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Esquire’s Best Bars 2011: One Seattle Bar Makes the List

Can you guess which one? Hint: It’s not Zig Zag.

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Cocktails at Zig Zag.

Esquire’s 2011 Best Bars package is out, and only one Seattle bar made it.

That bar is Sambar.

The other Washington bar included: the Geoduck Tavern in Brinnon, which the magazine describes as a “rustic paradise.”

In what has become something of a theme in the culinary contests this year, Portland trounced us. Three of its bars were listed: The Horse Brass Pub, Clyde Common, and Beaker and Flask.

The intro to the piece explains that Esquire focused on new bars:

Over the last five years, we have celebrated bars all over the country. Mostly well-established places. A hall of fame, really. This year, we’re doing it differently. New places. Most less than two years old. Which is trickier than it might sound. So many bars come and go. Or are uninteresting. Or are “mixology” places that don’t know what they’re doing exactly. The places on this list, we vouch for. And we think they’ll stick around.

I love that the editors went new, because now that so many other national pubs have followed in Esquire’s footsteps and put out bar lists, the same-old-same-old factor is in full effect. We don’t need another list of America’s top bars that includes zero surprises.

On the other hand, Sambar is not new. Nor are many of the bars on the list. It is chockful of usual suspects—PDT, Pegu Club, Bourbon & Branch, etc and so on. But the thing is, it has to be. This is supposed to be a list of the best bars in America, and these bars give weight and credibility to the list so that the Geoduck Taverns of this world might also get a mention.

Seattlest published a list of local bars that should be in Esquire’s feature. I like the hometown pride, and I also like the idea. But I find myself disinclined to agree—and not just with the bar picks. These lists aren’t scientific, but they aren’t random either. The way that bars position themselves for inclusion is by drawing significant buzz to motivate the publication (or, sometimes, a local stringer for the pub) to visit them and then by wowing the visitor by way of drinks, service, and ambiance. They have to make it happen for themselves.

You know, like Zig Zag does, we Seattleites always say. Which makes it all the more interesting that Zig Zag isn’t on this list.

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Tags: Cocktails, Booze in the News, Esquire

Seattle Beer Week

Seattle Beer Week Essentials: New Belgium at the Troll, Ninkasi (Cocktails!) at the Shelter

Here’s what’s up on day six.

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So. Much. Beer.

photo: futilitycloset.com

Are you experiencing lucid dreams in which giant pints of beer are chasing you through darkened alleys, shouting out claims on your soul? It’s all part of beer week, friends.

Here are the picks for Tuesday, May 24.

BALLARD
Not to be missed: The Brewing Up Cocktails event at The Shelter Lounge from 7 to 10pm tonight: Ninkasi Brewmaster Jamie Floyd teams up with Ezra Johnson-Greenough and Jacob Grier, all from Portland. They will mix up beer cocktails for your drinking pleasure. (If you must miss it, Brewing Up Cocktails will be at Brouwer’s on Wednesday night with Hopworks.)

FREMONT
Bike up to the Fremont Troll tonight from 11 to 11:45pm and you can partake in cans from New Belgium Brewing.

GREENWOOD
Naked City invites West Puget Sound brewers to the bar tonight from 6 to 10pm, your chance to sample offerings from Silver City, Port Townsend, Hood Canal, Der Blokken, Sound, Slippery Pig, Valholl, and Slip Point.

WALLINGFORD
It’s like some how-to-avoid-toxic-people self-help course, only it’s bad beer you’ll be avoiding: Jamie Mastin from New Belgium Brewing will be at Bottleworks from 3 to 6pm today to teach a primer on common defects in beer and how to identify them.

A duo of side notes:
1. I would have included the La Trappe event at Lot No. 3 tonight but it’s totally booked. If you want to put yourself on a list in case of cancellation, call 206-838-3853.

2. As always, find the complete list of SBW events here.

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Tags: Cocktails, Portland , Seattle Beer Week, The Fremont Troll,

The Things You Learn on Twitter

The Vesper at The Herbfarm

The Woodinville eatery dabbles in James Bond’s drink.

