And who would have thought I’d find Martin of Forbidden Island, Eric Seed of Haus Alpenz, and Matt of Rum Dood at the carousel bar? After some great conversation, a Vieux Carre, and a Pimm’s Cup, it is time for the good Penguin to get some sleep before the a.m. rum judging in the [...]

One of my favorite sessions last year at Tales of the Cocktail was Tiki Drinks from A to Zombie. And to everyone’s great shock, I’m sure, I have plans to attend Potions of the Caribbean, Jeff “Beachbum” Berry’s upcoming panel featuring some notable guests: Wayne Curtis, Martin Cate, Stephen Remsberg, and Brother Cleve. [...]

Kaiser Penguin is hosting the next Mixology Monday, so get your entries in before March 17th! This round is devoted to cocktails that have a wee bit too much alcohol in them, yet somehow manage to be deliciously deadly.
Exotic cocktail spots would often advertise their potent potions by limiting a customer to [...]

I wanted to find a cocktail guide that was published as close to Repeal Day (Wikipedia) as possible. My stash from Powell’s in Portland was nearly untouched, so I looked there. After digging through a dust-filled box, I found a wood and leather-bound cocktail guide from 1941 called Here’s How. It somehow remained [...]

I am totally amazed how the Test Pilot has evolved since my post about it over a year ago. The first time I made it, I used the following recipe:

Test Pilot

1/2oz lime juice
1/2oz falernum
1/2oz Cointreau
1 dash Angostura bitters
1/8t Pernod
3/4oz light Puerto Rican rum
1 1/2oz dark Jamaican rum

Blend with 1c crushed ice for 5 seconds, [...]

My goal this post is to motivate those of you who haven’t made falernum or cinnamon syrup to do so. Neither takes the obligatory month and a half like pimento dram. In fact, if you were to start a batch of each after work on Friday, you’d be sipping this cocktail Saturday evening.
Cinnamon [...]

Oh, the Cocktail Hour
Tried so many things that I don’t have time to post about. Lucid absinthe is mild but very tasty. Off to Delachaise with Paul and Darcy for dinner!
Lost Ingredients - Live Blogging
4:15pm - The panel is over. Filled with strange liqueurs, I seek food before the cocktail hour, which [...]

The Opening Dinner and Meeting Everyone!
9:54pm - After countless emails and blog conversations with so many cocktail experts, I have never met even one of them in person. The opening ceremonies at Riche in Harrah’s Hotel changed all that. I met, in no particular order: Paul Clarke, Darcy O’Neil, Chuck Taggert, Jamie Boudreau, [...]

I arrived home to find an Amazon box nestled lovingly up against my garage door, like it had found its true home. What occurred next was me moving faster than I have in probably two years. I grabbed a knife at random from the block and tore into the box with fevered intensity. [...]

It was wonderful to see so many de-lurkers show their faces on Kaiser Penguin. I thought it was going to be easy giving away the three copies of Intoxica!, but you all submitted such tasty recipes and made the comment section fun and informative. So, I will be selecting three of you at [...]