As a service-industry lifer/professional, I loved Lori Midson’s list of the “Ten rudest things things customers do to make servers wish you’d never come to their restaurants.” Over the course of my 27-year career in service, I’ve seen examples of all of her top ten…and more. But what really gets…
Over the past few years, I’ve been fortunate enough to get to know Dale DeGroff. The driving force behind New York’s famous Rainbow Room, Dale has been widely credited with reinventing the bartending profession, setting off a cocktail explosion that continues to this day. He’s the James Beard Award-winning author…
In the two-plus decades that I have been behind bars, I’ve noticed some fads when it comes to what my brethren drink while we work. I’m not talking about sipping cocktails or some rare craft beer; I’m referring to the shots we do during a shift, after a big rush…
This year will be my 25th New Year’s Eve behind the bar. My last post of 2010 was an amateur’s guide to navigating New Year’s Eve successfully, and those tips are still relevant for anyone planning a night on the town. But this year, I have a half-dozen tips for…
Growing up, I was a fat kid — things haven’t changed — and I looked forward to egg nog every Christmas. I would drink tons of the stuff — thinking, “It’s milk, so it’s good for you, right?” It wasn’t until years later, during one of my thinner periods, that…
Sean Kenyon’s Ask the Bartender has been on a break, but Kenyon hasn’t been taking it easy: Over the past five weeks, he’s been traveling (Germany, France and New York City twice), working at Euclid Hall at night and opening Williams & Graham during the day. Now he’s back, plenty…
I just returned from a week in Manhattan (New York, not Kansas), where I worked at the BAR 5-day program. The BAR 5-day is a masters’-level spirits and mixology course taught by six men — F. Paul Pacult, Steve Olson, Andy Seymour, David Wondrich, Doug Frost and Dale Degroff –…
Jake Norris was there from the start of Stranahan’s Colorado Whiskey, so when he left last month — eight months after the Colorado-based company was sold to Proximo Spirits — it got a lot of people in the liquor community talking. Norris himself talked last week, as did Rob Dietrich,…
Last month, after Jake Norris left Stranahan’s Colorado Whiskey, the homegrown company that was” target=”_blank”> sold late last year to Proximo Spirits, Rob Dietrich was named head distiller. After I chatted with Jake Norris about why he left, I decided it was important to talk with Dietrich. And in an…
Late last year Proximo Spirits, distributors of 1800 Tequila, Kraken Rum, Three Olives Vodka, Hangar One and other labels, purchased Denver’s homegrown brand, Stranahan’s Colorado Whiskey. Once the sale was complete, original owners Jess Graber and George Stranahan moved on; head distiller Jake Norris stayed with the company. But in…
Jake Norris, head distiller and an original partner, left Stranahan’s Colorado Whiskey last month. The brand was purchased late last year by Proximo Spirits, distributor of big brands like 1800 Tequila, Kraken Rum and Three Olives Vodka; after the sale, Norris said he planned to stay on…for a while. Norris…
Growing up in New Jersey, I was a punk-rock kid. I started with Iggy and the Stooges, the Ramones and the Clash, and moved on to Bad Brains, Fear, the Misfits, early Bad Religion, then into NY hardcore, Black Flag, Dead Kennedys, etc. As the ’80s progressed, so did my…
Sean Kenyon knows how to pour out both drinks and advice. A third-generation bar man with 25 years behind the bar, he is a student of cocktail history, a United States Bartenders Guild-certified Spirits Professional and a BAR Ready graduate of the prestigious Beverage Alcohol Resource Program. You can often…
Sean Kenyon knows how to pour out both drinks and advice. A third-generation bar man with 25 years behind the bar, he is a student of cocktail history, a United States Bartenders Guild-certified Spirits Professional and a BAR Ready graduate of the prestigious Beverage Alcohol Resource Program. You can often…
Sean Kenyon knows how to pour out both drinks and advice. A third-generation bar man with 25 years behind the bar, he is a student of cocktail history, a United States Bartenders Guild-certified Spirits Professional and a BAR Ready graduate of the prestigious Beverage Alcohol Resource Program. You can often…
Sean Kenyon knows how to pour out both drinks and advice. A third-generation bar man with 25 years behind the bar, he is a student of cocktail history, a United States Bartenders Guild-certified Spirits Professional and a BAR Ready graduate of the prestigious Beverage Alcohol Resource Program. You can often…
Sean Kenyon knows how to pour out both drinks and advice. A third-generation bar man with 25 years behind the bar, he is a student of cocktail history, a United States Bartenders Guild-certified Spirits Professional and a BAR Ready graduate of the prestigious Beverage Alcohol Resource Program. You can often…
Sean Kenyon knows how to pour out both drinks and advice. A third-generation bar man with 25 years behind the bar, including at some of this town’s most liquid assets, he is a student of cocktail history, a United States Bartenders Guild-certified Spirits Professional and a BAR Ready graduate of…
The Colorado Cocktail Project, with its mission to create the official Colorado Cocktail, will celebrate this state’s most liquid assets at the Museum of Contemporary Art, 1485 Delgany, on Sunday and Monday, June 26-27. We’ve already profiled many of the bartenders who’ve submitted recipes for the contest; the ten finalists…
The Colorado Cocktail Project, with its mission to create the official Colorado Cocktail, will celebrate this state’s most liquid assets at the Museum of Contemporary Art on Sunday and Monday, June 26-27. We’ve already profiled many of the bartenders who’ve submitted recipes for the contest; the ten finalists will pour…
The Colorado Cocktail Project, with its mission to create the official Colorado Cocktail, will celebrate this state’s most liquid assets at the Museum of Contemporary Art on Sunday and Monday, June 26-27. We’ve already profiled many of the bartenders who’ve submitted recipes for the contest; the ten finalists will pour…
Sean Kenyon knows how to pour out both drinks and advice. A third-generation bar man with almost 25 years behind the bar, he is a student of cocktail history, a United States Bartenders Guild-certified Spirits Professional and a BAR Ready graduate of the prestigious Beverage Alcohol Resource Program. You can…
