In the Trenches at St. George Spirits St. George Spirits occupies a large airplane hangar on a former naval base in Alameda, California. It is the oldest craft distillery in the United States and one of the most experimental. To get an idea of its range of expression, one only need to take inventory of…
36 HOURS OF MAYHEM “I’m scared, Brian.” This is not the first time I have uttered these words and it probably won’t be the last. But it is a very real fear this time and it is potent. We are attending our first liquor convention, the San Francisco Craft Spirits Carnival, and we have no…
If you live in Seattle a craft distillery might not seem like a big deal—there are 24 to choose from. But if you live in Los Angeles, like us, you have nothing—or you had nothing, at least, until 2011 when Greenbar Craft Distillery ended a 95-year spirits-making drought for L.A. by moving downtown. The company’s story reads like a…
Previously on the Rituals: We rescued the ACADIAN MEADS, made two kinds of ANISETTE DE BORDEAUX, and started the FORBIDDEN FRUIT simulacrum. All five items have been sitting in my closet for a couple of weeks. I stop by every couple of days and swirl around the bits that have settled to the bottom. Somehow this…
The A section of The Complete World Bartender Guide has 113 cocktail recipes, 8 liquors, and 7 punches for a grand total of 134 beverages we need to make and consume. Not every session can be cocktails and fun. Some days we need to make the liquors and punches. This week we have decided to tackle a liqueur…