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Vesper Lynd, as portrayed by Eva Green in the film adaptation of Casino Royale.

The vesper is one of those drinks that comes up again and again in the cocktail canon. It tastes good, for one, but is also captures our imagination with its origin story: it was invented in a James Bond novel from the 1950s, Casino Royale.

In the book, Bond orders a dry martini. This is how he asks the bartender to make it:

“Three measures of Gordon’s, one of vodka, half a measure of Kina Lillet. Shake it very well until it’s ice-cold, then add a large thin slice of lemon peel.”

Later in the story he names the drink after one of his, um, ladies, Vesper Lynd.

Anyhow, The Herbfarm is serving a vesper tonight paired with smoked salmon-green garlic souffle. So if you have a reservation, bottoms up. But if you don’t, you can still try one. Any good Seattle bartender can, and will, make you a vesper, though not with Kina Lillet, as they don’t have any of that. Take a lesson from Toby Cecchini and ask for one with Cocchi Americano. (The Herbfarm, for its part, is using chardonnay and herbal infusions).

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Tags: Cocktails, The Herbfarm, Talk About A Cocktail, James Bond

Travel and Leisure Gets Into the Best American Cocktail Bars Game

Guess which Seattle bar made the list?

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Homemade bitters: good, cosmo snobbery: bad.

Oh, don’t act like you didn’t know it was going to be Zig Zag.

The article is written by Wayne Curtis, an excellent writer who is a fountainhead—and not in an Ayn Rand kind of way—of booze knowledge. But he is confined to well-covered territory here.

From the piece:

The good: bartenders are making some amazing drinks these days. A whole new crop of handcrafted spirits are expanding the palette they paint with, and many craft bartenders are making their own syrups, infusions, and bitters, all of which add an unexpected depth and complexity to familiar drinks.

The bad: some cocktail lounges and their bartenders seem a bit too pleased with themselves. Big mustaches and sleeve garters and 12 ingredients in a drink do not an excellent bar make. And woe to those who unwittingly order a Cosmopolitan here. Can’t we all just get a drink?

Anyway, sincere congrats to the always deserving Zig Zag and the other craft cocktail bars.

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Tags: Cocktails, Booze News, Zig Zag Cafe, Wayne Curtis

Booze 101

Rum Tasting at Oliver’s Lounge

A cocktail class geared towards the less serious set.

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Cocktail fans need not be serious students. Learn just a little at Oliver’s Lounge.

photo courtesy: fas.usda.gov

Spirit “tastings” can mean a lot of things. Sometimes, you just taste stuff. Other times, you get a little lesson with your booze.

The Bookstore Bar’s series of scotch tastings are great 101 classes and the bonus is that you get to taste fantastic scotches. The Drinking Lessons series at the Sorrento is probably the most esoteric of the local offerings—the bartenders who teach those are unafraid to veer into historical minutiae and/or soliloquize about recherche spirits that most of us will likely never come across again.

And that’s all fine and good. Personally, I love some historical minutiae with my cocktail. But maybe you don’t? Maybe you just want to know the basics of rum, learn how to make a mai tai, and try Bacardi’s latest product, Seven Tiki. If that’s true, let me steer you in the direction of Oliver’s Lounge, which is hosting a $10 tasting (that price includes cocktails and snacks) on Wednesday, April 20 from 6 to 7:30.

Beverage director Steve Johansson says the class will be more serious than fun—it will bulletpoint the spirit’s history, then move on to cocktail making. Some rum punch may be involved. Sign up by calling 206-623-8700.

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Tags: Cocktails, Tastings and Classes, Rum

Behind the Bar

Five Questions for the Bartender: Ben Sherwood

Marjorie’s long-time barman on white dog, beer bars, and the world’s worst Valentine.

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Ben Sherwood: Skier, sailor, mixer of very large cocktails.

View Slideshow » Photo: Lucas Anderson

Ben Sherwood: Skier, sailor, mixer of very large cocktails.

View Slideshow » Photo: Lucas Anderson

Sherwood mixing a negroni (gin, Campari, vermouth) with Carpano Antica Formula vermouth. “The best,” in his opinion.

