Review: Fizzics Beer Tap
The Fizzics Beer Tap is not a complicated idea: It’s basically a svelte pump that takes beer out of one container and spits it into your glass. Basically a keg tap, only you don’t need a keg. It can pour from a bottle, can, growler, or even a pitcher or another glass. Just pop it…
Book Review: Cookies & Beer
Cookies and beer? Yes, beer. And cookies! Jonathan Bender says they go great together, and who are we to argue? The title aside, this slim cookbook is really all about the cookies. Bender offers suggestions for pairing beer with each of the sweet treats he teaches you to make (including key sidebars, like pairing beers…
Review: Michter’s Single Barrel Bourbon 20 Years Old 2015
Michter’s 10 Year Old Single Barrel Bourbon is an amply enchanting whiskey. What then if we double up and go for 20? Michter’s 20 Year Old is one of those ultra-cult whiskeys right up there with Pappy Van Winkle, with a list price of $600. $1200 is the best you’re likely to do, and $1800 isn’t…
Review: 2012 Calista Pinot Noir The Coast Range
Calista’s latest Pinot hails from the “Coast Range,” which comprises three distinct regions: Sonoma, Mendocino, and Monterey counties. All of which are great places for pinot noir! Engaging notes of cola and tea start things off, then layered cherry, vanilla, and red berry notes take over. The finish is lightly bittersweet and complex, just a…
Review: Monkey Spiced Rum
It must happen to all of us. Zane Lamprey got so tired of drinking spirits that he figured he should just make his own. The result of that ennui with the drinking world is Monkey Rum (named for Lamprey’s stuffed monkey that is omnipresent on his televised boozing adventures), which is available in both Spiced…
Book Review: The Dead Rabbit Drinks Manual
The Dead Rabbit is a New York bar operated by Belfast natives Sean Muldoon and Jack McGarry. Known for its beer and whiskey selection, this rustic place is also a cocktail mecca — and now it’s got a book to prove it. Just flipping through The Dead Rabbit Drinks Manual gives you an inkling of how…
Review: Flor de Cana Rum – 7, 12, 18, and 25 (2016)
Nicaragua’s best-known rum is Flor de Cana, which has grown in popularity and is available in nearly a dozen expressions now. Today we look at a full four of the distillery’s offerings, spanning the range from youngish to very old. Update: Originally I referred to these rums as “7 Years Old” and so on instead…
Review: Starr Hill Snow Blind Doppelbock and Hopfetti Triple IPA
Two new winter brews from the tireless innovators at Starr Hill — in two wildly different styles. Let’s dig in. Starr Hill Snow Blind Doppelbock – A burly brown monastic-style lager, toasty at first, with lots of caramel and chocolate notes coming up behind. The beer is so dense and bold it’s a little off-putting…
