5 Things an Aspiring Sommelier Needs to Know

During the past few years, we’ve witnessed the rise of the “celebrity chef,” with myriad television shows glorifying a once-humble profession to the point of rock-stardom. With that glorification come the countless folks who dream of dropping out of the corporate rat race, going to culinary school and becoming the…

Coronado Sock Knocker and the Hop Superfriends

Beer: Sock Knocker Brewery: Coronado Brewing Co. Style: Imperial IPA ABV: 8.5 percent In this bottle of Coronado Sock Knocker, there are assembled the world’s four greatest hop varieties, created from the cosmic legends of the universe (and, you know, hop farmers): Amarillo: a hop discovered growing wild in a…

How to Make the Perfect Pisco Sour

If you take a trip to Chile or Peru, you’ll find that the Pisco Sour is a massively popular drink. It’s so popular in both countries that each has designated it as their official drink. Moreover, both Chile and Peru claim that they are the birthplace of the Pisco Sour…

Arizona Wines Make A Splash

It’s been a banner week for the Arizona wine scene, with some national and international light shining upon our up and coming wine business. As first reported by the Australian liquor business blog The Shout, Pillsbury Wine Company has reached a preliminary distribution deal with Decante This, a small niche…

5 Session IPAs to Try Right Now

In the previous decade, brewers pushed the envelope farther than it had ever gone in terms of alcohol content, barrel-aging and experimental yeast strains — and beer geeks loved them for it. To peruse a list of the top-rated beers in the world was to see a list of the…

How to Make an Earl Grey Mar-Tea-Ni

For some reason, the misuse of the term “martini” really gets my hackles up. A martini has two or three ingredients: Gin, vermouth, and possibly a drop of orange bitters. Back in the late 1990s, people realized that cocktails were fun to drink, and all of a sudden anything served…

Why Biodynamic Farming Is Overrated

We all like to pat ourselves on the back for shopping at farmers markets, buying organic produce, finding purveyors who care about how their farming practices affect the Earth, etc. I’m one of those people: I buy stuff from farmers markets and celebrate those producers who care about what they…

How to Make a Ward Eight Cocktail

The name of the Ward Eight cocktail has some interesting possible connotations. What could the history of the drink entail? Was there a sanitarium wing that treated heavy tipplers who tended to enjoy this particular drink? Did a church ward make a non-alcoholic drink that was later tainted with demon…

3 Perfect Wines for Summer

I don’t know about you, but I was not ready to see triple digits this past weekend. ‘Tis the season for Phoenicians to bemoan to arrival of the hot summer. The spring here in the Valley was glorious as usual, made even more so by watching the Midwest and Northeast…

Bison Grass Vodka Is the Only Vodka Worth Drinking

I might get hate mail for this one, but I’m just going to say it: Vodka is a waste of my time and a waste of your time. If I’m looking for flavor from a spirit, I’ll look to gin for crisp botanical notes or mezcal for roasted, smoky notes…

Oh, Snap: New Belgium Snapshot Is an Approachable, Refreshing Sour

Beer: Snapshot Brewery: New Belgium Brewing Co. Style: Berliner Weisse ABV: 5 percent If we’re ranking sour beer styles by “intensity of flavor” and “likelihood of making an inexperienced craft beer drinker puke,” the Berliner Weisse would be right near the bottom. Its tartness is generally mild; its carbonation high;…

How to Make a Horse’s Neck Cocktail

This weekend is one of the more popular drinking holidays of the year, the Kentucky Derby. On Saturday, folks everywhere will hoist mint juleps, preferably in silver cups. See Also: How to Make the Best Mint Julep, Ever Of course, it seems like there’s always someone who’s not too keen…