The only think better than going to a pool party is hosting a pool party. Attitudes at a pool party are a lot more relaxed than at a formal cocktail party. From a hosting standpoint, they’re great because the drinks are much lower maintenance. Instead of swizzling pitcher after pitcher…
It seems the past week in Phoenix craft cocktailing has been consumed with word of Ross Simon’s new bar, Bitter & Twisted. We don’t see that changing anytime soon, either. The venture, largely a labor of love and determination, is about 10 years in the making. The cocktail menu is…
The Spot: Naya Mediterranean Cuisine 8877 N. Scottsdale Road 480-355-6600 www.nayaaz.com The Hours: Happy hour is offered from 3 to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday…
Beer: Mexas Ranger Brewery: Mikkeller Style: Spiced Beer ABV: 6.6 percent You may have heard that Mikkeller, renowned Denmarkian gypsy brewer, is making his way to Arizona this week to cook up a beer in collaboration with the best new brewery in the world. Arizona Wilderness has been discussed at…
Pool party season is definitely upon us. My tiki torches are primed and ready to go. All I need now is something delicious to serve my party guests. I could always put out a big ice-filled bucket of beer, but what’s the fun of that when I could make a…
During the past few years, we’ve witnessed the rise of the “celebrity chef,” with myriad television shows glorifying a once-humble profession to the point of rock-stardom. With that glorification come the countless folks who dream of dropping out of the corporate rat race, going to culinary school and becoming the…
Back in the old days of Welcome Diner, if you were looking for a drink, you had your choice of two beers on draft and the ubiquitous hurricane, accompanied by shouting and banging when ordered. Now with Mike Pantoja on board, the Phoenix spot has become as much about its…
The Spot: PURE Sushi Bar 20567 N. Hayden Road 480-355-0999 www.puresushibar.com The Hours: Happy hour is offered from 3 to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday…
Beer: Sock Knocker Brewery: Coronado Brewing Co. Style: Imperial IPA ABV: 8.5 percent In this bottle of Coronado Sock Knocker, there are assembled the world’s four greatest hop varieties, created from the cosmic legends of the universe (and, you know, hop farmers): Amarillo: a hop discovered growing wild in a…
If you take a trip to Chile or Peru, you’ll find that the Pisco Sour is a massively popular drink. It’s so popular in both countries that each has designated it as their official drink. Moreover, both Chile and Peru claim that they are the birthplace of the Pisco Sour…
It’s been a banner week for the Arizona wine scene, with some national and international light shining upon our up and coming wine business. As first reported by the Australian liquor business blog The Shout, Pillsbury Wine Company has reached a preliminary distribution deal with Decante This, a small niche…
It’s not easy to take over management of three bars all of the sudden and it’s even harder to do it when those bars have a reputation for high standards, trendsetting, and constant inventiveness like Citizen Public House, its upstairs speakeasy R+D, and Phoenix’s The Gladly, but Brandon Casey has…
The Spot: ZuZu at Hotel Valley Ho 6850 East Main Street, Scottsdale 480-248-2000 www.cafe-zuzu.com…
In the previous decade, brewers pushed the envelope farther than it had ever gone in terms of alcohol content, barrel-aging and experimental yeast strains — and beer geeks loved them for it. To peruse a list of the top-rated beers in the world was to see a list of the…
For some reason, the misuse of the term “martini” really gets my hackles up. A martini has two or three ingredients: Gin, vermouth, and possibly a drop of orange bitters. Back in the late 1990s, people realized that cocktails were fun to drink, and all of a sudden anything served…
We all like to pat ourselves on the back for shopping at farmers markets, buying organic produce, finding purveyors who care about how their farming practices affect the Earth, etc. I’m one of those people: I buy stuff from farmers markets and celebrate those producers who care about what they…
As a mother and Phoenix’s U.S. Bartenders’ Guild president, Kim Haasarud is used to wrangling and organizing. Her experience in cocktail bars began as a way to supplement her income in the ’90s. Since then, she’s become a well-known player in cocktail scenes from New York to L.A., putting her…
The Spot: American TapHouse 1026 South Gilbert Road, Gilbert 480-214-3440 www.americanth.com…
Beer: Señorita Brewery: Elevation Beer Co. Style: Imperial Porter ABV: 8.4 percent In a speech delivered to thousands of attendees at this year’s Craft Brewers Conference, Paul Gatza told a story about bad beer. It was at a beer festival a few months earlier, the director of the Brewers Association…
The name of the Ward Eight cocktail has some interesting possible connotations. What could the history of the drink entail? Was there a sanitarium wing that treated heavy tipplers who tended to enjoy this particular drink? Did a church ward make a non-alcoholic drink that was later tainted with demon…
I don’t know about you, but I was not ready to see triple digits this past weekend. ‘Tis the season for Phoenicians to bemoan to arrival of the hot summer. The spring here in the Valley was glorious as usual, made even more so by watching the Midwest and Northeast…
I might get hate mail for this one, but I’m just going to say it: Vodka is a waste of my time and a waste of your time. If I’m looking for flavor from a spirit, I’ll look to gin for crisp botanical notes or mezcal for roasted, smoky notes…
