In my article about the Freigeist Geisterzug Rhubarb Gose I’ve written a few words about Freigeist Bierkultur by Sebastian Sauer from the German city of Aachen, who has aroused some attention in the craft beer community. In cooperation with various breweries traditional and innovative styles of beer are brewed which are especially high rated and demanded in the craft beer community in the United States. The name Freigeist Bierkultur is in fact perhaps the best known flagship of German craft beer in the USA. Read More →

So after a few days of abstinence and of recovering from New Year’s Eve it’s time to welcome the first Saturday of the new year 2016 with a nice little drink. For this occasion I have chosen a very special cocktail, which skillfully combines old and new and therefore ideally suits the occasion. It is a drink with the sonorous, somewhat bulky but nonetheless programmatic name “Jerez Old Fashioned & Passionfruit-Espuma”. Read More →

The Eggnog is quite an authority in lots of American living rooms at Christmas Eve. It’s a convention which can rather rarely be found in European countries, though globalization of course does its part.  Nevertheless, on this special day the time has come to have a closer look into the glass of a very delicious and unconventional eggnog. Read More →

For many people a pink drink is a dubious issue. The color is like no other attributed to the Girlish and the corresponding social gender roles in Western civilization. No wonder that a lot of male connoisseurs who are very concerned about their own social profile rather try to avoid drinking cocktails of that color. Unfortunately, because todays drink once more proves: color means nothing. Read More →

Admittedly, those who do not own their private bar at home including various kinds of spirits and liqueurs will certainly have some problems every now and then when planning to mix a special drink with a complex list of ingredients. But thankfully there are those very simple drinks, for which you will usually have all the ingredients you need at home. These of course include very old classics like Old Fashioned, Martini or diverse Juleps, but certainly also a drink, which is not least famous due to a popular movie: the White Russian. Read More →

The Singapore Sling is one of those drinks that probably easily appears in any Top 20 list of the world’s most famous cocktails. And accordingly it is also one of those drinks that are often served in a really lousy manner. So my first “Singapore Sling” was an entirely sweet cherry-swill that should better have been sold in a frozen form as kind of a funfair slush. Read More →

Belgian beers have not been all too well-reputed for a long time among German beer drinkers. Although little hampers with different Belgian beers were quite popular as a souvenir long before the current craft beer movement, a lot of visitors to the Flemish-Walloon neighbor-kingdom will perhaps in secret have had some envious thoughts about the great variety of beer styles in a typical Belgian beer shelf in the supermarkets. But after returning home most people usually spoke ill about Belgian beers: too sweet, you get a headache from it and so on. Read More →

Since it’s shortly before Christmas the time has come for another nice, strong and darkly aromatic Stout. To be exact, it is time for a Cream Stout, which is brewed with lactose, a sugar derived from milk. I’d like to introduce a really delicious Cream Stout from England: St. Peter’s Cream Stout. Read More →

Some drinks do not really seem like a great taste experience at first glance. And yet every now and then such recipes turn out to be real sleepers. Although today’s cocktail is a real classic, it unfortunately enjoys far too little publicity. Read More →

Cocktail Bitters are of course a not to miss-ingredient behind every bar (also behind every home bar with a certain aspiration). They are virtually the icing on the cake. All the more interesting it is to experiment a little with them. Beer, however, will be certainly less associated with the cocktail craft. At least outside of the major metropolises, where some might already think of using beer in drinks as a trend of the past. However, the present cocktail extremely skillfully combines both components. Read More →

Farmhouse Ales or Saisons enjoy an ever-growing increase in popularity since lately, which is not a great miracle in my opinion because the Saison brewing style usually appeals to the taste of a wide audience, where one or the other IPA-hop-grenade still may be too difficult. Today’s article is about a very special FARMHOUS Ale, which comes from a place most people won’t for sure associate with beer; but nonetheless it is a place which is evolving more and more into small but distinguished beer nation: Iceland. Read More →

The Planter’s Punch … the sound of that name alone is most likely to make clear to even the last one that it’s somehow about cocktails. Most people have at least heard of it, many already had one in their life though it might have been in questionable quality, since the Planter’s Punch is one thing above all: it is more of an own cocktail category than a single drink. Read More →

