The Aging Bartender

Cormac McCarthy

Like the blurb says, the above picture is from the dust jacket photo from Blood Meridian, 1985. It was the first McCarthy book I read. Handed to me by my ex-girlfriend, N. It was one of those deep winter relationships that lasted just until spring. The woman, not the book. You’d have to live in…

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  • Cormac McCarthy

    Like the blurb says, the above picture is from the dust jacket photo from Blood Meridian, 1985. It was the first McCarthy book I read. Handed to me by my ex-girlfriend, N. It was one of those deep winter relationships that lasted just until spring. The woman, not the book. You’d have to live in…

  • New Cocktail: Sunshower

    South of the border tiki? Why the hell not? This one comes directly from the young brain of Mr. Martinez. A special he ran on my days off. It contains all his favorite ingredients. Sunshower 1.5 oz. Rooster Rojo Pineapple Añejo 1 oz. Fresh Lime Juice .5 oz. Orange Curaçao .5 oz. Cachaça .5 oz.…

  • Late Night at Ralphs

    Yes, fellow Angelenos, I’m sure at some point you’ve heeded the call and ended up at a 24 hour Ralphs at some point. Oh yes, the despair, the hilarity, the drunken fools you’ll see! For those of you living in other, less pre-apocalyptic places, Ralphs is a lower-mid grade grocery store on the LA food…

  • Snappy Answers to Stupid Questions: Bar Edition

    A little history here if you didn’t rot your brain reading Mad magazine when you were a kid. Al Jaffee. Nuff said. He was the dude who wrote and drew Snappy Answers to Stupid Questions and he also did the Mad foldovers on the back inside cover page. He died at the age of 102…

  • New Cocktail: Swan Song

    The plum honey was ready yesterday so I decided to put this on. Not entirely happy with it quite yet but here’s something odd…Angel and I burned our taste buds out last week trying the high proof noyaux. All week the tip of my tongue has been sensitive and when I try anything with alcohol…

  • Notes on Bukowski

    The two of us were introduced by my friend, Ryan LaRoux. It was a party on a hill overlooking the Winooski River. My friend Sean and I had this older dreadlocked dude, Island, living on our couch. Island was a wanna be reggae singer who played the melodica and he invited us to go to…

  • Bar Hack: Salted Plum Honey

    Fruit is weird. Salt with strawberries is a big no no but with plums we’re talking next level delicious. This one is cool because it’s easy and I’ve always found plums difficult to work with maybe because I’m not their biggest fan. Out in the real world, I don’t buy or eat them. I’m a…

  • Bar Hack: Sour Amazake Pistachio “Orgeat”

    Bar Hack: Sour Amazake Pistachio “Orgeat”

    I’ll preface this by saying I don’t really know what I’m doing. Yes, I read the damn book, Koji Alchemy, and yes, I understand why it’s happening, but a lot of this is just throwing a bunch of shit at the wall and seeing what sticks. Long story short, Koji is a fungi, aspergillus oryzae.…

  • The Different Styles of Bartending

    Depending on where you are, the style of bartending will differ. Why should the commoner be aware of this? Well, for one, you’re not going to get a certain drink at one place that you had at another. Make sense? The old fashioned you order at a craft cocktail establishment will certainly be different at…

  • Free Write Monday… Vermont National Country Club

    There’s some days when I have no idea what to write for this blog. There’s many things I want to write, but at this point in time, it would be very difficult to pull off. I’ve said before I have this book that’s been burning my brain for awhile. I haven’t got it all figured…

  • Bar Hack: Clarified Peach Calpico

    Peaches are coming in strong and will do so for a couple of months. Let’s make clarified peach calpico with them. Props where props are due. I’m pretty sure the original version of this came from the great Nico de Soto. He provided it for all via the instas about a year back and Angel…

  • Peach Syrup

    This one’s pretty easy. Equal parts depitted peaches and sugar, blend ’em, then pass ’em through a chinois and you’re good to go. Nope, no heat, ding dong. I try to use heat less and less with any syrups for the bar. It gives fruit that strange stewed flavor. Hey, if you like it, you…