small-Batch Distillers Are Transforming American Spirits
Craft spirits was just toddling forth when an Oregon lawyer-turned-businessman approached the owner of America’s only eaux de vie distillery. The rest became our history.
The late 1970s had been...
Top 10 Manhattan Bars
New York City has pioneered cocktails in the history of the world, it is true. But it has also led the cocktail renaissance of the last 15 to 20 years since Dale Degroff brought attention in the late 1980s...
Come Fly With Me or: The Story of the First Aviation’s Gin
The recipe for the Aviation cocktail was first recorded in Hugo R Ensslin’s 1916 book, Recipes for Mixed Drinks.
⅓ Lemon Juice
⅔ El Bart Gin
2 dashes Maraschino
2 dashes Crème de Violette
Shake well in a mixing...
Interview with Distiller Joseph Myer of Myer Farm Distillers
From farming to playing piano, painting to writing poetry, Joseph Myer—aka Joe—has led quite the artistic life. Creativity is in his blood and bones. But so is farming. Born in Ithaca, NY, growing up on a fifth-generation farm in...
Manhattan Bar Manager Naren Young of Dante
The 1988 movie Cocktail changed everything for Naren Young when he first saw it as a young lad in the 1990s. It ushered in a crush on Elisabeth Shue and—more importantly—the flair bartending and bar scenes of the film...
Interview with Lane Harlan of WC Harlan & Clavel
Born on Clark Air Force base on the Philippine island of Luzon (just outside Manila), Lane Harlan grew up a middle child, moving around the USA with her parents and siblings. She lived across the country in Texas, Nevada,...
