Interview with Jaime Windon of Lyon Distilling Co.
Born and raised in Laurel, Maryland, Jaime Windon is Maryland through and through, eventually going to college in Baltimore. But her experience — and her palate — were shaped by also living in San Diego, London, South America, Florida,...
Baltimore Cocktail Bars
Baltimore. Crime reports, “The Wire,” the shadow of nearby D.C. — there are many things that cloud the reputation of Maryland’s largest city. It was a surprise, then, for a first-time visitor like myself, to see its beauty. The...
Top 10 DC Bars
Welcome to Washington D.C.: one of the fastest-rising food and drink scenes in the country in the last few years. Don’t believe it? Have you been back lately?
On the food front, our nation’s capital was long known for its...
2017 Distillery of the Year: Cedar Ridge Distillery
In 2005, Jeff Quint opened Iowa’s first grain-to-glass distillery with a 35-gallon Christian Carl still. “It was all the still I could afford at the time,” said Quint. “I remember our TTB field agent coming in to do an...
Interview with Francesco Amodeo of Don Ciccio & Figli
One of the biggest proponents in the country of Italian-style amaro with American expression and ingredients is Francesco “Ciccio” Amodeo, president and founder of Think Italian LLC and Don Ciccio & Figli.
Born in the small Italian town of Furore...
Interview with Bill Thomas of Jack Rose Dining Saloon
Ask any D.C. spirits aficionado the bar you should not miss in D.C. and most likely they will mention Jack Rose Dining Saloon. Talk to whisk(e)y fanatics across the country—especially those who travel—and they’ll bring it up, too. With...
Top 10 San Diego Bars
Sunny San Diego is the antidote to overcrowded, dense LA. While freeways and SoCal sun abound here, too, traffic isn’t endless and distances are shorter. The beaches are chill and so are the locals. Under lazy palms and vivid...
Max the Stillmaker
A Brazilian living in Rhode Island decides to design a still and contacts a Chinese manufacturer to build the prototype. The Chinese tell him they’ll be at the Independent Spirits Expo and he ought to come meet them there....
Interview with Leigh Lacap
From coffee barista days to bartending his first gig at San Diego’s great Craft and Commerce (www.craft-commerce.com), Leigh Lacap is schooled on balance and technique, but also imparts a playful, feel-good approach that many a bar manager could learn...
A Place of Their Own
One of the nation’s five largest liquor retailers has created sections within their stores for craft spirits. The 32-foot island pictured above is at the entrance to the whiskey section at Binny’s Beverage Depot’s flagship store in Chicago. It...