It’s been only a few days since I’ve published a small article about the Last Word cocktail which definitely is one of my favorites on the more herbaceous side. In the autumn and winter time such cocktails are of course even more attractive, I think, and so I took the Last Word as an inspiration to create a wintry Christmas variant. Read More →

Dortmund is still regarded as the beer city in Germany, at least many local patriots cling to this predicate when it comes to upholding the flag of tradition. Born in Dortmund, I can absolutely understand that, but to honor the truth, it is not really true anymore for today’s Dortmund. Read More →

Today’s drink certainly does not need great words of introduction, because who is interested in cocktails and mixed drinks will have at least heard of this great recipe. Hence this is the reason for writing a few lines about the Last Word anyway, not only because it has played a fundamental role in my own experiences with the cocktail matter, but also because it is simply a great drink to enjoy. Read More →

Caribbean cocktails! Of course some some famous names instantly come to mind and in fact there are many cocktails of world fame out there which originated in the Caribbean. Whether you demand a mojito, a Daiquiri or a Caipirinha – in almost every bar they will more or less know what you want and will serve you the corresponding drink; in whatever quality. But who knows right away what a Ti’ Punch is? Read More →

“My mojito in La Bodeguita, my daiquiri in El Floridita” – this quote came to world fame and with it also the designated bars in pre-revolutionary Havana. Even today Ernest Hemingway sits in form of a bronze statue at the bar of El Floridita in Havana, drinking his Daiquiri. But today’s article is about a little brother of the daiquiri. Read More →

If there is a city on this planet which has played a key part in the history and culture of cocktails it is clearly the city of New Orleans. Not only has it been the birthplace of Americas supposedly first cocktail in history, the Sazerac (which is nowadays the official cocktail of the city), also numerous other classics originated in this city in the south of the US. Everyone who knows New Orleans will easily recognize by the name of today’s cocktail: it is another innovation from “The Big Easy”. Read More →

In a way, the present article is actually a faux pas. At least, in the historical sense, because the beer style – though it is a product of winter to a certain extent – was originally drunk in the summer season. Read More →

A few days ago I was asked in the comments section about the use of certain ingredients that are usually not entirely consumed while preparing a specific cocktail. In connection with the Seelbach Cocktail I had written some words regarding champagne which often is an example for that. Another alcoholic beverage, which a lot of people won’t drink entirely on one evening and which may well also find use in cocktails, is wine. Especially red wine. Read More →

The Craft Beer wave is characterized by many renowned brewing styles with an ever growing popularity. These certainly include first and foremost the Pale Ales and India Pale Ales, but also Stouts, Trappist beers and Lagers. Yet, the acidic Lambics and Geuzes are constituting only a very small niche. But it’s especially this sour style of beer I did acquire a taste for in the last weeks and months. Read More →

There is a cocktail category which I do approach only on special occasions (when I have enough guests), because it is simply quite impractical for home use, although these drinks are a mainstay in the history of the bar.  I’m talking about sparkling wine or champagne cocktails. The cost-benefit ratio for home use is definitely not very good. But you can cheat a little. Read More →

Soft drinks do play an essential role behind the bar, one that is not to be underestimated. Especially in the segment of long drinks and Highballs they often have the status of supporting or main actors in the recipes. Lately a real wave of new, creative variations of Tonics appeared on the market, thus expending the product range. But what about the classical Cola? Read More →

A dark beer of course doesn’t always have to be a Stout or Porter in order to convince me. Even though I tend to prefer especially those two styles of beer, there are also other styles that really caught me. Lately – I would not have thought it would ever happen – I also started to find some pleasure drinking selected IPAs, the epitomes of the craft beer movement. But today we’re not dealing with a hop monster but with a Belgian Dark Ale: The sonorous Noir de Dottignies. Read More →

On many occasions I have expressed that the Negroni is one of my favorite cocktails. In this respect, today is a day where I don’t have to lose big words to the drink I’d like to present. The Bittersweet Garden is a very interesting and complex variant of the Negroni. And it’s really worth a try! Read More →

In Germany the huge development in the bar and drinking culture of the recent year has taken place in a little different way. Although there have been some internationally established bars with bartenders who thoroughly understood their craft long before, Germany has never been a comparable competitive power to metropolises especially from the Anglo-Saxon hemisphere.  A drink that is quite emblematic for a slight change of that is the Moscow Mule. Read More →