Boston is renowned for its diversity of culinary options, with food from every ethnicity you can name. Mike’s City Diner, run by Lebanese Jay Hajj, is a must-visit when you’re in town. His fusion of New England classics with elements from his native Beirut is a big crowd-pleaser, and his new cookbook is packed with…
It's not enough to simply pay some celebrity spokesman to promote your whiskey brand anymore. Nowadays, it seems, you need a celebrity spokesman with creative control to promote your whiskey brand. On Monday, the New York Times reported that famed actor Matthew McConaughey is the new creative director for Wild Turkey bourbon. McConaughey's role entails not only lending his…
When it comes to brown liquor, Louisville-based Brown-Forman is definitely one of the big dogs. The company's portfolio includes a little brand you might have heard of out of Lynchburg, Tennessee, named Jack Daniel’s, plus stalwart Kentucky bourbon brands Early Times and Old Forester. Woodford Reserve, Brown-Forman’s other bourbon brand, has become a favorite of…
Food writer and photographer Leela Cyd has a new cookbook out that will make you want to group-text five of your closest friends, “Dinner at my place!” Every recipe, from the tried and true to the brand-new, has a certain signature twist that makes each dish unique. Pick a page and get crackin’.Restraint? I’m not…
[embedImage=https://www.foodrepublic.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/The-Emerald-1865-Still-High-Res-700x1050.jpg] You would be forgiven for thinking Irish whiskey comes only in shot form. Most of us know it as little more than a light, blended whiskey, and few of us can name an Irish whiskey that isn’t Jameson, Powers or Bushmills. It’s no wonder — until a decade ago, only three distilleries in Ireland…
Earlier this month, we reported that a Los Angeles company, Rattleback Rye, is working on flash-aging its whiskey, turning a 20-year endeavor into a weeklong process. Also gaining notice is the Oak Bottle, which can infuse oak flavors into whiskey or wine in one to two days. It looks like what it's called: an oak bottle in…
We’ve heard time and again that today’s tech-obsessed generation of M-words have the attention span of — whoa, is that the new iPhone? What were we talking about? Oh, right. Because we don’t want to wait, or say we don’t have time to wait, a couple of whiskey fanatics in Los Angeles have launched the…
In a move that surprised many craft spirits aficionados, the respected industry magazine Whisky Advocate recently named MGP Ingredients its Distiller of the Year. Right now, you're probably wondering, "Who's that?" Well, you're not alone. Unlike past honorees, including such well-known producers as Beam Suntory and Diageo, MGP is not a brand that most consumers are familiar…
Straight rye is all the rage these days. The onetime underdog of a grain has long been used rather judiciously as part of whiskey’s mash bill to add a little spice to the flavor profile. Lately, thanks in large part to the craft cocktail recipes that call for them, rye-forward whiskeys are in greater demand.…
The world of state liquor laws is a confusing one. We reported earlier this year on all you need to know about the surprisingly relaxed regulations in Utah. Meanwhile, it turns out that Alabama recently lifted its 100-year-old ban on distilling whiskey, according to the Associated Press.Located in Opelika, Alabama, John Emerald Distilling Company — makers of gin, rum, vodka…
It’s a crowd-pleaser. Rye whiskey, sugar, bitters, absinthe and lemon oils create the perfect balance of flavors and unmistakable aromatics. Though the traditional Sazerac's formula seems simple, making one requires great attention to detail, from ensuring the drink is served as cold as possible to making sure it's not overdiluted to adding a bit of…
High West Distillery proprietor David Perkins chuckles when asked about Utah’s prohibitive liquor laws. “You realize that the liquor laws everywhere are pretty screwy, right? We don’t have the monopoly on crazy liquor laws.” He also doesn’t hesitate when asked to name the biggest misconception about his hometown state: “That there’s no alcohol here,” he…
During the heat of summer in southern Spain, the best way to cool down before a meal is with a glass of crisp sherry, along, of course, with a few plates of salty tapas. The finer selections of this nutty, fortified wine have grown in popularity here in the U.S. over the past few years,…
In late 1980, the then-National Distillers Corp. out of Frankfort, Kentucky, released a bourbon it called Old Grand-Dad Special Selection. A reporter for The Los Angeles Times likened it to “General Motors Corp. coming out with a 16-passenger Cadillac with fins.” Why? Because of its strength: a mind-melting 114 proof, or 57 percent alcohol by…
Of all the ice cream options in New York City, Big Gay Ice Cream is undoubtedly your best bet. What, do you not like sparkly unicorns on your walls and blueberry balsamic sauce on your cone? Dive into founders and co-owners Bryan and Douglas’s sweet world with their first cookbook full of recipes, techniques and stories…
For whiskey to be called whiskey in this country, it usually has to be aged in charred new oak barrels. But the story doesn’t have to end there. A growing number of craft distillers are upping their game by finishing their spirits in specialty casks. Barrels that once held sherry, port or even stout not…
When I started drinking whiskey — probably in my early 20s — it was a drink for big occasions. It certainly wasn’t downed with the nonchalant abandon one might associate with, say, tequila or chilled vodka. It was rarely, if ever, consumed during warm weather (we had gin and tonics for that), and it was…
Jeffrey Morgenthaler is Food Republic’s contributing cocktail editor and the author of the column Easy Drinking. He currently manages the bars Clyde Common and Pépé Le Moko in Portland, Oregon, and is the author of The Bar Book: Elements of Cocktail Technique . Last week, I had the good fortune and extreme pleasure of visiting…
Save for Tony Parker and the Michelin Man, Ludo Lefebvre might just be the most famous Frenchman in America today. As a judge/mentor on ABC’s cooking competition show The Taste, he’s known for challenging upstart cooks with a razor-sharp palate — and for his thick-as-Matelote-stew Bourgogne accent. But in food-world circles he’s best known for running successful Los…