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A happy hour for Caribbean rum distilleries
Sales of upscale boutique rums grew 32 percent last year, giving producers large and small a chance to cash in.
Source: Minneapolis Star Tribune
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SKOAL! COMRADE:VODKA DARES TO CHALLENGE GREY GOOSE
Your next vodka martini could cost you a little less.
The red-hot vodka category is about to get a bit more competitive as a value brand popular outside the U.S. is about to launch a stateside marketing blitz - taking aim directly at Grey Goose, the category's No. 1 super premium name.
Source: New York Post, NY
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Absolut offers New Orleans Vodka and recipes to sip it in
Launched at the Tales of the Cocktail event this summer, Absolut New Orleans ($26, 750 milliliters) is a mango-and-black-pepper-infused vodka that's just right for a steamy September evening.
Source: Dallas Morning News
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Restored barn to host East End vodka distillery
The Long Island potato has squeezed into a vodka bottle once again.
A restored Baiting Hollow barn is being converted into the East End's first modern vodka distillery, a niche business that owners Richard Stabile and Dan Pollicino envision growing to include in-house production tours and a tasting room, featuring several flavors, overlooking an 80-acre potato field.
Source: Newsday, NY
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Don't Do a Danny DeVito: A Little Limoncello Is Just Enough
A decade ago, limoncello was virtually unknown in the U.S., outside of Italian-American families that made their own. Now the sweet, lemon liqueur from Southern Italy's Sorrento Peninsula is something of a fad -- one that had its pop-culture moment back in November when Danny DeVito stumbled onto a morning television talk show fresh from an all-night limoncello bender with George Clooney. In today's bleary celebrity culture, no sort of notoriety is allowed to escape commercial exploitation. Thus the announcement this month that Mr. DeVito is lending his name to a new brand of the lemon juice. Let's just hope that Mr. DeVito learns to drink his namesake the right way.
Source: Wall Street Journal
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Berks County native creates award-winning gin
Robert J. Cassell was working on a bachelor's degree in nuclear medicine when he followed his passion and went to work for a brewery.
Source: Centre Daily Times
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Entrepreneurs thirst for success in crowded beverage market
Take a close look at your convenience store beverage cooler.
Tucked in the corners and at the fringes — nearly masked by the rows upon rows of Coke and Pepsi offerings — are a variety of lesser-known drinks from companies large and small all hoping to have the next big hit.
Most will fail.
But every once in awhile, someone breaks out of the bustling horde. Brands like SoBe and Fuze found a niche, built a solid following and sold out to Pepsi and Coke. And so dreamers try and try and try again.
Here are a few players in different stages of the beverage game hoping to beat the odds:
Source: Atlanta Journal Constitution
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A-B, craft brewers team up to improve beer's image
On a recent Wednesday night, 85 volunteers for the upcoming St. Louis Brewers Heritage Festival gathered in the Schlafly Tap Room. Jay Cunningham worked the crowd as Dan Kopman, vice president of the company that owns the brewpub, looked on with Schlafly beer in hand.
Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch
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Premiums lift the spirits of tequila at bars across the country
On a Friday night at La Esquina, a hip, subterranean candlelit brasserie and tequila bar in NoLita, a 30ish, well-dressed man with slicked-back hair strutted up to the bar and asked, "What's your best tequila? I want top, top, top-shelf."
Source: USA Today
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Electric Litigationland
This year is the 40th anniversary of Are You Experienced?, the groundbreaking record by the Jimi Hendrix Experience, a sonic tentpole of the ‘60s. It’s one of those even-numbered anniversary years that is a marketer’s dream.
Source: PopMatters, IL
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'Artisan' spirits – liquor with local flavor
Apple and cherry smoke haunts this old warehouse near the Blue Ridge Mountains, working its way into the unique whiskey that steeps in oak barrels here.
Source: San Diego Union Tribune, CA
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Bacardi enlists outsider as CEO
An executive with luxury goods experience will head Bacardi's North American subsidiary. Eduardo Sardiña retired after 33 years.
Source: Miami Herald
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Vintners With Personal Flair Can't Brag on Wine Labels
On the steep hills here, with the Moselle River below, the same families have been growing riesling grapes for hundreds of years, producing a wine known over the world for its fruity and aromatic qualities.
Source: NY Times
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Constellation CEO prefers to build spirits brands
Constellation Brands Inc.'s Chief Executive Richard Sands on Wednesday said the wine and beer company would prefer to build its own premium spirits brands instead of acquiring expensive established brands.
Source: Reuters
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Chardonnay remains the top-selling wine in US
Recently released ACNielsen statistics for retail grocers’ sales in 2005 in the US, set to become the world’s biggest market by 2008, show that the next most popular wine is Merlot, news that might be a blow to all those who relished in the dissing of the varietal in the film Sideways. (But those same moviegoers will be relieved to hear that the star of the movie, Pinot Noir, is garnering massive support with sales in food stores rising 70% on 2004.)
Source: South African Wine News
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Cuba to Market New Commemorative Brand of Rum
A new exclusive brand of rum will be released shortly onto the international market, as part of the activities to commemorate the centenary of the Pinilla distillery in Manzanillo.
Source: Cuban News Agency
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Challenges Brewing for Boston Beer
The Sam Adams company posted strong sales, but its bottom line was hit by higher costs.
Source: MSNBC
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Heaven Hill stirs up fruity phenomenon
Kentucky distiller's PAMA liqueur taps pomegranate power, finds favored spot on nightclub, store shelves
Source: Louisville Courier-Journal
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Tennessee Could Soon Be First State to Require Universal Beer ID
They can barely keep beer on the shelves at the B.P. convenience store at Poplar and Ridgeway. Soon anyone who wants to buy a cold one may have to prove they are 21. Store manager Trevor Romaine says its ridiculous.
Source: WREG
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Colorado whiskey maker taps first cask it produced
After aging for two years in oak casks, Stranahan's Colorado Whiskey is likely to be sold out in much less time.
Source: Rocky Mountain News
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Bottoms Up: The Cocktail Turns 200
The cocktail, a staple of birthday celebrations, is having a birthday party of its own. Alcohol experts and liquor aficionados are marking May 13 as the 200th anniversary of the cocktail in America.
Source: CBS News
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Euro states clash over 'white spirit' label for vodka
A row has erupted in Brussels between Britain and a group of Nordic and Baltic States over plans that would force more than a third of distilled vodka to be renamed "white spirit" or "pure alcohol".
Source: Scotland on Sunday
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Pernod Ricard sales boosted by Domecq buy
Third quarter sales at Pernod Ricard jumped as expected on its acquisition last July of Allied Domecq, but the wine and spirits group reported weak underlying growth in its wine business and some old brands.
Source: Reuters
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First commercial use of new Alcoa glass wine closures
Whitehall Lane, a small, family owned winery in Napa Valley's Rutherford appellation, California, is the first winery in the world to seal its bottles of select premium wines with the Alcoa developed Vino-Seal* closure, an elegant glass closure for wine bottles secured by a traditional tin capsule. This is the first commercial use of this new glass closure designed by Alcoa's Closure Systems International (CSI) business as an alternative to traditional corks and synthetic stoppers for the wine market. The innovative sealing system was used to top 45,000 bottles of Whitehall Lane premium 2003 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon and 3,000 bottles of its premium 2003 Leonardini Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon.
Source: Jobwerx
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Craft beer hops back in popularity
Like most small breweries, Gritty McDuff's went through a lull as sales of craft beer leveled off in the late 1990s. Now Gritty's and the craft beer industry as a whole are enjoying a resurgence, with sales growing at their fastest pace in a decade.
Source: Kentucky.com
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Beer healthy for European economy
Europe is the most important beer producer in the world, according to a new study.
The study, conducted by accounting firm Ernst & Young, also highlights the importance of the brewing sector's contribution to the European economy. The sector had a turnover of around €57.5 billion or the equivalent to the GDP of the Polish or Austrian economy in the last quarter of 2004.
Source: EUobserver.com
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Analysts speculate AB is suitor for Rolling Rock beer
Anheuser-Busch Cos. Inc. may have its sights set on the Rolling Rock beer brand. Industry insiders say recent events reinforce speculation that the nation's largest brewer is negotiating to buy the Latrobe, Pa.-based label from InBev, Rolling Rock's Belgian parent company and the world's largest brewer by volume.
Source: MSNBC
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Mediterranean Cork Oak Forests at Stake in Wine Closure Battle
Every year over 15 billion cork stoppers are produced and sold to the wine industry, but the increasing popularity of plastic and screw top closures could spell the end for the cork oak forests of the western Mediterranean, an environmental group warns.
Source: Environment News Service
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Budweiser Formula Evolved to Encourage Greater Consumption
Anheuser-Busch has tinkered with its products over the past half-century, decreasing the bitterness of its beers in a step that encourages consumers to drink more than one or two, the Wall Street Journal reported April 26.
Source: Amherst Times.com
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Brown Forman To Use Hybrid Cars From Hertz
The Louisville, Ky.-based wine and spirits producer, known for such brands as Jack Daniels and Southern Comfort, officially rolled out its hybrid rental program in April, following a few months of testing with employees, said Walt Tressler, Brown-Forman's corporate services manager. The agreement gives the company use of three Toyota Prius automobiles in Louisville.
Source: Business Travel News
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Brewing up new business
Beer sales had gone flat. Wine was flying off the shelves. So beer makers decided to steal a page from wine's marketing manual and create new packaging, flavors, and drinks. Now beer is coming back.
Source: Boston.com
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Prohibition Lives
Let’s face it: alcohol is a drug, and as such I believe it is a good thing that it is controlled, regulated and taxed. However, the U.S. has some ass-backward liquor laws. In fact, at 21 years, the drinking age in the U.S. is higher than it is in almost any other country in the world.
Source: PSU Daily Vanguard
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Discovery News Article
Monkeys drink more alcohol when housed alone, and some like to end a long day in the lab with a boozy cocktail, according to a new analysis of alcohol consumption among members of a rhesus macaque social group.
Source: Discovery Channel
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Foolish Forecast: First Call for Boston Beer
It's time to belly up to the bar once again, investors. Boston Beer (NYSE: SAM) -- better known as Sam to its investors and consumers alike -- is ready to tap its earnings keg. Ice-cold earnings results for Q1 2006 are due out tomorrow.
Source: Fool.com
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Brown-Forman combining wines and spirits
Spirits distiller Brown-Forman, owner of brands including Southern Comfort, Jack Daniel's and Bolla Wines, said Tuesday it is combining its wines and spirits sales and marketing organizations on July 1 in an effort to consolidate its brands.
Source: BusinessWeek Online
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How to start wine-tasting club
It's Bordeaux night for the girlfriends who call themselves the Drinkettes. In the back room at the 17th Street Cafe here, a long table is jammed with wine glasses ready for the women, who arrive for dinner at 7 p.m., each with a bottle of Bordeaux in hand. In moments, the wine tasting is in full swing.
Source: Charlotte Observer
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Two Parts Vodka, a Twist of Science
At David Burke's Primehouse, a weeks-old steakhouse in Chicago, the house vodka martini is garnished with a lollipop — a lollipop made from "reduced olive brine, olive flavoring and salt crystallized in isomalt" that is stuffed with blue cheese, according to its creator, Eben Klemm. The restaurant's house manhattan is made with leather-infused bourbon, sweet vermouth and a bitters-spiked maraschino purée, dropped into the drink as a liquid that coalesces into a "gumdrop" when it hits the side of the glass.
Source: NY Times
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Whiskey’s days as UK’s favourite spirit are numbered
Although Whiskey remains the largest category of the UK spirits market, accounting for 38% of total sales worth £3.7b, its growth has stagnated while vodka’s popularity is soaring.
Source: CatererSearch.com
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The venerable cocktail turns 200 Saturday
It began as a political jab. The loser of an election in the small town of Claverack, N.Y., surmised in the local newspaper, The Balance, and Columbian Repository, that his opponent essentially bought the election with booze. Rum, brandy, gin and . . . 25 dozen cocktails.
Source: TimesDispatch.com
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Independent Beer Makers Lobby Congress Over Tax
Small independent brewers and distributors from across the nation are gathering in Washington, in hopes of urging federal lawmakers to repeal an excise tax on beer that dates back to the Civil War.
Source: INC.COM
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stir cr a zy
Whimsical swizzle sticks add punch to a party, but the colorful utensils also have a serious side
Source: The Free Lance-Star
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Poland blocks CEDC purchase of local vodka maker
Poland's anti-monopoly office on Wednesday blocked Central European Distribution Corp's (CEDC) plan to take over a local vodka maker and strengthen its position in the Polish market, the office said in a statement.
Source: Reuters
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Chocolate, beer pair for marvelous molé flavor
If you want to try an unusual taste treat, find some rich chocolate ice cream, the darker the better, and sprinkle hot pepper flakes on it.
Source: The Coloradoan
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Unhappy hour beer costs man $1,251
He had heard Rome was expensive but nothing prepared the Hong Kong tourist for a 990 euro ($1,251) beer.
Source: CNN.com
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Anheuser-Busch may buy Rolling Rock
Anheuser-Busch Cos., the world's largest brewer, may be close to buying Rolling Rock beer from InBev NV as the brewer tries to attract new drinkers with craft-style beers, a UBS Securities analyst wrote in a research note.
Source: Orlando Sentinel
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Where gunmen once roamed, Lebanese now make wine
Once notorious for being the home of Lebanese hashish and a wartime training ground for a generation of guerrillas, Lebanon's Bekaa Valley is rediscovering a more refined export -- wine.
Source: Reuters
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Vintner Agrees to Drop `Napa' From Wine Label
A long-running battle between the maker of the popular $1.99 Charles Shaw wine — widely known as Two-Buck Chuck — and the nation's elite vintners over the use of "Napa" on labels came to an end Friday.
Source: Los Angeles Times
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US set to overtake France in wine consumption
America will soon replace France as the world's biggest wine-drinking nation, according to a late April report by BeverageDaily.com. That's great news for the San Francisco Bay Area, home to many of America's biggest-selling and most-respected wine brands.
Source: San Francisco Business Times
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A revolution ferments in Mexico: Winemaking
You can count on south-of-the-border spirits to be flowing this Friday, Cinco de Mayo. Mexican beer. Tequila. How about wine?
Source: The Arizona Republic
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Seaweed and wine goes swimmingly well
A German marine biologist is carving out a new sideline by developing wine made from seaweed.
Source: Ananova
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Pop Star J. Lo Snubs Tbilisi Wine Promo
Georgia's government offered U.S. pop diva Jennifer Lopez half a million dollars to sing in Tbilisi and promote the country's wines but she refused, one of the country's opposition leaders said Tuesday.
Source: The Moscow Times
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'Governator' toasts California wine
California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Tuesday issued a proclamation designating September as "California Wine Month" in honor of the state's vintners and wine grape growers, thanking them for their economic contributions and commitment to high standards.
Source: East Bay Business Times
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Beer Ads That Ditch the Bikinis, but Add Threads of Thought
If Miller Brewing is to be believed, the days of beer commercials stocked exclusively with brainless party boys and buxom blondes are over.
Source: NY Times
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The Changing Taste of Beer
Grappling with consumers’ growing interest in wine and spirits, major beer manufacturers are turning to new tastes and flavors—and, in some places, it’s working.
Source: Convenience Store Decisions
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Anheuser-Busch is only backer of campaign
One might think that other big U.S. brewers would be happy with Anheuser-Busch Cos., which is spending millions on a national ad campaign to promote beer drinking over wine or cocktails.
Source: BusinessWeek Online
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Angostura to submit bid for vodka maker Belvedere
Angostura Holdings Ltd will submit plans to buy Belvedere (BEVD.PA) now that its main shareholders own more than a third of the French vodka maker's share capital, French stock market watchdog AMF said on Monday.
Source: Reuters
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Brandy still rules in state
Today's society is always looking for the next big thing, the hottest trend or the newest toy. There are, however, some timeless traditions that stay the same. Like Wisconsin's longstanding love affair with brandy.
Source: Appleton Post Crescent
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Chicago Big Smoke Sells Out
Cigar Aficionado's Chicago Big Smoke sold out on Tuesday night as 2,000 cigar lovers turned the Hyatt Regency O'Hare into the country's biggest cigar party.
Source: Cigar Aficionado
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Hey, Bud, Let's Mingle
In America, beer is aloof, the loner lurking at the edges of the bottled playground behind the bar. While the spirits happily mix and mingle, beer prefers the unadulterated solitude of a 16-ounce glass. As the gastronome André Simon said of oysters, "A squeeze of lemon is said to be permissible, but it is the thin end of the edge of heresy."
Source: New York Times
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Mix Mastery
Amanatee walks into a bar and asks for the house specialty. The bartender serves him a pineapple-sage daiquiri. "That'll be $16," he says. "You know, we don't get many manatees in this bar." The manatee replies, "At $16 a pop, that's not hard to understand."
Source: Fast Company
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Click, clink, drink: ‘Lover’s Cups’ connect long-distance couples
Like most people, Jackie Chia-Hsun Lee and Hyemin Chung don’t like living far from their loved ones.
Source: Boston Herald
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Drink the Bouquet
If you're looking for the next zeitgeist-in-a-glass, skip the fruity martinis and lo-carb coolers. The latest in potables is a garden party cocktail with floral flavours.
Source: Globe and Mail
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Kentucky Derby To Serve Up $1,000 Mint Julep Cocktails
For those willing to pay a little bit more for premium spirits, the Kentucky Derby will now feature the $1,000 mint julep.
Source: All Headline News
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Vodka Wars Spill into U.S.
Who owns the Stolichnaya brand name, and is it really "genuine Russian vodka"? Several parties are mixing it up in court to get clear answers.
Source: BusinessWeek Online
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Vodka flavored with celery and tea: a semi-official review
Occasionally we're thrown a compliment we don't quite deserve. A PR rep or spirits company mistakes us for a seasoned oenophile or fine-drink connoisseur, and an invite to an intimate tequila tasting or a meal of beer-glazed specialties finds its way into our mailbox.
Source: Village Voice
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Beyond bourbon - Sample diversity of American whiskey
For many of us, the world of American whiskey includes Jack Daniel's and Coke or Kentucky bourbon. Period.
Source: The Courier-Journal
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The Jewel of the Julep: Following the American Whiskey Trail
he linking together of seven distilleries and half a dozen historical sites is in large part the brainchild of the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States (DISCUS), a trade organization representing distilled spirits producers across the country to promote the historical, economical, and cultural importance of spirits in the U.S. -- a $95 billion national industry.
Source: Frommers
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Sip back in time - Bardstown museum does bourbon proud
It's Derby week, and that means a lot of Kentucky's favorite elixir, bourbon, will be sliding down the throats of hosts and visitors alike. From Old-Fashioneds and Manhattans to mint juleps and bourbon and branch, our native whiskey -- fermented from corn, barley and wheat or rye -- is the liquid centerpiece of the celebrations.
Source: The Courier-Journal
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Recipes for a Cinco de Mayo bash
We should know by now that Mexico's El Cinco de Mayo (The Fifth of May) isn't the same as America's Fourth of July. But popular imagination can probably be excused for confusion, since so much of the best stuff about celebrating El Cinco is evocative of the Fourth.
Source: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
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How the Margarita Got its Name
Was there a Margarita behind the Margarita? Of course. But contrary to what you may have imagined, this woman was not a Mexican beauty, but instead a fledgling Hollywood starlet.
Source: Planeta.com
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Next Year In Mexico
On the third day of Passover last year, I went to visit a pair of Jewish tequila makers in Mexico. I had been eager to meet Daniel Schneeweiss Bernstein and Moises Guindi ever since I first heard about Milagro, their premium tequila. So I jumped at the chance to visit their agave fields and distillery in Jalisco.
Source: The New York Sun
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Firm Gives 'Tequila' Perfume a Shot
Desperados in need of a drink have been known to swig from a cologne bottle. Now, aficionados have transformed a pricey tequila brand into a fragrance.
Source: NY Post
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All You Need to Concoct Your Favorite Cocktails at Home
In old movies, dashing leading men always seemed to sidle up to tables topped with crystal decanters. After a few sweeps of tuxedo-clad arms and a rattle of a cocktail shaker, they produced perfect, frothy concoctions.
Source: Washington Post
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Sangria's Bold Cousin
Julieta Ballesteros is willing to concede that her Agua Loca — a superspiked, sangria-ish drink on the menu at Crema, the haute Mexican restaurant that she and her partners opened this month near Union Square — is the ideal beverage for your Cinco de Mayo celebration. She just doesn't get why you'll be celebrating.
Source: NY Times
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Tequila: Not just for college bingeing anymore
Tequila has gone so mainstream that the Inter-American Development Bank has just approved $1.6 million to support the Tequila Trail.
Source: Miami Herald
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Perfecting the art of the cocktail
Right now, we're in a golden age of American cocktails. More and more, bartenders at the best lounges and bars are offering lists of aperitifs, small-plates drinks and after-dinner drinks that sparkle with sophistication and creativity.
Source: Los Angeles Times
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Mixed brew - from bourbon barrels to beer taps
During bourbon's aging process, which can last anywhere from a few years to a couple of decades, the bourbon is held in charred, new oak barrels. Sugars in the toasted wood impart much of the flavor and color that people recognize as bourbon flavor.
Source: Lexington Herald
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A toast to Maker's Mark
It might have been high spirits, but Maker's Mark President Bill Samuels believes he saw a twinkle in the eye of a lot of whiskey salesmen who used to be his competitors.
Source: Courier-Journa
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Keeping bloody Marys in proportion
There's nothing like a great bloody Mary. Tangy and spicy, earthy and rich, refreshing yet deeply satisfying, there's a reason the drink endures as a classic.
Source: Chicago Tribune
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'Cinco to drinko?' Not for me, amigo
It may surprise some to learn that Cinco de Mayo is not even a federal holiday in México. Banks and government offices are open. Restaurant menus remain the same. And companies don't splurge on ad campaigns named ''Cinco to Drinko" featuring talking piñatas.
Source: Boston Globe
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Tall, flowering plants tippy? Get them tipsy
or home gardeners who don't want their daffodils to tip over, a Cornell University horticulturist thinks he has the answer: Get the flowers a little tipsy with some hard liquor.
Source: Arizona Daily Star
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Build a bar and bring the nightlife home
Perhaps you need a break from the typical nightlife scene and want to bring the soiree closer to home.
Spend the day creating a home bar that goes beyond a case of beer and a bottle opener.
Source: Arizona Daily Star
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Cinco de Mayo time to be mad for margaritas, tequila
With the margarita one of the bestselling cocktails in the United States, it should be no surprise that tequila is one of the fastest growing distilled spirits in the country.
Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinal
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Whisky 'helps fight cancer'
Drinking malt whisky may help prevent cancer, a scientific conference has been told.
Source: Telegraph.co.uk
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Jenny McCarthy Helps Unveil World's Largest Margarita Blender
It's hard to say how different celebrities celebrate Cinco de Mayo, but when actress Jenny McCarthy celebrates it, she celebrates big. McCarthy was on hand in New York City last Thursday along with CuervoNation -- a tiny, eight acre island in the Caribbean -- to unveil the world's largest margarita blender.
Source: TheWGALChannel.com
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A Margarita Maker Worth His Salt
Like any proper royal, former restaurateur Giovanni Fernandez takes his title seriously. Crowned "The Margarita King" in 1981 by the San Francisco Chronicle, Giovanni (he has gone by his first name only for a number of years) owned a clutch of Bay Area eateries that served margaritas named as the best in Northern California for seven years straight.
Source: Business Week
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Bacardi chairman Rodriguez resigns
Bacardi Ltd. Chairman Ruben Rodriguez resigned last week and will leave the closely held maker of rum next month, the Business newspaper reported, citing an unidentified company spokesman. The 68 year-old wants to spend more time with his family, the newspaper quoted the spokesman as saying.
Source: Bermuda Sun
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Todo Mezcal
In the Zapotec Indian village of Chichicapa, in the Mexican state of Oaxaca and about four hours from the tourist haven of Oaxaca City, Faustino Garcia Vasquez, 38, distills mezcal following his family's generations-old recipe. Handcrafted from roasted agave plants, mezcals can vary in taste as widely as wines. "They're some of the finest heirloom spirits in the world," says Ron Cooper, an importer who markets Vasquez's mezcal in the U.S. "But what most people know as mezcal is just the cheap stuff they drank in college."
Source: Outside Magazine
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One Family's Story: Apples to Applejack
Laird Emilie Dunn is only 7 years old, but one day history will catch up with her.
Since 1698, some 12 generations of the Laird family have lived in or around this tiny Monmouth County village, making history and, yes, applejack. The family's business, Laird & Company, is the oldest commercial distillery in the United States and one of the country's oldest family businesses.
Source: NY Times
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Prefer your vodka on ice?
Until now, fashionable drinkers who like to enjoy their vodka in suitably sub-zero conditions have had to travel to either Stockholm or Lapland.
Source: The Evening Standard
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Hopes raised for Allied deal as Bacardi boss quits
The battle for control of Allied Domecq’s portfolio of drinks brands has taken a new turn with the shock resignation of Ruben Rodriguez, the Bacardi chairman and chief executive.
Source: Scotsman.com
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Allied Domecq Investors Should Play Waiting Game: Matthew Lynn
A year ago, when Allied Domecq Plc's shares were worth about 450 pence, shareholders in the British drinks company would have rushed to accept an offer of more than 670 pence a share.
Source: Bloomberg
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Once it was mother's ruin, now gin is stirred by juniper scarcity
It gained its name as the favoured tipple of the elite, ruling cliques that would gather in the "English clubs" of Britain's colonial outposts to cool off while cursing the stifling climates of their exile.
Source: icWhales
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¡Tequila!
Put away the lime and salt. To Carlos Rovelo, they are to tequila what salsa is to ice cream sundaes. The shot glass has got to go, too -- it's a reminder that tequila is "something that almost killed you in college," he says. And ignore most of what's sold as tequila in the U.S.
Source: Kiplinger.com
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Braddah Kimo’s rum finding niche in Maui markets
Probably most people don’t think of rum distilleries as mom-and-pop businesses, but tucked away in a corner of Haleakala Ranch, down an unpaved, axle-busting driveway, Jim and Leslie Sargent are making four varieties of rum.
Source: Maui News
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Texas man a big shot in vodka
When Tito Beveridge set out to make vodka deep in the heart of Texas seven years ago, everyone laughed. Now, with sales doubling every year, Tito's Handmade Vodka ships to 38 states and four Canadian provinces.
Source: Jackson Clarion Ledger
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What your drink says about you
The lager lout is a thing of the past, replaced by the lager literate, according to research linking certain personalities to alcoholic drinks. So what does your tipple of choice say about you?
Source: BBC News
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Hunter Mountain Presents TAP(sm) New York April 23-24, 2005
Mark your calendars. Hunter Mountain taps into the magic of craft beer again this season at the 8th Annual TAP(sm) New York Festival April 23-24th, 2005. Explore an array of nearly 100 handcrafted brews, fine cuisine to complement, and professional demonstrations at this exceptional collaboration of New York State's finest breweries and culinary talent.
Source: AlpineZone News
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Free-pour bill reaches hurdle
The free-pour bill hit a snag after it came back to the Senate floor radically changed from what had been discussed for the past five years.
Source: Myrtle Beach Sun News
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CLOONEY BECOMES 'THE VOICE OF BUDWEISER'
Having already been blasted by Russell Crowe for appearing in booze ads in Europe, 'Ocean's 11' star George Clooney could be in for more of a roasting as he stars in a new Budweiser commercial.
