Category: whisky

Caramel Almond Pie

After my summer break, I came back to the blog and found out that it still thought it was on vacation…and wasn’t accepting any photos at this time. I was proud of myself for finally tackling a recipe that I’ve had on my radar for a while and spent a day baking it, taking pictures, and writing up the post. The recipe was quite a…

After my summer break, I came back to the blog and found out that it still thought it was on vacation…and wasn’t accepting any photos at this time. I was proud of myself for finally tackling a recipe that I’ve had on my radar for a while and spent a day baking it, taking pictures, and writing up the post. The recipe was quite a doozy, but with a name like Smoky Caramel Almond Pie, how could I not make it? It was a bit of a project but I persevered (in the name of smoky caramel and almonds…) but when I came to upload the photos, my blog wasn’t having any of it and said non.

Continue Reading Caramel Almond Pie...

Drinking French Booksigning in Brooklyn, NY

  It’s been quite a year! While my 2020 book tour was upended by a global pandemic – who’d a thought we’d ever be saying things like that? – I can finally able to have an event. If you’re in New York City, I’ll be at Slope Cellars in Brooklyn on Sunday, May 9th from 2 to 3:30pm signing copies of Drinking French. FINALLY! So…

 

It’s been quite a year! While my 2020 book tour was upended by a global pandemic – who’d a thought we’d ever be saying things like that? – I can finally able to have an event. If you’re in New York City, I’ll be at Slope Cellars in Brooklyn on Sunday, May 9th from 2 to 3:30pm signing copies of Drinking French. FINALLY! So stop by and get a personalized copy.

Slope Cellars is also proudly offering a Drinking French Bar Box featuring a selection of apéritifs and spirits so you can make some of my favorite drinks in the book. Included is a bottle of Citadelle gin from France, Dolin red vermouth made in Chambéry, the French alps, a bottle of small-batch Forthave spirits red bitter apéritif, and Old Forester Bottled-in-Bond rye, for making Boulevardier and Toronto cocktails from the book, as well as a signed copy of Drinking French. So you’re welcome to pick up a Drinking French Bar Box with a book included or just a personalized copy of the book.

See you then!

Continue Reading Drinking French Booksigning in Brooklyn, NY...

Holiday Gift Idea! Drinking French Bar Boxes from Slope Cellars and K & L Wine Merchants

What better way to send off 2020, and kick off a brand new year (…which, fortunately, is just around the corner…) with a gift for yourself, or for someone special, of a Drinking French Bar Box! I’ve teamed up with two of my favorite spirit shops to offer specially-curated bar boxes with a selection of French spirits and apéritifs. And to sweeten the pot, for…

What better way to send off 2020, and kick off a brand new year (…which, fortunately, is just around the corner…) with a gift for yourself, or for someone special, of a Drinking French Bar Box! I’ve teamed up with two of my favorite spirit shops to offer specially-curated bar boxes with a selection of French spirits and apéritifs. And to sweeten the pot, for a limited time, each bar box includes a bookplate signed copy of Drinking French.

Slope Cellars wine and spirits shop in New York includes a bottle of Old Forester Bottled-in-Bond Rye, Forthave Red Apéritif Bitters (a small-batch red bitter apéritif, made in Brooklyn), a bottle of Citadelle gin, the first gin made in France, and a demi-bottle of Dolin sweet vermouth from the French alps, as well as a copy of Drinking French. With those bottles, you’ll be able to make several drinks in the book, including my favorite cocktails, the Boulevardier and the Americano, a low ABV apéritif that’s perfect for easy-going holiday sipping.

Continue Reading Holiday Gift Idea! Drinking French Bar Boxes from Slope Cellars and K & L Wine Merchants...

What to Buy When Starting a French Bar at Home

Weeks before Drinking French came out, people were asking me what liquors and spirits to buy in anticipation of the book’s release. Skimming through the 160 recipes in the book, many of which are for cocktails and apéritifs, I offered up tips here and there, suggesting a few essential bottles that could be used for a number of recipes in the book. I also added…

Weeks before Drinking French came out, people were asking me what liquors and spirits to buy in anticipation of the book’s release. Skimming through the 160 recipes in the book, many of which are for cocktails and apéritifs, I offered up tips here and there, suggesting a few essential bottles that could be used for a number of recipes in the book. I also added a few extras (at the end of this post) to those suggestions, that aren’t vital to have, but are some of my favorites in case they wanted to branch out a little into some other French drinks, and spirits.

Continue Reading What to Buy When Starting a French Bar at Home...

Vieux Carre cocktail

This post was originally published in 2013, which I updated and revised. It’s part of an online “L’heure d’apéro” or Happy Hour that I’ve been doing on Instagram Live on my IGTV channel most evenings at 6pm Paris time (which currently is 1pm ET, 10am PT) where I’m making a favorite cocktail live in my kitchen and responding to reader’s comments while I mix and…

This post was originally published in 2013, which I updated and revised. It’s part of an online “L’heure d’apéro” or Happy Hour that I’ve been doing on Instagram Live on my IGTV channel most evenings at 6pm Paris time (which currently is 1pm ET, 10am PT) where I’m making a favorite cocktail live in my kitchen and responding to reader’s comments while I mix and shake. (The videos get archived on my Instagram page in my Stories, which are available to watch up to 24 hours afterward, and in my Feed, which are there indefinitely.

In the live videos I’m also talking about French spirits, a few of which are used in this cocktail, the Vieux Carré. I’ve brought this cocktail post up to the top here on the blog, and I’ll be bringing others up others, as well as sharing other types of recipes that I hope you’ll find helpful during this time when many of us are housebound. (Tonight, March 26th, I’ll be making the Jasmin Cocktail if you want to tune in. Thanks! – David

A Vieux Carré is supposed to have Peychaud’s bitters in it. It was at the tippy top of my shopping list when I wanted to make this cocktail. I had the rye whiskey in spades, as well as the other ingredients, but the bitters eluded me.

But I went to four liquor stores that specialize in cocktail liquors and spirits in Paris and three didn’t have it. And the fourth was inexplicably closed for some sort of fermeture exceptionnelle. There was no sign, no nothing, so I don’t know. I peered through the darkened windows to see if they had the bitters on any of the shelves but couldn’t get a glimpse of the bitters selection, so went home empty-handed.

Continue Reading Vieux Carre cocktail...