Recipe: Vieux Carré

The Vieux Carré has been a favorite of most cocktail lovers visiting New Orleans, since Walter Bergeron first concocted this spirit-forward drink in the 1930s.

Review: Cardamaro

The oldest amaro tradition is that of flavored wine. This 7th generation recipe flavors a Piemontese wine with artichoke thistle (Cynara cardunculus) and St.Benedict’s thistle (Cnicus benedictus), and other botanicals.

Build Your Own Bitters class

We proceeded around the room, adding ingredients drop by drop until our concoctions were done to our liking. Mine ended up earthy and spicy. Ms. Boozenik’s was more citrus-ginger and lighter. Mine for whiskey. Hers for gin.

Review: Gran Classico

Gran Classico is a Swiss bitter based on an original 1864 amaro from Turin, Italy using wormword, gentian, bitter orange peel, rhubarb, other aromatic plants to create a potion for aperitivo, digestivo, or mixing. Nose: Complex herbal nose, trace of honey, dried bitter orange peel, star anise, wet wool, gentian, thyme. Taste: Thick, heavy, sweet […]

Recipe: Tamarillo Tippler by Nathan Gerdes

This cocktail was a play with local and seasonal ingredients, taking a Portland spin on a South American source.

The Emperor’s New Bitters

For “The Emperor’s New Bitters”, we took a humorous dive into the history of bitters of all sorts, and into the fascination modern bartenders have with them.

Vieux Carré

In my purse, I keep our swizzle sticks from the original Vieux Carré cocktails we had at the Hotel Monteleone Carousel Bar. When our Vieux Carrés arrive, I discretely slip them in when the bartender isn’t looking and we reminisce about our time at the historic hotel.

A Shot of the Black Stuff

The Tales of the Cocktail seminar A Shot of the Black Stuff: Amazing Amaros and Brilliant Bitters, was well worth being part of the standing-room-only overflow.