Source: Media Bulletin
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Mix mastery: New martinis stir creative spirits
As anyone who's ordered a drink within the past few years must know, the martini's come a long way. (In some cases, perhaps too long a way.) The clamoring of those who want ever-jazzier drinks served up in martini glasses has long since drowned out the complaints of martini purists who just want them clear, cold and dry.
Source: Boston Herald
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Oregon brews bubble while giants are flat
Sales may be flat at the nation's biggest beer companies, but they continue to be frothy for Oregon's fast-growing craft brewers.
Source: OregonLive.com
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Cash injection for whiskey firm
One of Northern Ireland's best known whiskey distillers has been given a £2m cash injection from Invest Northern Ireland to help develop its products.
Source: BBC News
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Why Are Aged Brews Fetching $100?
Here's a riddle: What winemaker produces Ommegang Abbey Rare Vos? A 750-milliliter bottle had just arrived at our table with cork intact, and a retail price, according to a chalkboard above the bar, of $16.50.
Source: WSJ.com
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Wine trends are starting to go 'Sideways'
With the upcoming release of the wine tasting-road-buddy movie "Sideways" on DVD next week, local wine merchants are getting ready to stock up some extra cases of the fruit of the vine, especially those made from the Pinot noir grape. Almost everyone in the business was caught off guard by the reaction of both new and old wine drinkers when the film was released last fall, as was almost everyone in the film business: The $16 million film has already pulled in almost $70 million domestically. And when that many people see a film, there's going to be at least some sort of ripple in pop culture, and in this case, wine-buying habits.
Source: West Roxbury & Roslindale TranscripT
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French wines develop New World taste
CONNOISSEURS of the finest vintages may not like it, but French wine is about to resemble that from the New World, because of drought.
Alcohol, fruitiness and sweetness will increase as the French climate suffers drier conditions, winemakers have warned.
Source: Scotsman
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A risque wine battle plays out in 2 courts
In a federal lawsuit, St. Helena-based Sutter Home Winery contends it holds the trademark to the Folie à Deux brand "Menage à Trois," and that El Dorado County's Madrona Vineyards is infringing on that with its brand "Melange à Trois."
Source: NapaNet Daily News
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King Tut Liked Red Wine
Ancient Egyptians believed in properly equipping a body for the afterlife, and not just through mummification. A new study reveals that King Tutankhamun eased his arduous journey with a stash of red wine.
Source: Science Daily
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France hit by wine terrorism!
TERRORIST attacks by radical wine producers on government offices in the south of France on Thursday served notice that the country’s wine crisis may be spinning out of control.
Sticks of dynamite were thrown at agriculture ministry offices in Montpellier and Carcassonne in the early hours, causing serious damage but no injuries. A car was also burned outside ministry offices in Nimes.
Source: The Statesman
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EU OK's vodka made from grapes
EUROPE'S vodka drinkers can rest easy knowing European Union law will allow them to buy their favourite tipple made from a bewildering array of farm produce such as grapes and sugar cane - not just potatoes and grain.
Source: Australian
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What makes a wine cool?
What is cool? Like Justice Potter Stewart's definition of pornography: You know it when you see it.
But finding a cool wine is a more of a challenge, for taste is always subjective, making the elusive quality of cool even harder to pin down.
Source: Chicago Tribune
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Organic distillers make splash with vodka
With each hand-dipped bottle of vodka he packs into cases and ships out across Vermont, Howie Faircloth is living out a bit of family history.
Source: Vermont Guardian
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Robert Morrisey, founder of Wine Spectator, dead at 78
Robert Morrisey, whose love of wine was initiated by his doctor's advice and grew into a passion that inspired him to create The Wine Spectator publication, has died. He was 78.
Source: Monterey County Herald
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Gin is ready for another round of popularity
Remember gin? The original martini? Glasses that defined art-deco chic? The Beefeater dude on the label? "London dry?" It's back.
Source: Fort Worth Star Telegram
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No mixer here: Locally distilled vodka aims to please the palate
With Eastern European heritage in mind, distillers aim to put the 'sweetness' back in vodka
Source: Daily Barometer
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Distilleries bill passes
A bill that would allow Montanans to open micro-distilleries breezed through the House on Wednesday.
Source: Billings Gazette
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Wine bill can help on several fronts
I have filed a bill that will assist in curbing underage drinking by tightening the laws on direct shipments of wine to individuals, which will provide law enforcement with more tools to catch offenders.
Source: Sun-Sentinel.com
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The Industry: Tender Is the Night
Kourtney Keller pulled back one of the tap handles arrayed before her, unleashing a stream of Belgian beer into a pint glass. She was just three pints into a sleepy Sunday-afternoon shift at d.b.a., the Manhattan bar she has tended for the last four years. She let the froth settle in the glass.
Source: New York Times
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The secret life of...a bartender | Mixing drinks, making money
An undisclosed Patriot player has paid sophomore Alex Maiocco $100 to smile. She has been tipped $400 by another pro athlete. And she has finished up work at 3:30 a.m. only to stick around for another hour with her coworkers drinking their share of free alcohol.
Source: Tufts Daily
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Pilferers of the Nightspots
Some $30 million stolen by bar staff every year, say nightspot owners. Last year, the group finance manager of a pub chain was jailed six years for stealing over $1 million over two years. The New Paper on sunday sniffs out the inside tricks bar staff use to steal money from their employers.
Source: Metro Toronto
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Old and Bold
Originally created in 17th-century Holland to treat kidney disorders, gin went mainstream in England in the 1700s and became known as London dry gin, the strong, aromatic style popular today. But the restorative properties of its many ingredients still deserve some attention. Gin's complex flavors and aromas come from a medicine cabinet's worth of herbs, spices and botanicals. Juniper berries give it a distinctive, pine-sap taste and, according to herbal-medicine experts, ease aches, pains and upset stomachs. Orris and angelica roots have been used to cure respiratory ailments. And licorice is good for ulcers. The combinations vary from gin to gin, and each distiller has a unique recipe.
Source: Ski Magazine
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Fund drops Starbucks over liquor firm link
A mutual fund company that invests only in businesses it deems socially responsible has dropped Starbucks Corp., citing the coffee giant's launch of a java liqueur with whiskey maker Jim Beam. Pax World Funds, a Portsmouth, N.H.-based fund family, steers clear of companies involved in defence or weapons, tobacco, liquor or gambling.
Source: London Free Press
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Restaurateurs say it's time for wine
First it was cookbooks, then cutlery, pasta and steak sauces. Now, restaurateurs are leveraging their brand equity to peddle booze. A pioneering few, the most famous so far being Drew Nieporent of Tribeca Grill, are opening wine stores in Manhattan. Others, like Steve Hanson of B.R. Guest, are eyeing the opportunity as well.
Source: NewYorkBusiness.com
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Martinis stir up renewed popularity, shake up taste buds
What is it about the martini?
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The drink is variously credited to bartenders in high-class hotels from about the 1860s to just before World War I. Most students of the game come down on the side of Martini di Arma di Taggia, an immigrant Italian bartender at New York's Knickerbocker Hotel who got closest to the modern drink around 1912.
Source: Albany Times Union
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The uplifting history of 42 Below
I'm glad I didn't write about the 42 Below float. I hated it. The prospectus seemed full of marketing fluff and gimmicks and little substance. And the vodka and gin company was so young it had hardly any track record.
Source: New Zealand Herald
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Meet A 'Mixology Research Engineer'
The cocktail is an American invention and one local man wants to make sure its history is celebrated --- along with its future. Robert Hess is a self-proclaimed "Mixology Research Engineer" and a bit of a cocktail snob.
Source: KOMO
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Absolut Vodka Featuring Online Casino Poker Games
With the popularity of online casino games spreading like wild fire, companies are trying new ways to cross promote their products along with popular gambling games. Let´s face it, when you imagine a private poker game, you usually think of a smoky, rowdy room full of people sitting around a table playing cards and drinking. Well it seems that Absolut Vodka is trying to tap into tat image by featuring online casino style poker games you can play right on their website.
Source: Online Casino Reports
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Bill lets diners cart leftover wine home
Ever dropped $40 for a bottle of wine and just couldn't finish it?
Help might be on the way in the "merlot to-go" bill, which already has some restaurant owners and wine lovers toasting.
Source: Herald Tribune
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'Two Buck Chuck' stumbles in Napa fight
The Supreme Court sent a message Monday to Bronco Wine Co.: Chuck it — for now.
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The maker of the popular $1.99 Charles Shaw wine — widely known as "Two Buck Chuck" — hit another stumbling block in its quest to use the word "Napa" on wines that contain few, if any, Napa-grown grapes. The Supreme Court declined to hear the dispute over how California wines are labeled.
Source: Houston Chronicle
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New Beer Packs a ‘Kick’
Two of Canada’s leading brewers have announced plans to introduce separate lines of caffeinated beer. Molson’s ‘Kick’ and Labatt’s ‘Shok’ will contain guarana, an extract from a berry plant native to South America, described by Molson as “a natural source of caffeine.”
Source: Epoch Times
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Making Lite Of The King
Days before Anheuser-Busch Cos. (BUD ) launched Budweiser Select last February, Miller Brewing Co. (SBMRY ) distributors began wearing buttons that read: "I Created New Bud, Ask Me How." The message: Budweiser Select, with its low carb content and rich amber color, is just a Miller Lite wannabe. Led by Chief Executive Officer Norman Adami, Miller has been challenging the industry Goliath -- often with cheek -- in commercials, stores, and bars. Says Anheuser-Busch marketing chief Michael J. Owens: "Right now, Miller is not making the beer business fun."
Source: BusinessWeek
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InBev Looks to Brazilian Beer for Growth in the West
InBev NV, the world's second-largest brewer, will start selling Brahma beer in more than 15 countries this year on optimism the Brazilian brew will revive demand in the slowing beer markets of Western Europe and the U.S.
Source: Bloomberg
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Sam Adams tour toasts Boston's rich brewery history
The Boston of a century ago was a beer-brewing hub to rival Midwestern suds capitals such as Milwaukee, St. Louis and Chicago. Research by local historians has turned up evidence of 31 operating breweries inside the city limits in the late 19th century. A city better known for its baked beans and clam chowder had the greatest number of breweries per capita at the time, said Michael Reiskind, a Boston historian who has researched Boston's brewing history.
Source: USA Today
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Brewers bottle up aftertaste in bid for new beer drinkers
As anybody who's ever kissed a beer drinker can testify, brewskis leave an aftertaste. Now — after light beer, ice beer, dry beer and low-carb beer — brewers' latest wrinkle to try to stop consumers from switching to wine and liquor is so-called no-aftertaste beer.
Source: USA Today
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New spin on gin
Remember gin? The original martini? Glasses that defined art-deco chic? The Beefeater dude on the label? ``London dry?'' It's back, and three artful Northern California distillers are leading the way. One new San Francisco operation calls itself the first dedicated gin-making operation in the country since Al Capone was a pup.
Source: San Jose Mercury News
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Mezcal liquor aims for softer image
Luigi Romanelli reached over rows of brown bottles filled with mezcal liquor, each with a dead worm inside, and proudly tapped a bundle of sleek metallic tubes.
Source: DetNews.com
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Tequila visionary eyes U.S. market
Between 1975 and 1995, tequila sales in the United States grew 1,500 percent, with cheap versions of the Mexican spirit gaining mass appeal among young revelers looking to push levels of drunkenness. But David Suro, a native of the Mexican city of Guadalajara in the heart of tequila country and the producer of a new premium tequila called Siembra Azul, would like to help change Americans' perspective of tequila.
Source: Washington Times
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Vintners Gain Respect In Land Of Tequila: Mexico's winemakers making a better product
In the land of tequila and beer, some are raising a glass to a wine renaissance.
Mexico is the Western Hemisphere's oldest wine producer, yet its wines are little known in this country or anywhere else. And they've long had a reputation of not being very good - in the past, people who drank Mexican wines had to settle for mass-produced table varieties that were easier on the wallet than the palate.
Source: The Register-Guard
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American-made tequila takes shot at cracking Mexican monopoly
J.B. Wagoner initially planted blue agave around his 25-acre property to solve a landscaping dilemma. The low-maintenance plants were a cheaper alternative than the water-loving citrus or avocado groves that dot the hills of this Riverside County town.
Source: San Jose Mercury News
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SA 'tequila' makes inroads in US
South African agave are making rapid inroads in North America, the local producers of blue agave spirit said.
Source: IAfrica South African News
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Now, elephant polo to promote Chivas Regal in Nepal!
Scotland's Duke of Argyll is spearheading the winning team in a week-long international elephant polo tournament on a 110-metre pitch, and believe it or not, it's being played bang in the middle of the jungle in southern Nepal.
Source: New Kerala
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Rumble over rum
The Alvarez family lost its rum business to Castro but rebuilt it in exile. Now it defends a claim to be the Cuban original.
Source: St. Petersburg Times
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Molson Gets Final Court OK for Coors Deal
Canadian brewer Molson Inc. said Wednesday that it received a final order from the Superior Court, District of Montreal, Province of Quebec approving the company's "merger of equals" with Adolph Coors Co., the third-largest brewer in the United States.
Source: Associated Press
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Anheuser-Busch sees tough beer profit year in '05
Anheuser-Busch Cos. Inc. (NYSE: BUD) on Wednesday said 2005 will be a tough year for it to grow profits in its beer business, with revenue per barrel likely to lag costs.
Source: Reuters
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A-B GETS BACK TO BASICS OF FUN, HUMOR
A beer-guzzling robot and a snowball fight among the Clydesdale horses are expected to be a few of the ten 30-second advertising spots that Anheuser-Busch Cos. presents during the Super Bowl next weekend.
Source: Beverage World
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France pledges $91 million to help beleagured wine industry
The French government announced more than $91 million in aid Monday for the country's struggling wine industry, hit by falling consumption at home and increased competition in export markets.
Source: Associated Press
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What do you get when you pair wine with ... popcorn?
When shoppers step into the wine section at their local grocery store, they’re immediately confronted with a dizzying assortment of wines - syrah, chardonnay, pinot noir, rosé - and an even greater explosion of labels.
Source: Morgan Hills Times
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Ban on booze device backed
It sounds great: No hangovers. No carbs. No side effects. But a lawmaker says a new device dubbed AWOL that allows users to inhale vaporized alcohol is dangerous and should be banned in Colorado.
Source: Rocky Mountain News
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Smirnoff Offspring Sues U.S. Brand Demanding Share of Profits
Kira Smirnova, the great-granddaughter of Petr Smirnov, the maker of the famous Smirnov vodka, has announced her plans to demand compensation from the owners of the U.S. brand Smirnoff. Smirnoff has been selling vodka, produced under Russian license for almost 70 years.
Source: MosNews.com
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Jinro's search for buyer kicks off
Jinro Ltd., Korea's top soju distiller, has officially embarked on its search for a new owner after receiving a Seoul court approval yesterday to begin the sale.
Source: The Korea Herald
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Where To Stay, Eat And Party For Super Bowl XXXIX
The Super Bowl may or may not be the greatest party/sports extravaganza on the planet. But, there's little question that it in the running..
Source: Forbes
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What you need for a winning Super Bowl party
Next Sunday, homes across America will be tuned in to this year’s Super Bowl showdown between the New England Patriots and the Philadelphia Eagles. It’s a chance to watch football, check out the hottest ads of the year and spend time with friends. Steve Santagati, the newly appointed editor-at-large of Men's Journal, was invited on “Today” to tell you what you need to make the ultimate Super Bowl party.
Source: MSNBC
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Delectable gumbo perfect for Super Bowl party
Super Bowl Sunday is just around the corner, and with it come super-sized appetites. If you're seeking a dish that's convenient and satisfying and won't leave you tied to the kitchen all day, nothing fits the bill like gumbo.
Source: Holland Sentinel
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Bombay Sapphire Reveals NZ’s Most Fashionable Cocktail
The international allure and sophistication of the world’s most recognisable gin is once again aligning itself with the best of New Zealand fashion. Bombay Sapphire has signed up as official spirit of the collections for the second year in a row, marking the occasion with the release of the official Air New Zealand Fashion Week cocktail, the Bombay Blush.
Source: Thread
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Cheers to portable drink!
From a punch-top tin to Frank Gehry-designed bottles, alcohol packaging has come a long way.
Source: CNN Money
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A crash course on wine
What can be said about bottle service, that let-them-eat-cake trend of requiring bar patrons to purchase a marked up bottle of booze to secure a table or booth? It's great if you've got that mother wad of cash and a bevy of babes to spend it on, unfortunate if you're the rest of us plebes with just 10 bucks in your pocket and nowhere to sit.
Source: Village Voice
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A Spirit That Calls for a Dip, and a Dip That Meets the Call
Not long after vodka began riding a wave of popularity in the United States, dips began showing up at cocktail time. The Dictionary of American Food and Drink by John F. Mariani (Ticknor & Fields, 1983) puts the first references to cocktail dips around 1960.
Source: NY Times
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Sip ’n’ sing
What better way is there to experience paradise than with award-winning music and an ice cold cocktail? In honor of the first local artists to be nominated for a Grammy Award, the Outrigger Waikiki on the Beach recently sponsored a search for cocktails inspired by this year's nominees.
Source: Honolulu Star-Bulletin
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Cocktail exhibit opens at New Orleans museum
Bartenders dispensed classic cocktails beneath the palm fronds of the New Orleans Pharmacy Museum's lush courtyard at the Jan. 11 media event prior to the official opening of a historic cocktail exhibit.
Source: 2TheAdvocate
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Lil Jon Crunks Up the Volume
For Lil Jon, a platinum-selling rapper known for rowdiness and an ever-present jeweled chalice, starting a soft drink to explain his boundless energy (and, of course, to fill the chalice) seemed only natural. Two years ago, the Atlanta native teamed up with Sidney Frank, a liquor-business veteran and the creator of Grey Goose vodka, to make Crunk!!!, an energy drink named for the slang term for acting crazy or excited
Source: Business Week
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The ta$te of success
He made his billions with Grey Goose, but Sidney Frank still has a lot cooking – including several personal chefs
Source: SignOnSanDiego.com
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Bacardi plans 'light' rum to cash in on dieting trend
For the past decade, the liquor industry has stood by quietly as sales of both light beer and diet soda have gone through the roof. Now, one liquor company wants a piece of the lucrative market for low-calorie beverages.
Source: International Herald Tribune
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Spirited venture
Housed in the back of the old Sunny Brook Dairy building on Ninth Street in Corvallis is a new vodka distillery called House Spirits. Owners Lee Medoff and Christian Krogstad, both of Portland, have been crafting the spirit in the small off-street location since August.
Source: Corvallis Gazette Times
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Does filtration make vodka better?
Amassive extracurricular science project in Hyde Park and around the country has intrepid college students asking the question, “Can my roommate’s water filter improve cheap vodka?” Some feel that Brita plus Skol equal Grey Goose, while others think Dmitri plus Pur equal placebo effect. Though results vary and theoretical analysis is not quite conclusive, the phenomenon shows no signs of slowing.
Source: Chicago Maroon
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Further definition of 'big beers'
When beer grows too big for its mug, the beverage must be released - into a snifter. At the fifth annual Big Beers, Belgians and Barleywines festival, instead of mugs as in years past, attendees will taste the more than 125 beers on tap out of a 6-ounce snifter.
Source: Vail Daily News
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Study finds brewing acquisitions have better track record
Molson Inc. shareholders vote today on whether to approve a $6 billion merger with Golden-based Adolph Coors Co., whose shareholders vote Tuesday.
Source: Denver Post
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Is this Bud for you?
Anheuser-Busch had been the life of the party on Wall Street for the past decade, regardless of market gyrations and economic slowdowns. Heading into the beginning of 2004, the stock had gained ground every year since 1994.
Source: CNN International
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Bartender, Pour Me Another Cup
America's largest brewing company, Anheuser-Busch, released its latest product last week -- a beer that contains caffeine.
Source: Washington Post
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Beer saves man from avalanche
A SLOVAK man trapped in his car under an avalanche freed himself by drinking 60 bottles of beer and urinating on the snow to melt it.
Source: NEWS.com.au
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US ambassador to marry Mexican 'beer queen'
The United States ambassador to Mexico, a prominent figure in society pages as well as national politics, is engaged to be married to Mexico's wealthiest woman.
Source: New Zealand Herald
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An oenophile's cool way of storing wine
Mark Goldberger remembers his first taste of wine -- a glass of Manischewitz at a Passover seder when he was 8.
Source: Boston Globe
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Vermont Wine Grape Growers Get Boost from $40,000 EPA Grant
A Vermont project that helps reduce the risks of pesticides used in wine grape production has received a $40,000 grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. This grant was one of two given out this year by EPA New England under its Pesticide Environmental Stewardship Program.
Source: U.S. EPA.gov
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Direct-to-Consumer Wine Sales Could Prove to Be Disastrous
North Carolina's Josephus Daniels was secretary of the Navy from 1912 to 1921. During his tenure, Daniels banned alcoholic beverages aboard naval ships. Because sailors started drinking more coffee, the term "cup of Joe" was born.
Source: Agape Press
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Waiter, There's a Fish in My Wine!
The French used grapes, Russians fermented potatoes, Koreans put ginseng in their drink and Mexicans distilled cactus plants to make fiery tequila.
Source: Reuters
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'Liquor de malt' isn't just a gag
Mention the term "malt liquor," and most people will shudder - excluding, of course, those sidewalk connoisseurs who enjoy drinking out of a bottle in a paper bag.
Source: Daily News
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Anheuser-Busch Launches Souped-Up Beer
Going against the grain in courting the young cocktail crowd, beermaker Anheuser-Busch Cos. is launching a new "brew" to go head-to-head with classic mixed drinks -- traditional suds spiked with caffeine, fruit flavoring, herbal guarana and ginseng.
Source: Associated Press
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Single malts reborn
Few Americans know it, but I'm told it's much beloved in the pubs of Glasgow. Activities are basic: You drink some whisky, eat some haggis, and recite the lines of Robbie Burns, Scotland's national poet.
Source: CNN Money
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The resurgence of classic cocktails spurs a bitters renaissance
Bartenders reach for bitters like chefs reach for red pepper sauce. A dash or two of the spirit — a blend of herbs and roots distilled in alcohol — adds zest to champagne cocktails, Manhattans, Old Fashioneds, rum punches and other drinks.
Source: Houston Chronicle
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Barrel-Aged Beer Creates Some "Curiosity"
One of our top beer picks for 2004 was a curious one. No, really, it was. Allagash Curieux ("curious" in French) hails from the Allagash Brewing Company in Portland, ME, which brewed its first batch of beer in 1995 and is one of the few traditional Belgian-style breweries in America. But what makes Curieux so curious is its unique brewing and maturation methods. At Allagash, American Bourbon-making meets the delicate yet powerful Belgian Tripel brewing style and introduces a bold twist for a brewery that prides itself on producing 100 percent Belgian-style ales.
Source: BeerAdvocate.com
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Networks Lash Back at Beer Ads
The marketing battle between the world's two biggest beermakers is getting increasingly nasty. Miller Brewing Co. started the fight with TV spots showing a referee penalizing drinkers of Anheuser-Busch Cos.' Budweiser and Bud Light. Calling their choice of suds "unbeermanlike" conduct, the ref replaces the beer with Miller Lite or Miller Genuine Draft.
Source: NY Post
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Jack Daniel's, Jim Beam take rivalry to the pit
Jack Daniel's and Jim Beam have been going toe to toe in bars and liquor stores for years. Now they can go wheel-to-wheel on the track.
Source: Louisville Courier-Journal
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Cuban Rum: The Liquor for Great Moments (I)
The Cuban archipelago, full of attractions for thousands of vacationers who visit the island's tourist destination every year, complements its offer of leisure with elements that mark traditions that have lasted for years.
Source: Periódico 26
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Microbrewer is betting success is in the can
"The canned beer Apocalypse" is upon us. That's what four guys from Oskar Blues Brewery in Lyons, Colo., are preaching. They call themselves the horsemen ushering in this cosmic shift and their message is simple: It is possible to make a great beer and pack it in a can.
Source: Seattle Post Intelligencer
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Act of Legislature needed to tap a keg in Alabama
By the bottle, by the can, by the case. There's no shortage of ways or places to buy alcohol in Decatur since the city went wet in 1984. Except draft beer.
Source: The Decatur Daily
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Putin Rejects Law Banning Public Beer Drinking
Russian president Vladimir Putin turned down the federal law on restrictions of beer sales and consumption in public places.
Source: MOSNEWS
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Beer with microchip
A SCOTTISH nightclub is to become the first in Britain to offer customers cash-free drinking by having a microchip implanted in their arm.
Source: Melbourne Herald Sun
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Beer Ad Battle Spills into Realm of Science
Football's Super Bowl brings lots of beer ads. This year, Anheuser-Busch -- brewer of Budweiser and Bud Light -- has once again purchased exclusive rights for the national telecast.
Source: NPR
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Alcohol-free beer 'stops cancer'
Mice given the beer while exposed to cancer-causing chemicals had 85% less damage to their liver, lung and kidneys than those given water, the study said.
Source: BBC News
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Cheese whiz is better known for Bay Area's Anchor Steam brew
Fritz Maytag's name is on the blue cheese, but beer is his real claim to fame. In his adopted hometown of San Francisco, Maytag, co-chairman of Newton, Iowa's Maytag Dairy Farms, is known for being the owner of Anchor Steam Brewing Co., maker of Anchor Steam beer and other brews.
Source: AZ Central.com
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Aluminum beer bottle puts charge in Iron City
Karen Proctor is not male or in her 20s or early 30s, so she's not your typical American beer drinker. But the Rochester Institute of Technology professor knows a good beer bottle when she sees one.
Source: Pittsburgh Post Gazette
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Miller, Anheuser-Busch Get Personal With TV Spots
The marketing battle between the world's two biggest beermakers is getting increasingly nasty.
Source: The Ledger
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Anheuser-Bush rolls out new ‘BE’ beer
Anheuser-Busch is rolling out a new beverage, dubbed “BE,” targeted at males and females in the 21 to 27 age group, said Dawn Roepke, the brewer’s brand manager for new product development.
Source: The Union Leader
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Wine Spectator magazine owner plans to restore century-old Noyes Mansion
The owner of Wine Spectator magazine plans to restore the landmark Noyes Mansion at First and Jefferson streets to its original splendor.
Source: NapaNet Daily News
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IPO of Dynasty savoured
Dynasty Fine Wines Group, capitalizing on the mainland's growing taste for wine, raised US$86.5 million in a well-received initial public offering, a source familiar with the deal said yesterday.
Source: China Daily
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Study: Wine drinkers can't tell cork difference
Winemakers argue about the advantages of natural corks versus synthetic corks or metal screwtops, but the average wine drinker can't tell any difference in product quality, according to Oregon State University researchers.
Source: Salem Statesman Journal
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Wine, dine and recline
Smooth the sheets, plump up the pillows and pass the pan-seared foie gras with pistachio pesto. At a restaurant that opened recently, diners do as the ancient Romans did — crawl into bed and dine horizontally.
Source: Allentown Morning Call
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Try ice wine for dessert
During the 19th century, in the most sophisticated households in America and Europe, no great meal was complete without a fine dessert wine. Somewhere in history that tradition faded -- probably due to the outpouring of cheap, cloyingly sweet dessert wines that turned consumers off.
Source: Sun-Sentinel.com
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Wine film triumphs at Golden Globes
A film which uses a trip through California wine country as its backdrop became one of the most successful movies at last night's Golden Globe Awards in Los Angeles.
