Liquor and Spirits

You’re In The Wrong Clubs

TX Whiskey in Fort Worth Takes Best American Craft Whiskey at World Spirits Competition

Fort Worth-based Firestone and Robertson Distilling Co. won double gold medals and Best in Class in the category of American Craft Whiskey for their TX blended whiskey at the 13th Annual World Spirits Competition in San Francisco recently, where more than 1,407 spirits were poured from 63 countries ... More >>

Tasting Balcones Texas Single Malt Whiskey

Yesterday we pointed out the mention of Balcones Texas Single Malt Whiskey in The New York Times as part of a larger discussion about malt whiskeys and their recent domestic rise. Today I got a bottle of the stuff. It tastes like this... When it comes to whiskey, I am a man seduced by dark and drea ... More >>

Sixth-Generation Rum Maker Robert Serrallés on Trending, Aging and Sipping

The Serrallés family has been producing rum in Puerto Rico since family patriarch Don Serrallés imported a copper still from France and made his first batch in 1865. Almost 150 years later, the Serrallés family continues to produce the Don Q line of rums at their family distillery, Destilería Se ... More >>

Firestone And Robertson on Distilling Bourbon and Whiskey in Fort Worth

Surely it's difficult to convince your spouse that it's a good idea to quit your day job to distill whiskey. Considering that's exactly what Leonard Firestone and Troy Robertson did, they must be really good talkers. In a salvaged Prohibition-era warehouse south of downtown Fort Worth, they're filli ... More >>

Standard Pour, the Long-Awaited Cocktail Den, is Open and Pouring on McKinney

Standard Pour, Uptown's newest cocktail den, brought to you by Brian McCullough of Smoke and pop-up bar fame and the team behind Sfuzzi, opened last week in the old Lotus space at 2900 Mckinney Avenue. The patio was packed on a breezy Wednesday night, and inside was at about three-quarters capacity ... More >>

Dallas' Best Cocktail Wizards Threw Down at the Dram, and the Porch Won the Day

The Dram, the local chapter of the United States Bartenders' Guild and Campari recently teamed up for a cocktail competition showcasing many of Dallas' finest bartenders. The game: to create an aperitif -- that is, a drink meant to be enjoyed prior to a meal -- featuring Campari, an Italian liqueur ... More >>

Sample Seven Different Irish Whiskeys (But Not All at Once) at The Idle Rich Pub's Tasting

Well this should be sober. The Idle Rich Pub on McKinney is hosting its annual Irish Whiskey Tasting on Monday, January 16, from 6 to 8 p.m. This is a casual, free-flowing event with no formal presentations or lectures. They'll provide an information packet and a tasting guide. Smell, swirl, sip, ... More >>

The State Of The Sazerac in Dallas

Sorry it's so blurry. My camera drank a Sazerac.​ I was called out on Twitter after posting a rehash of Playboy's Never Sleep:Dallas -- a guide to drinking away a Saturday in the Big D. I picked on the magazine for ordering a Manhattan, and Twitter user philipberne scoffed: Also, @scottreitz, ... More >>

The Second Floor Gives Dads a Less Expensive Taste of the Good Stuff

Barrels of Scotch at The Macallan distillery.​If you're at a loss for what to get Dad this Father's Day, The Second Floor Restaurant has a suggestion: scotch. But not just any scotch. The good stuff. And for dads on their big day, all of it's 50 percent off. That means a $140 Macallan 25 ... More >>

Texas Craft Liquor Makers Belly Up to the Bar to Challenge Kentucky Bourbon.

