Winners of the 2010 Ultimate Cocktail Challenge Announced

April 27, 2010

~ The winning spirits have been announced for the inaugural Ultimate Cocktail Challenge (UCC), held on April 12-14 at New York’s Astor Center. The competition was presented by Ultimate Beverage Challenge, a New York-based beverage competitions and events company founded by Judging Chairman F. Paul Pacult. Following on the Ultimate Spirits Challenge held earlier this…

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2010 San Francisco World Spirits Competition Winners Announced

April 2, 2010

Celebrating its 10th year, the San Francisco World Spirits Competition gathered 30 judges at the Hotel Nikko in downtown S.F. on March 13 and 14 to evaluate 1024 different spirits from 57 countries. Judging panels were comprised of spirits experts from noted restaurants and hotels, spirits journalists from major national media, spirits buyers for large…

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March 30: Bar Keeper Liquor License Public Hearing

March 29, 2010

Since last year, Bar Keeper has been working towards acquiring a liquor license in order to sell small batch spirits to go with the store’s wonderful vintage barware. After a months-long application process, L.A.’s favorite “head shop for alcohol lovers” is nearing its goal. Last week, Bar Keeper owner Joe Keeper sent an email to…

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Winners of the 2010 Ultimate Spirits Challenge Announced

March 16, 2010

The winners have been announced for the inaugural Ultimate Spirits Challenge, a three-day, four-stage competition that took place at New York’s Astor Center on March 1-3, 2010. The Ultimate Spirits Challenge was presented by Ultimate Beverage Challenge (UBC), founded by F. Paul Pacult, David Talbot, and Sue Woodley. UBC’s mission is to provide both the…

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All the Booze That’s Fit to Print – February 2010

March 1, 2010

~ An occasional roundup of L.A. cocktail culture in various media. Just in time for Super Bowl Sunday, LA Times Magazine featured recipes for four classic tiki cocktails, “reimagined for a new generation.” Love the retro-style artwork, too. On February 11, an LA Times Food article included a profile of Modern Spirits (TRU Vodka, found…

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There's an App for That: BlackBook for the iPhone

January 28, 2010

Now that Steve Jobs has finally unveiled the iPad (aka The Tablet That Launched a Million Tampon Jokes) and the world can collectively breathe again, it’s time to focus on more serious matters. No, I’m not talking about health care or the economy. I refer of course to the never-ending search to find the world’s…

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All the Booze That’s Fit to Print – Fall 2009

December 11, 2009

An occasional roundup of L.A. cocktail culture in various media. LA Times Magazine The monthly Los Angeles Times insert continues its excellent series of articles on the L.A. cocktail scene. Mezcal was the focus in the November issue, which featured an in-depth look at Ron Cooper, the man behind Del Maguey. There are also several…

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When Tequila Meets Art: the 1800 Essential Artists Series

November 3, 2009

November is certainly off to an auspicious start, as the Booze Fairy gifted me yesterday with a bottle of 1800 Silver Tequila, featuring a striking design created by Studio Number One. The bottle is part of the second annual collection of limited-edition 1800 Tequila Essential Artists bottles, a series of 12 bottles that showcases original…

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All the Booze That's Fit to Print – Summer 2009

September 10, 2009

An occasional roundup of L.A. cocktail culture in various media. Besides Los Angeles Magazine’s cover story on L.A.’s Best New Bars and coverage in its annual Best of L.A. issue, L.A. cocktail culture was well represented this summer: The Edison was named “America’s Bartending Mecca” in the cover story for the September/October issue of Mutineer…

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Los Angeles Magazine – Best New Bars 2009

August 26, 2009

The September issue of Los Angeles Magazine has hit the stands, featuring a “Best New Bars” cover story. According to Editor Mary Melton, the article is intended to “herald the return of the bar—not the velvet-rope animal of yore but the chummy neighborhood pubs, crowded wine bars, and fanciful cocktail emporiums that now constitute our…

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