Source: Wine International
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Constellation Wine's executive: Build California brands
Focus on quality and deliver it in every price point to build brands with styles that will resonate with consumers both here and abroad.
Source: Western Farm Press
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Kiwis excel in the South Australian wine industry
Growing numbers of young New Zealanders are crossing the Tasman to work in South Australia's booming food and wine tourism industry for senior positions and the state's weather and lifestyle.
Source: National Business Review
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U.S. irons out raisin wine wrinkle
Raisin wine, one assumes, is an acquired taste. But now more people might get a chance to acquire it, thanks to an adventurous Texan and a new Treasury Department ruling.
Source: Sacramento Bee
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California winemaker connects art and drink
The Danny Kaye Theatre in the Conrad N. Hilton Library at the Culinary Institute of America was transformed into one of the world's foremost art museums last week.
Source: Rhinebeck Gazette Advertiser
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Drink Beer Or Wine And Be Sharper?
A study published in the Jan. 20, 2005 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine found that women who have a drink of beer or wine daily have sharper minds into old age than women who abstain.
Source: CBS News
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France to loosen up wine ads
Wine ads in France, once restricted to little more than a photo of the bottle, could boast about smell, taste, and color under a compromise approved unanimously by parliament's upper house. The amendment aims to settle a battle between struggling vintners and anti-alcoholism campaigners over a 1991 law limiting ads to dry information on name, manufacturer, alcohol content, and origin.
Source: Boston Globe
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Group hopes to get clear picture on state wineries
New York's wine industry, seeking the sober facts about its impact on the state's economy, has hired a Napa Valley consultant to conduct a study.
Source: Newsday
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The 'tequila worm' that caused the agave meltdown
The great agave meltdown began at summer's end. I thought I'd simply watered them to death, but in this sandy soil that is downright hard to do. And when it's 110 degrees outside, the surface evaporation makes over watering virtually impossible.
Source: SunHerald.com
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Chinese prosperity boosting drinks groups
Growing consumer spending levels in China have helped boost sales at two of the world’s leading drinks groups. South Africa’s SABMiller and France’s Rémy Cointreau both benefited from the increasing interest in premium drinks brands as status symbols
Source: Beverage Daily
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Cognac mystery lives on at Poe grave
The mystery man was dressed for the cold rather than tradition, and some spectators were not quite as respectful as in past years. But for the 56th year, a man stole into a locked graveyard early on Edgar Allan Poe's birthday and placed three roses and a half-empty bottle of cognac on the writer's grave.
Source: Washington Times
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Olive Festival leads to Martini Madness
It was standing room only at a Sonoma hotel last Friday as martini aficionados and lovers of the olive came together for an evening billed as Martini Madness.
Source: San Francisco Chronicle
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Budget vodka hits spot with Ohioans
Last year, statewide sales of spiritous liquors (that's everything but beer and wine) reached a record $571 million or 9.4 million gallons, the Ohio Department of Commerce reported this week. That comes to about $50 for each of the Buckeye State's 11.4 million people. If you omit children under 18, the figure rises to nearly $67 a head and more than a gallon per person.
Source: Toledo Blade
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Pataki backs new wine law
Gov. George Pataki has renewed his efforts to allow out-of-state wineries to ship their wines directly to consumers.
Source: Newsday
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Vodka becomes America’s drink of choice
When did we go from a nation of whiskey drinkers to vodka sippers? Images of Mrs. Robinson have given way to Carrie from "Sex and the City," and so has their drink of choice. The tide may have turned sometime in the early ’80s with those slick Absolut print ads, but I’m not sure.
Source: East Valley Tribune
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Is mescal's worth all about the worm?
Makers will soon find out, as Mexico bans the liquor's legendary addition.
Source: Houston Chronicle
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A new gin player
Brown-Forman Corp. is considering a jump into the gin pool, as soon as the weather warms up.
Source: Louisville Courier-Journal
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Constellation booming
Buoyed by sizable increases in its wine business, Constellation Brands Inc. scored its second consecutive billion-dollar sales quarter and matched expectations of Wall Street analysts.
Source: Rochester Democrat and Chronicle
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The champagne cocktail, reminiscent of a bygone era, has come of age again
The cocktail soars with tiny bubbles.
A pool of sugar collects at the bottom of the flute, causing the champagne to fizz even more.
The number seven is central to the Cibola, prepared by bartender Adrian Guerra at Jalapeños. The cocktail is named for seven legendary cities of gold and contains seven ingredients.
Then comes a dash of bitters, a twist of lemon zest and voilà! The champagne cocktail.
Source: Houston Chronicle
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'Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails'
Reporter Richard Adams explores the history of cocktails with Ted Haigh, author of Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails. Haigh gave Adams a tour of his antique liquor collection and stirred up an old-time elixir.
Source: NPR (audio)
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Diageo, Liquor Makers Boost Sales With Luxury Holiday Cocktails
Tony Montgomery, an advertising executive in Manhattan, switched to Ketel One vodka, which costs three times as much as his former brand Smirnoff, at the recommendation of a friend.
Source: Bloomberg
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Beer Is King of Alcoholic Beverage Market
If you sometimes find yourself ordering a glass of wine or a mixed drink when you used to order a beer, you're not alone.
Source: Associated Press
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| • |
Germans may prefer juice to beer
Germany's long love affair with beer appears to have cooled, with industry figures on Monday confirming that thirsty Germans are more likely to reach for a glass of fizzy water than for an ale.
Source: Independent Online
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| • |
Lagging Lagers
Recently, while stuck at a railroad crossing, I waited patiently as the world's longest train trudged forward at an agonizingly slow pace. Gradually, the behemoth lost all momentum and ground to a halt. Within minutes, it began moving again, but in the opposite direction.
Source: Motley Fool
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Coors Execs to Meet With Molson Investors
Coors Execs to Meet With Molson Investors Amid Fresh Opposition to Their $6 Billion Merger Plan
Source: Associated Press
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| • |
Shakers has an effervescent year
Farmers in the Benson, Minn., area are ringing in a new year with a bit more jingle in their pockets and a whole lot of pride in their hearts, thanks to the wild success of their home-grown Shakers vodka.
Source: Minneapolis Star Tribune
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Discovering beer's possibilities
Hops, one of the main taste-altering ingredients in beer, is actually a cousin of cannabis, the plant whose buds are more commonly known as marijuana.
Source: Vail Daily News
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| • |
Wineries Face Pivotal Year
2005 may be the most pivotal year for Long Island's wine industry since 1973, when establishment of the Hargrave Vineyard gave birth to it.
Source: NY Times
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Selling the cellar: Vineyard founders ready to move on
Dexter and Val Ahlgren don’t plan to stop making wine just because they’re selling their winery.
Source: Santa Cruz Sentinel
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Wineries losing taste for glass bottles
New wine packaging, including juice-style boxes, plastic bottles and aluminum cans, is creating a host of options for American consumers--and a lot of angst for industry traditionalists.
Source: Sun-Sentinel.com
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The real spirit of Mexico
Listen closely my friends, mi amigos, my fellow partners in the leisurely sharing of cocktails with our other amigos.
Source: AZ Central.com
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World's Largest Cigar Rolled
A cigar-maker in Puerto Rico has hand-rolled an 18.6-metre-long cigar, which would be the world's largest if confirmed by the Guinness Book of World Records.
Source: Special Broadcasting Service
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Drink gets hip voice
Rapper 50 Cent is not only in da club, he's now also in da supermarket.
The Jamaica-raised hip-hop artist's newest venture to get rich (or die tryin') is with an up-and-coming beverage company based in Whitestone. He recently teamed up with Glaceau vitaminwater to create and market a new flavor in its line of low-calorie, natural drinks.
Source: New York Daily News
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| • |
Brandy unveiled at Huber Winery
When most of us consider brandy, the elegant after-dinner beverage distilled from wine and aged in wooden casks, we think of France. Cognac and Armagnac are the finest brandies distilled from grape wine. Calvados is a delicious apple brandy from the north of France.
Source: The Courier-Journal
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Worm bugs Mexico officials
Makers of mezcal say the larvae are an important part of the liquor. The federal government wants them out.
Source: Daily Breeze
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Italians brace for brave new non-smoking world -- in public places
Italy's 14 million smokers prepared for a new way of life with new legislation banning smoking in all public places such as bars, restaurants, discotheques and offices.
Source: Yahoo News!
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| • |
Anheuser-Busch going retro to renew interest in Budweiser
Anheuser-Busch Inc. is expected to go retro in 2005 as the St. Louis-based brewer seeks to spark new interest in its flagship Budweiser beer.
Source: MSNBC
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| • |
Anheuser-Busch toasts Budweiser ruling
American brewing giant Anheuser-Busch has toasted a World Trade Organization ruling in an international dispute over geographically linked product names as an "important victory" for the company in its ongoing dispute with Czech brewer Budejovicky Budvar.
Source: Prague Post
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| • |
Coors Reveals Cold, Hard Super Bowl Facts
Coors Light will break a spot during the NFL playoffs this weekend that continues its "Cold hard facts" campaign.
Source: Brandweek
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| • |
Have the Anheuser-Busch, Miller beer wars gone too far?
In a marketing game now brewing between Anheuser-Busch and Miller, some question whether the rival beer makers using referees in commercial pitches have lost sight of true sportsmanship.
Source: News-Leader.com
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Asahi joins Japan's fake beer revolution
Asahi Breweries is to become the second brewer to start production of a malt and wheat free, 'beer flavoured', alcoholic drink.
Source: Beveragedaily.com
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Next time, think Scotch
South of the Indiana border lies bourbon country, the home of Jim Beam, Maker's Mark and Woodford Reserve. But before you raise another glass to Kentucky's heritage, pause and consider a whiskey from north of the Mason-Dixon line.
Source: INtake Weekly
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Home of the cocktail
Some people look at a well-poured cocktail and see the obvious -- a drink that satisfies a thirst, pleases the taste buds and takes the edge off a long day at work.
Source: Times Picayune
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| • |
Energy Drinks Build Their Buzz
With the beverage industry's giants still on the sidelines, startups are doing whatever it takes to grab market share
Source: Business Week
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QE2 Signature Drink Named
It’s official! The QE2 signature drink has been named.
Source: ChicagoPride.com
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Rum makers distill unsavory history into fresh products
In most modern cocktails, the spirit is meant to provide buzz without tasting like booze. Vodka's ability to lie hidden has made it the No. 1 spirit category since 1976. Rum sales are far behind.
Source: San Francisco Chronicle
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NJ Parents Enjoy Mojito, don't want ``The Simple Life'' for their kids
A community that once elected to rename itself after a rum drink is apparently drawing the line when it comes to welcoming racy heiress Paris Hilton.
Source: Newsday
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Selling Super-Premium Vodka
The promotion of liquor in the United States has gone far beyond decorated glasses and simple ads. Now advertisers pushing "super premium" brands of vodka are marketing the clear liquor in perhaps the oddest way of all: not advertising.
Source: NPR (audio)
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Vodka on the rocks
Liquor companies are unveiling "super-premium" spirits at higher prices, including Adelphi Distillery's $225 single-malt scotch and Allied Domecq's $60 Elit, the most expensive vodka made by a major distiller.
Source: New York Daily News
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Private college allows alcohol sales
Albertson College of Idaho plans to allow beer and wine sales to students on campus this spring, but only under tight restrictions including drink limits and and a membership fee.
Source: Twin Falls Times-News
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| • |
The year in beer
From parties, festivals and Governator Ale to an ownership change and medals galore, 2004 saw it all -- plus lakes of good beer
Source: Oregonlive.com
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Hood River distiller tries to capture market's high end
Founded in 1934 by orchardists looking for a way to use their leftover apples and pears, Hood River Distillers Inc.'s HRD brand of whiskey, gin and rum is now a fixture in bars and taverns nationwide.
Source: KATU Portland
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Magazines sort drinking-age readers for ads
When Tim Murphy, brand manager for Absolut, was placing new ads for the distiller's flavored vodkas, he considered ESPN The Magazine because its youthful readership would provide the 21-to-29-year-old drinkers he wanted to reach.
Source: San Francisco Chronicle
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Bacardi Promotes Planet Party With Viral Cleavage Vacuum
Designed around informing aliens as to the odd party behaviour of humans and the rules aliens should follow when in contact, Bacardi has put together Planet Party, a compendium of human party behavior.
Source: adrants
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Grey Goose Billionaire's Second Act
At 84, Sidney Frank can no longer swing a golf club--but he still hits the links. Each morning the frail liquor baron, who's still making headlines for his stunning $2 billion sale of Grey Goose Vodka to Bacardi in June, climbs out of his $400,000 Mercedes Maybach and onto a golf cart in upstate New York.
Source: Forbes
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Companies try to stir up comeback for whiskeys
While W.C. Fields refused to eat on an empty stomach, he was not known for being overly fastidious in his choice of pre-dinner drinks. As long as they were hard.
Source: Tennessean
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Four-step guide to avoiding a hangover
EYEBALLS like the surface of Mars, a brain pounding faster than the music you were dancing to, and a tummy turning over like a fairground ride. Hogmanay fun and the horror of a hangover usually go together. There are no half-measures when it comes to remedying the situation, but follow this guide and New Year's morning might not feel so nasty, says JONATHAN RENNIE
Source: Glasgow Evening Times
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Liquid resolutions: Top bar professionals create drinks based on the January effect
For some of us, New Year’s resolutions are like goldfish. Orange and frisky at the start, inside of two months, they’ve somehow paled and gone belly up, despite the best intentions over care and feeding. And yet, whenever we move to a new place or get an urge to spruce up the table top, there we are again, fish bowl in hand, deciding to give things one more try.
Source: RGJ.com
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Getting New Year's spirit, or beer, wine, champagne
Andrea Davies, a Broad Ripple resident, usually spends a couple of hundred dollars on wine and beer to ring in the New Year with her friends.
And this year is going to be no different.
Source: Indianapolis Star
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If You Hear Cachaça Don't Think of Rum
There are a few things that really irk the average Brazilian.
One is to argue that Diego Maradona, the Argentine soccer great, was better than Pelé. Another is to confuse samba, the quintessential Brazilian rhythm, with salsa, a popular Latin music genre that has its origins in the Spanish-speaking countries of the Caribbean.
Source: New York Times
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Mount Gay's Island Delight
This drink first appeared in the Czech Republic in Alcohol Bar, but the recipe comes from faraway Barbados, where we discovered it at a small, out-of-the way, smoky bar. We were so impressed with the unique combination of Mount Gay Eclipse rum and the fresh, hot ginger that we couldn't resist, bringing the recipe for rum and ginger back with us.
Source: Prague Post
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Popular alcoholic drink for teenage girls
Ask most teenage girls and they will say it's the taste of these alcoholic beverages that they like.
Source: News 10 Now
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Advertisers Have Concern for Truth, Especially of Rivals' Claims
Most people do not think much about truth in advertising, especially when so many ads have so little to do with fact - like the commercials for "The Most Relaxing Classical Album in the World ... Ever!"
Source: New York Times
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Tax Rules Change For 'Malternatives'
A decision by the U.S. Treasury Department could change how much you pay, or what you taste, when you buy a malt liquor drink.
Source: Milwaukee Channel.com
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Todhunter Swings to a Loss
Virgin Islands rum giant Todhunter (THT:Amex) swung to a fourth-quarter loss Tuesday, citing heavy promotional spending and hurricane-related losses.
Source: TheStreet.com
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Court rules against 'Bob the Beer Man'
Strike two for ballpark vendor "Bob the Beer Man." A federal appeals court refused to reinstate a lawsuit Wednesday filed by Robert Donchez, who accused Adolph Coors Co. of using his unique beer-vending persona in its "beer man" television commercials in 1999.
Source: Seattle Post Intelligencer
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Island beer maker bottles paradise
The six-foot map of California behind Mattson Davis' desk was supposed to be peppered with red pins indicating where to find Kona Brewing Co.'s beers.
Source: Los Angeles Daily News
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London Royal Botanic Gardens is about to launch its own beer!
Britain’s world-famous Royal Botanic Gardens is about to launch its very own beer, made with ingredients from its verdant grounds in Kew, southwest London.
Source: EuropeETravel.net
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Start New Year with spicy beer
So, you get no kick from champagne, eh? Might want to shelve the bubbly this New Year's Eve and have holiday ale instead.
Christmas and holiday ales and lagers are a tradition that dates back centuries. Brewers in cold-weather venues, such as Germany, England and Belgium, produce hearty, robust brews that are high in alcohol and flavored with combinations of fruits and spices.
Source: Cleveland Plain Dealer
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Real champagnes of bottled beer
New Year's is upon us, but before you grab the champagne, think about the champagne of beers. I'm not talking about Miller High Life, although in 1906 Miller coined the phrase for its bottled beer. I'm referring to corked, bottle-fermented beer.
Source: NorthJersey.com
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And they turned 'bananas into wine'
India is one of the largest producers of bananas and the Indian scientists are putting that to good use, by making wine from bananas which will help boost the Indian wine market grow.
Source: Moneycontrol.com
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Variety is the spice of wine
Over the past few years, the Finger Lakes wine industry has seen tremendous growth. New wineries are popping up all over Seneca, Cayuga, Keuka and Canandaigua lakes.
Source: The Leader
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| • |
Bitterly Cold? Time For Ice Wine!
An intense cold snap has sent vineyard workers along Lake Erie in northern Ohio and other Great Lakes regions scurrying early to pick by hand the frozen pearls that will be pressed into ice wine. The wine is also known as "honey in a bottle" or "nectar of the gods."
Source: Ohio News Network
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U.S. taking closer look at alcohol ads
Federal regulators are now surfing the Web and trolling the airwaves in a more aggressive search for "improper" alcohol advertising.
Source: Sacramento Bee
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| • |
Memories runneth over: recalling wine trends of 2004
Among the most hotly debated topics this year were the trend to screwcaps, the high prices of wines in restaurants, the ongoing legal battle (now resting with the Supreme Court) over interstate wine shipments, and the rising levels of alcohol, particularly in domestic red wines.
Source: Seattle Times
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Bombay Sapphire : Designer Glass Competition
The Bombay Sapphire Designer Glass Competition is an annual event held to recognize excellence among emerging design talent. The aim of the competition is to design a functional cocktail glass inspired by the Bombay Sapphire brand. The global competition takes place each April in Milan, Italy, during Salone del Mobile, the world's biggest design fair.
Source: Dexigner
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Best Winter Cocktails
Just as people are looking for amusing beverages to cool them off during the heat of summer, when the mercury drops, we also find ourselves in need of libations that will fight off the chill.
Source: Forbes
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| • |
Creating clever cocktails
More than anything else, the thing that can really bring people together this time of year is booze.
Whether it's an intimate gathering or a punch bowl blowout, a little alcoholic lubrication can turn a roomful of distant relatives or once-a-year acquaintances into instant old friends.
Source: WHDH-TV
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Champagne cocktails, appetizers don't need to break budget
Do cocktails really turn out as glorious and drinkable as they are presented in magazines and cookbooks? We tried five recipes and found some required a little tweaking. Drinks were tested with economy brands Martini & Rossi Asti Spumante and Cook's Brut Champagne. We also include a nonalcoholic cocktail.
Source: Press & Sun-Bulletin
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Bring on the bling -- rappers give Cristal and Hennessy street cred
At the 40/40 Club in New York's lower Manhattan, rap music pulses between the laughter and clinking glasses. Sleek 20- and 30-somethings recline on leather sofas with velvet pillows, chatting or watching a game on the giant flat-panel screen. Under the screen, atop the bar, is a long row of backlit bottles, including, naturally, Cristal Champagne and Remy Martin Cognac.
Source: San Francisco Chronicle
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Food & Wine: Sip it again, Sam
Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, I walk into this one. There’s rock music blasting from the speakers and a 1905 pool table in one corner with red billiard balls set on the green cloth like the pimentos in those cocktail olives.
Source: Santa Cruz Sentinel
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Chasing the Taste
Every few years, someone wants to have a conversation about how classic cocktails are making a comeback. Try telling the pickled- looking lady at the bar that they ever went away. First appletinis were the new gimlets, and then someone decided that gimlets were the new appletinis. Sunday is the new Friday, 32 is the new 21, and over the last few years, the trend has been to market artisanal, "ultrapremium" vodkas as the new consummate—or should I say "Absolut"?—liquors.
Source: Seattle Weekly
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Winemakers personalize beverage as holiday gift
Madison Heights business lets its customers decide how to label their red or white choices.
Source: DetNews.com
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Top Eight Tips for Making a Toast
Need to make a memorable toast? Missed the Public Speaking Club "How to Give a Toast" workshop led by etiquette consultant Jodi Smith from Mannersmith? The following are a few tips that will help you with your next toast.
Source: HarBus.org
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State wine lovers look for sweet court ruling
Wine lovers throughout Michigan are raising their glasses over indications that a decades-old law prohibiting consumers from buying directly from out-of-state wineries might soon be deemed unconstitutional.
Source: Lansing State Journal
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Best Cellars: The Taste of a Good Idea
Top sommelier Joshua Wesson says his shops are the "anti-wine store," organized on the "commonsense" notion of flavor
Source: BusinessWeek
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Wineries call old law sour grapes
The alcoholic beverage industry is too heavily regulated, said Monica Brown, owner of Cellar XV, a wine shop in Ridgefield. Further, she said, in the age of e-commerce, bans on interstate shipping are becoming very outdated.
Source: Danbury News Times
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The Grapes of Protectionist Wrath
U.S. oenophiles held their breath this week as the Supreme Court heard argument in cases challenging the constitutionality of New York and Michigan laws prohibiting their residents from importing wine from other states. According to Free The Grapes.org, New York, Michigan, and 22 other states prohibit consumers from purchasing wines directly from out-of-state wineries and having the wine shipped to their home or office.
Source: Tech Central Station
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A Toast to Liquor Stocks
Savvy marketing campaigns and a growing taste for wine and spirits have put Constellation and Brown-Forman on S&P's top shelf
Source: BusinessWeek
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| • |
New Zealand wines gain prominence
I remember my first trip to New Zealand in the late '80s. There was a striking diversity in both the residents and landscapes, and a singularity in the wine.
Source: Richmond Times Dispatch
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Dressing up the party with red and white wines
In addition to decorating Christmas trees, hanging lights and buying gifts, many of us soon will be engaged in another December tradition: The holiday party. If you are holding the party yourself, choosing the right - and affordable - wines can be daunting.
Source: Asheville Citizen-Times
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Small vineyard operators in southern Illinois form a cooperative
A new winery cooperative was officially dedicated today, joining eleven small vineyard operators who hope to eventually produce ten-thousand gallons of wine a year.
Source: KWQC-TV
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Southern W & S's Harvey R. Chaplin,The Salesman
Harvey R. Chaplin’s northwest Miami-Dade County office is a memorabilia museum starring Charlie Chaplin. Photographs, statues and other artifacts of the silent film star spill out from every available space. But this Chaplin is no relation to the “Little Tramp,” although his life has had its twists and comic turns.
Source: South Florida CEO
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SIP-SIP-HOORAY!
THERE'S a hipster shortage in New York. So say bar owners in the East Village and Williamsburg, who are offering free and cut-rate booze just to get patrons in the door.
Source: New York Post
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No Wine Deal Before Its Time
Wine may take years to mature, but things are happening awfully quickly over at Chalone Wine Group (Nasdaq: CHLN). Shares of the Napa, Calif., company rose more than 17% yesterday following the announcement that it received an acquisition proposal (from a still-secret acquirer) substantially richer than the one it agreed to with near-half-owner Domaines Barons de Rothschild (Lafite), or DBR, early last month.
Source: Motley Fool
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Searching for a true Calvados
French brandy has the air of pretension about it, maybe because it's always the British upper class you imagine drinking it. You know - smoking jackets and snifters, cigars, connoisseurship and all that. It's especially true of Cognac, the most prestigious of French brandies, and increasingly so of Armagnac, Cognac's onetime country cousin. But what of Calvados, the famous apple brandy from Normandy?
Source: International Herald Tribune
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Agave to raise funds for global marketing
Agave Distillers, the local producer of a spirit similar to tequila, will look to the public to raise funds for its expansion drive into the international market.
Source: Business Report
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Celebrating with BEER this Holiday Season
It's been documented in voyage journals that the Mayflower abandoned its voyage and landed in Plymouth due to running out of beer. That one of the first establishments constructed within the Pilgrim colony was a brewery, and that most of its passengers were also separatist farmers, poorly educated and without social or political standing. Given these facts, do you honestly think that they drank wine at the very first Thanksgiving in 1621? Hell no! They drank beer!
Source: BeerAdvocate.com
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Craft ale nips Big Beer
At times, Mark Stutrud sounds more like a college professor than a president of a $10 million company. The name of the course: Beer 101.
Source: Minneapolis Star Tribune
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| • |
Craft brewers who survived poised to tap Generation-Y
Major brewers expect to see lackluster sales this year as low-carbohydrate diets and the surging popularity of distilled spirits among young drinkers send fewer consumers to the tap.
Source: Arkansas Democrat Gazette
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Recipe book focuses on beer as drink ingredient
While other alcoholic beverages are celebrated in all manner of cocktails, generally speaking, most beer drinkers take their water, malted barley, hops and yeast unadulterated.
Source: phillyburbs.com
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The return of the Old-Fashioned Cocktail
The high life is back, with Tony Bennett and his kind swinging with a new generation of musicians. Nightclubs are following suit, and as the fashion goes, so go the drinks.
Source: Palm Beach Post
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Whiskey Industry Goes Sweet to Grab Youth Market
Hoping to appeal to women and drinkers in their 20s and 30s, the whiskey industry has created lighter and sweeter versions of its products, the Wall Street Journal reported Nov. 12.
Source: JoinTogether.org
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Beam bottling toasts life of whiskey 'legend, true friend'
The late master distiller Booker Noe is honored with a limited edition of bottles of single-barrel bourbon
Source: OregonLive.com
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Jack Daniel biographer disputes long-held legend of famous whiskey
Jack Daniel's is a liquor built on a legend: an Old No. 7 label, a recipe crafted at the nation's oldest distillery and a medal signifying it as the best whiskey in the world.
But the author of a Jack Daniel biography contends the company that runs the famed distillery has allowed that legend to grow so much that marketing spin has overtaken the facts, and some of the most cherished notions about the whiskey and its founder are simply not true.
Source: Tullahoma.net
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Local customers take shot at Jack Daniel's special edition
With pen in hand, Jennifer Motlow Powell was busy signing bottles of her great-great uncle's creation.
Source: Fremont Tribune
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Blended whisky losing out with the Brits
British spirits drinkers are abandoning blended whisky in favour of foreign products such as vodka. A new report from market analysts Datamonitor reveals that although whisky remains the most popular spirit in Britain, sales are in decline
Source: Beverage Daily
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Belgium launches first whisky brand
Belgian distillers are on the verge of launching their first whisky, it was reported on Monday. According to distiller Etienne Bouillon, who is based in Grace-Hollogne, the brand will be "a true single malt."
Source: Expatica
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From the Distillery, a Secret Ingredient
How do you refresh a 900-year-old drink such as vodka? One way is to blend it with vanilla cream and put it over ice. Another is to market it in pubs with postcards that have the bottle wearing a kilt and funky black leather sporran. Lift the kilt and behold, a mini-bottle. Now scratch and sniff.
Source: The Age
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From the Distillery, a Secret Ingredient
Perched on the Isle of Islay, a raw, mist-driven island off the west coast of Scotland, the Ardbeg distillery has been renowned for its complex, smoky Scotch for nearly 200 years. After the Old Kiln Cafe was added to its visitors' center in 1997, however, the Scotch was forced to share the spotlight — at least among those who appreciate a good meal.
