THE QUAFF: A National Margarita Day Celebration of Don Julio!

Today is National Margarita Day, and in honor of the day, I plan to a) have a margarita later, and b) celebrate its most vital component: tequila! I’ve gained a recent appreciation for the notorious spirit, which had previously ranked low on my favorite alcohols. However, thanks to a handy tasting seminar in December courtesy …

THE QUAFF: Cocktail Hour at the Allston Yacht Club

Angelenos might be shocked to learn this, but there’s a yacht club in Echo Park, the otherwise landlocked Eastside neighborhood that’s known for its gentle mix of hipsters and low-income Latinos. Granted, there are no yachts at the yacht club, and the closest thing to a marina is a puddle of water at the Walgreens …

THE QUAFF: Supperclub LA’s Cactus Margarita

Handcrafted cocktails have become de rigeur in Hollywood, and nearly every hip, hot, and trendy club now offers their own nifty concoctions for the masses to consume. Not all libations are created equally though. Thankfully, Supperclub LA has a doozy of a cocktail menu, featuring many creations that have made me very, very happy at …

THE QUAFF: Thai Boxer Edition, Featuring An Epic Feat of Strength

About a week ago, I saw an intriguing cocktail book on sale at Williams-Sonoma. It was called Artisanal Cocktails and written by Scott Beattie, who apparently is a big time mixologist up in the Bay Area. I figured it would be a nice change of pace from Paul Abercrombie’s Organic, Shaken, and Stirred, which I’d …

THE QUAFF: Dark & Stormy Edition

On the occasion of my 32nd birthday last weekend, my crew and I (née The Lametourage, since renamed The VC — as in, The Vicious Circle) decided to take in a viewing of the latest Twilight movie (a.k.a. laugh at the screen). There’s absolutely no way to slog through the vampire saga sober; so clearly, …

THE QUAFF: Sun Gold Zinger Edition

For the past several months, my friend Sly and I have been trying to see the film Winter’s Bone, but thanks to Sly’s unpredictable nature, we were never able to nail down a time to see the flick in the theaters, and thus we missed it. Thankfully, the DVD arrived in my mailbox last week, …

THE QUAFF: Saffron Margarita Edition

It’s time for more cocktail craziness, and this one comes replete with broken glass and DANGER. Such is the way of The Quaff. Back a few weeks ago, IndianJones was in town (when isn’t he in town? He has no friends), and so he, jash, and I all decided to make drinks. Once again we …

THE QUAFF: Green Tea Mojito Edition

When I think about Halloween, the first word that jumps into my head is “mojito.” Actually, no. That’s not the case at all. And yet for some reason, my friends Sly, IndianJones, and I decided to make a batch of mojitos before hitting the town Sunday night (it should be noted that Sly retired to …

COCKTAIL OF THE WEEK: Jack-O-Lantern Edition

With Halloween right around the corner, I thought it only fitting that this week’s Cocktail of the Week by fitting with the season. Enter Three Olives vodka, who graciously supplied me with a bottle of their Rangtang flavored vodka as well as a nifty recipe for something called “The Jack-O-Lantern.” How could I resist? After …

COCKTAIL OF THE WEEK: Spicy Pepino Edition

For the past week, I’d been trying to corral a friend or two to join me in making another Cocktail of the Week (a feature on this site which I must rename because quite frankly “Cocktail of the Week” is entirely too unoriginal. I’m open to suggestions). Anyway, it turns out my friends all had …