Imbibe Magazine

SEPTEMBER 6, 2024

The amount of bottles crowding my home bar is either inspiring or overwhelming, depending on who you ask and how often you dust. Despite maintaining such a deep bench, I also appreciate the easy, breezy convenience of ready-to-drink (RTD) cocktails. I bring them to picnics, house parties, and other occasions when no one wants to fuss with glassware.

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Imbibe Magazine

SEPTEMBER 4, 2024

As an imbiber based in Los Angeles, I’ve made peace with the fact that a night of barhopping involves some forethought. Living in an urban sprawl with limited public transportation, many would-be revelers have to focus on a neighborhood with a good concentration of bars, since rideshares around the city can get pricey. So I was ecstatic when I found that in Hong Kong, some of the best bars in Asia, and even the world, are within steps—or an escalator ride—of one another.

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Highball Bar Infusions Rum 205

Imbibe Magazine

AUGUST 30, 2024

It’s easy to define session IPAs by what they’re not: hard-hitting hops delivery systems with soaring ABVs. But the category has complexity all its own, ranging from dry and piney refreshers to juicy numbers rich with tropical fruit, and more. This selection of widely distributed options spans West Coast, hazy, and American IPA styles. All clock in at less than 5 percent ABV, making them ideal for those moments when you want to sustain—not up end—a good time.

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Imbibe Magazine

AUGUST 30, 2024

In a craggy corner of New York state, the Finger Lakes might not strike you as the ideal place to grow wine grapes. But this region produces some of America’s best bottles, says Erika Frey, a wine educator and co-founder of Saperica , a nonprofit organization that hosts an annual Finger Lakes wine fair, Saperavi Festival. “People think, ‘How can there be a wine region here?

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Imbibe Magazine

AUGUST 30, 2024

Earlier this year, boats ferried guests through the canals of Mexico City’s Xochimilco to Chinampa del Sol, a pre-Hispanic floating farm that was, for that day, the site of a five-course farm-to-plate lunch paired with elegant cocktails. En route, guides from the Arca Tierra project , which connects farmers with bartenders, chefs, and consumers, explained that the many man-made islands in the canal belong to a massive agricultural project built to feed the Aztec empire centuries ago.

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Bartender Bartending Bar Gin 172

Imbibe Magazine

AUGUST 30, 2024

An unassuming industrial park off Interstate 10 near downtown Tucson is the birthplace of some of the most flavorful whiskey in America. Whiskey Del Bac , a craft distillery founded in 2011, makes single malts richly smoked with mesquite, a flavor that co-founder Stephen Paul calls “the signature aroma of the desert Southwest.” Paul was an artisan furniture maker grilling meat over leftover wood scraps when his wife, Elaine, suggested that the mesquite might be used to flavor whiskey, just as pe

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Imbibe Magazine

AUGUST 30, 2024

Piggybacking on the soaring popularity of the Martini , the classic, V-shaped cocktail glass—once loathed for its impractical, begging-to-spill shape—has found new fans. Fortunately, improvements have been made, from ergonomically curved rims to oversized bowls that need not be filled to the brim. Iconic in style and undeniably gorgeous, these glasses add instant elegance to the home bar.

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Bar Club Wine 158

Imbibe Magazine

AUGUST 28, 2024

In just a few weeks, Negroni Week 2024 will commence from September 16-22, and once again, bars and restaurants around the world will come together to celebrate the classic Negroni while raising money in support of Slow Food ‘s mission foster a more equitable and sustainable world of food and beverage. Money raised through Negroni Week donations will support Slow Food’s ongoing initiatives around the world as well as the Slow Food Negroni Week Fund.

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Imbibe Magazine

AUGUST 28, 2024

Recipe videos have become a source of both comfort and inspiration for the countless curious on social media. In the case of 71-year-old Larry Canam and his Milkshake Monday videos on TikTok, his kind smile, eagerly delivered instructions, and the loud whirring of his 50-year-old Waring blender continually attract new followers and endear him even more to his devoted fans.

