The Aging Bartender

Is Quince Worth It?

An update on the Cheap Date cocktail post from yesterday…I made one during service last night for the gang (Denise, Angel) to try and it tasted pretty flat. Then Angel made a cocktail he’s been working on and it was so much better. Well ok, then. That’s the way it goes. He’s got a cool…

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  • Is Quince Worth It?

    An update on the Cheap Date cocktail post from yesterday…I made one during service last night for the gang (Denise, Angel) to try and it tasted pretty flat. Then Angel made a cocktail he’s been working on and it was so much better. Well ok, then. That’s the way it goes. He’s got a cool…

  • New Cocktail: Cheap Date

    This’ll be a quick one. Lot’s going on this morning…Haircut…An office trip to the valley because some knucklehead in my building bounced his rent check…General mayhem but nothing crazy. I’m growing more accustomed to the craziness that goes on here in the morning while I’m trying to write. A couple fo hours after I posted…

  • Pumpkin Patch Review: Mr. Bones

    Put a tired, disgruntled, family man from Vermont in a pumpkin patch in Culver City of all places and you have yourself a recipe for all sorts of strange feelings and grumpiness. Yeah, I didn’t attend these abominations as a kid because farms and forests were pretty normal where I grew up and well, we…

  • Passionfruit Vermouth Secondary Ferment?

    Yeah. What the hell? Sometimes weird things happen that aren’t supposed to. There’s deep sea animals that live not only in extreme depths but also alongside hydrothermal volcano vents. Each time a rule appears, nature breaks it in some way. Same goes for the Rustic Canyon Bar Program apparently. On my way into work this…

  • Restaurant Review: Republique

    Yeah, the place you want to dislike but can’t bring yourself to hate no matter how hard you try. Why? Maybe because they do everything right, they’re always busy, and seem to execute all of it perfectly every time? If so, then why does everyone talk so much smack? No idea, but if I were…

  • Bartender in Tow?

    A couple of regulars, G&M, came in the other night and told me I should go on vacation with people and make cocktails for them. “We’ll all go to Hawaii and you can make us all mai tais.” Sounds sort of fun depending on how high maintenance the people are…Now that I think about it,…

  • Bar Hack: Rico Pop Bitters

    When Jimmy Nardello comes a knockin’, it means it’s the time of year to make yourself some Rico Pop bitters. You know the ones, the 22 flavors that may or may not be part of a popular soda. I’m gong to try and rattle them all off the top of my head, then I’ll go…

  • New Cocktail: Grundel Thumper

    There’s a slew of cocktail names that stay off the menu due to their licentious, aggressive, or possibly offensive nature. Yes, “Sharing is Karen,” “Mansplain,” and “Daddy Issues,” will never see print. Despite all of it, when these names and others occur in whatever twisted part of my brain conjures them, I still attempt to…

  • Bar Hack: Coquito

    It’s that time of the year, or close anyway, where the warm spices come out and people want to sit by the fire in their slippers and sip muddled wine and munch on cookies. It’s a bit of a problem here in SoCal, though, because it stays pretty warm in comparison to the rest of…

  • Bar Hack: “Solera” Nog

    In the above picture, you see the Nog Brothers. Antônio Rogério Nogueira A.K.A. “Minotouro” and Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira, A.K.A. “Minotauro.” Twins from Brasil known as Little and Big Nog for their respective MMA weight classes, heavyweight and light heavyweight. Apparently, it is not uncommon for Brazilian twins to share the same name. Oh wait, wrong…

  • Bar Hack: Dragonfruit Peel Tea Whey Syrup

    Ever think to yourself, what should I do with all those dragonfruit peels? I’m sure you have at some point in your fun filled, fine feathered life. Well, now, yessir, yessir, you too can find some use for refuse. Great tagline right? Well, it’s as easy as putting those dragonfruit peels in the trusty dehydrator…

  • Restaurant Review: Ronan

    Nowhere to go from the heat and opressive boredom of a kid’s park school event and craving something fresh and cold, possibly a salad and a draught of frigid sparkling water to soothe the parched membranes of our parental esophagi, we headed down Melrose to Ronan based upon one of Chef Fox’s past recommendations. This…