Source: New York Times
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Johnnie Walker ambassador shares tradition
He may not be Johnnie Walker reincarnated, but the home village of the legendary Scotch whisky distiller thinks Ian Williams is close enough.
Source: Korea Herald
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A Taste of E-Commerce in Wine Country
For wine sellers, the prospect of online sales has been a persistent force in the industry and a motivating factor in the Supreme Court's headline-grabbing review of two cases involving wineries.
Source: Technology Review
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New York hotel offers $10,000 martini
Drinkers might want to keep a clear head when ordering a martini at New York's historic Algonquin Hotel or they might pay $10,000 for that cold sip.
The landmark hotel, where famed wit Dorothy Parker and fellow literary lights at the Round Table imbibed, offers a $10,000 martini, complete with a loose diamond at the bottom.
Source: Shreveport Times
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With a campaign built on 'choice,' Miller achieves the unexpected
During this heated election year, the beverage industry saw a challenger of its own rise up, go after the incumbent leader and pull off a surprising coup. This particular battle was among brewers rather than politicians, but with an irreverent stab at overthrowing “the king of beers” in favor of a “beer democracy,” Miller Brewing Co., Milwaukee, reversed its sliding sales trend, and gave the industry a reason to reconsider it as a serious contender.
Source: Beverage Industry
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A-B's Ponturo named 6th most influential person in sports business
Tony Ponturo, vice president of global media and sports marketing for Anheuser-Busch Cos. Inc., has been named the sixth most influential person in sports business by the Sports Business Journal.
Source: St. Louis Business Journal
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New Local Beer Breaks Some Rules
Don Benoit was there almost from the beginning of the craft beer movement on this coast, marketing and selling the fine Shipyard beers of Portland, Maine.
Source: TheDay
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'Skip And Go Naked' Among Beer Party Drinks
While other alcoholic beverages are celebrated in all manner of cocktails, generally speaking, most beer drinkers take their water, malted barley, hops and yeast unadulterated.
Source: Penn Live
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ISLAND LIVING: Mixology 101
David Murphy last drank hard alcohol in 1961, when on a date in Chicago he accidentally spit a mouthful of martini on the woman sitting across from him.
Source: Nantucket Island Inquirer
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Coors CEO Leo Kiely turned family firm into modern company as merger nears
At 57, while many of his corporate peers are contemplating retirement, Leo Kiely is launching his biggest mission yet: the marriage of two storied family-led breweries into Molson Coors Brewing Co.
Source: Rocky Mountain News
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Spirits cos. see growth in long-shunned 'brown goods'
Fresh off luring consumers into the new world of fancy vodka, the liquor business has reached back into the past to come up with the next big tipple. Be it scotch or bourbon, Canadian or Irish, small-batch or mass-produced, spirits companies are looking to previously dormant "brown goods" to help drive growth.
Source: CBS.MarketWatch.com
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Shake up the holidays with a delicious sparkle
Bubbles, sparkling, effervescence, fizz — the mere names for that sensation of tiny dots of carbonation that tickle our noses and our palates bring visions of celebration and cheer and holiday festivities.
Source: Seattle Times
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Cheers for Mocktails
It's time for mistletoe, bonuses, pecan pies and endless rounds of events brimming with ... alcohol? Yes, that's right. Drinking has become as much a part of the American holiday tradition as Santa and shopping.
Source: Winston-Salem Journal
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How Beer Is Brewed
Brewing, or the process of some yeast converting vegetable sugars to alcohol, is as ancient as these organisms themselves. Typical beer histories explain beer brewing as being 10,000 or more years old and when you’re talking about humans fermenting barley in Mesopotamian, that’s correct, but in order to explain the process of beer brewing, it’s important to point out even more ancient origins.
Source: RateBeer.com
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Free the Grapes? Fight Over Wine Heads to High Court
It bothers Juanita Swedenburg that many of her customers are criminals in the eyes of the law. Swedenburg sells premium handcrafted wines made from grapes she grows on her 130-acre farm in northern Virginia, and after nearly 20 years in business she has developed a loyal following.
Source: 7Online.com
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The Supreme Court has a sobering look at interstate wines.
Today's case before the Supreme Court looks incredibly interesting at first glance. After a drink, it looks unbearably boring. Weirdly, after three more drinks, it starts to look interesting again. Like that guy at the Sigma Nu Party sophomore year. Still, one's tempted to remind all the wine-o-philes who have shown up today that this case is going to be about the dormant "commerce clause." The words "impudent little Zinfandel" will trip off nobody's tongue today.
Source: Slate
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High Court to Hear Landmark Wine Case
A case coming before the U.S. Supreme Court may determine whether wine makers can ship their product across state lines directly to consumers. NPR's John McChesney reports.
Source: NPR
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Justices hear case on interstate shipping issue
If you live in New York or Michigan, you can order fine wines and have them shipped directly to your house -- as long as they're produced in New York or Michigan.
Source: OregonLive.com
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The Brazilian Caipirinha: A pure delight
The Brazilian caipirinha is one of the best-known drinks of our time, listed on the menu at many international hotels, bars and restaurants. In this country it was first introduced by the Brazilian cultural attache at the Prague Brazilian Carneval in February 1992. Its popularity peaked approximately six years later, when it was the drink of the year in 1998.
Source: Prague Post
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Mission: mojito
JUDGING BY SOME of the sorry-ass mojitos I've quaffed, mixing a mojito is tougher than you might imagine. There's a vast gulf of difference between a crisp, cool concoction of fresh mint, fresh lime, crushed ice, a little sugar, and a lot of smooth rum that provokes an involuntary "Aaahhh!" after you take a nice gulp and the flat, syrupy, wilted-mint nightmare that tastes like algae-clotted water from a stagnant pond.
Source: San Francisco Bay Guardian
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Cheap shot? Mexico may legalize flavored tequila
Tequila is suffering an identity crisis. The original poor man's liquor has earned status and trademark protection but now must fight to defend its name and its niche in a fickle international marketplace.
Source: Chicago Sun Times
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Vodka from NH to hit shops
How do you like them apples? How about if they were made into vodka? A New Hampshire vineyard has morphed into the state's first microdistillery with the introduction of a vodka made from apples.
Source: Boston Herald
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Anheuser-Busch Teams With Saigon Beer
Beer giant Anheuser-Busch Cos. Inc. continues to grow its international business, reaching a cooperation agreement with the largest brewer in Vietnam. The agreement with Saigon Beer, Alcohol and Beverages Corp., known as Sabeco, calls for the exchange and sharing of expertise in areas related to management, technology, distribution, marketing, brand and market development, the companies announced this week.
Source: Associated Press
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Rum sales add $350 million to Puerto Rican treasury
The Puerto Rican treasury received some $350 million during the 2004-2005 fiscal year in taxes on the sale of Puerto Rican rum, said the Secretary of Economic Development and Commerce, Milton Segarra.
Source: Puerto Rico Wow
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| • |
The Brazilian Caipirinha: A Pure Delight
The Brazilian caipirinha is one of the best-known drinks of our time, listed on the menu at many international hotels, bars and restaurants. In this country it was first introduced by the Brazilian cultural attache at the Prague Brazilian Carneval in February 1992. Its popularity peaked approximately six years later, when it was the drink of the year in 1998.
Source: Prague Post
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| • |
Watermelon tequila? Tasty
Tequila is suffering an identity crisis: The original poor man's liquor has earned status and trademark protection, but now must fight to defend its name and its niche in a fickle international marketplace.
Source: AZ Central.com
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Bardstown, Kentucky: Bourbon capital of America, much more
Surrounded by seven states and situated squarely on the way to its distinctively different neighbors, Kentucky is easy to miss and dismiss.
Source: Tullahoma.net
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Which Wine Goes With The Turkey?
As Thanksgiving approaches, the Gazette asks our local wine merchants to recommend some wines to go along with the turkey. This year, we asked each merchant to suggest one red and one white wine that might be appropriate.
Source: Larchmont Gazette
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Costco fighting wine, beer sales rules
Costco faces the state today in U.S. District Court in Seattle over its attempt to challenge — and possibly dismantle — the decades-old regulatory system that governs the sales and distribution of wine and beer.
Source: Seattle Times
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Online Wine: Pull Out The Stopper
For years, California winemaker Terry Speizer put up with the shackles on his business. He was resigned to being unable to sell his pinot noirs and syrahs to nearly half the country because of restrictive state laws. But in 2000, he hit his breaking point. Michigan wine critics Ray and Eleanor Heald asked to review a pinot from his Domaine Alfred winery -- and he couldn't ship them one measly bottle. Michigan is one of 11 states that bar out-of-state wineries from sending bottles directly to consumers, while allowing in-state wineries to do the same thing. Soon after, Speizer and the Healds filed a lawsuit challenging Michigan's law. "It makes no sense," says the winemaker.
Source: BusinessWeek
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Washington Wine Commission starts ad blitz
When Americans think domestic wine, California's world-class appellations likely spring first to mind. And when they hear Washington, most assume the tiny district where national politics happen.
Source: Seattle Post Intelligencer
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UBS wine banker Coupet helps wealthy 'cork dorks' buy vineyards
Jean-Luc Coupet, like any investment banker, spends much of each day helping well-heeled investors trade million-dollar assets. He's an expert on valuation, appreciation and when to buy or sell.
Source: The Journal News.com
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Here's the story on the coolest winter beers in town
Colder weather brings many sturdy seasonal beers to town. But one is in such strong demand that every bottle will likely be purchased in the next few days.
Source: Asheville Citizen-Times
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A-B's Ref Makes the Call as Spots Take On Miller
Anheuser-Busch goes back on the offensive tonight against arch-rival Miller Brewing with two spots breaking on ABC's Monday Night Football.
Source: Adweek
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Big Brewers Have a Hangover
Latest reports from Anheuser and Coors show pretty flat results. The reason: Stiffer rivalry from spirits, wine, and tastier microbrews
Source: BusinessWeek
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Science of Beer event at the Boston Museum of Science
From pilsner to porter, lager to lamic, don't miss "The Science of Beer" Tuesday, Nov. 30, 6:30 to 9:30 p.m., at the Museum of Science's Skyline Room. Hosted by the Museum Council, the event includes special guest Jim Koch, brewer and founder of Boston Beer Co. Koch will discuss brewing, the history of beer and the beverage's future. Register by Nov. 24. The $35 ticket will buy a four-course meal with a different Sam Adams beer accompanying every course. For reservations and more information, call 617-589-0185.
Source: Cambridge Chronicle
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Daily beer perks up world's oldest man, 111
Retired electrical engineer Hermann Doernemann, who is 111 and credited as the oldest man in the world, enjoys a daily dark beer, according to his son-in-law Bernd Klein.
Source: Expatica
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Brown-Forman to buy remaining Finlandia share for $61 million
Brown-Forman Corp. has agreed to buy the remaining 20-percent share in Finlandia Vodka Worldwide Ltd. from Altia Corp. of Finland, according to a news release from Louisville-based Brown-Forman.
Source: Boston Business Journal
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Bacardi CEO Ferran to Depart After More Than 18 Years
Bacardi Ltd. Monday said President and Chief Executive Officer Javier Ferran has resigned for family reasons after more than 18 years with the distiller.
Source: Associated Press
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Bacardi chief resigns after one year
Bacardi, the privately held spirits group, on Monday announced that Javier Ferran, chief executive, had decided to resign for personal, family reasons after just more than a year in the post and that the group had hired an international headhunter to find a replacement.
Source: Financial Times
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A case of vodka that is not clear
A trademark dispute over a Russian vodka landed in the unlikeliest of places last week — a federal court in Manhattan.
Source: NY Times
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Beer Falls Flat With Younger Drinkers
Just shy of her 22nd birthday, Kelly Bannen is the type of customer that big brewers such as Anheuser-Busch and Miller Brewing pay dearly to reach.
Source: San Jose Mercury News
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N.J. committee OKs 'Ladies Night' discounts
With little discussion, a State Senate committee today voted to approve a bill that would restore "Ladies Night" discounts for women at New Jersey bars and night clubs.
Source: philly.com
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Spirits guide serves rounds of history, tips
Dmitry Mendeleyev invented the periodic table of the elements, but many don't know about his contribution to vodka. By altering the amounts of water and alcohol to be processed, in the 1890s Mendeleyev improved a method that was more than 300 years old. The result was a more consistent and better- flavored vodka, although the discovery didn't make Russian peasants more docile, as Czar Alexander III had hoped.
Source: San Francisco Chronicle
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Raising the Bar
Pity the state of the home bar. The vestiges of its romantic past -- the silver laid out meticulously on white linen, the dark wood buffed to a high shine, the perfectly made martini -- are now so rare, people have forgotten what a thing of elegance a bar can truly be. And that's a crying shame, because our bars should be every bit as smart as we fancy ourselves. Now, as we jump headfirst into a new social season, is the perfect time to take inventory. With these classic recipes, essential tips, plus recommended brands, tools, and ingredients, anyone can make a superlative cocktail (and serve it with style) at home. Here's to the resurgence of the grand home bar. Bottoms up!
Source: Boston Magazine
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Blackwood eyes rise in drinks exports
BLACKWOOD Distillers, the Shetland drinks maker, has export markets in its sights after raising £1.6m towards the islands’ first whisky distillery.
Source: The Scotsman
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Jay-Z Launches Cognac With Grey Goose
Jay-Z is producing his own brand of cognac, which will go head to head with Damon's Armandale vodka.
Source: NobodySmiling.com
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Art labels designed to shake up wine industry
A Californian wine producer is to package its products with labels designed by a contemporary artist as part of its strategy to change how the US wine industry operates.
Source: Food Production
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Shakers stirs fresh spirits
San Francisco is now home to the latest entry in the ultra-premium vodka wars -- a newbie produced by the same band of entrepreneurs that earlier unleashed Pete's Wicked Ale on an unsuspecting planet.
Source: MSNBC
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Major wine wholesalers merge
Industry's largest firm, Southern Wine, buys Premier Wines to compete in 'dynamic' New York market
Source: Newsday
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Small US Distillers Turn Fruit Into Sophisticated Spirits
Margaret Chatey sells ripe fruit from neighboring farms at her own 200-acre spread in Ashford, Connecticut, but you won't find her hawking it in bushel baskets. Chatey, a former advertising industry executive, distills 50 tons of cherries, berries and pears every year -- most of it locally grown -- into the clear, fragrant European-style brandies known as eaux de vie.
Source: Bloomberg
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Cooking with spirits
The next time you are planning to cook something special, do yourself a flavor and head for the liquor cabinet. While the beverages contained therein are super sippers, they also can add pizazz to an appetizer, entree or dessert like no spice or herb can.
Source: Pittsburgh Tribune
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Beer Takes Market Share From Most Other Drinks in SA
SOUTH Africans' strong thirst for beer and flavoured alcoholic beverages, and their higher disposable incomes, saw SA's total sales of alcoholic beverages through off-consumption outlets such as bottle stores rise 4% by volume and 12% by value to R24bn in the 12 months to May this year.
Source: AllAfrica.com
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Wine and Spirits Education Trust Certification Programs offered at Johnson & Wales University
Johnson & Wales University is expanding its beverage offerings to the public and trade professionals.
Source: New London Dolphin
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Beer losing out to diverse tastes
Just shy of her 22nd birthday, Kelly Bannen is the type of customer that big brewers such as Anheuser-Busch Inc. and Miller Brewing Co. pay dearly to reach. Bannen's age group, people 21 to 24, account for 30 percent of the nation's beer consumption. Get 'em while they're young, and you could win a lifelong customer, marketing experts say.
Source: Billings Gazette
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On Advertising: Bucking TV bans on alcohol ads
LONDON When it comes to alcohol, Americans are uptight and Europeans are famously laissez-faire, right?
Source: International Herald Tribune
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Prohibition redux?
The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments next month in a lawsuit that will, if successful, permit American adults to freely buy beer and wine over the Internet.
Source: CNET News.com
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PITCHING BOOZE IN A 'BIBLE TOWN'
Audie Adams has been asked to leave stores and had doors slammed in her face, just for asking people if they'd like to sign a piece of paper. Ms. Adams is the treasurer for Lindale Citizens for Better Business, the group that handed county officials about 360 signatures Friday. That number should be enough to trigger a February vote on whether to allow beer and wine sales at stores, and mixed beverage sales at restaurants in Lindale.
Source: Tyler Morning Telegraph
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Mainers hope to transform potatoes into premium vodka
A farmer looking to add value to his low-priced potato crop has launched a business partnership in hopes of turning Maine spuds into high-priced premium vodka.
Source: USA Today
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Constellation to Buy Mondavi for $1B
The Robert Mondavi Corp. is being acquired by alcoholic beverage giant Constellation Brands Inc. in a $1.03 billion cash deal, ending a plan to split apart the brands of one of California's most storied winemakers.
Source: Yahoo AP
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Diageo vows to fight money laundering charges
Drinks giant Diageo says it will defend itself vigorously against charges that it facilitated money laundering in Colombia through an alleged involvement in contraband spirits trade.
Source: Reuters
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Colombian Gov't Sues Pernod Ricard, Diageo
The Colombian government has filed a lawsuit accusing Pernod Ricard and Diageo of illegally importing spirits via Colombian companies that launder drug money, both companies said Monday.
Source: Forbes.com
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Martinez: Martini festival toasts city's signature drink
There's probably no beverage -- alcoholic or otherwise -- that enjoys the reputation for prestige, panache and class as the martini. And this tasty concoction of gin (or vodka, in some circles) and vermouth has an air of mystery to it as well.
Source: San Francisco Chronicle
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The art of proper mixing
The most thrilling moment in Ben Reed's bartending career came when actress Kathleen Turner looked him in the eye and ordered a perfect Manhattan.
Source: SunHerald.com
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Brazilian National Drink: Caipirinha
Following on with our drinks series, having previously explored the delights of South American Wines and Brazilian Beer we are now set to discover the Brazilian national drink: Caipirinha. Chances are that if you have been in Brazil, even for a short time you have tried a caipirinha. If you have never been to Brazil this drink may be the excuse you are looking for.
Source: Gringoes.com
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Cachaça: A Sensation to Burn For
A few weeks ago, while watching a movie in History of Brazil class, I noticed an interesting cultural reference flicker on the screen and make an exit without so much as an explanation. In "Quilombo," one person offers another a clear liquid to drink, which the subtitles translate as "aguardiente." Most people might have just assumed it was water, but this burning water is none other than cachaça, and its story mirrors the history of Brazil.
Source: The Dog Street Journal
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Jermaine Dupri's 3 Vodka Makes Moves
Jermaine Dupri recently launched a new ad campaign for his new "3Vodka" brand soy based vodka. The ad's feature Dupri himself holding the vodka in a fashion reminiscent of Dame Dash in a Roc-A-Fella records video.
Source: NobodySmiling.com
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Milan Ice Bar Gives Vodka on the Rocks New Meaning
It's vodka on the rocks at its most literal. Forget clinking ice into your glass. The newest arrival on Milan's vibrant bar scene serves up the whole evening on ice -- ice walls, ice tables, ice sofas, an ice bar, even ice glasses.
Source: Reuters
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Bud pours a new brew — for the cocktail crowd
Beer giant Anheuser-Busch Cos., frustrated by the inroads that liquor companies have made in capturing young consumers with flavored drinks, is joining the party.
Source: Kansas City Star
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Consumers in High-End Spirits Choose Vodka
Inside one of Manhattan's monuments to vodka consumption, the Pravda bar in SoHo, Mike Lee orders a vodka on the rocks, letting the bartender choose among the esoteric collection of bottles lined up behind the bar.
Source: The Ledger
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Gin makes a comeback as a fresh summer spirit
According to Robert Hess, author of "Stirred, not Shaken," James Bond destroyed the martini. A true martini is made with gin, not vodka, Bond's preferred spirit. And his direction that it be "shaken, not stirred," is a fallacy; shaking gin muddles its botanical flavors and clouds its true appearance. Of course there's the matter of personal preference; many people like the microscopic ice shavings that float in a shaken martini.
Source: Anchorage Daily News
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The Convivial Art of the Cocktail at NOMA
NEW ORLEANS.— In spite of the somewhat convoluted and dry definition provided above, the origin of the term cocktail is surrounded by heated controversy, with advocates of each variant stoutly maintaining the veracity of their particular definition. What appears certain is that the word "cocktail" appeared in the second half of the 18th century.
Source: Art Daily
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Coors ready to resume role with brewery
DENVER - In his concession speech, Republican U.S. Senate candidate Pete Coors urged supporters not to worry about his employment prospects.
Source: Houston Chronicle
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A-B gets the hops on beer market with new brew
Budweiser Select offers a lower carb content than Miller Lite, but the brewer is accentuating its taste.
Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch
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Remnants of brewing tradition uncovered at old Pabst headquarters
MILWAUKEE -- When Pabst Brewing Co. abruptly closed its headquarters here in 1996, the owner and its workers left behind a treasure trove of relics dating back to the brewer's 1844 origin.
Source: Chippewa Herald
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Capone helped whisky barons beat Prohibition
IT WAS a curious encounter in an exclusive wine and spirit merchants that linked the Scottish whisky industry to the notorious gangsters of Prohibition America.
Source: The Scotsman
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The Best Summer Cocktails
Ah, the cocktail! The quintessential American drink. The Spanish poet and playwright Federico García Lorca disparagingly observed that "the only things that the United States has given to the world are skyscrapers, jazz and cocktails." But what gifts they are, especially that epitome of American sophistication and style, the cocktail.
Source: Forbes
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These summer suds are well worth a sip
In the three years I've written this column, folks have approached me at social gatherings, in the beer aisle or via e-mail, asking just what is my favorite beer. And I'm momentarily speechless.
Source: Macon Telegraph
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Soothe summer's heat with inventive twists on the traditional cocktail
The sun is up longer. The drinks invariably taste better. In this pitched political season, the conversations seem heightened and it's not even the dog days yet.
Source: Houston Chronicle
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Sangrias with a twist
Spanish drink easily adapts to Mexican, French and American influences
Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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One of the nation's top bartenders got his start locally
It's safe to say the Brass Rail was the only place on Boat Night where you could order a negroni and receive a textbook-perfect glass of the cocktail, no questions asked. At every other Port Huron bar, you'd probably receive only a blank stare.
Source: Times Herald
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Kahlua and milk are latest trend in hair d'oeuvres
First, it was beer. Good for the hair. Adds shine and body. Now it's Kahlua, a coffee-flavored liqueur best known for mixing it up with cream and vodka.
Source: The Oklahoman
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Home parties catch on as way to learn about wine
Debbie Ashe's last job, she says lightheartedly, was the kind that can drive you to drink. In her new gig, drinking - well, at the very least, sipping - is pretty much required.
Source: Fort Wayne News Sentinel
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Exotic wines swish into LI
Together, these Long Islanders sell millions of cases of wine a year.
Their wines include the familiar - chardonnay, merlot and cabernet sauvignon - as well as the obscure- steen, agiorgitiko, moschofilero and tinta roriz.
Source: Newsday.com
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New Jersey State rules wine consumer can taste before buying
IT MAY BE the best news for wine drinkers in New Jersey since the repeal of Prohibition. Late Friday afternoon, the N.J. Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control -- better known as the ABC -- began faxing every liquor store in the state a four-page ruling that allows wine merchants, for the first time, to offer sample tastings to customers -- in the store, while they're shopping, before they buy.
Source: The Star-Ledger
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An intoxicating investment
At a time when it's possible to buy a cheerful Chardonnay with subtle citrus notes at the 7-Eleven for under $10, it's hard to fathom why anyone would pay $350 for a bottle of wine that won't be available until 2006. Yet investors and collectors across the USA are lining up to pay that much and more for 2003 Bordeaux futures, which represent an advance payment on last year's vintage of premier French wines. The wine, now aging in barrels, will hit retail shelves in fall 2006, and futures buyers are betting prices will soar.
Source: USA Today
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Soju War Heating Up in Japan
Two leading domestic makers of soju, a type of distilled liquor, have been in tough competition for the top spot in the Japanese market.
Source: The Korea Times
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Brazil Wants the World Drinking Cachaça
At present, Brazil produces 1.3 billion liters of cachaça annually. But only 1 percent of that is exported. Cachaça, a sugarcane-based aqua vitae, is Brazil's most popular distilled alcoholic
beverage. One of the problems with cachaça production is that 90 percent of it is produced on a mom-and-pop scale.
Source: Brazzil.com
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Family rift adds drama to Molson Inc. vote
When John Molson, founder of Molson Inc., died in 1836, he stipulated in his will that if his brewery ever fell "into the hands of strangers," his oil portrait was to be removed from the boardroom.
Source: Denver Post
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Molson, Coors CEOs to Meet Investors Starting Monday, Post Says
Molson Inc. Chief Executive Dan O'Neill and his Adolph Coors Co. counterpart, Leo Kiely III, will start meeting with investors in Montreal Monday to defend their proposed merger, the National Post reported.
Source: Bloomberg.com
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Wi-Fi Hits the Vineyard
Owners of a Sonoma Country vineyard are now using Wi-Fi technology to more carefully monitor growing conditions at their site.
Source: Wine Spectator
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A Brewery Merger Becomes a Barroom Brawl
Beer guys always seem to end up in a brawl. So it should come as no surprise that Ian Molson of the Molson beer family has spent the past week running around Wall Street trying to break up a relative's deal to merge Molson with Adolph Coors.
Source: NY Times
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Archaeologists find 300-year-old wine cellar
Eight glass bottles have been unearthed in a brick-walled space that may have been the wine cellar of a house dating from the close of the 1600s in Jamestown.
Source: CNN International
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Red wine - good for the breasts
Red wine is the latest craze in the beauty salons of Buenos Aires where it's said to tighten the stomach and firm the breasts.
Source: Ananova
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A Top Figure Goes National
In a farewell article, Jane Baxter Lynn, the Long Island Wine Council's former executive director, wrote, "Wherever I am in the world, I will always be an ambassador for the wines of Long Island." Those words, in The Wine Press, the council's magazine, takes on meaning late next month when she becomes one of America's principal executives in the wine world.
Source: NY Times
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State shuts door on good, $2 wine
It's cheap, surprisingly good, and you can't buy it in a Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board store. What we're talking about is Lost Vineyards wine, which sells for all of $1.99 per bottle in New York, New Jersey, Delaware, and, come next month, in Maryland. A case of it costs about the same as a case of beer. But you can't buy it in Pennsylvania, and it appears you won't ever see the attractively labeled and corked bottles on the shelves here. The reason?
Source: The Patriot-News
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Wine box enjoying comeback of sorts
Ryan Sproule wants American wine consumers to think outside the bottle.
The 41-year-old president and founder of Black Box Wines is betting that the fiercely snobbish U.S. wine market is ready to take a new look at an old technology: the bag in a box.
Source: Cincinnati Post
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Wineries plentiful in Pennsylvania
Grape Expectations: Move over Napa Valley, local wineries are making a statement.
Source: The Delaware County Times
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First Wine? Archaeologist Traces Drink to Stone Age
Wine snobs might shudder at the thought, but the first wine-tasting may have occurred when Paleolithic humans slurped the juice of naturally fermented wild grapes from animal-skin pouches or crude wooden bowls.
Source: National Geographic News
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Capitalism spoils trip to wine country
$5 tasting fee makes visit to Napa Valley bitter, not sweet
Source: MSNBC
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Wineries spring up in New York
About 20 years ago, John Dyson bought an old dairy farm here in the rural Hudson Valley and started planting grapes in a fledgling effort at winemaking.
