To die for.
recipes
1 Happy Hour: Fall Fizz
recipes
2 Happy (Repeal Day) Hour: Le Coup de Jarnac
recipes
4 Happy Hour: The Grey Lady
Cocktails
5 Gin Haters: Right Will Prove You Wrong
recipes
6 Happy Hour: The Peony
Wine
8 13 Under $20 Wines Perfect For Hostess Gifts
Cocktails
9 Do You Order Complicated Cocktails?
recipes
10 Happy Hour: Classic Gin Martini
events
11 Noteworthy Nibbles — May 4-11, 2010
Even if you haven't started entertaining outdoors yet, there are plenty of alfresco food and wine events for you to attend. Judging by Owensboro, KY's International Bar-B-Q Festival and Southpark, NC's Beer, Bourbon, & BBQ, grilling season has already begun. This week, we're excited to head over to San Francisco's picturesque Marina to attend a cocktail crawl hosted by some of the city's top Read more
On Tuesday night I was lucky enough to be among a select group of Nirvino users to attend a special tasting at San Francisco's Fifth Floor. The restaurant recently launched an old-fashioned tableside bar service in which the bartender, spirits extraordinaire and all-around amazing guy Steven Liles, prepares drinks at your table. The 1950s-style wooden cart is stocked with all the necessary tools Read more
In a discussion with several colleagues, I discovered that, apparently, complicated cocktails are a bit of a love it or hate it thing. While PartySugar and I appreciate the rise of highly nuanced cocktails — like the Grey Lady pictured here — one co-worker begged to differ. "I hate waiting for fancy drinks," he lamented. "I'd just rather order a vodka and cranberry; it has the same effect, Read more
Do you have an iPhone? Then stop what you're doing right now and download the Nirvino (my preferred online drinking community) wine ratings guide. With over one million wines listed by name, price, grape varietal, flavor profile, region, and producer, the wine application is an amazing resource to always have at your fingertips. Not only does it provide food pairing suggestions, but there's also Read more
Introducing the newest must-have wine application for your iPhone. — Nirvino Fabio Viviani's cookbook by the numbers. — Eat Me Daily Here are 21 tasty bar snack recipes. — Chow Everything you need to know about buying sustainable seafood. — Sunset Eight common fast foods you should avoid. — SF Weekly Michael Pollan's next mission: reform health care. — Grub Street The real Read more
Listen up budding home bartenders! I've got an exciting new recipe for you to experiment with. Crafted by Danny Louie of San Francisco's Dosa, the Peony is an exotic mix of coconut milk, hibiscus syrup, fresh lime juice, and gin. The cocktail was created to mimic the flavors of the Indian cuisine served at Dosa. Don't be fooled by the thick pink appearance of this concoction. While it may Read more
Gin can be a polarizing spirit. With the exception of a few gin and tonics, I've always avoided it; however, a bunch of new gins on the market have converted me into a gin lover. One such gin, Right gin, is my current favorite. Recently, I was invited to a seminar hosted at the brand's loft, here in San Francisco. The event was put on by Nirvino, the awesome social-drinking website that let's Read more
Last month YumSugar and I attended a cocktail competition hosted by the drinks-based social networking website, Nirvino. We were a little worried about the contest, not because we were competing, but because each of the five cocktails had to use No. 209 Gin. Normally, I'm not a fan of the strong, intensely botanical flavor of gin, however the concoctions created by San Francisco's bartending Read more
Although we are almost at the end of December, I highly recommend you wannabe mixologists make a cocktail entitled November. Created by Scott Baird, a dear friend, owner of 15 Romolo, and one of San Francisco's foremost bartenders, this concoction won the Nirvino Navan cocktail competition at Swig. If you've never tried Navan, a natural vanilla liqueur, get your hands on a bottle stat! It's a Read more
Listen up, party people: Today is a big day in the world of drinking. It's the 75th anniversary of the repeal of the 18th amendment. On this day in 1933, the 21st amendment was ratified and the celebratory right of drinking was given back to Americans. To commemorate the occasion, I worked with my favorite drinking website, Nirvino, and one of San Francisco's most adorable bartenders, Buffalo, at Read more
