The Ramos Gin Fizz and Its Absurd Twelve-Minute Shake
There is one cocktail that bars quietly hope you will not order, and this is it. Not because it is difficult to get right — because it is…
Author: Flash Fry
The Sazerac: New Orleans in a Glass
Most classic cocktails are a list of ingredients. The Sazerac is a list of ingredients plus a piece of technique, and the technique is the part people skip.…
What Are Cocktail Bitters, and What Do They Actually Do?
A dash is about a millilitre. It is the smallest measured ingredient in almost any cocktail, and taking it out is instantly obvious. The short answer Bitters are…
Cava vs Prosecco vs Champagne: What’s the Difference?
Three sparkling wines, three countries, and one technical difference that explains almost everything else about them — including which one belongs in a spritz. The short answer Champagne…
What Is Absinthe? And No, It Does Not Cause Hallucinations
No spirit carries more folklore per bottle. Absinthe is supposed to make you see things, drive you mad, and have been banned for exactly those reasons. Almost none…
Aperitif vs Digestif: What’s the Difference?
A good drinks list has a shape, and the shape follows the meal. Some drinks belong at the start and some at the end, and the difference is…
Why Cocktails Have Egg White in Them
Read a cocktail list carefully and you will find egg in more drinks than you expected. A whiskey sour, a clover club, a ramos gin fizz, plenty of…
What Is a Cicerone? The Beer World’s Sommelier
If a menu tells you the beer and cheese pairing was put together by the in-house Cicerone, that is a specific claim rather than a flourish. It is…
What Is Trappist Cheese? The Other Thing the Abbeys Make
Everyone knows the monks make beer. Rather fewer people know that several of the same abbeys make cheese, under the same certification, in the same buildings — and…
What Is Speculoos? And How Is It Different From Speculaas?
You have almost certainly eaten one. The thin, crunchy, caramel-brown biscuit that comes with coffee on a plane is a speculoos, and it has a longer history than…