Month: July 2012
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Blue Cocktails on Details.com
I attended an awesome seminar on blue drinks at Tales of the Cocktail this weekend, lead by Sebastian Reaburn, Jacob Briars, and Phil Duff. Then I wrote a piece about it for Details.com, the website of Details magazine. It's my first story for the website. I learned a lot more in the seminar than is in…
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Another Way to Make Clear Ice at Home
I am honored to have as Alcademics readers people who are just as huge cocktail nerds as I am. Many take on projects that I run out of time to do, pass along better information to me, or fill me in on the science I'm missing. Kevin Liu, who has recently started the blog Craft…
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Heaven Hill Distillery Visit
This spring I visited 8 American whiskey distilleries, including Heaven Hill. Heaven Hill makes whisky brands Evan Williams (the second largest bourbon after Jim Beam), Elijah Craig, Bernheim Wheat Whiskey, Old Fitzgerald, Rittenhouse Rye, and Georgia Moon Corn Whiskey, plus they make and/or own Burnett's vodka, Hypnotiq, Lunazul tequila, and many other brands. They are…
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Noilly Prat Vermouth: The Differences Between Original Dry, Rouge, and Ambre
In yesterday's post I discussed how Noilly Prat vermouth is made, as learned on my visit to the vermoutherie in Marseillan, France. Today I want to talk about the differences between the types of vermouth they make. In most parts of the world, Original Dry is the only Noilly Prat. The Rouge is primarily for the…
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Making Vermouth: A Trip to Noilly Prat in Marseillan, France
Though vermouth as an essential ingredient in cocktails, I never gave much though to its production, figuring it was just a simple infusion of herbs in fortified wine. It turns out there is a lot more to it than that. This June I visited Marseillan, France, the home of Noilly Prat vermouth. There, it is…
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A Sneak Peak at Jim Beam’s New Visitors’ Center
I previously visited the Jim Beam distillery in Kentucky and got a great in-depth tour of the facilities (read about it here), but until recently regular tourists have only had a pretty mediocre visitor's experience. They didn't get to see the actual distillery as it's a very industrial workplace. Now they're greatly expanding the visitors'…
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Maker’s Mark Distillery Visit 2012
This spring I visited the Maker's Mark distillery, along with seven other American whiskey distilleries in Kentucky and Tennessee. I had previously been to Maker's Mark and wrote about my visit here. As you'll read, I learned a lot of different stuff on this trip. Maker's Mark uses a mashbill of 70% corn, 16% soft…