We sat down with Seth Weinberg of the iconic Fontainebleau Hotel in Miami Beach to chat about his work, Miami’s cocktail scene, hunting vintage liquor, and his drink for June’s Red Vodka Box, the Dirty Little Secret! S&S: What’s it like to work at the Fontainebleau in Miami Beach? How did your journey lead there? SW: The Fontainebleau is an…
Tag: alcohol
Behind the Massive Carnage
We sat down with Christine Wiseman of LA’s Broken Shaker to chat about her work, bourbon, LA’s cocktail scene, and her drink for May’s Broken Bourbon Box, the Massive Carnage! S&S: What’s it like to work at LA’s Broken Shaker? How did your journey lead there? CW: It is the best job that I have ever had!…
Red Vodka
For your next date night, an international adventure awaits—and it’s heavy with intrigue and ambiguous motives. But rather than clocking a thousand miles and infiltrating hostile environments in disguise to reach your objective, we suggest simply drawing the shades, dressing to the nines, and carrying out an exhaustive investigation of our Red Vodka Box right…
Broken Bourbon
With a decidedly less spicy profile than rye or other cereal grain–based whiskeys, bourbon is punchy enough to stand on its own yet blends harmoniously into lighter drinks like sours or juleps. The spirit’s corn content (mandated to be at least 51%, but could be as high as 100%) produces a level of easily-detectable sweetness….
Rum Wild
Rum—and its relatives of yore distilled from byproducts of the sugar cane plant—had a centuries-long history on the open seas aboard Navy vessels and pirate ships before striking land in the Caribbean for mass-production in the 1600s. There have been changes and a lot of geographic expansion along the way, but the adventurous, sea-centric soul…
Kiss Me, I’m Whiskey
This month, by popular demand, we’re re-releasing one of our past boxes—so that those who missed it the first time can give it a try, and those who loved it last year can come back for seconds! So we hope you’re excited to experience March’s Kiss Me, I’m Whiskey Box and learn to enjoy Irish…
Rye Oh My!
Like many American spirits, rye whiskey almost disappeared after Prohibition and has only recently begun to be resurrected. As bartenders turn their attention to classic cocktails, they’re returning to rye for their old fashioneds, Manhattans, and whiskey sours—drinks all originally created with rye in mind. And in January’s Rye Oh My! Box, we’re featuring some…
You Don’t Know (Apple)Jack
Lately, my Instagram feed’s been filled with all things autumnal: Halloween costumes, multi-hued landscapes, and, yeah, a whole lot of apple picking. I’m personally into the coziness of the season and everything the dropping temps are traditionally associated with, but between apple cider and pumpkin spice lattes, seeing a lot of the same admittedly has…
Applejack of My Eye
Applejack was originally created in colonial times by leaving fermenting apple cider outside in the wintertime to be freeze-distilled (“jacked”) into a higher-proof spirit. Since alcohol freezes at a lower temperature than water, producers were able to remove water content (and thus concentrate the alcohol content) by going out and discarding the ice as it…
The Amaro You Know
Not too long ago I went on a date to an Italian restaurant with an extensive amaro selection on its bar menu. The date? It was a one-time deal. But I’ve been interested in learning more about amaro ever since. Amaro, meaning “bitter” in Italian, is a liqueur traditionally consumed as both an aperitif and…
That’s Amaro!
Oh, amaro, that dark, often bitter beloved of bartenders the world over. Why such strong feelings? Perhaps because it’s complex, mysterious, and misunderstood . . . like an irresistible bad boy (though luckily this one can be tamed). What is amaro, anyway? It runs the gamut from intensely bitter and medicinal all the way to…
Austin Without Limits
The public television music program Austin City Limits (the only TV show to ever be awarded the National Medal of Arts) helped the city of Austin earn the title of “Live Music Capital of the World” and then spawned an annual festival that happens each October—a very busy time for Austin and its bartenders. We…
Shaker & Spoon Blog 