Welcome to this week’s roundup of interesting cocktail and spirits related articles plus a few fun bits of news just made for cocktail party conversation starters.
Reading Roundup
Making Sustainable Cocktails at Home
(imbibe)
Although bars are making sustainability a focus, going green can start at home. Imbibe shares some ideas and tips for more environmentally friendly DIY drinking that include some of what’s happening in the industry at the moment like ditching the straws and repurposing kitchen byproducts.
Bartenders Are Going Straight to the Source
(Camper English for San Francisco Magazine)
Bars are partnering up with spirits makers to develop finished products especially for their cocktails. They’re coming at it from different angles like Mosswood Distillery finishing their whisky in a green Chartreuse primed barrel or Oakland Spirits Co flavoring a brandy with cilantro, garam masala and Assam tea. These spirits don’t end up in the shops, so the only way to get a taste of them is to try them at the bars who request them.
The Right Way to Drink Champagne, According to a Champagne Expert
(Refinery 29)
Maison Perrier-Jouët Celler Master Hervé Deschamps gives some tips and tricks for how to handle your bubbly. (NB: We shared the article with our friends over at the Paris-based Champagne club for women, DelectaBulles, who agreed with most everything, except the temperature, FWIW)
Bar Review: Jim Meehan’s Ambitious Act Two
(Punch)
One of the original craft cocktail revivalist Jim Meehan has opened a new bar a decade after founding the world-famous New York based PDT. His latest project Prairie School is inspired by Frank Lloyd Wright is located in his home state of Illinois and in Chicago –fittingly for an architecturally inspired concept bar. (The theme also makes one think of the architecture menu at Little Red Door here in Paris…)
How the Patron Distillery Has Gone Green
(Tales of the Cocktail)
Having recently started the Eco-bar series here on 52M, I’m always interested in reading about how brands are looking to incorporate more eco-friendly practices. Now that going green is becoming a bigger trend, bigger brands seem to be making more steps towards sustainability. Patron tequila is making efforts to reduce packing, pollution and waste in addition to recycling byproducts. And, most importantly, they’re sharing their tech to help other distilleries go greener, too.
Cocktail Party Conversation Starters
Get all tongue tied around new people? Try this week’s cocktail party conversation starters next time you’re stuck for small talk…
Did you hear about…
The octogenarians who finally visited every Cracker Barrel in the US?
The woman who cut off her own finger to wear as jewelry!?!
And, this week, when I’m not reading cocktail news or finding bizarre conversation starters, I’m reading: The Seasonal Cocktail Companion by Maggie Savarino
