The Aging Bartender

New Cocktail: Anybody’s Game

There was a mistake and Chef had a bunch of blackberries…And when I mean a bunch, it was a fuck ton…Some sort of alteration concerning the beets and berries dish, a switch, and a misorder. At any rate, piles of blackberries. We had to do something with them so they didn’t go to waste. I’ve

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  • New Cocktail: Anybody’s Game

    There was a mistake and Chef had a bunch of blackberries…And when I mean a bunch, it was a fuck ton…Some sort of alteration concerning the beets and berries dish, a switch, and a misorder. At any rate, piles of blackberries. We had to do something with them so they didn’t go to waste. I’ve…

  • What to do with Ten Pounds of Habaneros: Part Two

    At this point, I’m not even sure what the hell I was thnking. I severely overestimated the amount of habaneros I would need for the entire year and ended up with a conservative three to four year supply, maybe more. Expect habanero drinks on the menu permanently for the foreseeable future. That’s not a bad…

  • New Cocktail: To Live and Die in L.A.

    As per the name, think of this one as a counterfeit or poor person’s Naked and Famous, the semi-famous cocktail created by the one and only Joaquín Simó down in New York’s Death & Co. back in the day. It uses almost none of the ingredients but still contains the quaffable weirdness of the original.…

  • What to do with Ten Pounds of Habaneros: Part One

    Strap on your gas masks and hazmat suits, everybody, habaneros are finally in season here in old SoCal. What does this mean? For most, nothing. For the humble Rustic Canyon Bar Program, however, we like to get to work and make two types of our own bitters out of all this nonsense. We do one…

  • Sunflower Amazake

    If you don’t hear the word “sunflower” and start unconsciously singing the Post Malone/Swae Lee song from Spiderverse in your head, there may be something wrong with you. For a long time, humming the song was the only thing that put my son to sleep. It’s in my goddam DNA. It’s a catchy one…and in…

  • Strawperol, Revisited

    Following up to this and this. One fine afternoon in April of 2023, some chump behind a bar added some unwashed, organic strawberries from the Santa Monica Farmer’s Market to a jar with some Aperol, forgot about it, and then opened the jar to a surprising but familiar little pop and fizz. The result: Strawperol.…

  • Notes on Nobody’s Fool

    Punch just did a real nice article on an oldie but a goodie, the Nobody’s Fool from this past April. I’m not sure why, but the photographs make the cocktail look a weird orange and not pinkish-red, but anyway…It was a cool experience. There’s some serious imposter syndrome going on with something like this. For…

  • Confessions of a Condiment Fiend 9/18/23

    I ask the real questions here: Would ranch work as a cocktail? Let’s talk. We know the main ingredients are buttermilk, sour cream, and mayo, then garlic, dill, parsley, and some salt and pepper. Hmm. You could first analyze it into all its ingredients. There are some dill cocktails out there. There is dill in…

  • New Cocktail: Voodoo Economics (2.0)

    Yeah the original version of this bevvie, originally posted here, never made it off the chopping block and onto the menu. Not sure why. I get nervous sometimes and think things aren’t good when they are and vice versa. Sometimes I taste something and like it then the next day it’s ho hum, hum drum,…

  • Liquor Town

    On my way to work and on the return home I drive by good old Liquor Town on La Brea. It’s a stretch just off the 10 freeway along an odd, tangled and interesting thoroughfare sprinkled with other places such as Teddy’s, Garu’s, Century Liquor, Sunshine Liquor, and my personal favorite, Grand Prize. For whatever…

  • Bar Hack: Taking Passionfruit All the Way

    When you’re indulging in the fruit named after Christ’s sacrifice, you’ve really got to take it all the way, right? I think Jesus would be happy. He was a carpenter after all, a blue collar working man with magical powers at his fingertips. It all makes sense due to the fact that passionfruit itself is…

  • Farmer’s Market Loot: 9/14/23

    Oh yes, sports fans. The golden goose, the old purple sack with the golden, gooey center, the unverified G.O.A.T. seasonal ingredient for cocktails. I bring you, the passion fruit. I know little to nothing about these little suckers aside from the well known fact that they’re expensive, somewhat annoying to work with, and oh so…