Author: Camper English

By me, in Friday’s SF Chronicle: For the past few years, cocktail consultant Jacques Bezuidenhout has been sneaking maple syrup into the drinks he invents for the Starlight Room and special events, and perhaps it’s finally caught on, because now we see it on several menus about town. At Bar Drake, downstairs from the Starlight…

Okay, last post about WhiskyFest until I go there: Here is the mention of the event in Friday’s SF Chronicle: Lessons in whisky Malt Advocate magazine’s WhiskyFest, which has been running annually for years in New York and Chicago, makes its debut in San Francisco on Tuesday. It’s a one-stop whisk(e)y workshop, with lectures, tastings…

Here’s my big fat lost ingredients cover story in today’s SF Chronicle Wine Section. Resurrecting spirits Camper English, Special to The Chronicle Friday, October 19, 2007 Last year, Erik Ellestad, a cocktail aficionado and systems administrator at UCSF, decided to drink his way through a classic recipe book. Though he initially considered “The Old Waldorf…

I’m back from Poland and jet lagged as all get-out. I was there and in Paris on a press trip for Chopin vodka. While I’ll save many of the details for a later exposition on the trip and for stories I need to write, I’ll hit the highlights of the distillery tour. We were there…

By me, in today’s SF Chronicle: Oct. 13 is the first Independent Spirits Fest, a big tasting event focused on small producers. Unlike most single-topic spirits bonanzas, this one has a bit of everything: cachaca, single-malt Scotch, liqueurs, flavored vodka, eau de vie, bourbon and more. Most of the Bay Area-based distillers (Charbay, Anchor, St.…

By me, in today’s SF Chronicle: While most wineries sponsor genteel sports like croquet and polo, Roshambo stages a battle of fists. At high noon this Saturday, the fifth annual RockPaperScissors Championship gets under way. Competitors, who must register in advance ($20 at roshambowinery.com), come dressed for battle in opponent-concentration-breaking costumes like blue wigs and…

Here’s today’s story in the SF Chronicle on the state of cachaca: A wave of artisan cachaca hits local bars Camper English, Special to The Chronicle Friday, October 5, 2007 Nipping at the mojito’s heels, the caipirinha is poised to become the next Latin cocktail of the moment. With just three ingredients – a muddled…

A fun list on Kottke.org of (mostly bad) martinis, including Franklin-tini (for Ben Franklin’s 300th birthday) Mex-tini (orange vodka + tequila) Sex-tini (Asian sex tonic + x-rated vodka) Flu-tini (vodka + cold medicine) Red Lobster Butter-Tini (butterscotch schnapps + half and half + Bailey’s) Bikini-tini (low calorie) K-tini (sauerkraut) Red Hot Santa-tini (chili peppers +…

In Eric Felten’s most recent Wall Street Journal article, he takes on bad, and badly-named drinks. He goes into one particular drink but takes an extra sentence to describe the name. Popular in Australia, it seems, is a shooter made of Baileys and butterscotch liqueur. The drink’s elaborate and unprintable title vividly describes a “cowboy”…

In a very surprising move, classic Italian restaurant Kuleto’s in SF’s Union Square launched the city’s first all-organic cocktail menu. By me, in today’s SF Chronicle: What is likely San Francisco’s first all-organic cocktail menu popped up in a very unlikely place – Kuleto’s, the Italian restaurant in Union Square. The seven drinks on the…