View Slideshow » Photo: Lucas Anderson

He’s still making the drink.

View Slideshow » Photo: Lucas Anderson

And there it is.

Benjamin Sherwood was a student at the University of Maine when he first discovered drink-mixing. He bartended for the campus catering company from the tender age of 18.

Meanwhile, he pursued his love of adventure sports—skiing in Colorado, sailing around the Pacific Ocean for years at a time. During one stint at sea, he made friends with a fellow sailor from Seattle. He told me Seattle was the place to be, I moved here, and a decade later I am happily behind the Marjorie bar, says Sherwood.

At that Capitol Hill cafe he makes venti-sized cocktails—try a negroni or anything else involving vermouth—Tuesday nights and Thursday through Saturday. Wednesdays, he work as a table server “to keep in shape.”

Here, five questions for Ben Sherwood.

What is the most underrated spirit?

Aside from vodka, they all are a bit underrated. But having just been out tasting some white dog whiskey in Woodinville I am feeling the moonshine right now. Give me a nice bottle of un-oaked whiskey, citrus, bitters, and a hot day, and we can have some fun!

What is your favorite Seattle bar (other than Marjorie)?

If I am in a beer mode (which I often am) I love the Hopvine up on 15th Avenue East: great beer selection, heavy on the India Pale Ale. If I’m feeling the cocktail I like to belly up in front of David Nelson at Il Bistro or Jay Kuehner at Sambar. We are lucky in Seattle, there is a pretty high good-bartender-to-capita ratio here.

What drink do you order at that bar?

At Hopvine, I start with the Rogue Shakespeare stout and move on to tasty IPAs. With David I get a whiskey served whatever way he deems appropriate. With Jay, well, that crazy bastard just makes me happy. He’s an alchemist.

What’s the worst thing you’ve ever seen someone do in a bar?

Everyone has the puke story, the fight story, the thrown glass story…I like the oblivious story: it was a sold-out Valentines day, five course dinner. No idea what happened, but on course two a lady starts crying, I mean bawling. She stands up, smacks the dude she’s with, and walks out. This is a nice meal, not cheap, coursed out with wine pairings. The gentleman stays and finished the last three courses—his and hers. Dude, really?

Name three reasons you live in Seattle (bonus points if you don’t use the words “mountains” or “water”).

Well, you took away all the best words and I feel that I really need the bonus points, so here goes: I’m within an hour’s drive of basically any world-class outdoor activity; the food scene has been good since I got here and continues to develop each year; and the drinks, the beer, and the wine consistently impress. That forces all us old farts to get better with age. Boom! Bonus points won!

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Tags: Cocktails, Five Questions for the Bartender, Seattle Bartenders, Seattle Cocktail Scene

Talk About A Cocktail: The Gin Gimlet

It’s officially spring, break out the gin and juice.

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Gimlet!

Photo Courtesy: venuez.be

Gimlets—with vodka—are what my parents drank when I was growing up. It was a special occasion thing, if you consider Friday to be a special occasion.

There was always a bottle of Rose’s Lime Juice squeezed onto the refrigerator door shelf between the Heinz Ketchup (Hunt’s ketchup is vile) and the Grey Poupon.

To a child, Rose’s Lime Juice is chief ambassador for that category of consumable called Things That Should Taste Delicious But Do Not (see also: baking chocolate, fruit cake, scalloped potatoes, and Hunt’s ketchup).

To an adult, Rose’s represents the fastest path to gimlet goodness. And it’s not only about expediency. Many adults swear by Rose’s, insisting that a gimlet with that stuff tastes better than one made with lime juice and simple syrup. Even Robert Hess thinks that. So if you think that, you’re in good company.

Maybe it’s those traumatizing swigs of it that I took as a child—I should have learned the first time, but kept trying again just in case it had turned into delicious soda since last I checked—but I do not enjoy Rose’s Lime Juice at all. So I like my gimlets with fresh squeezed and a little sweet stuff.

