Whether world-renowned institutions with thorough cocktail programs or laid-back dives, bars have a knack for keeping patrons satiated with low-cost bites. But beyond the tried and true — say, a ramekin of salted nuts or a bowl of chips — the best bar snacks walk the line between a quick and easy bite and a full meal. Hot dogs fall in that sweet spot. They are relatively cheap, simple, and
Rickhouses are hard to miss on a whiskey distillery property. Sometimes called rackhouses, these tall, imposing buildings stand stoic and proud, almost sentient, as if they know the secrets lurking within the rows and columns of whiskey barrels tucked behind their walls. Old-school rickhouses look like vintage wood barns or stone buildings lifted from centuries past. Modern iterations resemble the love child of an office building and a greenhouse. Regardless
While some whiskeys, like bourbon, have requirements for how long and in what type of barrel they are aged, there’s a little more flexibility in how the products are finished. And today more than ever, industrious distillers around the world are experimenting with different cask finishes. Oak aging provides the spirit’s signature color and flavor notes like vanilla and baking spice. Cask-finishing lets distillers add secondary flavors that complement the
This episode of The Buildout is brought to you by Farmer’s Gin. Whether you are building a bar, you currently are operating a bar, or you just run a bar at home, you need to have a Martini on your menu — and that Martini deserves Farmer’s Gin. Farmer’s Gin is created by the same amazing people that created Michter’s Bourbon. Every single bar deserves a great gin, and Farmer’s
The current drinking rate among the worldwide Gen Z population is up eight percent from 2023 to 74 percent, while Baby Boomers posted the lowest drinking rate of all generations at 71 percent, according to a survey from market research firm IWSR. The biannual report finds that more Millennials consume alcohol than any other generation at 81 percent, with Gen X just behind at 77 percent. IWSR, a London-based firm
The celebrity spirits boom has almost certainly come to an end. If there was a gold rush from 2017 — when Diageo bought George Clooney’s Casamigos for some $1 billion — until, say, 2024, an era when pretty much any celebrity (Michael Bublé? Terry Bradshaw? Elon Musk?!) could attach his or her name to a liquor brand and start printing money, those days have cooled. Casamigos sales dropped 18 percent
At a time when the wine industry attempts to court younger consumers and better-for-you trends swarm the market, Trinchero Family Wine and Spirits is releasing Sauvy B, a ready-to-drink (RTD), citrus-flavored wine spritz containing electrolytes, the alcohol conglomerate announced today. Famed winemaker Joel Gott partnered with Trinchero, the third largest wine supplier in the U.S., to produce Sauvy B. “If I want to create another generation of people that appreciate
Pinot Noir hails from Burgundy, but the thin-skinned red grape first appeared in the New World in the 1850s when it was planted in California. It would eventually proliferate across the West Coast, as AVAs in Oregon, Washington, and California realized their potential for growing the grape and producing world-class wines comparable to those from its homeland. As the New World’s wine scene grew over the course of the following
In WineBusiness Monthly’s annual Vineyard Survey Report, Napa Valley vintners voiced a lengthy list of concerns threatening their businesses: changing consumer preferences, succession planning, pests and diseases, labor shortages, rising farming costs, and increasingly strict regulations, to name a few. It’s a real laundry list of woes, and these challenges are hitting the valley hard. According to the survey, 50 percent of vineyards reported a decrease in revenue and 51
Scotch is a simple beverage at its core. The whisky consists of three ingredients: barley, water, and yeast. The elements beyond this base are significantly more complex. Location, barrel aging, peat usage, and agricultural aspects like malting and milling push the liquid in a vast number of directions. Some of these paths result in brands that are household names even among non-Scotch drinkers, like Johnnie Walker, Dewar’s, The Glenlivet, or