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March 20, 2018

15 creepy bars in America

Halloween is around the corner and what better way to get in the creepy spirit than hitting up a haunted bar.

March 20, 2018

6 tips for drinking abroad

Before you pack your bags for your destination, keep these drinking tips in mind and you鈥檙e bound to have a pleasant drinking experience. Bottoms up. 聽聽

March 20, 2018

America's best poolside bars

Every weekend, the question is the same: Where should I go drinking? But in the summer, the question is slightly different: Where can I go drinking and cool off? As the temperatures rise, the 21-and-over crowds seek recreational bars that aren't filled with heaping masses of sweating bodies (here's looking at you, New York bars). So while the heat wave continues from coast to coast, we're seeking the best poolside bars across the country that allow us to dip our toes in, cool off for a brief moment of respite, and relax with a drink in hand. Consider the poolside bar the chicer cousin to the tiki bars of the last century; while tiki bars (and cocktails) are making their comeback, nowadays, the crowds are heading toward the nearest watering hole with reflection pools, chaise lounges, and updated summer cocktails. You'll notice a couple of themes throughout our list of America's best poolside bars: they're almost all located within hotels, which makes a lot of sense. Not every bar is as considerate as The Standard in downtown Los Angeles, which offers swimsuits to purchase at the front desk, but swimwear and beachwear is highly encouraged. (Besides, out-of-towners are the most likely bar-hoppers to have a swimsuit on hand.) While that makes it harder for in-town, pool-seeking residents to crash some of these poolside bars, many of them offer day passes to drinkers not staying in the hotel. Oh, and the other noticeable trend among these bars? They're almost all on rooftops 鈥� win. We considered the pools, location, d茅cor, and cocktails when picking through America's best poolside bars; although cannonballs and pool toys may be discouraged at these bars, relaxation and partying are not. Click ahead to find America's hottest 鈥� or rather, coolest 鈥� poolside bars for your mid-afternoon daydreaming excursion. After all, everyone needs a little vacation.

March 20, 2018

The 8 drink inventions we could never do without

It's easy to get caught up in what's new and happening in the world of drink: what's the newest wine or varietal to sweep the nation? What's the newest craft beer to make waves? What's the cocktail we need to be dreaming about to get through the work day to happy hour? But we often forget just where our drinks come from. It's the little inventions that basically made our world of drinks explode into the endless variety of beverage options we have today. Without refrigeration we wouldn't have such access to drinks that spoil fast, like milk; without tea bags, the art of making a cup of tea may have been lost; without the straw... OK, we just really love a good straw. While we ommitted perhaps the discoveries that made our drinks possible 鈥� fermentation for wine and beer, distilling for spirits, carbonation for sodas, even filtration for drinkable water 鈥� it's the inventions that have made drinking into a convenience. Whether it's as small as a cork or as big as your refrigerator, we're taking a few steps towards the past to thank our lucky stars for the inventors who gave us well, all the drinks.

March 20, 2018

Top 10 tequilas

What's the best way to celebrate National Tequila Day? On July 24, sip one or more of these top 10 tequilas. These 100 percent blue agave tequilas may be pricy, but National Tequila Day only happens once a year.

March 20, 2018

Sneak peek at new American whiskey

Wild Turkey, Jack Daniels, Jim Beam 鈥� these old, dependable names in the American whiskey world might make you think more about boilermakers than haut-courant bourbon, but think again. With the rising popularity of -- and seemingly unending thirst for -- American whiskey, drinkers are demanding more interesting pours from the high-end of the quality scale.聽 Although truth be told, finding a bad bourbon isn鈥檛 really such an easy thing to do -- and personal perception of a label might have more to do with one鈥檚 opinion of a whiskey than its actual quality. Why? Both Bourbon and Tennessee whiskey have to follow strict U.S. production laws. First of all, a little myth-busting: Bourbon need not be made in Bourbon County, or in the great state of Kentucky at all (although an important reason for the brunt of bourbon production being centrally located there has to do in large part with the quality of the limestone-rich water).聽 In 1964, the United States Congress designated bourbon as a distinctive American product and created Federal Standards of Identity, which include stipulations like the mash bill must include at least 51 percent corn, that it can be distilled to no more that 80 percent ABV and must be matured in new, charred white oak barrels (nope, you can鈥檛 reuse 鈥榚m 鈥� but you can sell them to other whiskey or beer makers) for at least two of years. To be designated as Tennessee Whiskey, the parameters for bourbon-making must be followed, plus a final step of filtering the whiskey through sugar-maple charcoal. But all that expense and time appears to be well worth it. Last year alone saw 17 million 9-liter cases of bourbon fly out the store door in the U.S., generating a whopping $2.2 billion in revenue for distillers, according to the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States. Not a bad day鈥檚 work at the still. And a lot of that appears to be focused on demand for the good stuff 鈥� single barrel projects or special releases and even a notable rise in demand for rye. So what鈥檚 new and coming to a glass near you?

