My latest for AlcoholProfessor.com is the story of how the scientific quest to produce artificial quinine led to the invention of chemotherapy. It’s a cool story IMO. Read it here.
Blog
-
How the Quest for Quinine Led to the Creation of Chemotherapy
-
Did the Original Cocktail Sauce Contain Angostura Bitters?
I am researching Prohibition and a search for “cocktails” in the San Francisco Chronicle turned up a story from 1920 on the origin of the “oyster cocktail” that I think is what today we call “cocktail sauce” that is used more on the shrimp cocktail. (I am a 30+ year vegetarian so I could be wrong it though!)
I just noted the part about Angostura Bitters and ketchup – see the second image. If you give that recipe a try… let me know how it goes.
-
Thanksgiving Week Bonus SF Bar Tours
I lead San Francisco Bar & Cocktail History Walking Tours on Saturdays, but not everyone can carve out the middle of a Saturday afternoon. So just for Thanksgiving Week, I added two additional tours:
Wednesday November 26, 2025: 5PM after-work tour
Friday November 28, 2025: 2:30 PM Black Friday tour
-
A Good Bar Needs Good Ice
I gave some quotes about ice for a story on the website Shortlist. They also interviewed other people who are correct in saying that better ice makes a better drink, and that attention to quality of ice signifies attention to quality of cocktails.
I have the final quote in the story, in response to the reporter’s question about the cost of fancy ice increasing the cost of cocktails:“Is it an extra cost? Yes. But really, it’s hard as a consumer to assess the individual costs of each ingredient in a cocktail. A bar could lower the price by serving it in a paper cup, too, but then it wouldn’t feel special. And that’s what this creativity with ice is about, too”.
As always, you can learn more about The Ice Book here. -
November and December 2025 Drink Books
Below are new cocktails and spirits books coming out in the last months of 2025. To see all the drink books that have come out in 2025, click on over to this post.
- The Invention of Rum: Creating the Quintessential Atlantic Commodity
- Cocktails Illustrated: 400+ Recipes for the Home Bartender, from Spirit Forward to Zero Proof
- Savour: A guide to tasting and exploring whiskies of the world
- Cosmic Cocktails: Master the Mixology of the Zodiac
- Cocktails for the Apocalypse: Celebratory Libations for the End of the World
- In Session: Low-Proof Cocktails for High-Quality Occasions
- Mocktail Hour: 70 Sips for Anytime Delights and Hangover-Free Nights
- The Mocktail Hour: Deliciously different zero-proof drinks for the sober-curious
- Diablo: Drinks, Potions & Elixirs: Cocktails and Provisions from Sanctuary
- Celebration Cocktails: Outstanding Batch Cocktails and Individual Drinks for Holidays, Parties, Birthdays, Weddings, and Other Festive Occasions
- Sex and the City Cocktails: Fall in Love with 60 Fabulous (and Official) Cocktail Recipes Inspired by the Show
- Romantasy Cocktails: 60 Spicy and Sweet Cocktails to Fall For
- Everyday Elixirs: Mocktails, Matchas, and Seasonal Drinks to Inspire Wellness
- Bookshop
- Amazon
-
Camper English on the Curious Bartender Podcast
I was a guest on Tristan Stephenson’s The Curious Bartender Podcast last week, talking for nearly two hours about.. a lot of stuff.
You can find the podcast on your favorite service from The Curious Bartender website, or to go directly to the YouTube video of it click here.
-
From Blocks to Rocks: How Fancy Ice Cubes Get Made
In my latest story for Food & Wine, I tell how those big clear ice cubes you find in cocktail bars are made. They don’t just pop out of a machine – every big clear cube you’ve had has been hand-harvested or hand-cut.
Check out the story at this link.
-
David Wondrich & Me Nov 12 in SF
Cocktail historian David Wondrich’s latest book is the terrific Comic Book History of the Cocktail.
He’ll be in SF on Nov 12, in conversation with me at Omnivore Books on Food. Here are the details of the event. It’s free to attend.
If you haven’t picked up a copy of the book yet, order one from Omnivore, and join us either way.
-
Ginger’s in San Francisco is Closing
I got wind that Ginger’s, a gay bar in downtown San Francisco, was closing suddenly. The truth may be that there is still a chance to save it if they find the right person to run it, but honestly the job sounds nearly impossible.
Bars named Ginger’s have a long history in San Francisco dating to 1978. I felt that the closing of the last one needed to be memorialized. So I pitched a story and wrote the whole thing in one day – some if it from the waiting room of my doctor’s office.
Hopefully I did it justice – read it at this link.
-
A Review of The Eighth Rule, Steph Curry’s Cocktail Bar in San Francisco
The new Bourbon Steak by Michael Mina in the St. Francis hotel in San Francisco’s Union Square is a huge deal. Attached to it is a smaller bourbon lounge, created in partnership with Warriors’ basketball superstar Stephen Curry.
For my first story for SFGate.com (a website that was formerly the website of the SF Chronicle but is now a separate newsroom), I wrote up a review of it.
Keep in mind that writers don’t get to choose the headlines – the legal status is a small part of the story, not the whole thing.
agave alcademics alcohol Angostura bartenders bitters bodega bourbon bowmore Campari Camper English chartreuse clear clear ice cocktail cocktail powder cocktails cognac colored ice curacao dehydrated dehydrated liqueurs dehydration directional freezing distillery distillery tour distillery visit france freezing objects in ice gin hakushu harvest history how to make clear ice ice ice balls ice carving ice cubes ice experiments jerez liqueur makepage making clear ice mexico midori orange orange liqueur pisco potato powder production recipe Recipes rum san francisco scotch scotch whisky sherry spain spirits sugar sugarcane sweden tales of the cocktail tequila tour triple sec visit vodka whiskey whisky