Source: San Mateo County Times
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Man pleads guilty in wine scam
A Tuckahoe man is scheduled to be sentenced in October after pleading guilty in connection with a scheme to defraud a Texas wine collector of $7,300 using the Internet, Westchester County District Attorney Jeanine Pirro announced.
Source: THE JOURNAL NEWS
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Rum shifts from ho-hum to yo-ho-ho
A revolution is brewing in the islands again, not far from our shores.
Source: St. Petersburg Times
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Spruced up vodkas
Super-premium vodka makers have found a captive audience in the United States. Martini connoisseurs are ordering their favorite cocktail with Grey Goose or Belvedere. And now more options are hitting shelves.
Source: Delmarva Daily Times
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Local woman concocts low-carb cocktail mix
A search for a low-carbohydrate snowball syrup led to the creation of a similar recipe for another beverage: the low-carb margarita.
Source: The Advertiser
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Can Beer Clans Blend?
That's one question analysts are asking about a planned merger between family-run Coors and Molson. Another: Who else will bid?
Source: Business Week
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GOOD FOR GANDER
Meet New York's newest billionaire — and the Grey Goose that laid a golden egg. Sidney Frank — an 84-year-old liquor magnate who survived a sex-harassment scandal and still jogs, swims and disco dances with models — pocketed $2 billion last week after selling the popular vodka brand to rum giant Bacardi.
Source: NY Post
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| • |
Analysis: Peru's Toledo gets beer headache
Peruvian President Alejandro Toledo is getting a headache from too much beer. Not that he's drinking it, but from the fallout from a bitter million-dollar battle between Peruvian beer interests and those of Colombian and even Venezuelan producers.
Source: United Press International
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Cognac and conversation
The makers of Grand Marnier are betting that some conversations go down easier with a glass of the French cognac, including this one: “Your sister is finally getting remarried. Her fiancée’s name is Jill.”
Source: Washington Blade
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Scotch Whisky Revival
Scotch on the rocks? No way—thanks to the growing global popularity of single-malt whiskies.
Source: Fortune
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Maker's Mark licenses name to Fourth Street Live lounge
Maker's Mark Distillery Inc. will lend its name to a 5,500-square-foot upscale restaurant and lounge that will be located on the west side of Fourth Street, on the ground-floor level between the newly opened Red Star Tavern and the soon-to-open McFadden's Bar and Restaurant.
Source: Louisville Business First
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Swedes Get Sloshed on Alcoholic Soap Suds
STOCKHOLM, Sweden -- Some people at a three-day music festival in southern Sweden got more than just clean hands from the liquid soap in the portable toilets. They got a nice clean buzz, too.
Source: NY Newsday
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Whisky galore as Shetland distillery gets green light
Building a distillery from scratch is no mean feat. Particularly if would-be backers aren’t on-side from the start. Tom Bruce-Gardyne meets the lady who’s made investors eat their words
Source: Sunday Herald
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N.S. distillery's challenged by Scotch makers over use of name 'Glen'
A small distillery in Cape Breton could soon find its business on the rocks after rousing the Scottish temper of Scotch whisky producers.
Source: Canada.com
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| • |
Extremists target Iraq's liquor stores
"These are Islamic extremists who believe alcohol is bad. They want to impose their ideas on society by force, and they are taking advantage of democracy and the lack of security," said Sadiq Faraj, a real estate dealer whose office was damaged in one blast. "If Saddam [Hussein] were still in power, they would have been executed would have been executed immediately."
Source: Boston Globe
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A toast to the cocktail
RANDOLPH, Massachusetts As P.J. Macom offers a vodka gimlet to a guest, smiling with her arm outstretched, there's a feeling that somehow the home she shares with her husband, Eric, exists in 1964, not 2004.
Source: International Herald Tribune
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Inmates pop out for beer
Tennessee - With their cell doors accidentally left unlocked, four county jail inmates escaped only to return the same night - with beer.
Source: News24
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A bar where you can cry in your beer
I‘ve got tears in my beer from crying over you‘. That old country western favourite now can be heard ringing through Eastern China, in a bar where heartbroken people go to cry and drown their sorrows.
Source: The Asian Pacific Post
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| • |
Can Beer Clans Blend?
Eric Molson, who generally shares the Street's blame along with CEO Dan O'Neill for a recent drop in sales and profits, would be chairman of the combined company. Coors CEO Leo Kiely would likely run the so-called "merger of equals," and O'Neill would be vice-chairman, a traditionally powerless title. Each of the companies have a market capitalization of around $3 billion.
Source: E-Commerce Times
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| • |
Germans losing their taste for beer
Germans have a reputation as Europe’s beer-drinking heavyweights, but an increasing lack of interest in beer among young consumers there means that German brewers may have to look to other western European nations such as Italy for growth.
Source: Beverage Daily
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| • |
Reviving a Tradition in Beauty, and Beer
Dani Marco, meet Celeste Yarnall. Ms. Marco is Miss Rheingold 2004, the first popularly elected Miss Rheingold since Ms. Yarnall, above, was elected Miss Rheingold 1964. The titles sum up a history of masterly marketing that morphed into a one-time fixture in American popular culture - the annual Miss Rheingold beauty contest - and its revival after it was discontinued 40 years ago.
Source: NY Times
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Bob Dylan takes a turn at wine making
Music icon Bob Dylan has taken up a career as a vintner, joining with an Italian winery to produce the first bottles of his Planet Waves signature label.
Source: Big News Network.com
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Hangover Helpers: New pills promise to rid you of morning-after misery
Hangovers have plagued us since at least biblical times, but a spate of new remedies available at city drugstores promises to banish them for good. One, called Chaser for Wine Headaches, claims to squelch the pain associated with an exuberant evening of wine drinking; others, like RU-21, purport to prevent the all-around ennui that results from a particularly vengeful night on the town. And a new study published last month in Archives of Internal Medicine suggests that there may be some scientific validity to at least one brand's boasts.
Source: Village Voice
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New beer filter
A defunct technology developed for magnetic tapes 10 years ago is being used to make a superfine filter that makes beer clearer and brighter.
Source: ProBrewer.com
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Jägermeister master donates $20 million for academic building
A $20 million donation from a man who spent one year at Brown and made Jägermeister a household name has set in motion the first phase of the University's decade−long physical expansion plan.
Source: Brown Daily Herald
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| • |
Style File: Creating your own summer cocktails
Whether you're sunbathing by the pool or out in the yard cooking dinner on the grill, cool off this summer with a refreshing cocktail.
Source: News 24 Houston
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| • |
Hangovers Soothed by Prickly Pear Extract
Forget Bloody Marys and raw eggs – the ideal cure for a hangover is a prickly pear, according to scientists. An extract from the skin of the plant was found in tests to ease the symptoms of a night of over-indulgence.
Source: The Scotsman Online
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Double-Digit Drinks: What's Behind That $15 Martini?
Since when does a martini cost the better part of a $20 bill?
Source: Washington Post
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| • |
Contestants push boundaries of extreme mixology
42 BELOW Cocktail World Cup Contestants push boundaries of extreme mixology
Source: Scoop.co.nz
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| • |
New York Restaurant Adopts Three-Dimensional Wine List
Selecting wine at Manhattan's Park Avenue Café is now more akin to shopping at a liquor store or browsing the dessert cart: Just point and pick a bottle.
Source: WineSpectator.com
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Six Hispanic Agencies Pitch Tecate Beer Ad Account
At least six Hispanic ad agencies have pitched for Femsa's Tecate beer account with a decision expected later this month.
Source: AdAge.com
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| • |
Connoisseur debunks myths about Cognac
Turns out everything we know about Cognac is wrong. Maurice Hennessy, the eighth-generation scion of the Jas. Hennessy Co. that has made the stuff since 1765 in southwestern France, will lead us toward correctness. Here are myths and facts.
Source: Arizona Republic
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There's nothing humdrum about vanilla rum
Bourbon did it. Gin did it. Even vodka -- which is supposed to have no smell or flavor at all -- did it.
So, why not rum? Like just about every other category of distilled spirit, rum has gone decidedly upscale in recent years.
Source: Newark Star Ledger
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SUMMER SPIRITS: Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum
It's summertime, and the living is rummy.
There's something about rum-based cocktails that links them inexorably to the hot, sunny months. Maybe it's because so many are umbrella drinks, whether in fact or spirit -- sweet, complex formulas that perfectly complement a lazy day at the beach. Maybe it's because so many of them contain tropical ingredients such as coconut, pineapple or lime. Or because, by virtue of its easy sweetness, rum was, for most of us, the perfect coming-of-age (or coming-of-fake-ID) liquor, therefore evoking fond memories of the summer of '42 -- or '72 or '92.
Source: Las Vegas Review-Journal
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| • |
Gin jumps back into the bar limelight
In recent years, squeaky clean neutral vodka has been juiced up with all sorts of flavorings, from lemon to buffalo grass; the purer the flavor, the more consumers love them. So why does gin, the original flavored white spirit, not attract the same legion of admirers?
Source: San Francisco Chronicle
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Fruity Fizz for Adults
Unless you drink straight from the bottle (it can happen), we're talking about mixed drinks here. And the big news in mixers in New York right now is a next generation of bottled and canned sodas that bartenders have started playing with.
Source: New York Times
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Winstone says drinking 'Irish national sport'
Hardman actor Ray Winstone says drinking is Ireland's "national sport" and admits to enjoying binge-drinking by downing two bottles of vodka at a time while here.
Source: Ireland Online
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| • |
Beer Ads Join Campaign Brew-Haha
Summer beer ads usually focus on babes, beaches and barbecues. But as the U.S. celebrates its independence, the latest beer war has entered unusual territory: patriotism.
Source: NY Post
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| • |
Maryland's Spirited Debate
Maryland's laws have kept alcohol in shackles for years. A court ruling could open the door for changes.
Source: Baltimore Sun
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Top 10 spirits brands in world
Privately held Bacardi Ltd. is near a deal to buy the Grey Goose high-end vodka business for more than $2 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday.
The following are the top 10 spirit brands sold worldwide. The brands are ranked by name, type of spirit, the owner, and 2003 estimated retail sales in billons of U.S. dollars.
Source: Reuters
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| • |
Bacardi eyeing Grey Goose vodka
More consolidation in the spirits industry may be underway as Bacardi negotiates to acquire Grey Goose vodka
Source: Miami Herald
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| • |
US: Bacardi to complete acquisition - report
Bacardi is poised to buy a vodka business, according to press reports. The Wall Street Journal, citing a person familiar with the situation, says that the company is close to a deal to acquire the Grey Goose vodka business for over US$2 billion.
Source: Just-Drinks
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| • |
Bacardi goes on a Goose hunt
The drinks group Bacardi is in talks to buy Grey Goose vodka for more than $2 billion (R12.9 billion) to strengthen its US market position, the Wall Street Journal said Thursday in its online edition.
Source: Business Report
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| • |
Bacardi May Buy Grey Goose
Bacardi Ltd. is close to a deal to buy the Grey Goose high-end vodka business for more than $2 billion, a person familiar with the situation told The Wall Street Journal, significantly broadening Bacardi's presence in the U.S. spirits business.
Source: SmartMoney.com
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Massachusetts Sues Four Online Wine Retailers for Illegal Sales & Shipping
Massachusetts Attorney General Tom Reilly is suing four online retailers for selling alcoholic beverages to minors and violating the state's liquor laws. His move comes only two weeks after the U.S. Supreme Court decided to hear two cases that could shape the future of direct-to-consumer wine shipments, and forces opposed to online alcohol sales are seeking to use the Massachusetts lawsuits to bolster their arguments.
Source: Beverage World
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Venerable NYC Restaurant Le Cirque to Move
One of Manhattan's most famous French restaurants, whose patrons have included Frank Sinatra and former presidents, is going to move and change its name, its owner says.
Source: Newsday
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A boutique beer in Bud country
A Spring Hill microbrewery crafts its beer according to strict Belgian tradition. But can its "Blonde" entice drinkers away from the usual fare?
Source: St. Petersburg Times
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| • |
Carolina Beer & Beverage Co. reformulates Carolina Light beer
With a new light beer among the market`s lowest in calories and carbohydrates, Carolina Beer & Beverage Co. of Mooresville, near Charlotte, is adding a second shift to produce enough to go around.
Source: Food Ingredients First
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Heavy profits in lite beer
Less is turning into more for American beer brewers - and their customers. Fueled by increasingly popular low-carb diets, light beers will surpass regular beer sales next year, according to a study by Mintel International Group.
Source: New York Daily News
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| • |
TV chef OK’d to take photos in restaurant
A judge gave TV chef Rocco DiSpirito permission this week to enter the restaurant that bears his name so he could take photographs of himself for a cookbook to be published this summer.
Source: Fort Wayne Journal Gazette
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Just £90 a glass!
IS Huddersfield home to the UK's most expensive cocktail? That's the claim by its creators - and there's no doubt only those with deep pockets could afford it.
Source: ic Huddersfield.co.uk
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In Russia, Whisky is set to be the new vodka
VODKA is as synonymous with Russia as the hammer and sickle, but now the national drink has encountered stiff competition from Scotland’s favourite tipple.
Source: The Scotsman
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Compound Found in Red Wine May Kill Breast Cancer Cells, New Research Finds
Research conducted at the University of Porto in Portugal indicates that certain chemicals found abundantly in plant-based beverages, such as red wine, beer and tea, may help kill off breast cancer cells.
Source: Wine Spectator
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Budweiser sets sights on beer's last frontier
Already jolly from tippling at a beer garden, Zhao Shunian and his drinking buddies heard the news that Anheuser-Busch had won a bruising takeover battle for local Harbin Brewery, and decided it was reason enough to drink again.
Source: News-Leader.com
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HUMPY'S celebrates 10 years of great beer
In May 1994, about three years before I started writing about beer for the Anchorage Press, I sat on a sawhorse and bellied up to the skeletal frame of what was to become the signature wrap-around bar at Humpy's Great Alaskan Alehouse.
Source: Anchorage Press
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The long, strange evolution of J. Garcia wine
The late Grateful Dead guitarist Jerry Garcia was many things: musician, artist, writer, composer. Ironically enough, wine connoisseur wasn't really one of them.
Source: San Jose Mercury News
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Beer giant SABMiller buys Romanian brewer
SABMiller Plc (UK:SAB), one of the world's largest brewers, said on Monday it had bought an 81.1 percent stake in Romanian brewer Aurora S.A., taking its total shareholding in the firm to at least 90 percent.
Source: Reuters
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Bottoms up and in
Watch out, Mr. Cocktail. The smaller shot is muscling into the neighborhood. The proof is in the merchandise.
Source: Kentucky.com
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OREGON MICROBREWERY SCOOPS TOP BEER PRIZE AT AUSTRALIAN AWARDS
An American pub's microbrewery has snatched the top award at an international beer contest in Australia, a victory the pub's general manager compared to a US team beating Australia at cricket.
Source: Beverage World
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Small wineries seek ability to ship out of state
New York's small wineries are hoping that state lawmakers will approve a budget item letting them ship wine directly to consumers in at least 13 other states.
Source: Albany Business Review
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| • |
Vintners describe wholesaler pressure
Alcohol distributors are trying to muscle wineries into dropping a bid to be able to ship wine directly to customers, vineyard owners said.
Source: Democrat and Chronicle
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Inhaling and Snorting Alcohol Machine Now in the US
A new invention has hit the market in the United States that lets you inhale or snort alcohol, mixed with oxygen. This new age machine is already sold in several countries around the world.
Source: WCJB
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How to (Sniff) Be a Wine Snob
Let's begin by coming to grips with a few of life's simple facts. A person who knows wine, and demonstrates his acumen at the dinner table in front of you and your friends, is one of the most intimidating people you'll ever meet. Admit it. This joker is right up there with that kind patrol officer at the Department of Motor Vehicles who rode along with you on your driving test.
Source: TheStreet.com
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L.I. Showcase at Tasting
Windows on Long Island Wine, the Long Island Wine Council's annual grand tasting held in Manhattan, provides an incomparable opportunity to see where the region's wine industry is going.
Source: New York Times
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Drinks are on us say whisky lotto winners
Seven workers at an Edinburgh whisky plant who scooped a £2.4 million lottery win have vowed to splash some of their cash on a big bash for colleagues.
Source: The Scotsman
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New York Bartenders Call Rosy Revenue Statistics a Smoke Screen
Bar and tavern owners, charging that Mayor Bloomberg's smoking ban is a business buster, accused the city yesterday of fudging numbers to support the controversial law.
Source: Miami Herald
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Long and short of mint julep
As Thoroughbred racing fans in Louisville and elsewhere flock to Kentucky Derby parties this weekend, they may encounter a breach in beverage protocol that has infected such gatherings frequently in recent years.
Source: USA Today
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| • |
Liquid assets
As drinking becomes the new shopping, the 'cocktail curious' stock up on everything from retro shakers to $2,700 custom bars
Source: The Globe and Mail
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| • |
Dominant in U.S., A-B now sees itself battling wine, spirits
Anheuser-Busch Cos., known for its ability to take market share from rival brewers, is focusing on a new set of competitors: the wine and spirits industries.
Source: The St. Louis Post-Dispatch
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| • |
Finns flock to Estonia for cheap beer after EU accession
Thousands of Finns flocked to Tallinn at the weekend to benefit from neighboring Estonia's accession to the European Union, stocking up on cheap beer and vodka which they can now bring home in unlimited amounts.
Source: EUbusiness
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Bacardi pays N.J. community to change name to 'Mojito'
Here's a new Bacardi recipe: Take a small New Jersey community, add $5,000, and for half a month, you've got a locality named after a cocktail.
Source: USA Today
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Original Gin
Mention gin to most people these days and they look at you like health care fanatics staring at a stick of butter. "Gin?" they splutter. "Don't tell me you drink that stuff?" This would not bother me so much if they didn't then immediately proceed to order vodka.
Source: Forbes.com
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Sangrita fits tequila to a 't'
I went to Abuelo's restaurant to sip premium tequilas and fell in love with sangrita instead.
Source: The Wichita Eagle
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| • |
N.J. community renaming itself after cocktail
Here's a new Bacardi recipe: Take a small New Jersey community, add $5,000, and for half a month, you've got a locality named after a cocktail.
Source: Anchorage Daily News
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| • |
Man Sells Ex-Wife's Wedding Dress For Beer
An online auction turned a burly, bearded Seattle biker into a blushing bride.
Source: NBC30.com
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Anheuser-Busch Buys Into Chinese Brewer
U.S. brewing giant Anheuser-Busch Cos. Inc. said on Sunday it has bought a 29 percent stake in China's fourth-largest beer producer, Harbin Brewery Group Ltd.
Source: Reuters
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Cinco de Mayo overflows with flavors of Mexican culture
This is the time of year that most of France doesn't recall, but that launches hundreds of festivals in North America.
Source: The Salt Lake Tribune
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Wine and Spirits: Get to know margarita
It’s the perfect time to year to enjoy the outdoors: Restaurant patios fill up, salsa contests get into swing and back yards come alive.
Source: East Valley Tribune
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Oregon businessman imports high-end tequila
Todd Bowen remembers walking along the parched rows of agave plants under the hot Mexican sun when he finally believed it could work.
Source: Statesman Journal
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Call The Shots--Tequila & Mezcal
Q: I'm in the dark when it comes to all the new premium tequilas you see these days. Silver, gold, reposado, anejo -- huh? I thought tequila was tequila: You do a shot and that's that. Oh, and, what is mezcal, anyway? -- Frank
Source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer
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Diageo to Market Wines as Low Carb
Diageo is to begin marketing three of its wine brands as “low carb” drinks.
Diageo Chateau and Estate Wines said that three of its wine brands, BV Coastal Estates, Sterling Vintners Collection and a new brand offering, Century Cellars, all meet the definition of a "Low Carb" alcohol beverage as recently established by the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB).
Source: Just-Drinks
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Scotch Exports Record Second Best Year Ever
The Scotch Whisky Association said this week that £2.37bn worth of Scotch was shipped in 2003, with the value of exports increasing 4% (£90m) on 2002. This was just £20m short of the previous peak in 1997.
Source: Just-Drinks
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Alcohol Ads on TV Reaching More and More Teens
Alcohol advertising is up, and much of it reaches viewers not old enough to drink, said a report issued Wednesday by Georgetown University's Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth. The study said alcohol ads on network, local and cable TV increased 39% to 289,381 in 2002 over the previous year.
Source: USA Today
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| • |
A-B Takes on South Beach Diet
The US beer giant Anheuser-Busch is hitting back at a diet that advises against beer consumption, with a one-off ad campaign today in 31 newspapers, at a cost of nearly US$1m, to clear beer's dietary name.
Source: Just-Drinks.com
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Myth of the Mint Julep
The bartender's jaw drops, almost as if her horse stumbled three lengths before the finish line. "I don't know if I can make a julep, hon," she says, slight panic in her eyes. "We don't have any fresh mint."
Source: The Cincinnati Enquirer
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MUNICH OFFICIALS UP IN ARMS OVER WORLD CUP BEER
Officials in beer-loving Germany urged a rethink after organisers of the 2006 World Cup signed a deal with a US brewery that would bar local brews from being sold in stadia.
Source: Yahoo News
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Oops! Coors' photo used in Klan story
Thursday's New York Times misidentified GOP Senate candidate Pete Coors as a Ku Klux Klan member who murdered a black sharecropper.
Source: Rocky Mountain News
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| • |
No Pain, No Gain: Taking on Bacardi could boost Allied's spirits
The gossipy drinks business is getting itself into a ferment over the possibility that Allied Domecq will soon be engulfed in another round of takeover activity. Shares of the world's second-largest wine and spirit group are riding at around their highest since they were recruited into the no pain, no gain portfolio in 1999.
Source: Independent
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Publicity for event cost city $890
The city of Las Vegas' publicity machine billed taxpayers $890 to document and publicize to the national media Mayor Oscar Goodman's status as a pitchman for Bombay Sapphire gin, records show.
Source: Las Vegas Review Journal
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'Apprentice' to wrap with big bash
Party late into the night with these boardroom buffs and you, too, may get fired. The epicenter of "Apprentice" shenanigans Thursday night is Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue, where maniacal millionaire Donald Trump will host the likes of Carson Daly, Billy Joel and Shannon Elizabeth at a private post-episode bash.
Source: Newsday.com
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Early years on fishing docks inspire chef's seafood restaurant
Chef-restaurateur Jimmy Bradley grew up in a Rhode Island fishing port and, while he ultimately chose cooking over fishing, he never lost his love for that environment.
Source: Naples Daily News
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| • |
At Miller, women rise to top of beer business
When you think of craft beers, Miller products are not the first things that come to mind. Miller is a longtime megabrewer in the United States, but when it was purchased in May 2002 by South African Breweries and merged into SABMiller, it became second only to Anheuser-Busch as the world's largest brewer.
Source: Observer-Dispatch
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| • |
Czechs #1 in Beer Consumption
Over 16 million hectoliters of beer was drunk in the Czech Republic in 2003. The Czechs lead the world in annual consumption at 162 liters per capita. According to the latest statistics, nearly CEK 50 billion is spent for beer in the Czech Republic every year, and Czech breweries produced 18.5 mil hl of beer in 2003.
Source: Beverage World
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| • |
US Craft Beer Market Grows
The U.S. craft beer industry saw a 3.4 percent increase in production in 2003, according to figures gathered and released by the Association of Brewers this week. The marks the 34th year of consecutive growth as tracked by the Association.
Source: Beverage World
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| • |
Beer Interests Pushing For Tax Repeal
US beer interests are lobbying for a rollback of the federal excise tax imposed on their products. Congress Daily reported Tuesday that beer wholesalers are preparing for a massive lobbying push later this month on Capitol Hill for their policy agenda.
Source: Beverage World
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| • |
Starbucks & Jim Beam to Team Up On Liqueur
Starbucks Corp., which changed the meaning of a double shot, now is trying the real thing. The Seattle company is teaming up with Jim Beam Brands Co. to produce a premium coffee liqueur that will debut in two US markets later this year.
Source: Beverage World
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Mexico's creative spirit
We were only slightly lost. But that was just part of the fun on the first of a half-dozen forays into the countryside around Oaxaca, Mexico, to visit local artisans in the best possible environs -- their homes. Traveling along a dusty, bumpy road outside the small town of Santa Maria Atzompa, we were headed -- we hoped -- toward Angelica Vasquez Cruz's hilltop hacienda.
Source: Chicago-Sun Times
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United States to Allow Wine Labels to List Calories and Carbohydrates
The U.S. government is now allowing alcohol-beverage producers to cite calorie and carbohydrate content on their labels and in their advertising -- as long as the statements are truthful and specific.
Source: Wine Spectator
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Las Vegas International Hotel and Restaurant Show: Hot time for food industry
With Nevada forecast to lead all 50 contestants in restaurant sales growth this year according to figures from the National Restaurant Association, this week's Las Vegas International Hotel and Restaurant Show (LVIHRS) could not have come to a better place at a better time.
Source: Las Vegas Business Press
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Bartending: a perfect blend
For many students working on campus at places such as the Rieber Hall front desk or the cash registers in Ackerman Union, bartending is the elusive college job that means good hours, good money and a great work atmosphere.
Source: The UCLA Daily Bruin
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Borgata to showcase vintage Scotch
If you like Scotch whisky - and are expecting a big refund from the IRS - you may want to consider a trip to the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa. A collection of the world's most expensive vintage single-malt Scotch whiskey will debut there Thursday.
Source: Cherry Hill Courier Post
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Barkeep shows the (more or less) safe way to taste whiskey
Bartender Keith Saunders describes himself as "a booze geek." His passion is liquor. Not drinking it, per se, but knowing about it. Saunders shares his knowledge with patrons at periodic tastings conducted in the saloon where the Ohio transplant makes his living, the luxurious Crow's Nest Restaurant in the Hotel Captain Cook.
Source: Anchorage Daily News
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Alabama designates an official state whiskey
Alabama now has an official state whiskey despite objections from Gov. Bob Riley. The Alabama Senate voted 19-8 Tuesday to override Riley's veto of a legislative resolution making Conecuh Ridge Fine Alabama Whiskey the "official state spirit."
Source: Atlanta Journal Constitution
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NYC mayor blasts beer maker Rheingold for its planned TV ads
Rheingold Beer may boast that it is "100 percent New York by volume" and have found a following among trendy downtown scenesters who still wear their trucker caps sideways, but don't count Mayor Michael Bloomberg among its fans.
Source: Newsday
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Bourbon makers take reserves to court
Lawyers for Brown-Forman Corp. and Barton Brands Ltd. took their opening shots yesterday in a Louisville federal courtroom in a trademark infringement suit over the design of Barton's new bourbon, Ridgewood Reserve 1792.
Source: Louisville Courier Journal
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Hispanic Activists Propose Budweiser Boycott
Activists want Hispanics to boycott Budweiser beer during this year's Cinco de Mayo celebrations.
Source: KABC
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Beer ads pulled owing to Coors' Senate bid
The Coors Brewing Co. is pulling ads featuring company chairman Peter Coors from the Colorado airwaves because of his rumored run for the U.S. Senate.
Source: Washington Times
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Lift state ban on wine shipments
East End wineries do much of their business selling their chardonnays and merlots to visiting tourists; it's hard for them to get distributors to handle their modest production lots. But they can't follow up with direct sales to out-of-staters because New York bans interstate wine shipments direct to customers.
