The Spirit World

The week we spent in New Orleans last month was our first full week away from our distillery since we opened in 2005. Needless to say, there was tons of catchup to do once we got back from Tales of the Cocktail, and we were exhausted (in a good way). Now that I’m finally back […]

The first time I met Rob Thomas of the band Matchbox Twenty, I wanted to punch him in the face. I was not yet 20 at the time, which means he was something like 26 or 27. That second single was all over both of the town’s two megawatt alterna-rock stations, and I just didn’t […]

The October issue of Food & Wine reports on a growing trend - cocktails made with wine. Actually, it’s a returning trend as in the early 1900s many cocktails included fortified wines and we are now coming back around to that, if in a slightly different manner. Today’s wine cocktails are commonly made […]

Most bars seem to have a dusty bottle of “Pimm’s No. 1” sitting on their shelf someplace, but rarely do I see any of them actually use it here in the US. One problem, is that there are very few drinks that use it, the Pimm’s Cup however is not only the most common, but […]

It has been hot here in the Northwest - not as hot as some areas of the country but very hot for those of us with webbed feet!
On Monday I had a little gathering at my house and found the perfect beverage to serve. Light and refreshing, and best when prepared several hours […]

I was first drawn to Lumière when the bar manager, Jaime, left a comment on a post back in May. I took a look at his site and the Lumière site and decided this was a place I really should have been before! I’d been planning to get to Vancouver for a weekend so I […]

I mentioned this little book, Sangria: Fun and Festive Recipes, in this last week’s Happy Hour at Home post.
It is such a great book, I wanted to share a bit more about it with you. First, sangria is a perfect party beverage. It generally is best if made ahead of […]