It was Chelsea Anderson at Sun Liquor who reignited my interest in gimlets when she made one in this video, and a gimlet with Plymouth gin was one of the the first drinks I tried at the new Sun Liquor. I loved my Sun Liquor gimlet—it was very limey but with no pucker factor, a triumph of balance. I have yet to find one I like better, though I’m happy to keep trying. Woodinville-distilled Voyager gin makes for a decent gimlet. I had one with Voyager at Local 360, where they’re using all PNW spirits in their drinks.

Honestly, if someone—like, say, my dad—serves me a gimlet with Rose’s, I’ll drink that thing happily. But I’ll be more happy that I’m hanging out with my dad than I am about the high fructose corn syrup in my cocktail. As for Hunt’s ketchup, that I can’t do.

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Tags: Cocktails, Gin, DIY Cocktails, Spring Drinking, Talk About A Cocktail

ToTC

Lessons From Tales of the Cocktail Vancouver: Ice

Cold took center stage at the BC cocktail conference.

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Jon Santer’s block of ice.

Ice—a subject I’ve written about before —was something of a theme at Tales Vancouver this year. At least half of Dave Arnold’s seminar was devoted to the subject.

The should-be-obvious-but-often-isn’t takeaway from that lesson: Don’t ever let anyone tell you that a certain shape/type of ice is colder than another, all bar ice is 0 degrees Celsius. An ice cube that melts slower is chilling less. I could try to summarize all the fascinating stuff Arnold explained about dilution in cocktails, but he does it himself so well: Read all about that here.

Later in the day, Charlotte Voisey (unfairly pretty and has an English accent) and Jon Santer led a second ice seminar. Voisey gave an engaging lecture detailing the history of commercial ice, and then Santer destroyed a big-ass block of it with a chainsaw.

But wait, you may be thinking, who cares?

Good question, and one I think that Santer addressed well when he recalled how he came to care about ice. He told us that back when he was a bartender in San Francisco, he and his colleagues wrung their hands over the fact that the drinks tasted better at craft cocktail bars in New York than they did on this coast. Why would that be, Santer remembered thinking, when the west coast has better spirits and much better produce than back east? He went on a reconnaissance trip to NYC’s top spots and there he discovered the answer. It came down to the care and attention they were putting in to their ice programs.

If you want good bar ice, it generally has to come to you by way of:

1. A Kold-Draft machine, an expensive device with an inverted evaporator system that produces cubes under pressure, locking out air and impurities.

2. A big-old block of commercial ice—purified, air removed, and agitated during the freezing process—delivered to a bar/restaurant and then broken down by way of a bartender with a chainsaw. (The ’tenders at Rob Roy and Mistralkitchen do that.)

Now that we’ve established the importance of good ice, the question is: How can you make the best possible ice at home, assuming you don’t have the space/time/funds to invest in a $200 block of it and break it down yourself? Firstly, if you’re going to serve cocktails, you want the freshest ice possible. Freeze it that day, if possible, in clean trays. Use filtered water. Boil it first. If you can freeze in a freezer that’s only used for ice, all the better. Santer suggested investing in a silicone tray. And if you want to freeze a big block and then chip the ice yourself into spheres or whatever, you might invest in a hotel pan. But that’s a whole other ball of…ice.

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Tags: Cocktails, Tales of the Cocktail, Tales from Tales, Tales Vancouver, Ice, DIY Cocktails

Drink Tech

First Impressions of a New Seattle Cocktail App

Seattle Cocktail Culture is inexpensive and nicely designed. I say buy it.

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Seattle Cocktail Culture: a new app for exploring the local drinks scene.

Lupec Seattle founder Wendy Miller has been working for some time to create her cocktail app Seattle Cocktail Culture, but it’s finally available on iTunes—I’ve just downloaded it on my iPad. (My iPad 1, that is, which as of today might as well be a Commodore 64. Thanks Apple!)

Here are some first impressions.

You can browse bars alphabetically (also by distance, cost, and neighborhood), info includes a thoughtful description, happy hour information, an insider tip, and the average price of a cocktail.

Alternatively, there is a map that finds you via GPS and shows you cocktail bars nearby. If you’re an inveterate Seattle imbiber you may already store that information in what’s left of your memory, but for newbies looking to conquer the cocktail scene this is a great tool. Also, I hope Miller expands her app empire because I’d love to have a similar tool when visiting other cities.

