If you’ve lived around here for more than a few years, you’re probably familiar with a little drink called the Jamaican Ten-Speed. Odds are good that your favorite bartender will whip up one for you in the blink of an eye. Then you go on vacation in the Caribbean. A…
Welcome to Vine Geeks, where Brian Reeder and Pavle Milic of AZ Wine Merchants take the drinking game quite seriously. Pay attention — you might just learn something. One of the consistent columns I’ll be writing as the resident ‘vine geek’ will be about different wine regions around the state,…
The Spot: Cork, 4991 S. Alma School Road, Suite 1, Chandler 480-883-3773. corkrestaurant.net Hours: 5 to 6:30 p.m. Tuesday through Friday The Details: There’s nothing average about the four-star restaurant’s new happy hour. It’s an extensive, mouthwatering menu unto itself, beginning with $5 snacks like the duck fat French fries…
Beer: Noche Dulce Brewery: Borderlands Brewing Co. Style: American porter ABV: 7.1 percent There’s an old joke that says the best thing to ever come out of Tucson is the I-10. But, while hilarious, it’s only mostly true. The craft beer revolution is sweeping over Tucson in a big way,…
Two weeks ago, a great deal of people put on extravagant hats, got together to watch a horse race, and proceeded to get inebriated on mint juleps. Since the second leg of the Triple Crown is tomorrow, it’s a good reason to throw another get-together in case you didn’t get…
Welcome to Vine Geeks, where Brian Reeder and Pavle Milic of AZ Wine Merchants take the drinking game quite seriously. Pay attention — you might just learn something. Today, Brian heads over to Citizen Public House to uncork the secrets of the restaurant wine list. In all likelihood, a restaurant…
The Spot: Fired Up Grill, 7131 W. Ray Road, Suite 45, Chandler, AZ 85226. (480) 940-4040. firedupgrill.com The Hours: 3 to 7 p.m. Every Day The Details: All 15 appetizers are half off, from the popular Mussels Marinara (regularly $9.99) to the classic Assorted Cheese Board ($11.99). Drinks are all…
Beer: Wookey Jack Brewery: Firestone Walker Brewing Co. Style: Black IPA ABV: 8.3 percent Beer names and the stories that inspired them fascinate me. Take Firestone Walker’s beers, for example. Was Sticky Monkey named after a pet Capuchin that got into the glue? Did they designate Good Foot as such…
Earlier this spring, we launched Vine Geeks — in which AZ Wine Merchants’ Brian Reeder and Pavle Milic share advice, news and a little levity from the world of wine. Today, we bring you Romancing the Grape. In this occasional series, Milic will spill about his current mission to learn…
A lot gets said about what liquors you need to start a good home bar. Our own Zachary Fowle got a good answer from an excellent local bartender. But there’s something else that’s often neglected: You need to have something to hold your drinks. Sure, you can use that motley…
Vine Geek Brian Reeder co-owns AZ Wine Merchants in Scottsdale. Wine is subjective. Every wine is different. It all depends on your taste. Price doesn’t equal quality. It’s all the same anyway. Just drink what you like. Blah. Blah. Blah. We’ve all heard the nomenclatures. The bullshit lines that every…
Seems like Arizona’s brewers are finally getting some of the respect they deserve. At this year’s World Beer Cup — the largest commercial international beer competition on Earth with 799 brewery entrants from 54 countries — Tempe’s own Four Peaks Brewing Co. took home two gold medals and a bronze…
The Spot: Mabel’s on Main, 7018 East Main Street, Scottsdale. 480-889-5580. mabelsonmain.com The Hours: 5 to 9 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday The Details: The Mabel’s happy hour keeps it simple: One menu flips from regular prices straight into “Matinee” prices, which are around 50% off. These discounts include both drinks and…
Beer: Imperial Russian Stout Brewery: Stone Brewing Co. Style: Russian imperial stout ABV: 10.5 percent Around this time of year, long days of sun and hot weather inspire drinkers to reach for refreshing, quaffable beers, so most breweries choose the summer season to release their lighter, low-ABV brews. Not Stone…
Perchance I was a bit mean last week with the Americano. It really is a nice drink . . . once you get to know the thing. At work, it was easy to tell who’d experienced Campari’s unique astringent bitterness for the first time: Those people’s eyebrows did funny things…
On Tuesday, you met Brian Reeder, co-owner of AZ Wine Merchants and one of our new wine columnists. Today, his story continues. When we left off, Pavle Milic (in the photo above, from left, it’s Reeder and Milic) had opened a little restaurant in Scottsdale and Brian had decided resort…
In 2009, National Beer Examiner writer and Brewers Association President Charlie Papazian created the BeerCity USA poll. Designed to judge the strength of a city’s beer community, the online poll drew thousands of voters to throw their support behind their hometowns and the brew culture therein. As you can imagine,…
Editor’s note: Today, we’ll introduce you to Brian Reeder of AZ Wine Merchants, our new wine columnist and one of our Vine Geeks. Come back tomorrow for the second part of our introduction. Life has a funny way of making you think you know what you’re doing with it. I…
The Spot: San Tan Brewing Company, 8 S. San Marcos Place, Chandler. 480-917-8700. www.santanbrewing.com Hours: 2 to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday; Reverse Happy Hour is 9 p.m. to midnight Sunday through Thursday Details: They keep it simple: All San Tan pints are $3.75 each, and everything behind the bar…
Beer: Tart Lychee Brewery: New Belgium Brewing Co. Style: American Wild Ale ABV: 7.5 percent To get to know many of New Belgium’s sour ales, you must first acquaint yourself with Oscar and Felix. An odd couple of beers (see what I did there?), these two act as the base…
Summer is upon the Phoenix area once again. Sure, the official start of summer is a couple of months away, but hearing people start every conversation with “Damn, it’s hot!” is our equivalent of the first robin of spring. It means different things to different people. For me, it means…
Beer: Mr. Pineapple Wheat Brewery: SanTan Brewing Co. Style: Fruit wheat beer ABV: 5 percent Last week, I bought a pineapple. It was an impulse buy, driven in part by its alien appearance and by the realization that I rarely eat the fruit. I bet I can make some interesting…
