Category: Pairings

Just as spirits nerds yearn for hard-to-find bottles to add to their collections, oenophiles will always pine over a suite of coveted bottles. Whether due to astronomical prices or low allocations, some wine pros catch onto these bottles simply because they are so unattainable. As a result, these wines develop a “cult” following, but the quality of the product isn’t necessarily what merits that status. Oftentimes, a wine’s uber-popularity is

This episode of The Buildout is brought to you by Farmer’s Gin. It’s brought to you by the same amazing people that brought you Michter’s, and it’s actually the gin that I use at home for my Martinis. It’s clean, crisp, unfussy — perfect for building any kind of Martini that you would like. Farmer’s Gin is made in Idaho at the first organic distillery in the United States. It’s

Before the mezcal bars, jungle tasting menus, and all-night beach parties, Tulum’s drinking culture revolved around simple things: ice-cold beers, fresh lime, Coca-Cola, and whatever else could survive the Caribbean heat. Even now, caguamas — oversized bottles of Mexican lagers meant for sharing — still appear on tables long before sunset, sweating through buckets of ice while the humidity settles in for the night. That simplicity continues to define the

Albariño is a quintessential summer white wine. The popular Spanish grape variety tends to be light and refreshing with its ample acidity. It’s easy to drink on its own and an excellent companion to all kinds of seafood and appetizers. At a recent gathering, I was poured a glass of Albariño from Long Island’s North Fork, where the grape has taken root, as it has in Virginia and California, among

Although rosé’s popularity peaks in the summertime, the pink wine’s roots prove it is more than a trendy seasonal beverage. The style dates back centuries, when the Greeks brought vines to Marseilles and rosé was created. It caught the attention of the Romans, who exported it through their trade routes. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the expansion of rail travel within France introduced vacationers to the Provençal

While California Pinot Noir isn’t new, Meiomi Pinot Noir proves that it can still be exciting. The Meiomi winemaking process artfully combines skill and intuition, drawing from the unique terroir of their vineyards throughout California wine country. The result is a remarkable wine that is “blue fruit”-forward (think blueberry and blackberry) with well-balanced notes of baking spices. As Jason Becker, Meiomi winemaker, explains, “All of these different regions, such as

Elijah Craig is adding to its Single Barrel portfolio with a 21-year-old bourbon bottled at 94 proof. The release will be a limited edition offering alongside the two bottles in the existing, permanent Single Barrel lineup, which consists of a 15-year-old and an 18-year-old bourbon. The 21-year-old whiskey will be available at the Heaven Hill Bourbon Experience in Bardstown, Ky., beginning June 14 with a suggested retail price of $299.99.

When the World Cup comes to North America this summer, it won’t just be a spectacle of soccer, it will be an extravaganza of corporate sponsorships. Adidas for sporting goods. Lay’s for snacks, McDonald’s for fast food, and Coca-Cola for sodas. Verizon for telecommunications, Hisense for televisions, and Lenovo for computers. Hyundai–Kia for cars and Qatar Airways for airlines. Bank of America will sponsor banking while Visa grabs credit cards.

The modern cocktail revival famously brought proper drinks and dignified drinking culture back to the forefront. While the movement’s touchstone is typically tied to the opening of Sasha Petraske’s legendary Milk & Honey bar in New York City in 2000, the seeds of a creative renaissance were planted a few years before, as newfangled drinks like the Cosmopolitan and the Espresso Martini started popping up on ’90s menus. This liquid

Residents of the United States drank 7.8 billion gallons of booze in 2023, according to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA). That same year — the latest of NIAAA’s available data — considerable slides in wine and beer consumption predicated a nearly 15 million-gallon dip in total alcohol consumption in the United States. Spirits was the only category to record growth, up 2.6 percent year-over-year to 734.2