That rock bands collaborate with breweries to create their own beers is no news. A few rock and metal acts with especially discerning taste are finally getting it right, partnering with top notch breweries from around the world to produce beers worthy of their likeness. I’ve had the privilege of tasting the majority of these beers, and have rounded up the very best for you below.
Read MoreAs a full-time beverage writer, I drink quite a bit. (Sorry, honey: research. I research quite a bit.) But even in my profession, I found that sitting down to enjoy even a simple beer in the first month of my new life as a dad proved impossible. Facing this challenge, I documented a particularly harrowing 24-hour period of involuntary abstinence that occurred three weeks after my daughter’s birth. So I’d like to share my experience to commiserate with fellow dads who may be able to find solace in my struggle — and tell future dads who might like to know what they’re in for….
Read MoreNo matter how I may describe it with words, the key to actually understanding sherry is to simply pair it with food. I discovered this for myself at a small Jerez joint called Méson Don Paco, where I crushed cold Tio Pepe alongside a dish of green olives (I was there on a trip sponsored by Gonzalez Byass, Tio Pepe’s parent company). When a server, noting my excitement, brought over some salty, rich, fatty Iberico ham, I thought I had died and gone to Spanish heaven.
Read MoreBy now, it's no secret North Carolina is a culinary destination to be reckoned with. Cities like Charlotte, Asheville, Raleigh and Durham have all come into their own over the last decade, offering some of the best and most innovative food and drink to be found in the South. But I've been hearing murmurs of a scene beyond the scene: a growing number of restaurants, breweries, bakeries and farms cropping up miles outside city limits in previously uncharted pockets throughout the state. So my wife, Debbie, and I decided it was time to head down to NC to explore the spots most tourists don't know about. And through some intensive research—i.e., irresponsibly devouring everything in our way—I've determined the best off-the-beaten-path food-and-drink destinations in North Carolina.
Read MoreWhen my wife expressed interest in embarking on a ski weekend trip to Stratton Resort in Vermont with her best friend her husband, I wasted no time researching all of the restaurants, activities and shops that the resort and its surrounding areas had to offer. Fortunately, my planning paid off, and I even had the foresight to document the entire successful adventure. Allow me to share the details so that you might create your own similarly awesome Dream Couples’ Ski Trip Extravaganza with your friends of choice.
Read More"Four Master Sommeliers walk into a bar" sounds like the setup to a joke your wine-geek uncle would tell— but it did in fact happen on a chilly afternoon in January at New York's Lupulo. To lubricate discussion, I asked each of the four to bring their favorite affordable (under $30) bottle of wine of the moment. Together, over the course of 90 minutes—during which tasty Portuguese cuisine, accessible wine, and even (gasp!) refreshing beer was consumed—the five of us dissected what it means to be a Master Sommelier today.
Read MoreThe long-awaited Second Ave subway is finally open (partially), and every underground station now has Wi-Fi and cell phone service. And hey, we get that transporting nearly 8 million people every day in America's busiest, toughest city is no simple task. But if you’re going to hike fares on us again -- we’re going to have to ask for some more stuff in return. In exchange, we can promise to duck the turnstile less often, and maybe even stop blaming you for all of the world's problems. Here are some MTA improvements we’d like to see moving forward.
Read MoreDavid Stewart, The Balvenie’s master of malt, and the longest-serving master blender in the Scotch industry, claims that roughly 70% of whisky flavor comes from wood. Over the last half of a century, he has discovered, through trial and error, just how different types of oak containers can drastically shape the profile of a whisky. Now, Stewart is taking all that he has learned—and distilled—over the years to create some of the highest quality, rarest Scotch ever produced. And while the drams can be described in myriad ways, “affordable” isn’t one of them.
Read MoreAs a cocktail lover in a steakhouse town (New York City), I’m often wracked with doubt when deciding which blended, stirred or shaken concoction to order with a beef-based meal. As I know there are others with the same problem, I convinced five friends of mine to accompany me to five different Manhattan steakhouses to determine the ultimate cocktail for pairing with steak. Classics, modern twists and experimental inventions were all fair game―so long as the liquid contender was high in alcohol and had the potential to taste wonderful alongside a Flintstones-sized slab of charbroiled cow. This was my journey—kidneys and liver be damned.
Read MoreBeer has had an incredibly turbulent year, from the Big Guys down to the little ones. Buyouts, mergers and unprecedented growth in both breweries and SKUs have made the marketplace a confusing one for beer consumers and producers alike. In the process, the oft-abused term “craft” inches closer and closer to the brink of losing all meaning with respect to beer—even as wine-centric glassmaker Riedel delivered a stamp of approval to the beer biz by designing a special Riedel beer glass. Perhaps the only certainty in 2016 was change. But amidst all of the tumult, a few undeniable trends have arisen that promise to carry over into 2017.
Read MorePierre-Emmanuel Taittinger is just as passionate about Champagne as he is about the condition of the grounds that facilitate its production (including its lavatories). It may seem ironic that a producer of the classiest beverage on earth is obsessed with bathroom accommodations, but to this, Pierre-Emmanuel just shrugs and offers up his life motto: “Be serious. But don’t take it seriously.”
Read MoreDespite the country's reputation for fantastic coffee, it's nearly impossible to get a good cup of joe in Colombia. The second largest coffee exporter on earth sent $2.6 billion worth of beans to other countries around the world last year, forcing locals in most Colombian cities to brew imported beans from far-off places like Vietnam. But one man is not only bringing Colombian coffee back to Colombia—he's elevating coffee culture throughout the entire world. With rare devices and odd gadgets (hello, popcorn machine and blowtorch), David Arzayus roasts, grinds and brews dozens of varieties of local and international beans at Café del Mural, opened early last year on a little-traversed Cartagena side street. Using historical, traditional and experimental techniques in a makeshift laboratory, he offers customers multi-course tastings that run the gamut from the conventional to the bizarre.
Read MoreHaving performed at hundreds of colleges across the country, my comedy partner Dave and I are experienced travelers. Like a Lewis and Clark armed with penis jokes instead of rifles, we’ve explored 48 states within the continental U.S., but had yet to set foot in Alaska. So when we were at last offered a show at the University of Alaska Southeast in Juneau, naturally, we jumped at the opportunity.
Here’s an hour-by-hour breakdown of how to occupy your time when you make it up north to Juneau, Alaska.
Read MoreBirch isn't just one of the best local roasters in NYC -- with eight storefronts, including a brand-new location in the Bronx, it's also one of the fastest growing. Since 2009, the brand has expanded its reach from a single shop at 27th and Madison to outposts across Manhattan, the Bronx, and Queens. The secret to Birch's success? It simply boils down to quality control. Meticulous selection and roasting is exactly what makes Birch's coffee so good -- which was apparent when I visited the roast house in Long Island City, where Schlader took me through the entire roasting process, step by step, from sorting raw beans to weighing the final product.
Read MoreThirty minutes outside of Park City, Utah, High West Distillery’s brand new 25,000-square-foot compound sits amidst vast stretches of open wilderness and magnificent mountain views. Blending modern and rustic aesthetics, the stunning construction set on a 3,500-acre luxury cattle ranch called Blue Sky Utah is any whiskey distiller’s dream-come-true. And yet, the apparent irony of this gorgeous new state-of-the-art facility–complete with a built-to-order Scottish Forsythe Copper pot still–is that High West has best come to be known for blending whiskey, rather than distilling it.
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