Drinkhacker’s 2018 Holiday Gift Guide – Best Alcohol/Spirits for Christmas
2018 marks our eleventh annual holiday gift guide, and we’re hoping this year really gets you in the spirit of giving at Christmas. Ha! Seriously, you’ll need it. Prices are creeping ever higher, especially on popular categories like whiskey, and stocks of some of the most prized products seem to be more limited than ever this…
Review: Bisol 2017 Prosecco Crede and Jeio Prosecco Brut
Bisol has long been one of my favorite Prosecco producers, because it keeps the focus of its wines squarely on the grape, letting the varietal character shine. Here’s a look at two of its most recent releases. 2017 Bisol Valdobbiadene Prosecco Crede DOCG – 85% glera, 10% pinot bianco, 5% verdiso — named for “crede”…
Review: Gold Bar Original Whiskey (2018)
One of the strangest spirits I’ve seen this year, Gold Bar whiskey’s oddities start with the packaging. It’s packaged inside a replica of a gold bar (complete with a base that makes the whole thing akimbo), a nod to founder Elliott Gillespie’s acknowledgement that he’d need a few real gold bars to get into the…
Review: Bokksu Japanese Snack Box Subscription
Man cannot live on whiskey alone — even Japanese whisky. What one needs to go along with such delights are snacks, and no one does snacks better than Japan. Bokksu is a new subscription service bringing you innovative Japanese snack products — well beyond the usual Kit Kats and novelty candies you find in other…
Tasting Report: WhiskyFest San Francisco 2018
Another WhiskyFest is in the books, and although the lines for iconic bottles like Pappy van Winkle, Macallan No. 3 and No. 4, and Glenfiddich 30 Years Old (which those in the queue were surprised to find was not actually on hand when they got to the front of the line) were long, on the…
Book Review: Beer Hacks
Approaching anything in 2018 with the word “hack” in it (present URL excepted) is grounds for a raised eyebrow and a healthy dose of skepticism. The term has been transformed into a catch-all susceptible to excessive usage, or blatant misuse. While Ben Robinson’s Beer Hacks comes close to toeing the line a few times, it does…
Review: Hell’s Half Acre 1885 Vodka
Panther City Distillery, in Fort Worth, Texas, is the home of a single product, and it’s not what you’re expecting, which is whiskey. These guys are making vodka, called Hell’s Half Acre 1885, and it only gets stranger from there. Hell’s Half Acre 1885 is made not from corn, wheat, or potato, but rather from cassava…
Review: Top Note Mixers – Indian Tonic Water, Bitter Lemon, and Ginger Beer
If you hang around high-end cocktail bars, you’re probably familiar with Top Note, a brand of high-end mixers that launched in 2014. Launched by a Mary Pellettieri, a Goose Island brewing veteran, the fittingly-named brand is all natural and authentic — and generally quite restrained. While it was launched as only a tonic water, it…
