Drinks Wire

Rum Time

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Grounded with homegrown spirits
By Gregory Dal Piaz

This article originally appeared in TheSpir.it

Life sometimes throws you a curve ball. What’s the saying? When life hands you lemons, make lemonade. Well, I need something a bit stronger. You see, I had planned on sipping the rum fantastic in the Caribbean over the holiday break. Mother Nature and JetBlue had other plans.

So, snowed in and devoid of tropical drinks and ancient Rhum Agricole, I … Read more

Monthly Mixer: Syrup Made Simple

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[The Monthly Mixer is a new column by M. Quinn Sweeney, who writes about crafting cocktails at LibationLab.com]

Simple syrup, is called simple for a reason. It is the easiest way to sweeten a drink, and blends into a cocktail much easier than plain sugar. You can make it at home in five minutes and store it in the fridge for weeks. In a pinch, you can even mash in some fruit and pour it … Read more

Essentail Glassware – Old Fashioned

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If you love cocktails, then the old-fashioned glass is an essential ingredient in your barware collection. The glass was used to serve the original cocktail now know as the old fashioned. The drinks became so popular that the glass used to serve them quickly became known as the old-fashioned glass. The old-fashioned glass reminds me of the elegance of the 1930s. In so many old movies, you see people swilling cocktails in this distinctive glass.… Read more

Essential Glassware – Cocktail Glass (Martini Glass)

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If you love martinis, cosmos or lemon drops, then the cocktail glass (also called a martini glass) will be an essential ingredient of your home bar. How can anyone forget Carrie Bradshaw downing Cosmos in the iconic martini glass on Sex and the City? Thanks to Sex and the City, Cosmos arguably become the most popular (and talked about) drink of the 1990s.

The cocktail glass is the conical-shaped bowl that sits atop a stem. … Read more

Essential Glassware – Margarita Glass

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No glass screams party like the margarita glass, a sure essential in your barware collection. Who doesn’t remember their first blended margarita (admittedly for most of us, this was the non-alcoholic version) or throwing back a few in Mexico? I know I am in for a good time when I go to a party and I see the margarita glasses lined up.

The margarita glass is usually a tall glass, but its distinctive characteristic is … Read more

Essential Glassware – Red Wine

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A red-wine glass is an essential ingredient for your home bar. Not only is a red wine glass essential for the consumption of vino, it’s also one of the go-to glasses to serve the current en vogue pre-Prohibition era cocktails, as well as sangria and fruit based cocktails.

While red wine glasses come in a number of styles, they start around nine ounces, average 12 to 14 ounces and go much larger. Red-wine glasses have … Read more

Essential Glassware – White Wine

White wine glasses are an essential ingredient for your home bar. Not only is a white wine glass essential for the consumption of white wine, it can also be used to serve up sangria, fruit based cocktails and water.

While white wine glasses come in a number of styles, they are start around eight ounces, average 10 ounces and go slightly larger. White wine glasses have a round bowl with a narrow mouth that enables … Read more

Essential Glassware – Highball Glass

The highball glass is an essential piece of barware as it serves the most essential of drinks, the highball. The highball glass is the workhouse of the bar world, but not as flashy as other glasses like the margarita glass. Highballs are simple drinks that consist of spirit and mixer. No cocktail party is complete with the offer and consumption of highballs.

The highball glass is a thick glass of medium height (shorter than the … Read more

Essential Glassware – Cordial Glass

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Nothing screams elegance like the cordial glass. If it isn’t already an essential part of your barware collection, it will soon be. I love dessert. The only thing that I may like as much as dessert is after-dinner drinks. Not only are they delicious, they look totally cool in the cordial glass that they are often served in.

The cordial glass can be short or tall but its unifying trait is that the bowl of … Read more

Essential Glassware – Collins Glass

The collins glass is an essential member of your barware collection. Every time I look at the collins glass, it reminds me of my first go-to drink, the Tom Collins. You might be thinking how old is this woman, wasn’t the Tom Collins popular in the 1940s through the 1960s? The answer to that question is “yes”! But I grew up in rural Wisconsin and the cocktail culture never diminished (even with the onslaught of … Read more