Not quite Antigua, but for late March in Seattle, it could have been much worse. On days like these–when I can leave the Gore-Tex at home and stroll down the street in a short-sleeve shirt, looking out at the torn-paper edge of the snowcapped Olympic Range beneath a cloudless sky–summer feels so close that I’m… Continue Reading
Category Archives: Rum
Demerara Dry Float
For Christmas, my sister-in-law expanded my cocktail library by giving me two books I’d had on my list for quite a while: Grog Log and Intoxica!, both by Jeff “Beachbum” Berry. For the uninitiated, Berry is the reigning king of tiki drinks, with an approach to researching the history of these drinks as rigorous as… Continue Reading
Hot and Cold
If you were to rank Yuletide peculiarities of otherwise reasonable people on some sort of oddness scale, the seasonal demand for rich, eggy, booze-laden beverages is situated several points below the desire to wear a reindeer sweater adorned with shiny, jingly things, and the genuine conviction that anybody honestly wants a scented candle as a… Continue Reading
Stone Fence
Even though it’s still only mid-November, it feels like autumn is in its final days in Seattle. Last week’s wind storms blew most of the yellowed leaves from the maple in front of our house, so now a glance out the living room window finds a scraggle of bare branches destined to remain our primary… Continue Reading
Help Wanted
As I’ve mentioned before, I’m not much of an innovator when it comes to creating cocktails. My collection of drink manuals is rapidly taking over my kitchen, and with these thousands of recipes to choose from, rarely do I venture into the unknown. But sometimes, when I have a particular ingredient or a particular flavor… Continue Reading
