imbibe

Living in a cocktail town like San Francisco, I can't help but want to learn more about the ever-evolving art of mixology. Since I've enjoyed my fair share of old-fashioneds at Alembic and sazeracs at Rye, a friend got me a copy of Imbibe!: From Absinthe Cocktail to Whiskey Smash, a Salute in Stories and Drinks to "Professor" Jerry Thomas, Pioneer of the American Bar by David Wondrich.

Part cocktail-making manual, part biography, and part bartending history, Imbibe is delivered in the same quirky voice as Wondrich's drinks column for Esquire magazine, with a forward by Dale DeGroff. It's a fun book to read front to back, but it's also an extensive recipe collection. For a breakdown of what I liked and what I didn't, read more

For our Best of 2007 coverage we wanted to know what your favorite food magazine is. Cooking Light was your choice for magazine of the year with 23 percent of the votes. Yet, even though I peruse Cooking Light each month, Imbibe was my preferred read of '07. I look forward to this mag every other month and devour its cocktail recipes, details about new liquors, and profiles of innovative mixologists and baristas. A newer publication totally focused on drinks, Imbibe is a wonderful resource to learn about drink trends. It's informative without being pretentious making it a fun read.

What do you guys think? Have you checked out an issue of Imbibe yet?

According to Imbibe Magazine (which is one of my new favorites), tequila is gaining popularity and prestige. In fact, for the last two years, high-end tequila has even outsold single-malt scotch in US. Since tequila seems to be on the rise, I figure we might as well learn about the different kinds (all of which must be at least 51% blue agave juice and produced in the Tequila Region of Mexico).

• Gold: Value tequilas that get their color from added caramel colorings.
• Blanco (aka Silver): Unaged, clear tequila.
• 100 Percent Blue Agave: Premium tequila made with 100% certified blue agave. It has no added colors, flavors or sugars. May be Blanco, Añejo or Reposado.
• Reposado (aka Rested): Aged 60-364 days in wooden barrels (like wine) - the barrel provides the golden color.
• Añejo (aka Aged): Aged 1-3 years, also in wooden barrels. The longer aging provides a richer copper color.
• Extra-Añejo (aka Reserva/Reserved): Aged 3 years+ in wooden barrels (which are often secondhand bourbon barrels) - copper or amber in color.

Source: Imbibe Magazine