Interview Michael Martensen
Growing up in Wyoming with a stint in Oregon, Dallas-based Michael Martensen (@imbibemartensen on Twitter) moved to Argentina not long after high school. At 19, he wasn’t feeling inspired by much and was unsure of what direction to head,...
Top 10 Dallas Bars
Houston is the most international Texas city, happily reflected in the thriving food and drink scene, while hipster Austin gets all the love for its youthful mix of music and tech, food trucks and pop-ups. But what about Dallas?...
State 38 Distilling: The House Built on Agave
From the early 2000s, Tequila and mezcal—Mexico’s most famous agave spirits—have experienced significant growth in popularity and consumption in the United States. According to the Distilled Spirits Council of the US (DISCUS), imports of Tequila into the US have...
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....
Top 10 San Diego Cocktail 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...
Interview with Leigh LaCap, Coin-Op Bar Manager
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 managex+r could learn...
Top 10 San Francisco Cocktail Bars
San Francisco has been a groundbreaking drinking town since the 1800s when this water-surrounded Peninsula nurtured wild Barbary Coast saloons and the first bartender to elevate and publicize the craft of bartending, Professor Jerry Thomas. Northern California has transformed...
It’s Not Nice to Fool Mother Nature
Lost Spirits Distillery is a deceptive name. It’s a place less about making alcohol and more about waking an industry from a centuries old stupor. To say there has been no innovation since our earliest forbears turned grapes into...
Whiskey & Soda
It is now well established in the world of whiskey appreciation that a drop or two of water added to your glass can help your spirit to open up and allow its aromas and flavors to develop. Once popular...
Interview with Larry Piaskowy of the Alembic
Moving from his hometown of Chicago to the west coast, Larry Piaskowy has been a chef in San Francisco at venerable bars like 15 Romolo, where excellent cocktails and spirits walk hand-in-hand with soulful food. Given a chef background...
