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How the Burger Became An American Bar Icon
No one can agree on the identity of the first person to take a ground beef patty, fry it up and stick it between two pieces of bread. Like the discovery of the DNA double helix or the invention of the...
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Meet Underberg’s Amazonian Sister: Brasilberg
On a recent annual visit to my in-laws’ in Volta Redonda, a few hours outside of Rio de Janeiro, I found myself at one of the many mercados in town, browsing through bizarre Four Loko knock-offs and...
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The Siren Song of the Jell-O Shot
My first experience with a Jell-O shot was, I believe, fairly typical: My body rebelled. It was the early days of college, and the roller-coaster ride of cheap booze and bad decisions lay mainly in...
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Creatures from the Lagoon: The Return of Venetian Wine
Visitors to Italy know you can hardly chuck a euro without hitting a grape vine. Indeed, in a land where wine is regarded both as sacrament and daily sustenance, vineyards are everywhere—from the...
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Why We Still Worship Hemingway at His Bars
Inevitably, a conversation about Hemingway will trickle into a conversation about drinking. The guy wrote and drank a lot—though he didn’t drink while he wrote—and he’s been immortalized for both with...
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Like Barflies to a Flame: The Allure of Neon
When Toby Cecchini and Joel Tompkins took over and reopened Brooklyn’s Long Island Bar in 2013, they reinstalled the watering hole’s original vintage neon sign—and caused a small commotion in Cobble...
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15 of the Best Bar Jukeboxes in America
The greatest scourge to descend on 21st-century bar culture hasn’t been odiously flavored vodkas or hookup apps (though fie to them both), but increasing passivity about the soundtrack for these heady...
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House Rules: The Ultimate Guide to Kings
There are people—the type of people who use “summer” as a verb—who say horse racing is the sport of kings. The sport called Kings, meanwhile, has about as much in common with royalty as John Goodman in...
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How Booze Became the Life and Death of Jazz
A man of boundless talent and bottomless appetite, alto saxophonist Charlie Parker knew his way around a bottle. In the 1940s and early ‘50s, Parker would nurse his withdrawals with whole-bottle...
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Meet the Secret Barroom Handshake That Is the “Challenge Coin”
As Officer Joseph Cooney’s ears register the gentle rapping of metal on wood, he begins patting himself down in search of a concealed weapon: a small disc, about the size of a silver dollar, embossed...
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Who Orders a Pousse Café, Anyway?
When a friend suggested on a recent night out that we order Pousse Cafés—a drink generally consisting of three to seven Technicolor liqueurs layered like a rainbow cookie—I had no choice but to demur....
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Why Is the Smithsonian Collecting 50 Years’ Worth of Beer Artifacts?
Earlier this month, the Smithsonian National Museum of American History announced that it was embarking on an epic three-year beer project, documenting American brewing history from roughly 1960 to...
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How the Bloody Mary Lost Its Mind
At some point over the last dozen or so years, the Bloody Mary lost its mind. Across the country, you can now find Bloody Marys that are garnished with beef sliders, lamb sliders, fries, pickles,...
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The Life and Death of the Martini Glass
There are few symbols in the drink world more powerful, more recognizable or more American than the Martini glass. An angular monument to Deco design, its characteristic V-shaped bowl and fine stem...
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Why One Spirit Can Have Many Different ABVs
Recently, I found myself sitting in the tasting lab at the Mount Gay distillery tucked away in the canefields of St. Lucy, Barbados, getting schooled in rum-making by master blender Allen Smith. In a...
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What Would You Pay for a True Taste of Cocktail History?
On cocktail menus across the country and overseas, drinks are popping up that appear to have fallen through a hole in time. At Canon in Seattle, you can order a Champs-Élysées made with Courvoisier and...
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A Match Made in Paradise: The Story of Chinese-Tiki
Even if you’ve never heard of Hop Louie, there’s a good chance you’ve seen pictures of it. The restaurant is located inside one of the most iconic buildings in Los Angeles’ Chinatown, a baroque,...
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America’s Oldest Rye Whiskey Is Back from Extinction
Old Monongahela is back. This is thrilling news for whiskey lovers, but it also raises a reasonable question: What the hell is Old Monongahela? The short answer: Monongahela (MO-non-gah-HEEL-a) is a...
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The Surprising History of the Swim-Up Bar
The swim-up bar is pretty much clickbait incarnate. Just ask your browser: “Coolest Swim-Up Bars in the World” (Travel + Leisure) “18 Resorts and Hotels With the Most Amazing Swim-Up Bars” (Trips to...
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The Dirty Martini Cleans Up Its Act
It’s hard to imagine a drink that is equally as loathed and enduring as the Dirty Martini. “The classic Martini is so beautifully balanced,” says David Wondrich, cocktail historian and author of...
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