THE QUAFF: Jalapeño Green Tea Mojitos Edition

Earlier this week, I brought you tales of classic mojitos. Now I come to you with a variation on the theme. Introducing the jalapeño green tea mojito, a cocktail invented by my friend Sly and me and patterned after the wonderful green tea mojito, which was also featured on this here blog (with me in …

THE QUAFF: Classic Mojito Edition

A week ago, I attended a lovely Memorial Day BBQ at my friend’s house, and when I asked if I could bring anything, the hostess suggested that I bring some hard alcohol for summer cocktails. This immediately got my brain working: I knew I had mint in my fridge… and mint makes me think of …

Berry Breakthroughs on Drago Centro’s Summer Cocktail Menu

A few months ago, I raved about the totally awesome spring cocktails at Drago Centro, the esteemed Italian eatery in Downtown Los Angeles. Well, the seasons have changed, and so have the libations. Gone are mixologist Jaymee Mandeville’s fanciful uses of dill and honeycomb and kumquat. In their place are a new slate of drinks, …

Drago Centro Serves Up Amazing Cocktail Menu (and Bar Food Too)

The revival of Downtown Los Angeles continues, particularly as it pertains to great bars and mixology. Making a mark of its own is Drago Centro, which unveiled its Spring cocktail menu a few weeks ago with a media-comped tasting session at its bar. When I received the invite for this event, my eyes nearly fell …

Make Your Own Shamrock Shake!

Crazy as it might sound, I’d never tasted one of McDonald’s Shamrock Shakes prior to last year. I can’t say that I was totally won over by it, but I know many people have been, and now comes this glorious and probably obvious news: you can make a Shamrock Shake at home! According to Kelsey …

THE QUAFF: Ginger Cilantro Mule Edition

Last week, my dearest friend Meeshie visited me here in Los Angeles, and she absolutely insisted that we make a cocktail (I was not very hard to persuade). I handed her my favorite cocktail book, Organic, Shaken and Stirred by Paul Abercrombie and told her to pick out a recipe. After some casual browsing, Meeshie …

THE QUAFF: Ginger Cocktail Showdown

Recently, I purchased the book Left Coast Libations, which proudly culls cocktail recipes from a wide swath of mixologists in Los Angeles (way too under-represented), San Francisco, Portland, Seattle, and Vancouver. I absolutely loved the concept of the book — finally, I could emulate cocktails from The Roger Room here in LA or Bourbon and …

Trip to Bridlewood Estate Winery Predictably Leads to Beautiful Scenery, Mild Drunkenness

This past weekend, the good people from Bridlewood Estate Winery shuttled a variety of bloggers and media types up to Santa Ynez, CA to enjoy wine, art, and tranquility. I was one of the lucky ones who nabbed a seat on the mini-coach (thanks to Esi at Dishing Up Delights), which meant that I spent …

THE QUAFF: Fun with Veev Açaí Spirit!

Recently I received a complimentary bottle of VeeV Açaí Spirit, which meant I had to face one of my biggest fears: berries. For the uninitiated, I have something neurologically wrong wherein I detest the thing that millions — perhaps BILLIONS — of people worldwide love. I speak, of course, of the berry. I hate almost …