Terralta & G4 Tequila

If you do some research about Tequila as the Mexican spirit par excellence, of course you will first read about what it is, how it is made, what kind of categories exist and the like. Of course, its close relationship to Mezcal (with tequila actually being a mescal), the raw material and some agricultural information as well as regional designations of origin will also be part of what you find. But most likely you will also come across the names of special people who play an outstanding role in the genre. One such person is Felipe Camarena. Read More

Nikka Coffey Gin & Natsu Kinu

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Before I started today’s article, I took another look at my article about the Nikka Coffey Malt Whisky. Because the Nikka Coffey Gin comes from the same spirit series of the Japanese manufacturer Nikka. And even though Nikka enjoys a high reputation as a whisky producer most reviews of the Nikka Coffey Gin turned out remarkably positive until the present day. Read More

Lanson Black Label Champagne

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When it comes to the classic repertoire of cocktail ingredients, usually you start by listing various types of spirits, from cognac to gin to whiskey, and then quickly end up with vermouths and cocktail bitters or even herbal liqueurs and syrups. Champagne, on the other hand, is easily misappropriated, which happens probably mainly because most people simply do not think of it as a component of cocktails. The champagne’s nimbus of solemnity, nobleness and sophistication is too big; that is why supposedly it demands to enjoy it neat. However, such thinking is actually a misconception – despite all the qualities of a good, stand-alone champagne. Read More

Aberlour A’Bunadh & Auld Corbeille

Recently I read an interesting interview. It was conducted with Eyck Thormann, who works for the spirit giant Pernod Ricard as a brand ambassador for whiskies, but who himself looks back on a long time as bar manager in Hamburg St. Pauli and who several times became “German Cocktail Champion”. And – you might guess it in view of his personal biography – the interview naturally also dealt with the use of whiskies in cocktails. A topic, which I also did address here repeatedly in the past. Read More

Negroni Sbagliato

Today I would like to catch up (in a relatively short article) on something that I have missed for far too long: Since I have presented classics of the cocktail history here in the blog again and again (meanwhile a lot of them can be found in the archives of Galumbi – Drinks & More), it is finally time to also take a closer look at the Negroni Sbagliato. Since the Negroni (together with the Mint Julep) is my all-time favourite among drinks, it might be surprising that the Negroni Sbagliato hasn’t been mentioned here yet. Read More

Príncipe de los Apóstoles Mate Gin Fuerza Gaucha, Vermouth Giovannoni & The Apóstoles-Espresso-Negroni

It is now about two and a half years since I wrote about a very interesting and unconventional gin. To this day, I have to admit that I have tried only a few gins that differ so much from the aroma profile of a classic London Dry like Tanqueray or Beefeater – but without, like many New Western Dry Gins, focusing entirely on fruit and citrus aromas and almost becoming a kind of fruit spirit. And today I’m looking forward to meeting the new big brother of the Príncipe de los Apóstoles Mate Gin. Read More

Knob Creek Rye & Yesterday, Today and Amaro

Recently, Jim Beam caused quite a stir with an announcement they made. It was about the Knob Creek Bourbon, which I also reviewed here in the blog in the past (and used it in a drink called the Iron Ranger, a bourbon-based Tikidrink). In that article, I wrote that the manufacturer claims to have been oriented towards an age of 9 years despite they abandoned printing an official age statement on the label. Well, and now they‘re going to change it once again by going back to the original official indication of 9 years. However, what applies to the Knob Creek Bourbon does not apply (to my knowledge) to the Knob Creek Rye. Read More