March 20, 2018

5 strangest celebrity-owned booze brands

Whether they鈥檙e buying and operating a vineyard, slapping their name on online apparel stores, or designing mountain bikes, Hollywood鈥檚 finest oftentimes double as venture capitalists. Alcohol, being relatively easy to market, not necessarily having to be 鈥済ood,鈥� and having the ability to double as a collector's item, make it a homerun for celebrity-endorsed products. Unlike a futile shot at the fashion industry, celebrities can come up with an alcohol brand and people will buy it, if only to say they鈥檝e tried it. Here are the five strangest celebrity-owned alcohol brands out there. Some are strange because the pairing is odd, and some because, well --some celebrities are just strange.

March 20, 2018

5 cocktail trends you need to know before you order a drink

Handcrafted cocktails have been all the rage for years now. 聽Farm-to-table ingredients are more important than ever and bartenders are mixing exotic drinks with as much attention as a James Beards-rated chef. The fourth annual Manhattan Cocktail Classic drew to a close this week in New York City, but results from the mixers and shakers who flocked to stir, sip, and speculate on what鈥檚 next behind the bar may well be coming to a glass near you. And what may be the most notable and welcome trend has more to with attitude than aperitifs. 鈥淲hat鈥檚 exciting is the trend of bartenders getting over ourselves,鈥� laughs Tobin Ellis, president of the Las Vegas-based BarMagic, a high-end cocktail and bar-design consulting firm. 鈥淭here鈥檚 been a backlash, and I鈥檝e been waiting for that to happen for a while.鈥� What Ellis is referring to is a bit of preciousness that鈥檚 entered behind-the-bar decorum, where some bartenders prefer to be called mixologists and take 20 minutes to make you a drink. 鈥淭rends come along and people geek-out on them 鈥� but we have a lot of people who are excited about flavors and who are very talented, but have no business being behind a bar. It shouldn鈥檛 take 16 minutes to make a Sazerac,鈥� says Ellis, a near 20-year veteran of the hospitality and cocktail industry. 鈥淓very bartender should be able to use fresh ingredients, make classic cocktails, be innovative, and also help people have a good time. Give them the experience they want, not the one you want.鈥� With that in mind, the innovation part appears to be alive and well in cocktail culture. During the classic, Ellis hosted an event called Social Mixology: Unchained. 聽The event was a challenge to several prominent bartenders to come up with never-seen-before cocktails. There was the science-geek wizardry of Dave Arnold, owner of David Chang's Booker + Dax, who used nitrogen to muddle fresh herbs and turn them into a potent powder for use in drinks and that wouldn鈥檛 oxidize over time. Then there was the venerable Don Lee, creator of the cocktails and spirits program for Momofuku Ssam Bar, who used technology similar to that of a humidifier to turn liquor liquid into a heady mist (although, of course, this might not be particularly satisfying to the very thirsty 鈥� but it is pretty cool). While these might not be your everyday cocktails, these nationally acclaimed drink specialists worked with some of the latest trends in cocktails. What else is on deck? Although less 鈥渢a-da!鈥� than the above, and more 鈥渋t鈥檚 about time,鈥� keep your eyes peeled and your shakers ready for the following:

March 20, 2018

Jim Beam's great grandson's guide to tasting bourbon

We met with Fred Noe, Seventh Generation Master Distiller and great grandson of Jim Beam, in Chicago recently, as he shopped his Signature Craft 12-Year at Chicago鈥檚 WhiskyFest. Between lunches and general hobnobbing with other whiskey big wigs like Wild Turkey Master Distiller Jimmy Russell, we asked him three things we should be looking for when trying whiskey.

March 20, 2018

Top 10 cognacs

Wine culled from the chalky soil of France鈥檚 Cognac region has a tendency to be acidic, thin and unpalatable. This might have doomed the terroir to gastronomic obscurity, had the region鈥檚 vintners not been fortunate enough to discover that this wine was excellent for distilling. It so exemplified this ability, in fact, that the region鈥檚 brandy varietals gradually assumed the name of their otherwise-maligned home and Cognac became a beverage of choice the world over. Produced from the combination of various white wines (known as 鈥渆aux de vie鈥�), Cognacs are aged to maturity in barrels before bottling and distribution. In the course of its centuries-long life Cognac has been considered a drink for the poor, an exclusive property of upscale gentlemen鈥檚 clubs and a symbol of hip-hop excess. At present, Cognac distillers draw from all facets of this varied past to create some of the finest tasting and most exclusive liquors on the planet.