Category Archives: Drinking

In the drinking category we chronicle the beverages, usually alcoholic, that we used to wash down our food. You’ll also meet some characters who specialize in making or promoting fine spirits.

Recipe: Tomato-y Bloody Mary Mix

Unlike the popular canned brand, this bloody mary mix  doesn’t mask the taste of tomato juice. About 6 servings. A good way to use the leftover juice from your Ultimate Blender Gazpacho. Ingredients: 32 oz Campbell’s tomato juice 1 T … Continue reading

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Start your gustatory engines… Saratoga Wine and Food Festival is coming!

I like to think of the Saratoga Wine and Food Festival as a “locals only” event which definitely isn’t accurate… for one thing, the concourse portion of the event includes several gatherings of classic car collectors who come from hither … Continue reading

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Ommegang Hop Chef event in Albany

I love dinner, and I love beer, but the words “beer dinner” generally leave me cold. Unlike wine, many beers don’t lend themselves to felicitous pairing with specific dishes. And beer often disappears when used as an ingredient, while at … Continue reading

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Food for Thought: Beer Advocate

Have you ever been in a beer store and wondered about a new microbrew you found on the shelf (or on tap to fill your growler, better yet)? If you were me, you’d whip out your smartphone and go to … Continue reading

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My visit with Mike Hinkley at Green Flash Brewery

Mike Hinkley, founder and CEO of Green Flash Brewery in San Diego, is a genial guy. But when I asked him how someone might make an easy transition from drinking Coors or Bud to his brews, given that there are … Continue reading

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Saratoga is beer capital of North America (this week anyway)

Portland and North San Diego County may disagree, but I have decided Saratoga Springs, NY is as good a place as any if you are a lover of intensively hoppy craft microbrewed IPAs with an ABV of 7.0 or higher. … Continue reading

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Taste test: Stone-style IPAs

The other day two titans of the IPA world were on tap side by side at EBI, my local dispensary. So I filled a growler with West Coast IPA and a growler with Firestone Union Jack and quickly found five … Continue reading

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Gluten-free ale from Steadfast Beer Co

Had a conversation at Saratoga Beer Week with Alison and Jeremy Hosier, brewers at Steadfast Beer Co. in Albany. They brew with sorghum in place of barley and wheat, and their new product, Sorghum Pale Ale, is just about to … Continue reading

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The beer that dares not speak its name

What we have here is an illegal beer. It was brewed for He’Brew under contract at the Olde Saratoga Brewing Company, and when the BATF inspectors saw the label they said it could not be distributed. The brewery could have … Continue reading

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An ode to poundability

I once had a private tour of a prestigious Sonoma winery. The proprietress was the former girlfriend of my friend’s nephew, which made the occasion informal. She let us know about an attribute of their products that the vintners like … Continue reading

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