Anyone who’s glimpsed the visage of David Wondrich is well aware of his predilection for expressive facial hair. But while he may face stiff competition at the World Beard and Moustache Championships, his recent book, Imbibe!, blew away all comers this weekend at the 2008 James Beard Foundation Awards.

As Jamie wrote, “As if there wasn’t enough of a reason to own Imbibe!, our good friend David Wondrich has just won a James Beard award for this transcendent tome!” I couldn’t have said it better myself, though I gave it a shot here: Imbibe! No, the other one.

Congratulations, Dave–

Tags: General by Paul
5 Comments »

Sometimes it’s all too much — the ornate recipes, the elaborate productions, the ingredients that require a week or more of preparation before enjoying the results.

Usually this mood hits me when I’m extremely busy, as I have been the past few weeks, and in the short space I have in the evening to sip something and unwind before bed, the last thing I feel like doing is digging through the liquor cabinet in pursuit of some weird liqueur I socked away last year, or trying out a neat little bitters I’ve been meaning to get around to, or sorting through a cocktail manual in search of a recipe I’ve been intending to try. Honestly, I want to do all these things, and those samples of rum and gin that have been sitting unopened on the shelf waiting for me to taste and blog about them make me feel guilty every time I reach past them for something tried and true. But on a weeknight, when I’ve been going since 6:30am and will do so again in just a few short hours, I need something simple — potent, friendly, easy to mix, and dependable.

For now, that something is gin, sweet vermouth, and Ingredient X.

As with the last drink I mentioned, sometimes that ingredient is something bitter, like Fernet Branca; other times, I go the Martinez route with the maraschino and orange bitters; and still other times, when I’m feeling too lazy to mix something elaborate but need something lively in the glass, I go for the Fourth Degree.

This recipe is from Wondrich’s Imbibe! ; yes, I know there are probably other versions out there, but pay attention — right now I have neither the time nor inclination to rummage around on the bookshelf. And it’s somewhat similar to the San Martin, if you swap one rambunctious herbal spirit for another.

So, for you regular readers, sorry I haven’t been posting more frequently, but I’ve got deadlines stacked up like 747s landing at O’Hare. But at times like these it’s comfort-drink time, and tonight, I’m finding a lot of comfort in the Fourth Degree.

Fourth Degree

• 2 ounces Plymouth gin
• 1 ounce sweet vermouth (Carpano Antica time)
• dash of absinthe

Stir with cracked ice and strain into chilled cocktail glass; hit it with the lemon zest.

Tags: General by Paul
9 Comments »

There’s been a recent addition to the sidebar just to the right of this post — RSS subscribers, you might want to click through for a sec — that may be useful to those who are wondering where the hell I am and why I haven’t posted in a while.

As I mentioned last summer, and a few times since then, I’ve been writing two spirits & cocktails posts a week over at the group blog Serious Eats; a newsy piece or product review on Wednesdays, and a recipe on Fridays. I don’t do much crossover content between this site and that one, except for the occasional recipe, so if you head over on occasion and clickety on my profile, you’ll be able to see the last ten posts I’ve written (more than that, and you’ll have to use the handy search engine).

But here’s where the sidebar comes in: thanks to the magic of widgetry, you can now see links to the most recent five posts I’ve put up over at Serious Eats, right at the top of each page, just under the “Search” thingy. So if you’re ever wondering if one day you’ll read a news item about how I fell in the shower one morning and withered away over the course of a week while booze-hungry readers kept clicking “refresh” and muttering, “POST, dammit!”, then this should put your mind at rest. As long as you see me posting on booze somewhere in the blogosphere every few days, I’m okay — and thanks for checking in on me.

Tags: General by Paul
No Comments »