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Imbibe Magazine

AUGUST 27, 2024

Anyone can pop cubes out of a tray, but excellent summer cocktails require expertly crushed and cracked ice. Whether you’re fixing Mai Tais for a tropical bash, serving spritzes poolside, or drinking a Mojito alone on your fire escape, here’s everything you need for the ice your drinks deserve. Lewis Ice Bag and Mallet A classic bartenders’ tool, canvas Lewis bags are made to absorb excess water, which some say produces “drier” ice with less surface moisture, thus slowing dilution speeds.

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Imbibe Magazine

AUGUST 26, 2024

Lee Briante makes every inch count to squash misconceptions about hard cider. His intimate Los Angeles bar, Alma’s Cider & Beer , which opened in 2021, is a 558-square-foot jewel box bathed in three shades of blue, decorated with quirky dioramas and a chandelier evoking flying saucers. What you won’t find: farm-core flourishes like plaid tablecloths or faux apples in splintery crates.

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Imbibe Magazine

AUGUST 23, 2024

In a veritable sea of rosé, I will fully admit to sometimes grabbing a bottle simply because the label catches my eye. It’s not a foolproof method, but with the Ouest Rosé from Division Winemaking Company , it pays off in both taste and aesthetics. Granted, I cheated in this case, since I already knew that Division makes great wines—but now you know it, too.

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Imbibe Magazine

AUGUST 21, 2024

While wine making in Oregon may conjure notions of bucolic countryside and the verdant Willamette Valley, the operation at Division Winemaking Company looks a little different. Founded in 2010 by Thomas Monroe and Kate Norris, Division crafts their expressive, low-intervention wines in the heart of southeast Portland. (Division is the street name of their original home.

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Wine Beer 201

Imbibe Magazine

AUGUST 20, 2024

A red wine grape with centuries of history throughout the Americas, Mission goes by several names. You might hear it called Listán Prieto in Spain or Mexico, Criolla Chica in Argentina, País in Chile, and Misión or Mission in Mexico and the United States. Many believe the grape originated in Spain’s Canary Islands and made its way across the Atlantic in the 15th century.

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Imbibe Magazine

AUGUST 19, 2024

When it’s too hot to muster the energy to mix drinks, batching up a freezer cocktail to enjoy later can be just what summer ordered. In Freezer Door Cocktails: 75 Cocktails That Are Ready When You Are , James Beard Award–winning writer J.M. Hirsch presents several chilly options for those looking to venture beyond the freezer Martini , from classics like the Mai Tai to original cocktails like the Tequila Spritz.

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Zero-Proof Infusions Liquor Liqueur 262

Imbibe Magazine

AUGUST 16, 2024

Sometimes, cocktail hour needs to be power hour. There are plenty of days when the end of the work day is best celebrated with a crisp beer, a glass of wine, or something else light and refreshing. But some days demand a little more oomph in the glass. Bonded bourbons and navy-strength gins and rums have filled that need for years. Now, a new tequila offers another way to scratch that higher-proof itch: El Tequileño Still Strength Blanco Tequila , this week’s Drink of the Week.

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Imbibe Magazine

AUGUST 14, 2024

Welcome to On the Menu, where we explore what makes a bar’s menu unique, intriguing, and all-around delicious. Opened in May of this year, Tallboy is the new project from bar industry vet Den Stephens ( North Light ) in collaboration with beverage director Zach Edwards. Aiming for both irreverence and accessibility, the Oakland bar serves a playful lineup carefully honed Martinis and cocktails, Jell-O shots, slushies, and a freezer stocked with pre-mixed craft shots, dubbed “Cheekies.̶

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Imbibe Magazine

AUGUST 13, 2024

Rachael Petach spent 20 years in hospitality, from Chez Panisse while attending UC Berkeley, to hosting a pop-up restaurant in her Madrid apartment, to operations and programming director for the Wythe Hotel in Brooklyn. But in 2017, a new obsession took hold. Petach began to experiment with blackcurrants (illegal to cultivate in the U.S. until 2003), hauling pounds of fruit up to her third-floor Brooklyn walk-up to craft small batches of liqueur.

