Drink of the Week: The Jackson The second author being welcomed at the PEN/Faulkner cocktail reception was Mitchell S. Jackson, author of The Residue Years, a novel that shows a much different side of Portland, Oregon, from Portlandia. Being a critically acclaimed new author, he, like Jamison-it could go without saying-lives in Brooklyn. But since he works in Manhattan, we used that as our jumping off point for his...
Read MoreDrink of the Week: The Faulkner We mentioned yesterday that searching for recipe inspiration had led us in the direction of Professor Jerry Thomas’ Mississippi Punch. Today’s drink, the Faulkner, is where we went with it. The occasion for the Faulkner was a cocktail reception being held by the PEN/Faulkner Foundation. We missed the event itself, being in California for a fabulous family wedding. Our partners at Union...
Read MoreDrink of the Week: Mississippi Punch Searching for some inspiration for a recipe we were designing recently sent us way back, to ‘Professor’ Jerry Thomas and the cocktail guide he wrote in the mid-19th century. The Mississippi Punch grabbed our attention. ‘Punch’ is right; this recipe certainly packs one, calling for two full wineglasses of spirits. By modern sizes, that would be about 10 oz, 5 times the...
Read MoreSpirits Week: Whiskey Last week, we gave a brief overview of the three big categories of liquors, their distinctives, and the part they each play in cocktails. Over the course of this week, we’ll be going into more detail on one of those three categories: the base spirits. These are the highly alcoholic, basic building blocks of the liquor world. Spirits Week will be of most interest to those of you who like your drinks to have...
Read MoreGuest Post: Botanical cocktails w. Wild Roots Apothecary We mentioned last week that we have a couple of local colleagues who’ve vastly improved our mocktails, by creating non-alcoholic products that contribute a depth and complexity we usually rely on liqueurs to bring. While we’ve found them essential for our mocktails, these products also make quite a nice addition to cocktails. In fact, our favorite tonic creation at...
Read MoreWhat We’ve Been Drinking: The Bastard We helped some friends from grad school celebrate MLK day by mixing drinks. It was a cozy party, filled with a warmth that only comes when there is a whole room filled with people who are delighted to see each other. There were so many joyful “hellos!” and hugs as different guests entered through the door. We love getting to be a part of the mix, handing folks a beverage, making...
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