Source: Newsday
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Wine Companies Think Outside the Bottle
Milk in a glass bottle -- once the beverage's primary vessel -- is a nostalgic throwback these days, and glass containers for soda and bottled water have given way to lighter, cheaper and more practical plastic. Is wine next?
Source: Wine Spectator
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Portuguese wines: more than just port
We were pondering topics for future columns a while back when Dottie said, "How about Portuguese reds?" Mention of these always brings smiles to our faces because we remember the earthy, lusty and very inexpensive Portuguese reds of our youths. "Great idea," responded John, "but we can't really write about them because they're not very widely available. We'd just frustrate people."
Source: The Wall Street Journal
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Vodka-flavored ice cream causes a stir
A new vodka-flavored ice cream launched in Australia provoked an outcry on Saturday from groups worried it would give children a taste for alcohol.
Source: MSNBC
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Vodka importer helps safeguard rain forest
If Amazon Rainforest Vodka has its way, more and more acres of pristine rain forest will be preserved through the Rainforest Preservation Foundation.
Source: The Detroit News
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Mexico tequila makers lose round in struggle for purity
Mexican tequila aficionados hoping to elevate the spirit's image among highbrow crowds will have to wait.
Source: Houston Chronicle
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Beer magnate Peter Coors to run for U.S. Senate
Brewing magnate Peter Coors will run for the the Republican nomination to fill the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Ben Nighthorse Campbell, Colorado Gov. Bill Owens said on Wednesday.
Source: CBS Marketwatch
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Anheuser-Busch to offer same-day-packaged beer this month
Pressing its "born-on dating" to the max, Anheuser-Busch has brewed up a promotion to tout freshness by offering certain Budweiser and Bud Light drinkers the chance to sample the beer the same day it was packaged.
Source: The Kansas City Star
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U.S. bureau to set low-carb beer standards
A division of the U.S. Treasury Department on Thursday said it would set advertising and labeling standards for low-carbohydrate alcoholic beverages, which have become increasingly popular due to the Atkins diet craze.
Source: Forbes.com
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Claus Riedel, Austrian wine glass pioneer, dies in Italy at age 79
Claus Riedel, an Austrian who pioneered and made glasses in different shapes according to the variety of wine being consumed, has died, his company said. He was 79.
Source: Canada.com
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Cult clout means more people are poppin' open a Pabst
COLUMBUS, Ohio - Matt Dixon sips beer from a red, white and blue aluminum can in a smoky corner of Betty's Food and Spirits, a dimly lit hangout for local artists, college students and restaurant workers.
Source: Fort Worth Star Telegram
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Amended beer keg law passes state Senate
The state Senate passed a bill yesterday that would amend the current beer keg law. The new law would extend the time period for consumers to return the beer keg from 30 to 90 days, and would clearly define that forfeited keg deposits could be kept by the retailers who sold the beer.
Source: The Journal News
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Couple Turns Beer Containers Into Headware
Pete Montana is letting beer get to his head -- literally. The Buffalo-area science teacher and his wife Cyndy are the owners of a company that makes cowboy hats out of cardboard beer boxes.
Source: WSTM-TV
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Think pink: The true colors of Jaclyn Foley
“My husband says I was not a very good bartender,” said Jaclyn Foley in a recent interview at her home in the Liberty Corner section of Bernards Township. This may seem odd coming from someone who wears the titles of assistant to the publisher, editor and advertising director of Bartender Magazine.
Source: Stirling Echoes Sentinel
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Flor de Caña Rum a Source of Pride for Nicaraguans
Every country has its cherished symbols of national pride. The French boast about their cuisine, culture and language. Canadians take pride in their hockey stars. Nicaraguans, at home and abroad, talk up a brand of rum that has been made in their country since 1890: Flor de Caña.
Source: The Ledger
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Ireland's Bar Sales Decline
Ireland gave the world its favorite theme pub, but at home there are signs that the bar boom is over. Buried within this week's release of disappointing retail sales data came a decline of 5.3 percent in bar sales.
Source: Beverage World
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| • |
TOO MUCH BEER AT THE POLLS - GERMAN VILLAGE TO VOTE
A small village in southern Germany was ordered Tuesday to hold new mayoral elections when the winning candidate recently narrowly won the vote after distributing free beer and even cash ahead of the polls.
Source: Beverage World
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| • |
Czech Brewer Plans to Make Breakfast Beer Jam
A family brewer in Chodova Plana, in the western Czech Republic, has invented a new way to enjoy the lager flavour on a slice of toast, a report said Monday. It's a unique spread called "beer jam," and Chodavar Brewery co-owner Jiri Plevka told the CTK news agency he expects children as well as adults will soon be enjoying it on their breakfast bread.
Source: Beverage World
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| • |
New Program Seeks Better Draught Beer
The Brewers' Association of America (BAA) and the Draught Beer Guild (DBG) have reached an agreement to work cooperatively on a Draught Beer Retail Certification Program. In bringing the complimentary strengths of the DBG and the BAA to bear on the problems plaguing draught beer, this innovative program will give retailers the educational tools they need to achieve consistent, high quality draught dispense.
Source: Beverage World
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"The Donald" A Marked Man...
Donald Trump, the billionaire host and executive producer of the reality show "The Apprentice," wants to limit who else can proclaim "You're fired!" Trump uses the phrase at the end of each episode. He is seeking trademark registration on the phrase for games, casino uses and clothing. He also has applied for trademarks on the phrases "You're fired! Donald J. Trump" and "You're fired! The Donald," both for clothing only.
Source: Indianapolis Star
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| • |
Irish Government Urged to Ban Early Liquor Ads
The Irish Government has been urged to ban the broadcasting of adverts for alcohol on television before the 9pm watershed, according to press reports. The suggestion has been made in the light of a study showing that alcohol consumption among young people in Ireland is the highest in the EU.
Source: Just-Drinks
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Alcohol Websites Reportedly Attracting Kids
Alcohol company Web sites are offering a "cyber playground" for underage youths despite promises from the companies to limit their access, according to a study released Tuesday.
Source: Beverage World
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| • |
A-B Extends Olympic Contract
Anheuser-Busch's Budweiser and Bud Light brands will continue as official beer sponsors of the U.S. Olympic team through 2008, officials with the St. Louis-based brewer said Thursday.
Source: Beverage World
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| • |
Burglar Takes Dinner Break
A hungry Dutch burglar was caught frying a fish on the job after the smell of his cooking woke up the householder, police say.
Source: Reuters
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| • |
The Science of Guinness
People celebrating St Patrick's Day on Wednesday can cross one topic of conversation off their lists.
Source: Reuters
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| • |
Drunk Polish Nun on a Tractor
A Polish Benedictine nun is facing jail for driving a tractor into a car while drunk outside her convent in southwestern Poland, police said on Friday.
Source: Reuters
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| • |
Anheuser Considered Low-Carb Bud Beer, No Tests Planned
Anheuser-Busch Cos. has looked "internally" at a low-carbohydrate, Budweiser-family beer, but the brewery has no plans to market test such a product, an Anheuser-Busch executive said.
Source: Dow Jones
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Vodka Is Tonic For Iowa Revenue With Liquor Tax
Can Grey Goose lift Iowa out of its revenue slump?
Iowa Alcoholic Beverages Division Administrator Lynn Walding hopes so.
Iowans have a preference for inexpensive vodka that Walding links to the straight mark-up on liquor Iowa adopted when state liquor stores closed in 1987.
Source: The Miami Herald
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| • |
Maker's Mark Bourbon Turns 50
To signify a new beginning with a new recipe, bourbon maker Bill Samuels Sr. set fire to the family's 170-year-old formula, sparking an explosion that burned a hole in the ceiling and singed his daughter's hair.
Source: Associated Press
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Carlsberg to Pursue Own Import Company in the US
Recognizing the strategic importance of the US market, Carlsberg Breweries will establish its own import company, Carlsberg USA, to handle the Breweries' brands. This move will consolidate the Carlsberg-owned brands, Tetley's, Double Diamond, Carlsberg and Tuborg brands, which are currently sold and distributed by three separate companies.
Source: Beverage World
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University, Brewer Revive New York Hops
Pests, disease and Prohibition combined to ruin New York state's once thriving hops industry a half-century ago, but a researcher, brewer and several farmers are trying to lead a revival.
Source: Beverage World
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Interbrew and AmBev Combine as World's Largest Brewer
Two days after revealing it was in talks with South American brewing giant AmBev, the Belgian brewer Interbrew today announced that the two companies had agreed to combine, in a deal that will create the world’s largest brewing entity by volume.
Source: Just-Drinks
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A-B Adds New Flavor to Bacardi Silver Line
Its rival SABMiller may have rid itself of most of its read-to-drink (RTD) brands last week, but that doesn’t seem to have dampened Anheuser-Busch’s enthusiasm for the category, with the announcement today that it has added another flavour extension to its Bacardi Silver portfolio.
Source: Just-Drinks
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| • |
Coors Releases Low-Carb Aspen Edge:
Coors Brewing Company has launched Aspen Edge, its low-carb light lager, on the US market. The US operating subsidiary of Adolph Coors Company today announced that Aspen Edge is now available in Delaware, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Vermont, Maryland, Virginia, Maine, and Texas.
Source: Just-Drinks
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Is the low-carb craze affecting bakeries, restaurants?
Mike Sherwood has three words for the low-carb diet craze.
"It's killing me," he said.
Sherwood, owner of the eight-year-old St. Paul Bagelry and Deli in Roseville, said his bagel business is down from previous years, and he attributes part of that loss to the Atkins, South Beach and other bread-phobic diets.
Source: Minneapolis Star Tribune
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RITZ boss admits selling leftover wine by glass
A restaurant boss at the Ritz today admitted running a scam at the hotel selling used wine from discarded open bottles back to customers.
Source: Evening Standard
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Owner of Sutter Home Buys Australian Wine Brand
The financially troubled Australian wine brand Reynolds has been acquired by Trinchero Family Estates, the Napa Valley company that produces Sutter Home, Montevina and other labels.
Source: Wine Spectator
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| • |
SNORTING vodka 'unsafe'
A machine that allows drinkers to inhale alcohol is to be investigated by Trading Standards officers after doctors condemned it as unsafe.
Source: Telegraph.co.uk
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Boston Beer Targets Samuel Adams Sales Growth Of 6%
The challenge for Boston Beer Co. (NYSE:SAM) is to continue increasing its sales of Samuel Adams and Sam Adams Light beers, Chairman Jim Koch said.
Source: Dow Jones
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| • |
The Margarita
Ah, the margarita, the saltiest of musical muses. The late Warren Zevon ended his1976 album Warren Zevon (the title is no reflection of his ingenuity) with a song called "Desperadoes Under The Eaves." The tune was the sort of typically wry portrait of and for the romantically despondent loser in which Zevon specialized - and this bit of zippy misery remains one of his best efforts.
Source: Winston Salem Journal
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NEW Glass Wine Stopper Hopes to Oust Cork
Thought screw caps were the solution to cork taint? Now there's a new option. A division of aluminum company Alcoa has invented a resealable glass stopper called Vino-Lok that it says offers a screw cap's advantages, but is more appealing to consumers.
Source: Wine Spectator
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McSorely's celebrates 150th year
Amid the smell of stale beer and ancient smoke, a few feet from the pot-bellied stove warming the early afternoon customers in the middle of the room, Joe McKiernan stood yesterday over his twin mugs of light ale resting on the bar at McSorley's Old Ale House.
Source: THE JOURNAL NEWS
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Bartender Shaken and Stirred by Moscow Life
They say that Moscow is a fashionable city, but it has no style. Bar consultant Damil Idgaf plans to shake Muscovites out of old habits.
Source: Moscow Times
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Marketing Wine to the World
From consolidation to the growing clout of mass retailers, structural changes have hit the wine industry. Professor Michael Roberto discusses the move from elitism to mainstream appeal.
Source: Working Knowledge
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Beverage Ads Most Influential Among Young Adult Superbowl Viewers
New Study Reveals Teens and Young Adults Were 'Tuned In' and 'Plugged In' to 2004 Superbowl Content and Commercials
Source: Yahoo
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Order authentic fixings for Mardi Gras celebration
Whether you call it Fat Tuesday or Mardi Gras, the day before Ash Wednesday is all about one thing: partying. The idea is to wake up so full and hung over that a 40-day Lenten fast sounds like a good plan.
Source: The Arizona Republic
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New Shakers vodka flavors to hit Minnesota market soon
BENSON -- Two new vodka products are going to be hitting the Minnesota market soon, and Shakers is hoping to make the same splash as they did with their first venture.
A rose flavored vodka and a rye vodka are expected to be released on a limited basis in the next few weeks.
Source: West Central Tribune
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Pick the right beer to go with your chocolate dessert
BEER and chocolate? Don't laugh. Beer and chocolate can blend harmoniously. But for a perfect match, one must use caution. The right beer and the right chocolate or chocolate dessert can be a mind-blowing marriage that far exceeds the combination of chocolate and wine.
Source: Alameda Times-Star
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Of grape and grain
California is a land of pioneers. From blue jeans to computers, social movements to entertainment, the Golden State continues to be a mint of ideas and innovators. America's gastronomic renaissance got its start here, too. Although Fritz Maytag doesn't have the name recognition of Robert Mondavi or Alice Waters, he's earned a place at the table of the state's food and wine pioneers.
Source: San Francisco Chronicle
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Takamaka Bay flows on European, South African markets
Two years after it came into existence, the Trois Frères Distillery – producer of Takamaka Bay rum – has known much success among locals and is now eyeing the European market in its first bold attempt towards export.
Source: Seychelles Nation
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Return of the Golden Era
Barbados is the home of Mount Gay Rum, at 301 years old probably the world's oldest rum brand and a golden tipple like no other.
Source: Scoop.co.nz
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Woodford Reserve advertising attacked
Barton Inc. has responded to a charge that it has been marketing an unfair knockoff of Brown-Forman Corp.'s Woodford Reserve bourbon with a slap at the super-premium brand.
Source: Louisville Courier Journal
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| • |
Dig at Washington's Distillery Yields New Understanding of First President
Down on your knees, where centuries of excavated dirt are color-coded, the exposed stones -- some 150 of them, smooth and tan and as large as 21/2 feet across -- look like so many rocks. That is, unless you are archaeologist Esther White, and see through George Washington's eyes.
Source: Newhouse News Service
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Group Sues Brewers, Claims Minors Are Targeted
A group of California residents
filed a lawsuit against the two largest U.S. brewers, claiming the companies are targeting minors with their advertising, the group said on Wednesday.
Source: Reuters
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Booze-laced cookies hit sour note
A public outcry over the launch
of alcohol-flavored cookies in Australia prompted the government Thursday to order a review into whether promoting the liquor-laced nibbles breached advertising rules.
Source: Reuters
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European court backs ban on Red Bull over health concerns
Health concerns over the Red Bull energy drink were fuelled yesterday after Europe's highest court upheld
a French ban on the product.
Source: Independant.co.uk
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Wine, women and a book
Sommeliers -- restaurant wine masters -- in the nation's capital wishing to avoid a gaffe should log onto lesliesbrocco.com and study the photos of Leslie Sbrocco closely. Because when she walks into their restaurants with her husband -- as she may well do at the end of this month when she gives the keynote speech at the Washington International Wine and Food Festival, they should recognize her and know it is she who must be presented with the wine list and the first splash of wine to taste.
Source: United Press International
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| • |
A New Vintage of Wine Lovers
With a thumb casually hooked through his belt loop, 24-year-old John Dwight leans against the bar and surveys the dimly lighted red lounge at Bodega Wine Bar. It's a Wednesday night, and Dwight, dressed in a brown corduroy blazer and black T-shirt, with hair carefully tousled, traces the rim of his glass of merlot as he checks out his options.
Source: Washington Post
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Sergeant fires into beer keg
An investigation finds that Sgt. Kent Campbell violated four different sections of agency policy when he decided to empty a beer keg by shooting it with his .45 caliber Glock handgun.
Source: Vero Beach Press
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| • |
Beer beats colon cancer in rats
Some of the components in beer appear to protect against development of colon cancer, report Japanese researchers, revealing new results from a study on rats.
Source: Beverage Daily
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| • |
Samuel Adams Brews Up Chocolate Beer For Valentine's Day
Boston-based brewing company Samuel Adams is brewing up a limited-edition chocolate-flavored beer for Valentine's Day, according to a Local 6 News report.
Source: Local6.com
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| • |
Canadian Skiing Gets Beer Boost
Columbia Brewery, maker of Kokanee beer, has launched a Signature Mountain Series that will feature BC and Alberta ski resorts on 12 million Kokanee bottles. Included are Whistler Blackcomb, Panorama, Sun Peaks Resort, Fernie, Big White Ski Resort, Lake Louise, Marmot Basin and Mount Washington.
Source: OnTheSnow.com
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Another ration of rum, please, with plenty of ice
I woke up early the other morning and put on the Weather Channel. After watching five-day forecasts for every major city in the world and an entire segment about driving conditions in Omaha, I discovered that once again, it was going to be sunny and gorgeous in South Florida.
Source: Miami Herald
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| • |
Patent of Havana Club Rum recognized in the US
Pernod Ricard anounced that an US joint of requests of patents accepted its registration of the Havana Club brand in that nation, giving the French group a victory in its large dispute with Bacardí-USA.
Source: Radio Ángulo
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The slice in the new Scots gin is ... Cucumber
A NEW Scottish gin which has already taken the upmarket bars of San Francisco and London by storm with its unique blend of cucumber and rose petals is set to shake up watering holes and clubs north of the Border with its domestic launch next month.
Source: The Scotsman
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| • |
One Third of Russians Do Not Drink Vodka
Over one third of Russians (37 per cent) do not drink vodka and consequently do not care that it may become more expensive. The information was obtained thanks to an opinion poll conducted by ROMIR Monitoring among 1,600 respondents. The research was conducted because the alcohol excise tax system was changed in Russia starting with January 1, 2004.
Source: Pravda
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Pernod Ricard scores victory in Havana Club dispute
Pernod Ricard said on Monday that a U.S. patent appeal board upheld its registration of the Havana Club trademark in the United States, handing the French spirits group a victory in long-standing dispute with Bacardi USA.
Source: Reuters
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GM beer to hit the shelves
A brewer in Sweden is facing the GM debate head on. The company claims to have launched the first food product to use genetic modification as a marketing tool.
Source: Food Navigator
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Risk-taking mixologist
Brennan raises the bar on trendy cocktail scene Perry: 40 custom drinks featured L7 BRENNAN Drink trendsetter
Source: Oregonian
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| • |
'Mixology' takes family approach to bartending
The English language badly needs a word to describe the thing that bartenders do. The important work of putting together spirits and flavorings in the combinations we call cocktails deserves a decent name, but there isn't one. "Mixology" is the best of a bad lot.
Source: New York Times News
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The Mojito
Author Ernest Hemingway - "Papa" to a stable of friends, family and bartenders - was a disciple of "El Mojito," a rum drink that fueled his stumbling about Cuba.
Source: Esquire Drinks
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| • |
With Bombay's Infusion, there's no need to drink gin to get spritzed
I drink martinis, gimlets, too. I thought that was living the gin lifestyle until I heard that Bombay Sapphire, the blue-bottled premium gin label, was introducing Infusion.
Source: The New York Times
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| • |
The Oeno File: Blue Ice Vodka
As a follow-up to my Vodka Fest article that appeared in our December edition, I would like to introduce our readers to a new American vodka called Blue Ice Vodka www.blueicevodka.com, crafted by Master Distiller, William Scott, at the Silver Creek Distillery in Rigby, Idaho.
Source: Luxury Web
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BUYER'S MARKET BREEDS NEW KIND OF WINERY
There's a new breed of wine company popping up in the New World that can produce wine without vineyards, or even a winery. All they need is good taste, good timing and a Rolodex of wine industry connections. A clever label doesn't hurt either.
Source: Beverage World
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NY GOVERNOR PROPOSES INTERSTATE WINE SHIPMENTS
The New York State Wine Grape Growers, a statewide association of vineyardists, has sent New York Governor George Pataki a "Thank You" letter for his leadership in including the interstate shipment of wine as part of his budget proposal, released today in Albany.
Source: Beverage World
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| • |
Army Joins Struggle to Save Beer
Russia has sent in the army to bolster a week-long struggle to rescue 10 tons of beer trapped under Siberian ice, Itar-Tass news agency said Tuesday. A lorry carrying the beer sank when trying to cross the frozen Irtysh river, and a rescue team of six divers, 10 workers and a modified T-72 tank from the emergencies ministry have so far failed to save the load.
Source: Reuters
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| • |
Divers Probed for Giving Fish Champagne
Three Polish divers faced a police investigation Thursday for possible illegal fishing and animal abuse after a news photo showed them plying a freshly caught pike with champagne at an outdoor New Year's party.
Source: Reuters
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| • |
IRAQ SMUGGLERS INTRODUCE LIQUOR TO IRAN
Just east of here, where the towering peaks of the Zagros mountains mark the border with Iran, a single product dominates the Iraqi exports hauled across the frontier by pack mule and tractor-trailer. That product is liquor: from well-known Western brands of bourbon and Scotch whisky to various types of vodka, gin and anise-flavored arak.
Source: Beverage World
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| • |
Germany invents "anti-ageing" beer
A German brewery has developed a beer containing vitamins and minerals it says are designed to slow the ageing process.
Source: Reuters
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| • |
Booze, snack chips join low-carb craze
The low-carb juggernaut shows no signs of slowing as more food and beverage marketers shed carbs. On Thursday, Skyy Vodka and Miller will introduce Skyy Sport, a low-carb version of their flavored malt beverages.
Source: USA TODAY
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| • |
Drink Creator's Kin Charged in Fake Kidnap
Hpnotiq became the wildly popular new liquor of the summer on the hip-hop scene and among the trendy set in New York and Hollywood. But while the blue-colored drink - a combination of fruit juice, vodka and cognac - has made millions for the Old Westbury man who developed it, it has resulted in nothing but trouble for a cousin who tried to get a piece of that fortune by staging his own phony kidnapping, officials say.
Source: Newsday
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Liquor industry pitches diet drinks
In a world where it's OK for dieters to load up on bacon and hamburgers, what's so bad about a cocktail?
Source: The Wall Street Journal
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| • |
Diageo: alcohol industry rides the Atkins craze
Diageo, the maker of Smirnoff, has announced a string of national cable ads with a simple message - zero carbs. As the fight for the Atkins dollar gets fiercer, spirit and beer marketers alike have begun to position their products as low-carb and diet-friendly.
Source: UK Comment Wire
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| • |
How to tell if you’re in a bar or a restaurant
I read in yesterday’s paper that the good people who are responsible for regulating rowdy behavior at Virginia Beach nightspots are struggling to figure out the difference between a bar and a restaurant.
Source: The Virginian-Pilot
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| • |
Beer Battle in Balkans
A nearly century-long trademark dispute is intensifying between Anheuser-Busch Cos. Inc., the world's largest brewer, and tiny Czech producer Budejovicky Budvar. With both claiming they produce the only genuine Budweiser beer, they've taken their sudsy squabble to courts in 24 countries around the world.
Source: WPVI
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| • |
Czechs lead world in beer drinking
Citizens of the Czech Republic last year drank more beer, per capita, than citizens of any other nation, the Czech Union of Breweries said Tuesday.
Source: Washington Times
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Rum deal for bear and beer man
IT'S too much for Bundaberg Rum to bear - claims its famous Bundy Bear character is a danger to children.
Source: NEWS.com.au
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| • |
New Shot Fired in Vodka Battle
Once again the state is challenging a vodka trademark registration, only this time it has nothing to do with its long-standing foe, vodka magnate Yury Shefler.
Source: Moscow Times
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| • |
The tequila solution
Want to look a few years younger? Drink tequila.
Tequila, made from the fermented sap of the blue agave plant, is the fastest-growing spirit in the U.S. Sales are up 6 percent with some brands reporting growth of close to 20 percent over last year.
Source: Press of Atlantic City
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| • |
'Mixology' takes family approach to bartending
The English language badly needs a word to describe the thing that bartenders do. The important work of putting together spirits and flavorings in the combinations we call cocktails deserves a decent name, but there isn't one. "Mixology" is the best of a bad lot.
Source: Arizona Republic
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| • |
Drink greases global business bonds
Executives caught in a social vortex of cocktail parties and dinners, restaurant wine lists and formal toasts, find that drinking is a big part of life on the road.
Source: CNN.com
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Maltese bartender holds Guinness World Record
Maltese bartender Richard Pons is the holder of the Guinness World Record for mixing cocktails in 25 minutes.
Source: Malta Independent
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Latvian Lout Survives Record-High BAC
A Latvian man who has amazed medics by surviving what police have described as a "world record drinking binge" has been told he won't get his name in the Guinness Book of Records.
Source: Ananova
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Kosher Beer Wars
When Moses received the Torah at Sinai, he camped out for 40 days and 40 nights with neither food nor drink. When Jeremy Cowan set out recently on a 40-day, 40-night trek in his 1993 Nissan Pathfinder, he came prepared.
Source: Cleveland Jewish News
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Wine Serving as Economic Barometer
If you believe the Kennedy Center Indicator, the regional economy is growing like gangbusters -- but not if you take seriously the Cabernet Index or the Bruxism Barometer.
Source: WashingtonPost.com
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Russian Vodka Output Drops
Russia’s vodka and hard liquor production is on the slide. According to figures released by the country’s Economic Development and Trade Ministry on Friday (26 December), output for the period of January to November this year fell by 2.6% year-on-year to 119m decalitres.
Source: Just Drinks
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Whisky Industry Settles on Strict Malt Definitions
Diageo, the drinks firm, today agreed to significant changes in the packaging of its Cardhu scotch whisky to dampen a dispute that threatened to split the industry.
Source: Guardian Unlimited
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EU Clear Interbrew's Spaten Acquisition
European Union regulators Friday approved the C477 million ($593 million) takeover by Belgian beer giant Interbrew of the Munich-based brewer Spaten, which makes Interbrew Germany's top beer seller.
"Interbrew will become the No. 1 beer supplier in Germany, but it will not be dominant because the market remains highly fragmented," the European Commission said in a statement. "There would be no serious competition concerns."
Source: Beverage World
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Liquor Ads Find Home on Cable
Almost two years ago, an experiment to allow American liquor marketers access to the biggest, most powerful advertising medium of all - national broadcast network television - ended in acrimony. Since then, those advertisers have pieced together an alternative, virtual TV network, enabling them to expose consumers to more pitches for vodka, gin and whiskey than ever before.
Source: NY Times
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Diageo to Provide Nutritional Information on Products
Diageo PLC, the world's largest maker of spirits, Wednesday said it will voluntarily provide information on the alcohol and nutritional content of its products, which include Guinness, Johnnie Walker, and Smirnoff.
The decision comes a day after several U.S. consumer groups filed a petition with the Treasury Department requesting a standard "Alcohol Facts" label modeled after the "Nutrition Facts" label found on packaged food and soft drinks.
Source: Beverage World
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Liquor and Beer Ads Are Not the Problem
Hardly a week passes without a reminder that the state tobacco lawsuits have had an enduring and corrupting effect on the rule of law. The legal travesty du jour involves yet another "sin" industry. This time the trial lawyers are hounding the purveyors of alcoholic beverages because of ads ostensibly targeted, "deliberately and recklessly," at underage consumers.
Source: CATO Institute
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Low-carb craze impacting restaurant business
Two more restaurant chains are making major changes in their menu -- and how they market -- in reaction to the continued public call for high-protein, low-carbohydrate food.