NASCAR Legend Brings Moonshine to Modern Drinkers

If only grandma's apple preserves came bathed in moonshine​Unless your grandpa is fermenting batches of white lightning in his backyard, you're going to be hard pressed to find authentic moonshine in this neck of the woods. The moonshining, bootlegging culture of Appalachia and the South has ... More >>

Scotch-Happy Sigel's Pours on the Hootch

news.icanhascheezburger.com​Sigel's is giving customers 68 opportunities to challenge their assumptions that they don't like Scotch. There's almost always a tasting happening at Sigel's, but a release touting next Wednesday evening's event at the 5757 Greenville Ave. store caught my attention ... More >>

Oh My, A Picture Show! Prohibition Era Cocktails at Bolsa

All photos by Kevin TodoraManhattan club cocktail = rye, bitters, orange curacao, sweet vermouth​ Rex Banner would have had his hands full at Bolsa last night, as they celebrated the repeal of dryness with a Prohibition Era-themed party. Bartenders Eddie "Lucky" Campbell and Jason Cosmas, former ... More >>

Liquered-up: Holiday Treats for the Non-Frat-House Set

Grandma always said she bought Jagermeister during the holidays for cooking, not body shots. Yeah, right.​Sigel's in Addison is putting together a line-up of liqueurs for its upcoming Holiday LiqueurFest that's rarely seen outside frat houses. The store's serving Baileys, Kahlua, Jagermeister ... More >>

Maker's Mark 46: Line Up, Bourbon Fans

​Balcones Distilling's True Blue corn whiskey, which City of Ate told you about yesterday, is not bourbon. "I accept that criticism," says head distiller Chip Tate, who's proud that he uses copious amounts of blue corn in his mash bill and uncharred oak barrels for aging. Bourbon, of course, ... More >>

Why Are Local Booze Slingers So Ignorant About America's Drink?

​I earned my culinary education south of the Mason-Dixon Line, so my insufferable food snobbery centers on slaw dogs and sorghum syrup. And bourbon. Especially bourbon. While I'm not a stickler for fancy, small-batch bourbon -- I think Evan Williams' Black Label is terrific -- I do care more ... More >>

A Natural Touch Boosts Deep Eddy Above the Wretched Flavored Vodka Market

​Sweet tea vodka has its detractors, but few can make a better case against the typically artificial-tasting drink than a tea manufacturer. "You look on the backs of the bottles; they use high-fructose corn syrup, caramel coloring, red dye number five and rotgut vodka, pardon my French," says ... More >>

Maker's Mark Rolls Out the Barrel for a New Whiskey. Will Texans Give Up on Canada?

​Maker's Mark master distiller Kevin Smith believes Maker's new bourbon might persuade some Texans to give up on Canadian whiskey. "Bourbon's very big in Texas, but one of the things that's always surprised me is the number of Canadian whiskey drinkers," says Smith, who was born at Fort Hood. ... More >>

Getting Tanked Up On Caipirinas At Your Local Churrascaria

From WikipediaBrazil's national cocktail.​Summer on Ipanema Beach in Brazil. The sand is densely packed with tall buildings and beautiful people. And the people are beautiful because they can afford to be. You see, Ipanema is one of the most expensive places to live in Rio. Ipanema means "bad w ... More >>

Handle The Proof: Rye Whiskey

​Don McLean, you lied to us. Or, at the very least, you misled me. His "American Pie" hit the airwaves in 1971. How was a nine year-old listener supposed to know, first off, that good old boys really drink Bud--although maybe it was Schlitz back then--and, more importantly, that rye is a whiskey.B ... More >>

Hophead: Samuel Adams Utopias Stretches The Definition of Beer

Jesse Hughey​It's not carbonated. It is aged for years in a variety of barrels, served in 2-ounce pours at room temperature, contains 27 percent alcohol by volume (54 proof, in other words) and carries suggested retail price tag of $150 for a 24-ounce bottle. And it's beer. The 2009 version of Sam ... More >>

Handle The Proof: Texas Whisky

​Chip Tate and Stephen Germer for some reason decided the time was right for a craft Texas whiskey to hit the market. So they formed Balcones Distillery and set up along I-35, just south of Waco, amongst fields of heather and weathered peat bogs soaked by clear mountain springs...no, that doesn't ... More >>

Handle The Proof: Blended Scotch Whisky

​Generally when people sit down to discuss whisky, the conversation settles around the single malts of Islay, Speyside or the rare and unique brands from Campbeltown. But the overwhelming majority of scotch whisky sold around the world consists of blends--up to 50 different malts making up a singl ... More >>

