By cdea on Thursday, February 9th, 2012
There isn’t much that’s new when it comes to gin. Genever, a Dutch spirit made from unaged whisky, malt wine and finished with juniper berry, is even older, predating its cousin by about 100 years. But like other spirits whose sun rose and set long before blood alcohol levels were ever an issue, genever is making a comeback.
Bols Genever bottles hint of the aromatic spirit within. Photo © Nathan Hazard // The Chocolate of Meats
Like alcohol-soaked sponges on a boozy countertop, mixologists who have come of age in this current cocktail renaissance are thirsty to absorb all they can about obscure spirits and cocktail recipes, and genever is high on the list.
By Amy Zavatto on Friday, November 18th, 2011
Out with the old, in with the Nouv.
Yesterday, I watched break-dancers spin on their heads and contort their skinny bodies into bendy, twisty positions to the thump-thump of some seriously throw-back early 80s hip-hop. I wasn’t catching an impromptu street-dance session, or even the subway car performance I sometimes have a first-row view of in the narrow, space-defying confines of the downtown A train (caught a sneaker in the face once with that—oof). 
Where I happened to be yesterday was an event space in Midtown Manhattan, and the occasion was the release of the 2011 Beaujolais Nouveau from the famed producer George Duboeuf. Holla! (Or, as we used to say back in the 80s, woooooord.)
By Amy Zavatto on Friday, June 3rd, 2011
Spiced cranberry. Licorice nectarine. Pear. Mexican chocolate.
No, these aren’t the eclectic delights of a particularly creative ice cream parlor, or perhaps the fantastical names given to nail polish or lipstick. 
They are the flavors of artisanal bitters, and they’re coming to a cocktail near you.
“Bitters are really a seasoning for cocktails; a way to add depth and a dynamic element to your drink that it might not have had on its own. They’re a varying and flavoring agent,” says Miles Thomas, a bartender and the owner of Scrappy’s Bitters in Seattle, WA. “The bittering part acts like acid in cooking and helps brighten up flavors.
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