Source: Orlando Business Journal
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Thanks to Cable, Liquor Ads Find a TV Audience
Almost two years ago, an experiment to allow American liquor marketers access to the biggest, most powerful advertising medium of all - national broadcast network television - ended in acrimony. Since then, those advertisers have pieced together an alternative, virtual TV network, enabling them to expose consumers to more pitches for vodka, gin and whiskey than ever before.
Source: NY Times
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Small Businesses Fight States for Right to 'Wine'
A legal war is brewing over laws that prohibit the shipment of wine and liquor across state lines, and could spirit the interest of the Supreme Court, which may be petitioned for a final say.
Source: Fox News
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Informal Consultations on Tequila between Mexico, US and Canada
Government and industry representatives from Mexico, the United States, and Canada resumed last Friday, their informal consultations aimed to discuss the proposed modifications to the Mexican Official Standard for Tequila. This meeting followed a preliminary round of informal consultations held on October 27 and 28 in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico.
Source: USNewswire.com
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US senator aims 'tequila tariffs' at Mexico
Key ingredients of a Mexican dinner, from tequila to avocados, could rise in price thanks to a U.S. farm state senator threatening to retaliate against Mexico's food exports.
Source: Forbes.com
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Bottled Tequila
By outlawing bulk sales of tequila, Mexico has entered into a dispute with the United States. As of 2004, Mexico will only approve sales of the product in bottles, a measure intended to protect the quality of a drink that is becoming more and more adulterated.
Source: LatinAmericanPress.org
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SCIENTISTS PINPOINT INGREDIENTS FOR 'FEELGOOD' CHRISTMAS
Scientists claim to have uncovered the essence of Christmas spirit after offering volunteers a combination of sights, sounds and smells.
Source: Ananova
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T.G.I.FRIDAY'S GOES ATKINS FRIENDLY
TGI Friday's restaurant chain is now offering low-carb meals for people on the Atkins diet. From low-carb beer to low-carb cheesecake, the Atkins Diet is altering the food landscape.
Source: CNN
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CORK TREATMENT ELIMINATES "CORKED" WINE
The Portuguese group — and the world's largest manufacturer of cork stoppers — has introduced a new cork treatment in South Africa that aims to eliminate TCA, the innocuous volatile compound found in natural environments that is thought to cause a musty character in products such as wine, water or other beverages.
Source: iAfrica
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BLACK VODKA BUYS RIVAL
Black Vodka, the drinks group listed on the Alternative Investment Market, will announce on Monday that it has bought its US rival Extreme Beverage Company.
Source: Evening Standard
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RESTAURANT HIRING MAY LEAD WAY TO WIDER JOB GAINS
The restaurant industry has gone on a hiring spree over the last four months, suggesting that broader gains in the job market could be on the way.
Source: New York Times
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GLOBAL DISCREPANCIES FOUND IN "SAFE" DRINKING LEVELS
International Drinking Guidelines, a new study released by the International Center for Alcohol Policies points to widely disparate guidelines on what constitutes "safe" or "low-risk" drinking in 32 countries.
Source: ICAP
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DRINKERS SHAKE OFF HANGOVER AND TOAST REBIRTH OF TEQUILA
People all across the country are putting their juvenile experiences behind them and getting reacquainted with tequila, now the fastest growing spirit in the United States.
Source: The Salt Lake Tribune
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ALLIED DOMECQ CREATES ADVERTISING REVIEW BOARD
Allied Domecq Plc's (NYSE: AED) North American unit created a review board to make sure the company's advertising is targeted at consumers of legal drinking age.
Source: Reuters
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COORS, OTHERS SUED OVER ADVERTISING; UNDERAGE DRINKERS TARGETED, SUIT SAYS
Coors Brewing Co. and several other alcohol companies are being sued to recover "unlawful profits" the companies made by allegedly marketing and advertising their products to underage drinkers.
Source: Rocky Mountain News
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MUSEUM WON'T REMOVE BEER LOGOS FROM PLANE
A famous aerobatic plane emblazoned with Bud Light emblems will not be altered, the director of the National Air and Space Museum decided yesterday. Twenty House members had complained in a letter to the Smithsonian's museum that the beer logos represented commercialization and alcohol advertising. But museum director Gen. John R. (Jack) Dailey said no changes would be made to the Loudenslager Laser 200 when it goes on display next month at the Air and Space annex near Dulles International Airport.
Source: Washington Post
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AIRLINE BUYS RIGHTS TO ENTIRE NYC NEIGHBORHOOD
There's American Airlines Theater on W. 42nd St., Con Edison Pond in the New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx and KeySpan Park in Coney Island. Now, in what experts believe is a city first, Song Airlines is claiming as its own an entire neighborhood: Manhattan's supertrendy Meatpacking District.
Source: Daily News
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WINE SPECTATOR PUBLISHES RESTAURANT GUIDE FOR WINE LOVERS
Every year since 1981, Wine Spectator has evaluated restaurants around the world to determine which demonstrate the most passion and commitment to providing excellent wine lists and wine service. Now for the first time, that information is available in a handy reference guide, perfect for carrying along on your travels. More than 3,300 restaurants have been rated in the 2004 edition of Wine Spectator's Guide to the Best Wine Restaurants in the World. The listings cover 49 states and 47 countries, from Canada, the Caribbean and Europe to far-flung destinations such as Lebanon, Thailand and the Ukraine.
Source: Wine Spectator
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CHIC COCKTAILS MAKING COMEBACK
Remember Sex on the Beach? Forget it. What you really want is a Pink Squirrel. No, it's not a Cinemax special. Catchy, or at least provocative, names are a hallmark of trendy cocktails today just as much as they were decades ago. But drink fads change at the drop of a miniature umbrella and you don't want to be caught ordering something that's just so five minutes ago.
Source: CBS Market Watch
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COCKTAILS WITH A FAR EASTERN TWIST SHAKING UP NYC
Kummi Kim says she thinks a lot and drinks a lot, so that would make her a thoughtful bartender. Ms. Kim, 25, is also part of a vanguard in New York that is reinventing the vocabulary of cocktail-making. Asian restaurants, with the help of people like Ms. Kim, who is Korean, are creating Asian cocktails as specialty drinks that showcase the house style, starting at the bar. The popularity of Asian accents in international cooking is cracking open cocktail menus, too.
Source: New York Times
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OSU BANS ALCOHOL ADS FROM SPORTS BROADCASTS
Flush with more than a million dollars from the neo-prohibitionist
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the Alcohol Policies Project of the
Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) attacks the responsible
consumption of beer, wine, and spirits with the same zeal -- and,
unfortunately, success -- that CSPI brings to dictating our food choices. Now, just one week after CSPI announced that it would ask universities to prohibit adult beverage advertising during college sports broadcasts, Ohio State University, last year's national football champion, has agreed to ban alcohol ads from TV and radio airings of all OSU sporting events.
Source: Center For Consumer Freedom
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NEW YORK RETAILERS FOAMING OVER KEG REGISTRATION
Sales of keg beer may soon go flat. A new law requires a $75 deposit, redeemable only if the keg is returned within 30 days. A detailed registration form is also required, including a tag affixed to the keg noting the buyer's name. The goal of the new law is to curb underage drinking by making it easier to trace the keg back to the buyer and seller -- and to hold them accountable when the beer lands in the cups and funnels of teenagers.
Source: Times Union
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PURITAN MASSACHUSETTS BURIES BLUE LAWS
Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney brought the Puritan state into the 21st Century, striking down the ban on Sunday alcohol sales, one of the last vestiges of the Prohibition era, according to the Distilled Spirits Council. Under the new law, which goes into effect immediately, package stores throughout the state will be permitted to open on Sunday all year round. Since 1990, package stores in Massachusetts have been permitted to open on the Sunday after Thanksgiving through New Year’s Day, or year-round if they were located within 10 miles of the New Hampshire and Vermont borders.
Source: DISCUS.ORG
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BILL WOULD ALLOW SMOKING IN SOME NYC ESTABLISHMENTS
A new bill would allow any bar or restaurant to skirt the statewide anti-smoking law for $100 a year -- the cost of about a dozen packs of cigarettes. For a C-note, any business with a liquor license could get a smoking permit from the state Department of Health, under a bill introduced by Assemblyman Howard Mills (R-Orange Co.) and Assemblyman Matthew Mirones (R-S.I., Bay Ridge).
Source: Beverage World
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| • |
COORS LIGHT(ER?)
Adolph Coors Co. (NYSE:RKY - News) announced one of the worst-kept secrets in the beer industry Wednesday when it said that it will introduce a new low-carbohydrate beer, but the brewer faces a laundry list of headwinds in launching the new brew. The Golden, Colo., brewer will introduce Aspen Edge in 10 states on March 1, with plans to roll out the beer nationwide before the end of 2004. Adolph Coors hasn't disclosed how many carbohydrates or calories Aspen Edge will have. Those details and others will come prior to the March introduction, spokeswoman Hilary Martin said.
Source: Dow Jones
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The World's Loudest Belcher
A burp from the loudest belcher in the world echoed round Britain's Tate Modern Gallery as the Guinness World Records book celebrated the release of its 100 millionth copy.
Source: Reuters
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| • |
Guinness REALLY IS Good For You!
Like chocolate and wine, the darker the beer, the better it may be for your heart, according to a new study. In a comparison of Guinness Stout, a dark beer, and Heineken, a light beer, the darker brew had substantially more anti-clotting activity, according to a University of Wisconsin-Madison scientist who presented his findings Tuesday at the American Heart Association annual meeting. (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)
Source: Beverage World
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| • |
Global Warming Moving Wine Belt North?
Global warming has been good for the world's wine, a climate scientist has determined, but things could go sour for many established wineries if temperatures continue to climb. It could be disruptive for France and California, iffy for Washington, but great news for British Columbia wine growers.
Source: Beverage World
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Sorry "Budd"
A New Hampshire brewery cannot use the name ``Billy Budd'' for its ale, because beer drinkers might confuse it with the ``Bud'' family of beers, a federal judge has ruled. U.S. District Judge Joseph DiClerico ruled against Caught-On-Bleu Inc. of Franconia, N.H., in a trademark infringement lawsuit brought last year by St. Louis-based Anheuser-Busch Inc., the makers of Budweiser.
Source: Beverage World
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Pabst On Special, The Whole Company for $400 Million
Pabst Brewing Co. has begun exploring strategic alternatives, including a possible sale of the company. In a press release Thursday, the nation's fourth-largest brewer said its owner, the Kalmanovitz Charitable Foundation, is required by tax law to divest itself of the company by mid-2005.
Source: Dow Jones
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Alameda vodka makers moving into old hangar
The Alameda company that created Hangar One Vodka, a key part in the recall election-inspired cocktail called Total Recall, is living up to its product's name and moving to a vacant U.S. Navy aircraft hangar on the former military base.
Source: Oakland Tribune
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BELVEDERE DECLARES PREMIUM VODKA WAR
Belvedere Vodka is launching a multimillion-dollar advertising campaign today that it hopes will separate it from a growing pack of premium vodka brands.
Source: NYPost.com
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Minnesota-made vodka hits luxury market
The western Minnesota prairie evokes images of farmers trying to preserve an idyllic rural lifestyle, small towns where most everyone knows their neighbors, fields of wheat gently moving in the breeze.
But around Benson, there's another image that has captured the imagination - ultra-premium American vodka made from homegrown wheat.
Shakers Original American Vodka was introduced in late February here, a stone's throw from the wheat fields and down the road from the cooperative distillery owned by 900 farmer-members.
Source: Miami Herald
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ABSOLUT VODKA MOVES INTO THE MUSIC BUSINESS
Marketing Goal: Enable Consumers to 'Listen to the Brand'
After years of weaving the worlds of art and fashion into its advertising, Absolut vodka is entering the music business with a CD of club music, according to the company.
Called "Absolut Threetracks," the first CD has been distributed to 3,500 disc jockeys at clubs around the world and can be downloaded from Absolut's Web site.
The logo of the new effort features a sound speaker the size of a gigantic flying saucer hovering over a digital cityscape that is enveloped in its shadow. The campaign concept was developed by the Stockholm-based communications agency Strobe.
Source: AdAge.com
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Vodka listing at 12 below after NZX debut hangover
The stock exchange debut of vodka marketer 42 Below (http://www.42below.co.nz) yesterday disappointed stags hoping to turn a quick profit.
Shareholders who paid 50c each for shares in the drinks company watched them open on the stock exchange at 40c.
The loss was not as great as it looked because warrants attached to the share offer added about 3c to 4c of value.
But there was little comfort in that knowledge. The ordinary shares traded as high as 43c and as low as 35c and closed at 38c.
"It's not the best listing we've ever seen but it is not the worst either," said Andrew Kelleher of ASB Securities.
Source: New Zealand Herald
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Politicians endorse new Missouri-made beer
A bevy of the state's top politicians lined up behind a lectern packed with beer bottles Thursday to endorse a new brand of beer made by a farmer-owned microbrewery. The politicians, some expressing an eagerness to try the brew, praised it as an example of "value-added agriculture" -- where farmers use their grain to make a higher-cost product instead of just selling it to others.
Source: Baxter Bulletin
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Heineken spots more creative than usual beer drivel
We're lovin' it. Yes, we are. We're a big fan of any effort to move the formula for beer advertising away from the all-too-familiar punch line humor or the even more overworked when-in-doubt-sex-sells approach.
Source: Chicago Sun Times
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Blackout New York drinks up
Talk about a good excuse to drink.
When a major power outage left even Times Square eerily dark on Thursday evening, New York City's faithful headed out of their hot apartments and stuffy office cubicles and did what came naturally.
Source: Yahoo News
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Flaming Nora that was hot
It was a high octane performance that warmed the crowd and set off the fire alarms.
But world-renowned flair bartender Hayden Wood was as stunned as his audience when his flaming-cocktail show ended with the Invercargill fire crew's most colourful callout of the day.
Source: Stuff.co.nz, New Zealand
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Young mann's story
Life has been Bryan Mann's education, and luck his financial backing add in his passion for serving others and the mix makes for a thriving business.
Source: Long Beach Press Telegram
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CRACKING THE BAR CODE
A girl walks into a bar - and by the time she walks out again, a decade has passed, a neighborhood has changed and she has enough stories about drag queens, drunks, celebrity tippers and the Bowery's boom to write a book.
Source: NY Post
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Brown-Forman settles Diageo suit for $14.3 mln
Brown-Forman said it would pay Diageo 8.9 million pounds, or about $14.3 million, to end the dispute, which involved Diageo's contract to distribute the spirits brand.
Source: Forbes.com
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Players brand brings spirited growth for Extreme Beverage
Extreme Beverage Co. LLC and its Players Extreme are starting to make a big splash across the country, with a little twist to its original marketing plans.
Source: MSNBC
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'The Restaurant' new kind of dinner theater
Suspense! Romance! Mama's meatballs!
These are all on the menu at "The Restaurant," a tasty new "unscripted drama" series airing at 10 p.m. Sundays on NBC.
Source: Vero Beach Press-Journal, FL
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Gag Internet site attracts a barrel of members for beer team
Dennis Buettner believes he's got the next big trend in beer. Bigger than the wide-mouth. Bigger than the 40-ounce. Bigger even than the kegerator.
Source: Fort Worth Star Telegram
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CHILL out - - there's plenty of beer
German brewers are reassuring thirsty consumers there is no imminent danger of beer running out despite rumours that surging demand in the summer heat has exceeded the supply.
Source: Yahoo News
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Big 'cheers' as public laps-up cocktail culture
SUMMERTIME - and the living is easy. The sun is beating down on Chester and everyone's thirst for drink has never been greater.
Source: Chester Chronicle
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Judge buys beer burrito defense
Those burritos do have bite.
A judge has ruled in favor of a man's claim that he had alcohol on his breath because he ate burritos made with beer-marinaded meat.
Source: Grand Island Independent, NE
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S. African drink takes a shot at tequila market
It's the fiery alcohol that might bring to mind drunken college nights, salt-covered hands and some oh-so-terrible mornings-after, but tequila, above all else, is Mexico's national drink.
Source: BALTIMORE SUN
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Accusations Rise From Wine Cellars of Bordeaux
Accusations of skullduggery in the wine cellars here have stirred a chauvinism-tinged debate over a million-dollar American nose and its influence over determining what is a truly great French wine.
Source: NY Times
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3 million extra pints of beer as temperatures soar
The British are celebrating the heatwave the way they know best: drinking.
Pubs expect to sell an extra three million pints of bitter and lager this weekend.
Source: Independent, UK
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What's That Taste in My Tequila?
Mexico’s tequila industry, in pursuit of younger customers, plans to follow other alcohol producers by offering the centuries-old firewater tinged with citrus flavors.
Source: MSNBC
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US Wine Market Sees Largest Increase in 10 Years
Total wine consumption in the United States increased 6 percent in 2002 to 245 million cases, according to prepublished research figures from the 2003 edition of The U.S. Wine Market: Impact Databank Review and Forecast. The growth represents the biggest annual percentage increase since 1992, the year after federal excise taxes on wine were raised.
Source: Wine Spectator
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NZ vodka plans entry into North America
New Zealand`s home-grown vodka maker 42 Below is preparing to push into the lucrative North American market.
Source: FoodIngredientsFirst
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Wine fair receives early confirmations
The Miami International Wine Fair said it has confirmed dozens of wineries from 12 countries and expects to attract more than 300 more to the fair, set for Oct. 2-4 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel - James L. Knight Center in downtown Miami.
Source: South Florida Business Journal
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Public offering could bring O'Fallon Brewery $700,000
Tony and Fran Caradonna, owners of the O'Fallon Brewery, are selling a stake in their three-year-old company through a limited public offering.
Source: St. Louis Business Journal
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Brewery festivals win hearts and minds
Breweries say festivals are 'fundamental' to marketing
Source: Prague Business Journal
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| • |
A Study in Scarlet
I'M not stupid. It's the end of a three-day weekend, and the only cocktail you're going to be willing to read about, or mix, is a bloody mary.
Source: NY Times
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| • |
How the worm turned for tequila
Forget the slammers - tequila is being rebranded as a dignified drink that can rival a good cognac. Intrepid Esther Addley is willing to give it another shot.
Source: The Age, Australia
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A challenge to Mexico's tequila
Two South African brothers are producing a spirit from the blue agave plant that they hope will end a monopoly on the fiery drink.
Source: Baltimore Sun
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Pour frosty licuados, fruity caipirinhas or special smoothies this holiday weekend
FROM California to Caracas, people are blending, shaking, swirling and brewing chilly concoctions in the name of keeping cool. In Thailand, thirsty travelers sip cold, sweetened tea with milk. In Cuba, minty mojitos make even the highest humidity pleasurable. Californians are credited with the creation of the smoothie. And in Mexico, margaritas take the edge off the mid-day heat.
Source: Alameda Times-Star
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How terrorism changed our pubs
The humble pub has grown up. That's the message from a swag of new bars set to open over the next few months as hotel proprietors compete for the city's increasingly sophisticated drinking dollar.
Source: The Sun-Herald
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Shake it up in the cocktail Capital
EDINBURGH has been declared Scotland’s cocktail Capital after the drinks industry "Oscars" recognised city bartenders as the best in the business.
Source: EDINBURGH EVENING NEWS
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| • |
George Washington's whiskey unearthed
As America's first president and one of its canniest early entrepreneurs, Washington liked a sip of cinnamon whiskey -- and he distilled his own. More than that, he started a thriving business selling a raw, clear liquor made from rye and corn.
Source: CNN.com
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On Scotland's `Malt Whisky Trail'
BALLINDALLOCH, SCOTLAND - We were barely out of the car, but the distinctive aroma of Scotch whisky was already hard to ignore, permeating the fresh air -- and the parking lot -- outside the Glenfarclas Distillery.
Source: Akron Beacon Journal
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Bacardi's premixed cocktails take off
Bacardi Party Drinks are the newest way to convince friends and family that you're a pro behind the bar. At today's holiday barbecue or picnic, no one has to know you didn't spend hours perfecting those Hurricanes, Bahama Mamas and Rum Island Iced Teas.
Source: Miami Herald
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Sake: A New Twist
The Traditional Japanese Drink Has Evolved Into A Premium Blend That American Palates Find Increasingly Intriguing
Source: The Hartford Courant
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| • |
Martini lovers weigh in on drink's origin, composition
They call the martini the silver bullet, a deceptively smooth concoction that explodes in a euphoric glow just behind the eyeballs -- or blasts the unwary one into skunk drunk misery.
Source: Los Angeles Daily News
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| • |
What's cooking: Personalized cocktails for your wedding
When it comes to weddings, you can personalize just about everything -- matchbooks, napkins, Post-it notes, swizzle sticks. So why not cocktails? The Distilled Spirits Council offers these tips on creating signature drinks for your special day; cheers!
Source: Minneapolis Star Tribune
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CHEERS TO BEST DRINKS AT COCKTAIL CONTEST
Drinkers seeking taste sensations should fill their glasses with A Sensuous Dream or Absolut Paradise - but run for cover if the bartender offers them a Monkeypox.
Source: New York Post
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| • |
Bacardi moves closer to IPO?
Bacardi, the Bermuda-based company whose eponymous white rum is the world’s largest premium spirit brand, has taken another step towards opening up its share capital to external investors for the first time in its 141-year history.
Source: Food Navigator
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Skyy Relaunch Goes To The Movies
Hoping to better align its online presence with its film-centric advertising and events strategies, Skyy Vodka yesterday relaunched www.skyy.com.
Source: MediaPost.com
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| • |
Sweden bans vodka-flavoured ice pops import
Vodka-flavoured ice pops are being banned in Swedish stores after regulators said children might eat them.
Source: FoodIngredientsFirst
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| • |
George Washington's Distillery Could Operate Once Again
As America's first president and one of its canniest early entrepreneurs, Washington liked a sip of cinnamon whiskey -- and he distilled his own. More than that, he started a thriving business selling a raw, clear liquor made from rye and corn.
Source: Reuters
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| • |
For potent craft beer, a heady height
How would Jim Koch answer someone who wonders if a suggested retail price of $100 isn't a bit stiff for a single bottle of beer? ''I would say taste it against a $200 cognac and see which one you enjoy more,'' replies the ever-confident founder, chairman, clerk, and, yes, brewer of The Boston Beer Co. ''Plus, you get a nickel back on the bottle.''
Source: Boston Globe
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Rum Jumbie Liqueur is taking St. Maarten around the globe
St. Maarten and Rum Jumbie Liqueur will be showcased on TV screens worldwide when the more than US $1-million-dollar, 40-foot, 1,500-horse-power, enclosed cockpit catamaran, popular in US National and World Championship races, takes to the sea on July 6 featuring signs of St. Maarten and Rum Jumbie Liqueur all over its hull.
Source: The Daily Herald
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Austrian makes his own whisky
AN AUSTRIAN distiller has unveiled his own brand of whisky. In a ceremony with Scottish pipers, a Druid and a haggis, the royal distiller Siegfried, Duke of Saalfelden, said the drink is one which he hopes will push the usual fruit schnapps and herbal concoctions of his homeland along the shelf.
Source: The Scotsman
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Publicis & Hal Riney Hosts Party for Stoli
Publicis & Hal Riney is breaking its first work for Allied Domecq's Stolichnaya Vodka in a print, outdoor and radio campaign targeted at young men.
Source: AdWeek
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Sippin' up summer
Summer officially arrives in a few days, so it's time to dust off the blender for a few refreshing tropical drinks. The classic blender drink to sip beach- or poolside is the daiquiri, which in its basic form is a mixture of rum, lime juice and sugar.
Source: The Sun News
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Tinkoff Beer Ad Ruled Too Hot for Television
A sexy television ad for Tinkoff beer has excited too many people and should be pulled from the airwaves, the Anti-Monopoly Ministry said Wednesday.
Source: The Moscow Times
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| • |
Gitchie, gitchie ya-ya here
The Cosmopolitan (vodka, cranberry juice, lime juice, cointreau) became one of the most popular cocktails of the ‘90s, but it will never replace the vodka martini in ounces served. Let’s face it, it’s pink. It’s a chick drink.
Source: Portsmouth Herald
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A once-upstart brewery looks to expand after micro shakeout
CHERRY HILL, N.J. - It's time to move on for the little brewery tucked away in an industrial complex next to a company that makes cardiac catheters.
Source: The Miami Herald
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Beer distributors unite to grow Illinois market share
Rock Valley Beverage Inc., Rock Island; Saelens Beverage Inc., formerly of Rock Island; and Distillers & Brewers Sales Company, Galesburg, Ill., have merged to form United Distributors Inc., which will be based in Galesburg and will distribute beer in a 12-county western Illinois market, including Rock Island County.
Source: Quad-City Times
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Sheikh of shakes
BANGALORE: When Tom Cruise juggled up exotic drinks in Cocktail in tune with the memorable ‘Hippy hippy shake’, Sandeep Verma - Sandy to everyone who knows him - got the hippy hippy shakes that he couldn’t still. ‘‘When I saw ‘Cocktail’, I thought ‘What a life! These people actually get paid to get drunk!’’
Source: New India Press
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Open Up and Say Ahhh . . .Let aperitifs awaken your senses
I have created, I believe, a great aperitif. At least I think it's an aperitif--a shot of crème de cassis in strong-brewed iced tea over tons of ice, with a lemon wedge. Refreshing and brisk! Both bracing and relaxing! That's an aperitif in a nutshell.
Source: North Bay Bohemian
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Shake it up in the cocktail Capital
EDINBURGH has been declared Scotland’s cocktail Capital after the drinks industry "Oscars" recognised city bartenders as the best in the business.
Source: Edinburgh Evening News
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Mercury goes up, summer drinks go down
As the temperature rises, so does the activity level. But in these months of extremes, there's also more lounging time. Backyard decks and outdoor patios beckon. Suddenly the right beverage becomes as crucial as, say, the right "beach novel." And just as summer reading is decidedly light, so warm-weather quaffing must be cool, delicious and a pleasure going down.
Source: The Daily Camera
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Wine 101: Don't be intimidated by its lofty reputation
Oenophobe (oi-noh-fobe): One who fears or is extremely intimidated by the process of ordering -- and drinking -- wine. Granted, you won't find "oenophobe" in a dictionary -- though it is correctly derived from the Greek words for "wine" and "fear." But as servers in any of the Triad's finer restaurants will tell you, the area is rife with examples of the species.
Source: The Business Journal
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LI Wine Council Gets A Classic Partnership
The industry's trade group, the Long Island Wine Council, is teaming with the Hampton Classic Horse Show to sponsor a benefit wine tasting and dinner in Bridgehampton to kick off the week-long equestrian event. The event, called the Long Island Wine Classic, is expected to attract up to 900 visitors.
Source: Newsday.com
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From firewater to fine liquor
Forget the slammers - tequila is being rebranded as a dignified drink that can rival a good cognac. Esther Addley is willing to give it another shot
Source: The Guardian
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How to drink Cocktails
The top 10 essential spirits and liqueurs for your drinks cupboard are: vodka, gin, light rum, tequila, Cointreau, Kahlua, Grand Marnier, dry and rosso vermouth and brandy liqueur. Essential juices and mixers are: cranberry, orange, pressed apple, grapefruit and pineapple juice; soda water, Coca-Cola, ginger ale, bitter lemon and tonic water. Not forgetting ice - the most important cocktail ingredient.
Source: The Guardian
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Local drinkers join upscale trend by ordering big-ticket libations
"We didn't," my wide-eyed pal said. "Yes, I'm afraid we did," I said after forking over $30 for two glasses of pinot noir last month at New York City's Gramercy Tavern.