Another useful feature: filters with names like Free Wi-Fi, Cocktail Masters, Happy Hours, etc. Even if you spend every evening stumbling around Seattle bars, these lists are a great service. Who knew Cicchetti had free Wi-Fi, for instance? I did not.

So while I wouldn’t delete the all-holy Cocktail Compass yet, there’s a lot to recommend the new app, and the $1.99 price tag makes it something of a no-brainer.

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Tags: Cocktails, Tech, There's An App For That

Boozy Dinners

Spirit Dinners (Under $100!) at Spur and Daniel’s Broiler

Whiskey or rum? Pick your poison at one of two upcoming cocktail-pairing feasts.

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Spur hosts a whiskey dinner this Wednesday.

Photo courtesy: Spur Seattle

I daresay we’re starting to see more cocktail-pairing dinners around Seattle, though Spur and Daniel’s Broiler have been in the game from the get-go.

Spur’s next boozy repast happens this Wednesday, March 9 and features whiskey cocktails from some of our city’s celebrated bartenders. You’ve got your Phillip Thompson from Tavern Law, your Bryn Lundstrom Lumsden of Rob Roy. Charles Veitch from Bastille will make a drink, as will Adam Freem of Bathtub Gin just across the street.

These will be their base spirits: Oban 14 single-malt scotch, Bushmill’s Black Bush Irish whiskey, Crown Royal Reserve from our neighbors to the North in Canada, Bulleit bourbon, and Dickel 12 year from Tennessee.

This is what you’ll eat with your cocktails: Kusshi Oysters; duck terrine; smoked cavatelli with razor clams, cashews, and grana padano; porchetta with cabbage, apricots, and chantarelles; and an orange blossom panna cotta.

This is what it will cost you: $80 per person. That’s a good value since the drinks alone would run about $50 at a cocktail bar.

Call Spur to reserve.

On Tuesday, March 29, Daniel’s Broiler on Lake Union has planned a rum dinner. Rum obsessive Rocky Yeh will speak along with Dragos Axinte, who runs the Novo Fogo cachaca company from Bellevue, though the distillery is in Brazil.

Presumably, you’ll be drinking Novo Fogo’s aged and uaged cachacas. Other stuff on sample: Dos Maderas, Rhum Clement, Creole Shrubb liqueur, and Ron Zacapa 23.

Daniel’s Broiler chef Mike Hillyer cooks, a call into the restaurant revealed that he’s still working on the menu but the price has been set at $85.

Call 425-990-6310 to reserve.

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Tags: Cocktails, Seattle Bartenders, Special Dinners, Whiskey, Rum, Seattle Cocktail Scene

Five Questions for the Bartender: Where Are They Now?

Updates on the employ of your favorite local drinkmakers.

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This is a polar bear.

Photo courtesy Bio Quick News

Much like the mighty polar bear (Ursus maritimus), Seattle bartenders are nomadic creatures, moving from bar to bar faster than you can say: “Something from the Savoy book, please.”

That being the case, I’ve compiled this where-are-they-now list of bartenders that have been featured in the Five Questions series. If you’ve lost track of favorite drinkslingers, perhaps this will help you rediscover them at their current places of employ. Cheers.

Sidonie Rodman has joined the staff of Golden Beetle. Marley Tomic-Beard will be behind the bar there too.

Mike McSorley has left Naga (Evan Martin manages now) to make drinks at Tini Bigs, the bar where Jamie Boudreau worked when I interviewed him for the first-ever Five Questions interview. Boudreau is a brand ambassador for St Germain, has a line of bitters, and is currently seeking investors to help him open his own bar.

San Francisco-based Neyah White, whom I interviewed in advance of his visit to Seattle for Drinking Lessons, has since left SF’s Nopa and is a brand ambassador for Suntory Whiskey.

Vessel has closed and its bar manager Jim Romdall is working to open a new place—I’m bugging him regularly for updates, will keep you posted.

Kristen Finstad has been promoted to bar manager at the Hideout, she no longer works at Cicchetti.

