Category: trips

  • Bars in Japan: Whisky Bars

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    On my five-day visit to Japan with Suntory whiskies I hit over 20 bars. I think the best way to talk about them will be in groups. First up: Whisky Bars. The difference between the various styles of bars is subtle and I'm defining them as I see them. I'll be describing whisky bars, cocktail…

  • A Visit to the Yamazaki Distillery in Japan

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    Yesterday I wrote about visiting the Hakushu distillery in Japan. Today I'll write about Suntory's other single-malt distillery, Yamazaki. It is located between Kyoto and Osaka, at the convergence of several rivers. I believe they said the distillery welcomes 100,000 visitors each year.  (Mount Fuji as seen from the train to Kyoto.) The Yamazaki distillery…

  • A Visit to the Hakushu Distillery in Japan

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    I visited the Hakushu distillery owned by Suntory, located in the Yamanashi prefecture, about two hours by train from Tokyo in Japan. There is a new Hakushu single malt whisky on the US market.  As I mentioned in a previous post, Hakushu was built in 1973 and is located at a high elevation – 700 meters…

  • A Visit to the Cointreau Distillery in Angers, France

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    This October I visited the Cointreau distillery in Angers, France. Angers is located southwest of Paris, about equidistant from Paris and Bordeaux.  I hadn't realized, but Cointreau was not originally famous for orange liqueur, but for Guignolet, a cherry liqueur. Cherries were brought the region by King Rene', who lived at the Chateau D'Angers. We…

  • A Trip to Italy with Pallini Limoncello

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    I am one lucky son-of-a-gun. This September I visited Rome and the Amalfi Coast with Pallini Limoncello. Though we began the trip in Rome and went to the Amalfi Coast later, I'll explain the process of making limoncello in the proper order.  The Lemons of the Amalfi Coast The lemons for Pallini are sfusato ("elongated") lemons,…

  • A Trip to Sweden with Purity Vodka

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    This summer I went to Sweden (twice this year!) with Purity vodka. Purity is located not far from Malmo, across the water from Copenhagen, in a building on the estate of Ellinge Castle. Now, Ellinge doesn't look like a typical castle, but there has been one in some form here since the early 14th century…

  • Hunting Bison in Poland with ZU Vodka

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    No bison were harmed in the writing of this blog post. This summer I flew to Warsaw with ZU vodka, known in the rest of the world as Zubrowka. Zubrowka is bison grass vodka; vodka flavored with grass. The stuff tastes like caramel and jasmine and hay, and makes apple juice taste like apple pie.…

  • An Amusingly Disgusting Way to Drink Vodka in Sweden

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    While I was in Sweden with Karlsson's Gold vodka, we learned a traditional way to drink vodka. It is called Kaffegök, and it is gross. You take a cup and put a coin in the bottom. Then you fill it with coffee until you can't see the coin anymore. Then you add vodka until you…

  • Karlsson’s Vodka: It’s In The Blend

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    Months ago I started to talk about my trip to Sweden with Karlsson's vodka. I only covered how to pick potatoes so far. The potatoes for this vodka all come from Cape Bjare in Sweden.To get there, we drove from Copenhagen, over the relatively new bridge that connects Denmark to Sweden with Malmo on the…

  • How to Pick Potatoes

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    Earlier this month I visited Cape Bjare, Sweden to learn about Karlsson's Vodka. Karlsson's is made from a blend of seven heiroom "virgin new" potatoes. This means that the skin hasn't fully developed into the brown stuff we recognize here in the States.  In Sweden, restaurants serve these little tiny potatoes as a delicacy (I…