to hell with martini glasses and Bourbon, a real Manhattan is made with rye and lives on the rocks in a tumbler.

Real talk.

For those who need to know how to make my old fashioned.

You see, what I do, what I’ve always done, is set a sugar cube in a glass and then introduce bitters. Set the thin orange slices in like this. Yes,you see, and the cherry, a maraschino, at its middle and wait until the sugar takes on this burnt brown stain. Then water it and muddle it until you’ve got this mixture you see and then well, yes, so ever slowly dribble whiskey down the glass. Then stir and stir and stir.

File this under “something I will be doing”: aging cocktails. Jeffrey Morgenthaler has a great website full of recipes and tips for cocktails. I’ll be researching this further, but a barrel is ~$75 and I believe I’ve found a solid Manhattan recipe.

Worth noting (and I’ll soon try): there is no shaking or stirring necessary to a martini should your glass and gin be stored in a freezer.

And don’t be afraid to try a wine from a obscure chateau you never heard of. At best it will be a memorable experience, at least it will be infinitely more interesting and exciting than that bottle of Penfold’s Shiraz or Ravenswood Zinfandel for the same money. Besides, wines like that will be there the next time you come by, but this one may likely be gone forever.

I like this advice for selecting wine. I find I rarely buy the mass producers anymore. I’d much rather try a new wine; there’s so many to try. The problem, for me, is I rarely remember the wines I’ve tasted (remember, I’m a wine poseur).

It’s like a grey flannel suit for your PBR.

Thanks to Coudal for pointing out the best sentence I’ve read all day.

couple eggnogs on the fly

…

 a half cup of 1/2 and 1/2

two yolks

two tablespoons sugar thoroughly mixed

…

Whip the reserved whites till frothy and throw some sugar in there as well. Two or three ounces of Maker’s Mark over ice in each tumbler, divide the yolk mixture between the two, finish with some egg white and fresh nutmeg. 

…

Source: Michael Ruhlman

In case you were wondering how Christina Hendricks takes her scotch.

On the rocks.

An Old Fashioned compared to a steak.

A well-made Old Fashioned is, as I’ve heard the Brooklyn bartender and writer St. John Frizzell say, the drink equivalent of taking a nice cut of steak and seasoning it with a bit of salt and pepper.  It keeps the spirit front and center, but makes it more palatable by simultaneously toning it down and enlivening it.

Wine can now be bought by the keg. As the article says, it’s a great way for small batch producers to get their product to restaurants and early numbers show more sales from cask wine.