The Aging Bartender

My Strawberry Infused Aperol Went Through a Secondary Fermentation

Remember the late 2000s when lame bars and restaurants thought the cool thing to do was decorate the walls with out of print Italian bitters posters? Yeah, I do too. There’s still a few clingers out there somewhere, I’m sure. And yes, before you ask, I too have been tempted to throw one of these…

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  • My Strawberry Infused Aperol Went Through a Secondary Fermentation

    Remember the late 2000s when lame bars and restaurants thought the cool thing to do was decorate the walls with out of print Italian bitters posters? Yeah, I do too. There’s still a few clingers out there somewhere, I’m sure. And yes, before you ask, I too have been tempted to throw one of these…

  • New Cocktail: Tooger’s Revenge

    File this one under worst cocktail names ever. My grandmother had this mangy old cat named Tooger. Stark white and always sleeping. When she died, my eccentric uncle David adopted her and brought her up to his place in the island community of South Hero, Vermont. Anyway, the damn cat lived forever. It was already…

  • Bar Hack: Green Almond Sour “Amazake” Orgeat

    The word of the day today is frabjous (pronounced frab-jess) and it means delightful or joyous. If you use this in a sentence today, no one will know what the hell you’re talking about, which could be frabjous, depending on your personality. Green Almond Sour “Amazake” Orgeat 2 cups sliced green almonds 1 cup koji…

  • The Five Spice Cafe: Part One

    The only remaining photo on the interwebs of the Five Spice Cafe, or “Five Spice”, as we all called it, is this crummy one you see above, snapped on a rainy winter morning. The restaurant was located at the ass end of Burlington, Vermont’s semi famous Church Street Marketplace. If you’ve never visited, Burlington is…

  • Cocktail Trends: 4.20.23

    Happy 420! Light up a doob! I used to smoke a shit ton of weed in my youth but haven’t partaken in a really long time. I tried it a couple of times a year or so ago and all it did was make me super tired and groggy the next day like I took…

  • Notes on the Mezgroni

    “You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain.” This quote has zero relevance to this post, I just wanted to say it. Mez is in, rum is out. With Don Ciccio e Figli’s Luna Aperitivo being discontinued (undistributed to the West Coast? No idea.) we’re going another route…

  • Notes on the Sidecar

    You can’t talk about a sidecar without first talking about a brandy crusta. I’ve never actually had one. I’ve heard of it, but never knew the specs until now. Again, it’s a cocktail with an impossible to find static recipe on the interwebs. Like the La Louisiane, each site I visited has something different and…

  • Yeah, I Like Tea

    The old adage goes like this; Don’t sit down and order tea at the bar. Any bar. On my side, behind the bar, it’s ok though becasue tea is stellar in cocktails. All you have to be mindful of is the tannins. So, black teas like Earl grey, etc. if misused will sometimes will impart…

  • Requiem for the Fatty Crab

    I wear a stained t shirt that drives Jo crazy. It’s too small, there’s a giant oil blotch right in the middle, it only accentuates my ever growing dad bod. We have a rule now where I’m not allowed to wear anything stained or with a hole in it but this one remains. My old…

  • Facing Down the Banquet Hall Bar (A Wedding Rehearsal Survival Guide)

    Last night, faced with a dire cocktail situation, I drew a total fucking blank. Yes, I’m talking about the dreaded banquet hall bar. The people behind the scenes obviously didn’t read my post from a few months back, The Eight Bottle Bar. They went 7/8. Pretty close to my recommendations. But can you spot the…

  • The Lost City of Gratitude

    My first thoughts this morning turned to my previous post. A bit snarky, poking fun at people, and a part where I ranted a bit and seemed ungrateful for my lot in life. Well, I’m here to tell you, that’s not the case. Maybe I woke up feeling a bit sappy, the wind knocked out…

  • Insanity on Wednesday Night: 4.12.23

    The hits keep on coming. Fellow bartender, @ordonorulez dm’ed me this morning, saying “No more feces touch for you!” Yeah, I guess not. We had a guest chef sort of thing last night…Ish. Abra Berens from Granor Farm in Three Oaks, MI. She just came out with a new cookbook, Pulp: A Practical Guide to…