Bramble

Bramble

I did already write in other contexts about the English bartender Dick Bradsell, who is considered to be the English luminary of bar culture for the last decades. He is the master mind behind many sophisticated cocktails, for example the very rich Treacle Cocktail, which I really appreciate, but he also created less sophisticated drinks that became very suitable for a mass audience like for example the Espresso Martini. But I don’t want to make more words about Dick Bradsell’s personal career here since I already did this in other articles. Instead I’d like to concentrate on one of his most famous drinks, the Bramble. Read More

French 75

French 75

It is not always an easy thing to name a newly created cocktail properly. Most of the drinks in present times own their name to either a certain flair that emphasizes the idea behind the cocktail, or the name is an allusion to people, places or bars that have played an important role in the drink’s genesis. Meanwhile it has become a rather rare habit (one that is also a little frowned upon) to metaphorically name a cocktail after its alcoholic effect. In earlier days, however, that was sometimes the case. One of the most famous examples is for sure the drink I’d like to write about today which owns its name to nothing less than a French field artillery gun. Read More

Gimlet

Gimlet

A couple of days ago I wrote a few lines about Ernest Hemingway’s notorious penchant for alcoholic beverages in my article about the Daisy de Santiago. Considering how many cocktails are associated with him, it is not surprising that you’re always ending up with the Nobel Prize winner. Today I’d like to write a few lines about a drink that is also very often connected to him but is also famous enough not to be reliant on such associations: I’m talking about the Gimlet. Read More

Daisy de Santiago

Daisy de Santiago

The history of cocktails would of course be nothing without the history of the bartenders standing behind all those numerous creations. Some of them became famous, some of them did not. But almost as important as the bartenders are all those innumerable anecdotes about famous connoisseurs who are inseparably linked with the name of certain drinks. The perhaps best known example for that is Ernest Hemingway. Today’s drink combines both elements to some extent since it was invented by a bartender who became a little famous himself and who also became a drinking companion of Mr. Hemingway. Read More

Pure Spirits: Cotswolds Dry Gin

Cotswolds Dry Gin

One can easily lose track of the flood of newly released gins these days. Even the German gin market sees a new juniper distillate almost on a daily basis and so it is not surprising that a lot of people have recently developed a collector’s passion when it comes to gin. However, today’s distillate comes from the motherland of gins, strictly speaking even from the “heart of England”, from Cotswolds. Read More

Caipirinha / Batida de Limão

Caipirinha

On the one hand I thought that today’s cocktail is still missing in my blog. On the other hand I was not sure if I really should write about it here because basically everyone knows that drink and in addition to that it is that hackneyed that it certainly won’t knock anyone’s socks off. Also I’m actually almost never in the mood to prepare one for myself. But now there is a reason to write about it anyway. Of course I’m talking about the good old Caipirinha. Read More

From the Brew Kettle: Samuel Smith’s Organic Apricot

Samuel Smith Organic Apricot

Today I’m once again writing about beer. About an English beer to be precise. In the English town of Tadcaster, North Yorkshire the traditional Samuel Smith Brewery produces a broad variety of beer styles. I have already presented an Imperial Stout from that brewery some time ago here on the blog, a beer that I really love to drink. I also referred to some interesting traditions in the context of beer in Tadcaster in that article. It is all the more surprising that today’s Samuel Smith beer is not brewed in Tadcaster. Read More

Pure Spirits: B my Gin

B my Gin

Today I want to introduce a gin which bears a very personal signature. And it does that in many ways because already the gin’s name shows that it is a personal matter or may become personal. But of course there is a certain story behind that name which has to do with the personal history of the makers of this distillate. And this bottle is also connected to a personal and nice anecdote. Read More

Bittered Sling & Remi Landier Cognac VSOP

Bittered Sling

Recently, Cognac has not really been what you would call the shining star of the international spirits market. Despite the fact that for a long time it was surroundes by the nimbus of noblesse and sophisticated artisanship. For many it became too expensive and somehow a little antiquated and so it was no wonder that many French cognac distilleries increasingly positioned themselves as premium sightseeing and tasting destinations for super-rich Russian and Chinese people. But times are changing. Read More

Pure Spirits: A Quintet of Independent Whisky Bottlings from “whic”

Whic - whiskys

Whisk(e)ys have been the first spirits category I really became enthusiastic about. Well there is a small exception because that happened in the same days when I started to discover my passion for classic cocktails and my personal gateway was the most classic cocktail of them all, the Martini. Therefore in my “early days” of course gin and vermouth also played a certain role, but I spend much more time reading about whisky and of course tasting it. So today I would like to publish an article all about whisky. Read More