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Imbibe Magazine

AUGUST 12, 2024

It’s an accepted truth in the drinks world that no spirit demonstrates as much diversity in style and breadth of range as rum. But while rum and its sugarcane kin have long been celebrated in carefree cocktails evoking the tropics, rum’s true story is much deeper, and sometimes darker. We’re taking a closer look at rum. But we’re also looking at the people and cultures with which rum’s history is indelibly entwined.

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Imbibe Magazine

AUGUST 9, 2024

In the throes of a stubborn heat wave, one of the only things I want in my glass is an ice-cold, low-ABV spritz. They’re easy to make and to drink, and make even the stickiest summer evening a little bit breezier. Lately, I’ve been making spritzes with Le Moné aperitif wine from New York’s Finger Lakes region. Made with Meyer lemons and agave nectar, it’s tart and satisfyingly viscous, and the ABV clocks in at just 16%.

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Imbibe Magazine

AUGUST 7, 2024

Lorenzo Antinori is returning cocktails to the people through his Hong Kong aperitivo bar Bar Leone. There’s no high-level mixology or 10-ingredient cocktails. Nor is there bespoke glassware, bar rules, or dress codes. And the world has taken notice. At this year’s Tales of the Cocktail Spirited Awards, the 1-year-old Roman-inspired bar snagged the Best New International Cocktail Bar award.

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Bar Mixology Craft Cocktails Gin 229

Imbibe Magazine

AUGUST 6, 2024

We’re now in what the Wall Street Journal recently dubbed the “golden age of the private club.” This, of course, is nonsense. The true golden age was, appropriately, during the Gilded Age, the era from shortly after the Civil War to nearly World War I. In 1893, some 119 private clubs were found in New York City alone, with membership totaling approximately 24,000.

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Imbibe Magazine

AUGUST 5, 2024

From its Italian origins in the 19th century—when supposedly the soldiers of the Austro-Hungarian Empire would purportedly dilute the wines of the Veneto region with a splash (or spritz in German) of soda water—to the modern ubiquity of the Aperol Spritz, the loosely defined cocktail has proved its staying power. The spritz benefits from being as easy to make as it is to drink, with the name itself conjuring onomatopoeic refreshment and visions of leisurely days in sunny locales.

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Imbibe Magazine

AUGUST 2, 2024

Sometimes a beverage becomes so synonymous with a place that it adopts the geographic moniker as a description of style. Such is the case in New Orleans, where the use of roasted chicory root helped to stretch the coffee supply during Civil War blockades. However, the rich, bold flavor proved popular. Today, a New Orleans–style coffee is essentially shorthand for coffee brewed with chicory, such as you would find at the historic Cafe de Monde , alongside a plate of beignets dusted in snow drifts

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Imbibe Magazine

JULY 31, 2024

During the height of summer, when iced drinks just aren’t enough to cut through the heat, up the chill factor by turning your favorite libations into boozy popsicles. Here are a few of our favorites to pass around at backyard parties or to relax with poolside. Cocoa Blast Pops The rich flavors of chocolate and coconut are blended with bourbon and a tart kick of cherries for a creamy and decadent treat.

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Gin Tequila Rum 246

Imbibe Magazine

JULY 29, 2024

Grand Marnier is unapologetically Parisian, but what does that mean when expanded to the rest of the world? Discover the first episode of The Grand Encounter: Behind the Bar featuring Carina Soto Velasquez and Hugo Togni from Bar Pompette in Toronto, as they discuss how Paris influences the world in the hospitality industry and how Togni brings his experience as a French bartender to a foreign country.

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Imbibe Magazine

JULY 29, 2024

It’s a steamy afternoon in Jalisco’s Valle de Tequila when I pull up to Cantaritos El Güero in the village of Amatitlán. I had spent the morning in the agave fields of a local palenque , watching the jimadores at work. I even tried my hand at wielding a coa —a sharp, flat hoe used to cut the spines from agave plants. After such physically demanding, sweaty work, the time seemed right for liquid refreshment.