Handle The Proof: Sidecar

​In my school of thought--and keep in mind, it's not a very well attended school--cocktails born in the heyday of gentlemanly drinking are to be revered. Drinks such as martinis, old fashioned and the great sazerac came from an era when even the prettiest glass carried a big, stiff belt of alcohol ... More >>

Handle The Proof: Which Liquors Burn?

auntcrazy.com​You still see a flaming shot every once in awhile. For the most part, however, bars wisely consider the close proximity of of fire and alcohol to be a generally bad idea.Why? An Australian bar owner related a story about the time some riotous types ordered a round of B-52s and excite ... More >>

Handle The Proof: What To Drink On A Day Like Today

​Great. The full force of Texas winter is upon us...for a day...in October.Another month and Europeans will start seeing mulled wine stands open. Decades ago these probably held a big, steaming pot of red wine spiced with cinnamon, vanilla, cloves and other seasonings. Nowadays, of course, you fin ... More >>

Girl Drink Drunk: Mad Men Edition

​What? You sick of all the Mad Men talk? About what a great show it is? Chances are that's only because you haven't watched it. Get on the scene, hoss, and catch the eff up! A few weeks ago (I took a week off; I know you've missed me), Jon Hamm and his cohorts premiered the long-awaited third seas ... More >>

Handle The Proof: The Spirit Of '76

Ben Franklin and John Adams, possibly discussing where to go for booze, in 1776.In the musical 1776, Stephen "Old Grape and Guts" Hopkins bursts into the Continental Congress' meeting room each morning demanding rum before getting down to the day's business. Of course, there may have been some licen ... More >>

Handle The Proof: A Little Moonshine

Brian StansberryMoonshine has a reputation not always deserved. Some people, after all, take pride in their craft, however illicit.Yeah, some of it reeks of burnt quinine and poisonous residue. The word brings to mind hardened heroes like Junior Johnson and others hauling jars of dubious spirit. And ... More >>

Handle The Proof: Maker's Mark Bourbon

Handle The Proof is our weekly exploration of spirits, cocktails and the culture of fine drinking.Despite the inroads of craft and single barrel brands, bourbon still suffers from somewhat of an image problem. Once when I ordered a round of Booker's in some Uptown bar, for example, a woman snapped h ... More >>

Handle The Proof: Mint Juleps

Few bartenders know how to make a decent mint julep and few people order the bourbon cocktail. There must be a connection.But which came first? It's a perfect cooler for blazing summer days (which seem unlikely to arrive anytime soon)--icy fresh, with a wicked punch--and one closely tied to the Amer ... More >>

10 Questions: Jay Liddell

Patrick MichelsThe Dallas-based brand ambassador for Macallan's single malt Scotch line is charged with an important mission: introducing whisky to a younger generation...of drinking age, of course.Before moving to this city, he spent seven years in the Big Apple as an events manager (with a small b ... More >>

Burning Question: Why Don't Women Drink Whiskey?

Candleroom bartender Kevin SteinA bartender told us years ago that the sexiest thing a woman can do in a bar is to order good scotch and sip it neat.Hmm...guess we're not the only ones a little past our prime.We seem to recall hearing this from a staff member at the old Whisky Bar--a rather appropri ... More >>

Savor This!

Victory Park hosts a culinary hoedown

Single Barrel Theory

Give 'Em the Boot

Why don't more people like Italian liqueurs?

Maltiple Choice

What's wrong with blended Scotch?

Liquid Linguistics

How much alcohol language do we need to know?

Taste Makes Waste

Dave, is there an alcohol you won’t drink?

Biting the Appellation

Is it right to produce alcohol in the wrong country?

Whisked Away

Trinity Hall offers drinks and a history lesson

Comparing Apples

What are the trendiest drinks in Dallas?

That Frozen Concoction

What's up with all the different margaritas?

Too Old-Fashioned

Does anybody drink classic cocktails anymore?

The Not-So-Finer Things

Can you find cheap versions of fine foods?

Tippling Tips

Can you please solve all our alcohol-related mysteries?

Two Fingers Too Much?

Agave shortage drives up tequila prices

Hot Dish