Source: The News Journal
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Bars stir creative juices to create interesting drinks
The Cunning Kimono. The Brain Burner. Jesus Build My Hotrod. You don't recognize these as drinks? Don't feel bad. These days, cocktails are a far cry from what they use to be when The Cosmopolitan and The Manhattan reigned as exotic concoctions.
Source: The News & Observer
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Ice Bar chills more than a martini
STOCKHOLM, Sweden - He has heard the jokes. Brother, has he heard the jokes. "It's, 'Hey, can I have some more ice cubes with my drink?' " says the bartender, "and I have to pretend I've never heard it before, you know?"
Source: Chicago Tribune
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Pouring a Perfect Guinness: 'Proud off the rim'
Like so many things in this life, a perfect pint of Guinness Stout is not as simple as it might seem. There's a delicate and subtle art to serving this Irish ambrosia properly, and no one knows this better than the staff at the Hairy Monk, a bustling Third Ave. pub with a distinct Irish accent.
Source: NY Daily News
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Utahns eat, sip — don't tip
When it comes to tips, Utahns are cheapskates. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, Utahns working in food and service industries are among the lowest paid in the nation. Of Utah's bordering states, only Idaho has a lower mean annual salary for waiters and waitresses, hosts and hostesses and bartenders.
Source: Deseret Morning News
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If You're Thinking of Investing in... Fine Wine
REMEMBER WHEN INVESTING in wine was no more complicated than deciding how many bottles of Boone's Farm to pick up for Saturday night? Boy how times have changed. Now, wine buyers get tickled pink over sugar content and average rainfall rather than a taste-off between Strawberry Hill and Wild Island.
Source: Smart Money
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Mastering 'mixology'
Forty-five years ago, when Barbara Carey went looking for work after graduating from the University of Miami with a degree in chemistry, she found that companies didn't like "hiring a girl."
Source: Naples News
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Push The Courvoisier: Are Rappers Paid For Product Placement?
These days, try putting on a CD by your favorite rapper without hearing an endless series of plugs for Burberry, Air Force Ones, Alizé, Maybach, you name it.
Source: MTV.com
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First tequila from outside Mexico
S. Africa’s Agava fills demand while
Mexican plantations recover
from disease
Source: MSNBC
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Vegas monorail to carry marketing blitz
A controversial monorail along the Las Vegas Strip is about to give new meaning to the term "advertising vehicle." Imagine hurtling from casino to casino, for example, in a giant can of Monster Energy drink.
Source: Wall Street Journal
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Kahlua maker bets on new spiced rum
With the hopes of twice catching lightning in a bottle, Allied Domecq is hoping a new flavored rum with close ties to its successful Kahlua will open a new category for the spirits giant.
Source: Chicago Tribune
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Proof Positive: A Clear Look at Vodka
Vodka is the most popular spirit in the United States. New bottlings hit retailers’ shelves on a regular basis. How do you decide which brand to buy?
Source: Wine Enthusiast
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Malt drinks face challenge over flavoring
A proposed federal rule could reduce the amount of distilled spirits in flavored malt drinks and dramatically change their taste. Brewing giants Anheuser-Busch and Miller support the rule, which will protect the historical definition of beer and its access to advertising and grocery shelves that are off-limits to distilled liquor.
Source: The (Louisville, Ky.) Courier-Journal
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Cachaca: the new tequila?
This liquor is gaining global cachet, but the best stuff can still only be found in its homeland of Brazil
Source: The Globe and Mail
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| • |
For potent craft beer, a heady height
How would Jim Koch answer someone who wonders if a suggested retail price of $100 isn't a bit stiff for a single bottle of beer? ''I would say taste it against a $200 cognac and see which one you enjoy more,'' replies the ever-confident founder, chairman, clerk, and, yes, brewer of The Boston Beer Co. ''Plus, you get a nickel back on the bottle.''
Source: The Boston Globe
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Russia claims vodka trademark
Russia's patent office has ruled that the term "Russian vodka" can be applied only to vodka produced according to established criteria inside Russia itself.
Source: BBCi
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Bourbon's on a roll
From Australia to the United Kingdom and from Turkey to South Africa, more people than ever are falling under the spell of Kentucky bourbon. Exports of Kentucky bourbon and Tennessee whiskey have risen 62 percent over the last decade, including 26 percent over the last five years.
Source: The Cincinnati Post
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Todhunter hires NationsRent CFO
West Palm Beach-based Todhunter International (Amex: THT) said it has hired a chief financial officer. The rum and brandy distiller and rum and spirits importer said Ezra Shashoua will come onboard within two weeks. Shashoua was previously executive vice president and CFO at Fort Lauderdale-based NationsRent (Pink Sheets: NRNTQ). Before that, he was Vice President and CFO at Dallas-based 7-Eleven (NYSE: SE).
Source: South Florida Business Journal
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For Pyramid, the brew pub is the best ad
On game days, as many as 1,000 people sip suds in Pyramid's outdoor beer garden -- conveniently located in a parking lot a stone's throw from Safeco Field. When the sun is shining and the New York Yankees are in town -- as was the case this week -- Pyramid can haul in $11,000 in beer sales in three hours. That's 2,750 frosties.
Source: SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER
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Original Gin
Mention gin to most people these days and they look at you like health care fanatics staring at a stick of butter. "Gin?" they splutter. "Don't tell me you drink that stuff?" This would not bother me so much if they didn't then immediately proceed to order vodka.
Source: Forbes.com
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How to drink Malt whisky
There are a few things to bear in mind when getting yourself round a glass of the cratur . Whiskies vary almost as much as wines, and you wouldn't treat a fine and rare whisky in the same way as you would a cheapo from the corner shop.
Source: Guardian
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Colorado -- The "Napa Valley of the Beer World"
Colorado ranks first in the nation in beer production per capita and second in the number of breweries. There are more than 100 breweries statewide, each with its own style and flare. Colorado's capital city of Denver brews more beer than any other city in America.
Source: Hispania News
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New Anheuser-Busch product will compete against imports
Is this beer for you? Anheuser-Busch Cos. sure hopes so. The brewing kingpin has rolled out an upscale beer in select cities to compete against the imported brews whose sales are barreling along in an otherwise stagnant market.
Source: Los Angeles Times
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Beauty Is in the Eye of the Beer Holder
Rheingold was the classic lunch-pail and hard-hat brew. For its comeback, though, it went after the hip, way-downtown crowd.
Source: Business 2.0
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| • |
Mint Julep aficionados lash out at food scientist
Q: You have revealed yourself as a damn Yankee of the first order. No self-respecting Kentuckian would dare pour anything but Kentucky bourbon whiskey into a mint julep. Shame on you, sir, for even suggesting otherwise.
Source: The Orange County Register
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Whiskey with a twist
Three years ago, Rick Wasmund, a financial planner from Middleburg, decided to make an unusual career change. Last month he started selling his own whiskey. He calls it Copper Fox. “When I turned 40, I decided that I wanted to make something that no one else was making,” says the soft-spoken Wasmund between puffs on a cigar. “I wanted to make the only applewood-aged whiskey in the world.”
Source: MSNBC
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The $350 martini
What could possibly make a martini worth $350? James Bond, sitting within kissing distance, shaking it for you? A diamond ring in the bottom, yours to keep? Baccarat glass edged in gold -- and it's a to-go cup? None of the above.
Source: The Palm Beach Post
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A-B goes global for new beer
Late last summer, August A. Busch IV, the head of domestic brewing for Anheuser-Busch Cos., asked the company's brewmasters working in 10 countries to develop a classic Pilsener-style beer. The result of the collaboration is Anheuser World Select, a new beer that the brewer began test-marketing Tuesday in 10 locales stretching from Atlanta to Hong Kong.
Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch
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Swardlick Debuts Sexy Spirits for Vodka Import
Three Olives Vodka: Shaken, stirred.
BOSTON Swardlick Marketing Group entices martini drinkers to ask for White Rock Distilleries' Three Olives Vodka by name with a sexy $3 million national magazine and newspaper campaign.
Source: AdWeek
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No More Creme de Poo-poo
Since I'm not much more likely to work for ABC than comedian Bill Maher, I will risk being politically incorrect and say that, historically, whiskey has been a man's drink. And since whiskey companies are just as happy to sell to women as men, they've offered spirits more in tune with what women want - unaged whiskies (the "white" spirits such as vodka and gin), sweeter spirits (flavored schnapps, liqueurs) and lower-proof spirits.
Source: The Buffalo News
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| • |
Marketing the Sweet Taste of Medos
Craig Danenhauer hopes to earn some scratch by slaking a thirst. But first he has to create the thirst and point it in his direction. He's got a cool product and the beginnings of a slick and sexy marketing campaign. Now he's trying to decide the best way to go about breaking into both local and national markets.
Source: The Bozeman Daily Chronicle
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A new gin from Holland good news for martini lovers
There's a new gin in town, and my search for the perfect martini may be over at last. Damrak is the name, and it is being introduced in several watering holes strategically located near San Francisco's War Memorial Opera House and the Geary Theater.
Source: San Francisco Chronicle
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Sunday Liquor Sales Becoming More Common
On their way to a recent Sunday dinner at a friend's house, Ed and Alice Daino stopped at the store for two bottles of red wine - a transaction that would have been impossible just a few weeks ago.
Source: The Kansas City Star
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Wine Tasting Takes Brains, Italian Study Finds
Wine-tasting takes more than a perfect palate and a fruity vocabulary -- you have to use your brains. That's the finding of a study undertaken by a team of researchers at a Rome hospital.
Source: Reuters
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Web site keeps up with growing body of beer research
Want to know more about beer and health? You can go to the library and decipher the extremely dry reports presented in publications such as the New England Journal of Medicine, but that is extremely labor-intensive.
Source: The Olympian
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Anheuser-Busch tries out new, upscale beer
Anheuser-Busch, the world's largest brewer, is testing out a new, high-end beer. It's called Anheuser World Select, and the company is trying it out in 10 domestic and international regions.
Source: The Miami Herald
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| • |
Beer Keg Registration System on Tap in New York
Albany - Legislators and beer sellers agreed yesterday on a registration system for kegs sold in New York.
Source: Newsday.com
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| • |
George Dickel resuming operation after four years; hiring has begun
George Dickel distillery, which has been out of operation since early 1999, will resume production later this fall, the company has announced.
Source: The Tullahoma News
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| • |
Diageo's Insight: "Alcohol Is Alcohol"
Top execs Paul Walsh and Paul Clinton explain how the giant spirits producer creates new products that smash traditional categories
Source: Business Week
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| • |
AB sees double-digit growth this year and next
Confident in its ability to deliver results, Anheuser-Busch Cos. of St. Louis said Wednesday that 2003 per-share earnings could grow as much as 13 percent, up from an earlier forecast of 12 percent. It also said 2004 per-share earnings would rise 12 percent.
Source: St. Louis Post Dispatch
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Hey, just whose drink is it anyway?
Late on a weeknight, Monyka and David are having cocktails at Baltimore's Red Maple. The waiter arrives and sets two drinks on the table - a pale pink cosmopolitan and a glass of single-malt scotch.
Source: SunSpot.net
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Cuervo aims for wider appeal
Cuervo is looking to reposition itself from a party drink purely for twenty-somethings. In an effort to broaden the appeal of its tequila to all ages the company is unleashing a series of localised adverts across the world. The goal is for consumers to perceive tequila as an alternative to gin, vodka or rum.
Source: Just-Drinks.com
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Margarita's History A Mystery
Margaritas are a staple of summertime living, evoking festive visions of Mexico in every sip. But the history behind this warm-weather favorite is just as evocative -- and shrouded in mystery.
Source: TheNewMexicoChannel.com
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Allied Domecq to introduce rum drink this summer
Called Kuya, the new product combines imported rums, natural spices and citrus flavoring, the company said.
Source: Forbes.com
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A tropical taste
Jennifer Trainer Thompson first encountered the charms of Caribbean cocktails several years ago when a boat she was helping deliver broke a mast and marooned the crew on a tiny Bahamian island.
Source: The Baltimore Sun
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Cocktail wizard reigns as he pours
A SCOTS barman has put Hollywood star Tom Cruise in the shade by being crowned the country's top cocktail shaker.
Source: Evening Times Online
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Seventh generation maintains, expands Jim Beam legacy
When Jacob Beam sold his first barrel of whiskey in 1795, he began a family legacy that continues today with Frederick "Fred" Booker Noe III, a seventh-generation Beam and son of Frederick "Booker" Noe Jr., master distiller emeritus of Jim Beam Brands Co.
Source: BankRate.com
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Restaurants toast signature drinks
Signature drinks are the "it" items on bar and restaurant menus from coast to coast, and Greenville is far from immune to the lure of some colorful concoction of liquors, juices and whatever else a brash "bar chef" can figure out to put in your drink.
Source: The Greenville News
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Jack Daniel's cocktails quietly switch to malt base
For the past year, Brown-Forman Corp. has quietly converted its Country Cocktail line of low-alcohol, fruit-flavored drinks from a whiskey mix to a malt base to reap the tax and distribution advantages enjoyed by flavored malts like Smirnoff Ice and Bacardi O.
Source: The Courier-Journal
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32 Slaking Ounces
SNACK BAR, a restaurant and bar opening at 111 West 17th Street tomorrow, has a novel four-step approach to serving cocktails — you order any drink on the menu in a shot, martini, highball or pitcher size.
Source: NY Times
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| • |
Alcohol Raises Pepsi's IQ
Pepsico has obtained a liquor license and teamed up with domestic soft-drink manufacturer Ost-Akva to tap Russia's promising alcoholic cocktail market, which is expected to grow as much as 60 percent this year.
Source: The Moscow Times
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| • |
DO THE LOCO-POTIONS
Those murky mojitos are so last year. This season, a new wave of tropical cocktails will be gracing Gotham drink menus. But that doesn't mean you have go bar-hopping to sample them.
Source: NY Post
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Master blender stirs interest in rum
Mount Gay’s Master Blender, Jerry Edwards, has just completed a week-long media trip to New York that will put Mount Gay rum and Barbados – where the rum originated 300 years ago – on the map
Source: Barbados Nation Online
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Trio toasts success of Effen vodka
Not that long ago, Jon Deitelbaum wanted to make a point to Draft CEO Howard Draft. Deitelbaum was concerned the Draft agency, where he worked at the time, was just too buttoned-down and corporate for its own good.
Source: Chicago Sun-Times
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CBS MARKETWATCH.COM TOASTS VODKA AND DAYPARTS
Raising its glass to vodka and the online daypart advertising concept, CBSMarketWatch.com is launching a "Happy Hour"
Source: AdAge.com
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Heady cocktail of insults and allegations as Bacardi family fights off Wall Street
The scions of the Bacardi rum family gather next week in the gentle island of Bermuda. But the mood will be anything but holiday-like. Instead, one burning issue may split the clan asunder: should outsiders be allowed to invest in the world's largest privately owned drinks company?
Source: Independent.co.uk
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| • |
Smoking law's just a drag on city
Now that the smoke has cleared, it's evident that this new anti-smoking law might drive some of our best people out of business.
Source: NY Daily News
|
| • |
Booze Blues
Amid humdrum liquor sales, the annual bar trade show in Las Vegas pushes crazy colors and flavors
Source: TIME
|
| • |
Tequila: Sips 'n' tips
Valley bartenders dispense timely advice for the Cinco crowd
Source: The Arizona Republic
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| • |
Constellation's cup runneth over
It is the only alcoholic beverage company in America that encompasses all three categories: wine, beer and spirits.
Source: The Daily Herald Co.
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Sake Cocktails in the City
As I sidle up to a seat at the bar in Sushi Groove South, I find myself surrounded by brightly colored beverages -- pink, fruity sake cocktails to my right and yellow sake concoctions to my left.
Source: SFGate.com
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What Color Is Your Cocktail?
The Rainbow Is the Limit When a Bar Concocts a Drink to Call Its Own
Source: Washington Post
|
| • |
Bartending is a mix of skills
Although the women of "Coyote Ugly" made bartending look glamorous and exciting, many bartenders don't spend their shifts, flipping, spinning or tossing bottles.
Source: Central Ohio News Journal
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Tending to business
Everyone loves a bartender with a long pour or, even better on some occasions, a fast one. But throw a little "flair" and customers are more than happy to throw down a fat tip.
Source: The Arizona Republic
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Entrepreneurial Spirit
A Minnesota-made vodka hits the top shelf
Source: City Pages
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Raising a glass to a venture with a distinctly Kiwi flavour
Kiwi vodka king Geoff Ross may not have landed his first sale to Russia yet, but the first shipment of the 42Below brand departed last week for United States and Canadian markets.
Source: Sunday Star Times
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Vodka, With a Twist
Will $2 million get your novelty onto the hard-liquor shelf?
Source: Forbes.com
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ALLEGATION: TOO MUCH FUN IN BEER ADS
The head of Georgetown University's Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth yesterday charged that alcoholic beverage ads on TV primarily depict people "having a good time by consuming this product."
Source: AdAge.com
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Liquor biz consolidation continues
Dallas-based Glazer's Wholesale Distributors, one of the largest U.S. liquor distributors, is buying a 50% stake in Chicago-based Union Beverage Co., the state's third-largest liquor wholesaler and a subsidiary of Indianapolis-based National Wine & Spirits Inc. Terms of the transaction weren't disclosed.
Source: Crains Chicago Business
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Flair bar provides hot entertainment, cool drinks
BRECKENRIDGE - Colin Griffin grabbed a bottle of vodka, flipped it into the air, grabbed a bottle of Kahlua with his other hand and tossed it up as the vodka bottle descended. With the Kahlua bottle in the air, he reached out and filled a glass with ice, poured a splash of vodka into the glass, then Kahlua, half-and-half and Coke.
Voila, a Colorado bulldog.
The patrons surrounding him at the bar cheered.
Source: Summit Daily News
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Bad times, good booze
Late on a Wednesday afternoon, not long after the Dow Jones Industrials had closed with a 114-point splat, Lisa Johnson was adding a splash of philosophy to a martini:
"People drink when times are good. People drink more when times are bad."
Johnson has tended bar for 15 years at the Cruise Room in the Oxford Hotel, which opened its doors to a thirsty Denver populace on Dec. 5, 1933, the day prohibition was repealed.
Source: Rocky Mountain News
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Bartending school gains popularity in Indian city
Hyderabad is considered one of the most happening cities in southern India and it is fast emerging as the "pub-hub" of the country.
Cashing on this liquor boom is 35-year-old Shatbhi Basu.
The lady with the "Bacchus" touch, as Basu has come to be known, has given the city its first bartending school.
Source: Channel News Asia
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| • |
Student bartender brings Phila. flair to Beulahs
By day, Brian Kohler studies thermodynamics and fluid mechanics.
By night, he employs his knowledge in very unique ways, pouring out flaming martinis and breathing Bacardi 151-fueledfire.
The senior mechanical engineering major is the main attraction in Bar Bleu, the blue-lit jazz bar located in the basement of Beulah's Bar-B-Que, 114 S. Garner St. Kohler wows customers in the laid-back lounge with his Flair bartending techniques, where Parrot-Bay meets pyrotechnics.
Source: Digital Collegian
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Naples Wine Festival's Charity Auction Raises $5.14M for Local Charities
Hold a glass of 1961 Latour up to the sun, and it glitters like a jewel.
But that's not why Retta Singer paid $180,000 for it.
The real jewel, Singer said, was the help that money would funnel into local children's charities.
"That's why I did it," said Singer, the final bidder for the 750 milliliter bottle of Latour, bottled the year Bob Dylan made his recording debut on Harry Belafonte's "Midnight Special."
Source: Naples Daily News
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Naples Wine Festival Kicks Off With A Taste of Luxury
It was 6:20 p.m. Friday, and the setting sun cast a golden glow on Dana Delany as she gazed at the gulf from the balcony of the Bay Colony penthouse in Naples.
Live chamber music wafted from the hallway, mixing with the sounds of clinking crystal and chatting guests.
In the kitchen, one of the nation's most renowned chefs, Thomas Keller of The French Laundry in Napa Valley, checked the cornish hens, conversed with Colgin Wine Cellars vintners and briefed the servers from Campiello's restaurant in Naples on instructions.
Source: Naples Daily News
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It's what ales him: Wine snob tests beer
Beer? You want me to judge beer?
You want me to take this pristine palate, honed to sublime sensitivity by decades of Lafite and Yquem, of Romanée-Conti and Laboure-Roi, and subject it to the beverage that fueled the prehensile Raiders fans' vulgar little arson binge in Oakland after their Super Bowl defenestration?
This could cost me my wine snob credentials.
Source: The Miami Herald
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'Two Buck Chuck' Changing Wine Habits
In the heady, sometimes snobby, but always trendy world of wine there's a genuine phenomenon going on. It's a frenzy around one winery -- Charles Shaw -- and its aptly- nicknamed "Two Buck Chuck" wine.
At Trader Joe's in Emeryville, "Two Buck Chuck" is rolling out the door at a rate of 3,000 bottles a day.
Source: KTVU
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Former Memphian finds calling bottling Rum in Kelso, Tenn.
KELSO, Tenn. - Saturday is bottling day at the tiny distillery of Prichards' Fine Rum, but if that conjures up visions of an endless mechanized bottling line untouched by human hands, think again.
Instead, Memphis native Philip Prichard gathers relatives and investors in his fledgling operation in a back room at the old Kelso School building (circa 1900), and the crew manually moves 15-gallon oak barrels from their storage racks, pumps the rum into bottles and taps the cork tops into place with a rubber mallet from Sears.
Source: GoMemphis.com
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Power couple pours $100M into wine
Craig Hall, an investor who has ridden the ups and downs of the Dallas real estate market, is bringing $100 million of contrarian buying power to Wine Country.
Kathryn Hall Vineyards, owned by Craig and his wife Kathryn, recently purchased two parcels totaling more than 600 acres in Napa and Sonoma counties for $8.5 million and $11 million respectively.
More deals are likely: Hall, whose Hall Financial Group is reportedly worth close to $300 million, said he is willing to spend up to $100 million for the right vineyards and wineries.
Source: San Francisco Business Times
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| • |
Bacardi embraces change in order to grow
If Don Facundo Bacardi were alive today, he probably wouldn't recognize the company he started in 1862.
Source: Miami Herald
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| • |
Sugar decline not a threat to rum producers
As sugar production in Barbados continues to decline, officials in the rum industry say there is no concomitant threat to that foreign exchange-earning sector.
Source: Barbados Advocate
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| • |
ATF to Rule on Labeling of Ice Wine
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms will soon issue a ruling that modifies the agency's stance on the production of ice wine. The new ruling will specify that wine made from grapes that were frozen after being picked may not be labeled "ice wine" and that, if the label indicates that frozen grapes were used, it must also state that the grapes were frozen postharvest.
Source: Wine Spectator
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Wine Online?
As a wine retailer and a consumer, John Jonna doesn't like to see his choices shrinking.
Jonna would like to see Michigan laws regulating the sale and shipment of wine liberalized and hopes a recent court ruling in New York has an effect here.
Source: Oakland County Press
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Internet beer business finds a corner in Chico
Brandon Tucker isn't growing his beer merchandise business in the usual manner, taking the much-traveled route from a storefront to a Web site.
Source: Enterprise-Record, CA
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Pubs' champion Charles is beer drinker of the year
Prince Charles has been crowned Beer Drinker of the Year 2002 for his efforts to save rural pubs.
Source: icWales, UK
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Beer foam remains of dot-com bubble
How quickly the dot-com bubble burst. In late 1999, at the peak of the dot.com boom, Seoul Angel Club was also booming. It was an online club of individual and corporate investors in technology start-ups, and was trying to calm down rowdy investors who were clamoring for a part of a new pie.
Source: Joongang Ilbo, Korea
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Hooray Beer!
For a generation or more, Jamaican culture and music have held a special place in the American imagination, conjuring a realm where life is funkier, where people really know how to kick back and party. Except for small niche markets, however, Red Stripe Beer, the island’s premier tropical lager, has remained a relatively specialized brand limited to aficionados.
Source: Mediapost.com, CT
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A bath full of beer?
Berlin - There are days when you feel like a bath full of beer, not just a glass.
Now you can have both - thanks to a German brewery which has developed a beer you can wash down your food with or wash down body.
Source: News24, South Africa
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It's the season of good beer
MONTVALE - The materials for Brian Lanius' Saturday morning project seemed more fitting for a chemistry lab than the deck of a suburban home.
Source: The Record, NJ
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Bartenders with a flair for tricks
'Flair' bartending is the latest craze at Red Lobster, where bartenders throw glasses, do card tricks and generally keep waiting diners entertained.
Source: Roanoke Times
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Handcrafted Hooch for Highbrows
He likens his drab labels to brown paper towels and admits that customers deride his cheap plastic caps as cheesy. But for three years now, Burt Butler "Tito" Beveridge II hasn't been able to keep up with demand for Tito's Handmade Vodka, which he produces in an Austin (Tex.) still that is cobbled together from industrial parts paid for by more than $50,000 in credit-card loans.
Source: BusinessWeek
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Spain to favour beer, wine over spirits
New regulations designed to prevent excessive alcohol consumption being drawn up by the Spanish authorities will distinguish between strong alcoholic beverages such as spirits and those with a lower alcohol content such as beer, wine or cider.
Source: FoodAndDrinkEurope
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George Washington retired to a life as a distiller
ASHINGTON - Get ready to meet a new George Washington. Commander of the Continental Army? Check. First president? Got it. One of America's leading liquor producers? For many Americans, that's a new one.
Source: Knight Ridder Newspapers
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How to spit with the wine pros
Spit or swallow? For wine aficionados, the choice is usually dictated by circumstance: At meals you swallow, at tastings you spit (unless the wines being tasted are liquid gold; it would be criminal to cough up even a drop of the 1989 Haut-Brion, for instance). But as with so many other wine-related rituals, spitting is no simple matter. Proper technique and correct form count for a lot more than you might think in wine circles.
Source: Slate
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Make sure the wine complements your restaurant meal
Reviewers’ note: It is rare for one food or wine writer to expressly disagree with another in print, but we were so unimpressed with the Sept. 22, 2002, Palm Beach Post reprint of a Wall Street Journal article on “Wine Country,” that we have to comment.
Source: Boca Raton News
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Bartending: a unique opportunity for some
Five people stand on either side of the bar, waiting in line to get a drink. Mike Dever, 25, a bartender at the club better known as C-Street, rushes to fill everyone's orders.
On a good night, Dever makes between $200 and $250; on a regular night, he averages $50 to $60. Dever works a few nights a week at the bar, and is a manager at a Gap store during the day.
Source: The Daily Illini
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Bartenders top 10 peeves
They're there to make sure you have an enjoyable night out, yet they're subjected to things worthy of "The Jerry Springer Show" and those "Girls Gone Wild" videos.
Source: Middleton Times Herald Record
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Bartender will serve 15 days
An exercise in perseverance in Centerville just might put bartender Leon Smith into the Guinness Book of World Records.
Source: Dayton Daily News
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`Malternatives' fall flat in the US
MALT BEVERAGES: The popularity of a series of drinks that were once the domain of stand-alone brands, has been invaded by corporate heavyweights, but the thrill may be gone.
Source: The Taipei Times
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DIAGEO CUTS DEALS WITH TWO MORE NFL TEAMS
Diageo has cut deals with two more National Football League teams, including this year's Super Bowl winner, even as the spirits marketer's controversial sponsorship of the Washington Redskins comes under scrutiny from the NFL and two advocacy groups.
Source: AdAge.com
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