The Chanticleer Society

Yes, I’m still alive.

Apologies for the extended absence, but between a massive glut of work and lazy posting habits (not to mention the death of my camera, which means I’m at text-only publishing in the interim so that’s kind of a problem), I haven’t been around here in a couple of weeks. As we approach the holidays, however, I promise that’ll change — partially because history has shown December to be the busiest month for the blog, readership wise, and also because…well, I have a backlog of stuff to post, and December seems a fine time to do it.

While this backlog includes my coverage of the Martin Miller’s Gin Masters Competition in New York in early November, along with a slew of books and spirits that I have lying around and have been meaning to write about, a more recent item regards something that any regular reader of this site — or any other cocktail blog, for that matter — should be aware of: the launch of The Chanticleer Society.

As any longtime Internet boozehound could attest, the Drinkboy Forum, launched and moderated by Robert Hess, has been an invaluable tool for putting likeminded cocktailians in touch with one another for the better part of a decade. Unfortunately, MSN Groups, which hosts the forum, is eliminating the program in February. While eGullet’s Spirits and Cocktails forum has also been a great online meeting place for some parts of the community, and the recent advent of the Mixoloseum chat room has given cocktail bloggers and similar types a place to go to heckle each other, there hasn’t really been a central place for spirits and cocktail fiends of all stripes to come together, whether they’re bartenders, bloggers, distillers, brand reps, journalists, avid home mixologists or some combination of these. The Chanticleer Society aims to change that.

Created by Robert Hess and named after — well, it involves a chicken reference and some booze; head over to the site for the full story — the Chanticleer Society site is still in its infancy, so things are just starting to roll and the walls need a new coat of paint, but folks are already signing up and starting to look around. So far the membership includes cocktail luminaries such as Dave Wondrich, Jeff Berry, Audrey Saunders and Erik Ellestad, as well as bloggers including Jimmy Patrick and Jay Hepburn. Membership is free and open; just head over, create an account, introduce yourself and then start (or dive into) a conversation.

Check it out here, and I hope to see you over there: The Chanticleer Society