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Imbibe Magazine

JULY 26, 2024

Right about the time July crests and begins descending into August, summer’s novelty starts to wear off. Sure, I’m still delighted each morning to step outside in shorts and a linen shirt, feeling the mix of sunny warmth and ideally a cooling breeze on my skin. But summer gets serious right about now, requiring the heavy hitters of refreshment to be broken out for service.

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Gin 233

Imbibe Magazine

JULY 25, 2024

With Tales of the Cocktail in full swing in New Orleans comes the announcement of the winners for the 2024 New Orleans Spirits Competition’s Spirits of the Year and Distillery of the Year. Now in its third year, this competition spotlights world-class distillers and their spirits to the global beverage community. The 2024 winners have been announced following an extensive series of blind tastings from a judging panel of esteemed bartenders, distillers, and writers, including Imbibe editor

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Imbibe Magazine

JULY 24, 2024

Welcome to On the Menu, where we explore what makes a bar’s menu unique, intriguing, and all-around delicious. When Grand Army opened in Brooklyn in 2015, the aim was to be a welcoming neighborhood bar that simply felt like an extension of a friend’s living room. That is, if your friends regularly shuck raw oysters and serve a cheeky lineup of well-made cocktails.

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Imbibe Magazine

JULY 23, 2024

As the summer Olympics descend on Paris, and 15 million projected visitors with it, all eyes will be on the City of Light. For those visiting, there’s no time to waste when savoring the city’s meritorious drinks scene. And who better to point you in the right direction than those leading the charge on Paris’ increasingly notable cocktail culture?

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Imbibe Magazine

JULY 22, 2024

Indicative of the sheer popularity of the Paloma cocktail , sparkling grapefruit has become nearly as essential a mixer as club soda. Fortunately, a bevy of brands offer high-quality versions that pack the bittersweet punch of the citrus with a flavor and fizz that stand up in mixed drinks. Because what says summer more than a little sweet, a little tart, and a little sparkle?

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Imbibe Magazine

JULY 19, 2024

It takes very little persuasion for me to sample a new coffee product. I am a devout, daily coffee drinker, and I find the innovative arc of instant coffee to be particularly fascinating. Launched earlier this year, Kloo is a craft coffee concentrate formulated by roaster and Q-grader Mariella Cho and her daughter Claudia Snoh, with the aim to make single-origin coffees ready to prepare—hot or cold—instantly.

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Alcohol 130

Imbibe Magazine

JULY 17, 2024

If you’ve ever run an internet search for a cocktail recipe, there’s a good chance you’ve come across one from The Educated Barfly. What started as a YouTube series from actor-turned-bartender Leandro DiMonriva on the history and craft behind classic cocktails has transformed into an ever-expanding encyclopedia of bartending expertise. Since publishing his first video in 2017 (on the quintessential Gimlet , of course), DiMonriva’s passion for cocktail culture and scholarship have helped turn The

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Imbibe Magazine

JULY 14, 2024

The bracing combination of blanco tequila, fresh lime, and Topo Chico has sated West Texas ranchers and the people who drink with them for generations. In recent years, the refresher gained national prominence and inspired inventive riffs at bars and restaurants across the country. From green tea infusions to chili-spiked sotol variations, here are three next-gen Ranch Waters to take for a spin.

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Imbibe Magazine

JULY 12, 2024

Learning about wine is also an excellent way to learn about geography. The primary motivating factor is that at the end of your lesson, there is something delicious in your glass. Case in point: this Wairau River Pinot Gris from Marlborough, New Zealand. With a commercial industry that only really began in the 1970s, the wines of New Zealand still only represent about 1 percent of the global market.

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Imbibe Magazine

JULY 10, 2024

“It’s very community-driven here,” Francesca Galarus says of her Philadelphia neighborhood, Fishtown. Formerly an industrial outpost, the narrow streets west of the Delaware River have independent bars and restaurants, live music venues, and other small businesses run by residents like Galarus and her partner, Nicholas Ducos, who co-own the newly opened urban winery, Mural City Cellars (MCC).

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