I have something of a habit when it comes to books, especially books with recipes in them. I tend to get into a rut, and find myself only fixing recipes from one or two books at one time. Try as I might to mix things up, if I’m into Vintage Spirits & Forgotten Cocktails or [...]

I habitually visit used book stores, wandering the stacks looking for random items of interest—books on philosophy, the occult or death, weird fiction, cookbooks and, of course, books on cocktails. One of my favorite stores is generally amazingly well-stocked in the former group if not the latter, but I occasionally luck out and find a [...]

I know a lot of my posts start out this way, but it was a very long day that prompted this drink. It wasn’t an especially terrible day at work but one filled with myriad of little grievances, culminating in mind-numbingly bad traffic (ah, Los Angeles!). Upon finally arriving home, I needed something bracing to [...]

There are, conservatively, about eighteen thousand available variations on the cocktail known as the Golden Dawn. With bitters, without bitters. With Cointreau, without Cointreau. With calvados, without calvados. You get the idea.
From what I have gathered, it originated sometime during the 1920s, though Chuck Taggart traces its creation to London in the 1930s. I, unfortunately, [...]

Though I won’t say I’m sad to see the end of the heatwave that’s been suffocating us here in LA, the end of summer is always bittersweet. Sure, it’s the end of high temperatures and humidity but also the end of summer produce, sandals and warm nights. Granted, we have it easier here during fall [...]