Subject: Cocktails

• First, Do No Harm

  March 16, 2007

• First, Do No Harm

  March 16, 2007

• Cheers! The winner of the 2008 Holiday Cocktail Competition

  'Tis a pleasure to drink in Colorado. On Saturday morning, I awoke with visions of sugerplums -- and whipped cream, and gingerbread, and chocolate sprinkles -- still dancing in my head. Just a few hours earlier, I'd sampled the last of sixteen entrees in the 2008 Holiday Cocktail Competition. I was a judge -- a very sweet gig -- and had spent the better part of the previous week careening around town with fellow judges, stopping at bar after bar, restaurant after restaurant, testing this t

  December 19, 2008

• Best margarita

  June 29, 2000

• Best Margarita

  March 29, 2001

• Best Martini

  April 4, 2002

• The Bite

  May 23, 2002

• Drink of the Week

  July 18, 2002

• Drink of the Week

  November 7, 2002

• Drink of the Week

  November 21, 2002

• Drink of the Week

  January 16, 2003

• Drink of the Week

  March 6, 2003

• Drink of the Week

  March 20, 2003

• Drink of the Week

  May 1, 2003

• Drink of the Week

  August 7, 2003

• Drink of the Week

  August 14, 2003

• Drink of the Week

  October 30, 2003

• Drink of the Week

  December 25, 2003

• Drink of the Week

  August 5, 2004

• Drink of the Week

  September 9, 2004

• Drunk of the Week

  November 4, 2004

• Best Mojito

  March 24, 2005

• Best Martini

  March 24, 2005

• Drink of the Week

  June 2, 2005

• Drink of the Week

  June 23, 2005

• Drink of the Week

  June 30, 2005

• Drink of the Week

  July 28, 2005

• Colorado Bartenders Guild hosts first cocktail competition

  For Colorado bartenders, taxes aren't the only thing due on April 15. That's also the deadline for submitting recipes to the first cocktail competition of the year organized by the Colorado Bartenders Guild (COBG). And I'll be helping to judge the results at 6 p.m. April 26 at Trios Enoteca, along with Bryan Dayton, Mike Henderson and Robert Leavey (thanks to Sean Kenyon of Steuben's for getting me in on the action). I'm in awe of great bartenders, who make mixing drinks an art, not just a job.

  April 6, 2009

• Figgy's Manhattan at Steuben's

  January 22, 2009

• Justin's Sweet Tea

  A taste of honey.

  June 5, 2008

• Loca Hot

  Rioja

  May 15, 2008

• Basil Mojito

  Panzano

  September 29, 2005

• Milago Taco Bar

  Craven, craving behavior.

  April 12, 2007

• Black Mexican Martini

  Lola

  March 22, 2007

• Prime 121 Martini

  Prime 121

  November 9, 2006

• Sparkling Blue Eyes

  Ventura Grille

  February 16, 2006

• Saketini

  Sushi Sasa

  October 13, 2005

• Summer Drinkin', Had Me a Blast

  Take a spin through the city's coolest cocktails.

  May 27, 2004

• Drink of the Week

  Minturn Mountain Margarita

  March 4, 2004

• Best Margarita

  Lola

  March 27, 2003

• Mix it up at Trios Enoteca on Sunday

  The state's best mixologists will be pouring it on -- and pouring out the drinks -- Sunday, April 26, at the first Colorado Cocktail Classic competition, sponsored by the Colorado Bartenders Guild. Go to Trios Enoteca,1730 Wynkoop Street, at 6 p.m. to cheer on your favorite bartenders and enjoy some great cocktails. Trios Enoteca will be featuring happy-hour prices all night, with $4 Absolut cocktails and free appetizers. The bartenders competing to go (all expenses paid) to the National USBG C

  April 22, 2009

• Party down with Bob Schaffer's margarita

  Did you miss this weekend's Cinco de Mayo festivities in Civic Center Park? You can still get a taste of them by picking up a bottle of Coyote Gold Premium Margarita -- the margarita that former U.S. Senate candidate Bob Schaffer's wife, Maureen, is marketing along with her Fort Collins business partner, Randy Zwetzig, as "the microbrew of margaritas." Even Bob has been pouring it on -- and out -- to tout the product that's bottled in Michigan (at least it's not the Marianas Islands, where the

  May 11, 2009

• Rhubarb Martini at Olivea

  May 21, 2009

• Taste of the Nation mixologists shake, stir and pour for a good cause

  Lori MidsonHoney smoked peach cocktail from TAG's Jared Boller At last night's Taste of the Nation event at Mile High Station, nine Colorado mixologists muddled, shook, stirred, poured, begged, stole and offered bribes to the throngs of charitable party-goers who voted with dollar bills and tokens to determine which mixologist had whipped up the top cocktail. The contenders -- Amanda Olig (Vesta Dipping Grill); Bryan Dayton (Frasca Food & Wine); Anika Zappe (Root Down); Randy Layman (Avenue G

  July 20, 2009

• Behind the Bar: Ann Whitley of the Rio Grande

  Nancy Levine​ On Saturday, August 15, the Rio Grande will celebrate ten years of pouring on the fun -- and pouring out the booze -- in LoDo. This homegrown chain is a margarita powerhouse; with only six restaurants, the Rio Grande restaurant group claims to be the largest seller of Jose Cuervo in the world. And the margarita recipe that no doubt includes Jose Cuervo is a secret as tightly held as the formula for KFC. After ten years of extensive personal "research," I know that the Rio'

  August 13, 2009

• The Rio Grande celebrates ten years of tequila on Saturday

  ​The Rio -- home of those lethal, neon green margaritas concocted with a combination of secret liquids -- is celebrating ten years of getting Denverites absolutely annihilated at its 1525 Blake Street location on Saturday, August 15. The celebration kicks off at 4 p.m. with live music on the patio, followed by a tequila tasting at 6 p.m. and local DJ Jasonic spinning tunes from 8 to 11 p.m. Find out all the details by calling 303-623-5432. In the meantime, everyone who's ever imbibed one

  August 14, 2009

• Nate Windham dishes dirt on the "dirty" martini

  September 24, 2009

• Behind the bar, Bryan Dayton is a Frasca Star

  October 1, 2009

• Staffing Up: More ideas for Mojitos

  ​ Both readers and restaurateurs had a lot of suggestions for what to do with the former home of Mojitos -- which isn't surprising, considering that this spot at 1120 East Sixth Avenue is a good location just begging for a good operator to go into it. And while I've already reported the news that Alex Gurevich from Limon and Bisque is taking over the space, and will be putting on the big white had to make pizzas and salumi for the neighbors, that didn't stop the guys from Dave Query's B

  November 12, 2009

• Sean Kenyon raises the B.A.R. at Domaine De Canton competition

  Nancy LevineSean Kenyon takes top spot at Domaine De Canton competition​ Last night Domaine de Canton and brand ambassador Bryan Dayton of Frasca hosted the semifinalist round of the Domaine de Canton bartender competition at TAG. Beyond bragging rights, the winner of the competition won a trip to St. Maartin to compete not only for top honors, but $10,000 in prize money. No, that's not a typo. Ten thousand dollars in prize money -- and a killer suntan. The eight competitors included ma

  November 16, 2009