While still inspiring swoons with his improvised concoctions at Sambar, Jay Kuehner is also making amari-focused drinks at his buddy Matt Dillon’s Melrose Market drinkery, Bar Ferd’nand.

Miles Thomas has left Tavern Law but continues to get a lot of shine for his Scrappy’s Bitters, and now also works with Kristen Findstad at the Hideout.

Bartender Keith Waldbauer has left Barrio and co-owns Liberty on Capitol Hill. He also works as a consultant for Kathy Casey Food Studios and The Liquid Kitchen.

When David Nelson answered five questions, he was working at Spur. He then opened Tavern Law with owners Dana Tough and Brian McCracken, bailed that, worked at Still Liquor for a stint, and finally settled at Il Bistro, where he is now managing the bar with winning results. It takes all of my willpower not to go there for a cocktail after work every damn day.

Andrew Bohrer left Naga to open the bar at fancy Mistralkitchen, where he remains.

Miss Anna Wallace, whom we met at Oddfellows on Capitol Hill, has taken her talents to The Walrus and the Carpenter. You must try those juicy, refreshing drinks.

Ethan Stowell’s former business partner, and once a frequent face behind the bar at Tavolata, Patric Gabre-Kidan opened the much-lauded Book Bindery with Michael and Sumi Almquist.

And that, my fine cocktail-loving friends, is that. If I didn’t mention a bartender it’s because—as far as I know—he or she has stayed put. Please let me know if you know better.

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Tags: Cocktails, Five Questions for the Bartender, Seattle Bartenders, Seattle Bars

Booze 101

Books, Blogs, and Other Recommended Writing About Booze

Required reading for people who think about drinks.

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This photo of a stack of books is meant to represent the act of doing a lot of reading.

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When I was in grad school fancying myself some sort of employable writer, my narrative journalism professor was kind enough to put me in touch with a bunch of editors at publications around the city, including the woman who was, at the time, the Home Editor of the most important newspaper there.

This editor I will politely describe as straightforward. And she told me something that I’ve never forgotten. She told me to read. A lot. “And not just magazines and newspapers!” she shrieked through the phone line. She told me to read books: current bestsellers and biographies and novels and…everything.

She told me to read everything.

This encounter reminded me of another conversation I had four years earlier, with another tough lady, a lit professor. We were walking to class together and I was blabbering on about how no English major could ever read everything he or she was assigned. My teacher stopped me right there in the quad and pointed her death stare directly into my pupils. Wagging a copy of Middlemarch in my face, she preceded to set me straight. “Oh. Yes. She. Can,” she admonished. “ And if she is serious, that English major will read it all twice.”

I did not read everything twice, I’m sorry to report. Not even close. But I did get the message. And as a person who covers drinks, I try to read as much good booze writing as I can.

Here is some of the reading I’ve found most useful.

1. Anything by David Wondrich. Esquire writer, author of important booze history books, David Wondrich is an erudite badass who basically invented the modern booze writing genre. It would be worth buying a subscription to Esquire just to read his monthly column. Fortunately, it also happens to be the best magazine in the world. GQ has a monthly booze department too; it’s also good.

2. Local bartender blogs. These are not hard to keep up with, as they post pretty rarely, but they are edifying. Jamie Boudreau, Andrew Bohrer (come to think of it, this post owes a lot to his post about good bartending books), and Mike McSorley all have very fun and informative blogs.

3. Everything that rum expert and contributing Atlantic editor Wayne Curtis writes is definitely required reading.

4. The Tipsy Diaries by Frank Bruni, (formerly the NYT’s restaurant critic), is written in his lovable wry voice, and serves as an excellent reminder not to take the whole thing too seriously.

5. Local writer Paul Clarke has a blog called Cocktail Chronicles that is geared towards the true enthusiast. He also has written, as far as I can tell, just about every long feature Imbibe magazine ever published. I’ve learned something important from each of them.

6. Tan Vinh has written some really good stuff in the Seattle Times including a nice piece on the Last Word, Seattle’s unofficial signature cocktail. He also has a weekly happy hour column that’s very useful.

7. Imbibe.

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Tags: Cocktails, Books About Drinking

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