New Poll: What's Your Favorite Classic Tiki Cocktail for Summer?

Our 2011 Summer Drinks Guide is arriving in mailboxes and on newsstands, and as always, it's chock-full of recipes to keep you cool all summer long, including plenty of tiki cocktails. Tiki drinks make any season a lot more fun, but with their tropical flavors and playful garnishes, they're made for summer sipping. Which classic tiki drink is your favorite for summer imbibing? Click here to cast your vote in our latest web poll!

Quick Sips: Tasty Bits from Around the Web

A writer takes a beer-fueled trip down the West Coast. CNN

Resurrecting beers of civilizations long past. Smithsonian Magazine

Summer’s perfect beer? The New York Times

Cocktail tippling in Paris. Reuters

Scientists finally crack open a centuries-old bottle of shipwrecked beer. MSNBC

Drink of the Week: Heidi Schröck Furmint 2007

Most of the country is now deep into the heat of summer, and today’s Drink of the Week—Heidi Schröck’s 2007 Furmint—is a bottle you’ll reach for well into the warmest days of the year. Vintner Heidi Schröck took over her family’s 20-acre Austrian wine estate more than 20 years ago and has since reintroduced a handful of varietals that once flourished in the region, including the Furmint grapes used for this wine. Hers tastes as elegant as a well-crafted Riesling, but with all the freshness and drinkability of an everyday Grüner Veltliner. It’s the perfect white for sipping everywhere, from patio parties to picnics. $22, klwines.com

Quick Sips: Tasty Bits from Around the Web

Fernet gets its own music video. San Francisco Bay Guardian

Japan’s booming craft beer scene. Slate

Imbibe contributor Amy Zavatto on wines you can sink your teeth into for Sunday’s True Blood season premiere. PJ Wine Shop

The timeless allure of Chartreuse. Wall Street Journal

Which beers best complement backyard barbecues? New York Magazine

Three vintners discuss the varying shades of sustainable winemaking. Washington Post

Drink of the Week: Dagny Taggart

Whiskey lovers in Los Angeles know to head downtown to Seven Grand where, aside from a 300+ whiskey list (including bottles from Ireland, Scotland, Japan, the U.S. and India), you can sip from the bar’s newly revamped cocktail menu featuring a mix of whiskey-based classics—like the Scofflaw and the Boulevardier—and original creations—like today’s Drink of the Week, the Dagny Taggart. Combining Scotch, Aperol and two Italian aperitifs, this stunning sipper is just the thing to enjoy the Father’s Day weekend and raise a glass to dad.

A New Hop Variety Pops in Stone’s Latest Brew

Just when beer drinkers are learning the difference between new hops varieties like Sorachi Ace and Nelson Sauvin, there’s a new hop on the block, and the folks at Stone Brewing are taking it for a spin. In their Japanese Green Tea IPA—their latest collaborative brew with Baird Brewing and Ishii Brewing—Stone calls on sencha green tea and a half-dozen hop varieties—including the newly cultivated Aramis hop from France’s Alsace region. According to Stone, this high-alpha Strisselspalt offshoot “imparts more bitterness than its parent variety, while providing an amped up version of its aroma and oil.” Tentatively set for a July 11 release, it sounds like we won’t have to wait much longer to get a taste.

Exploring the Culture of Quality

We're huge fans of Tony Abou-Ganim, so we were excited recently to see a new video featuring the bartending legend traveling around the world to visit with modern-day artisans and explore today's ever-changing culture of quality. There are so many parallels between quality-focused artisans, whether they're distillers, chocolatiers or clothing makers, and Tony reveals some of these similarities in this beautiful video.

First, he heads to New York City to meet the designers of the Barking Irons clothing line and talk about the role of history and story-telling in their designs and how history plays a role in classic cocktails, like the Martini. Then he heads to Tuscany with a pair of perfume makers to search for the perfect botanicals and see juniper berries being harvested firsthand (and enjoy some amazing-looking Negronis). Then it's off to England to meet Chicago-based chocolatier Katrina Markoff and tour the Bombay Sapphire gin distillery to explore the role process plays in quality. And finally, Las Vegas is the final stop, where Tony checks out a bartending summit and watches quality cocktail-making in action. You can click here to check out the video—well worth watching!

Father's Day Cocktails

Want to show Dad some extra appreciation this Father’s Day? Make him a cocktail he's sure to love.

Bobby Burns
Scotch, sweet vermouth and Benedictine never tasted so good.

Morning Glory
Is your dad a fan of rye whiskey? Then this pre-Prohibition cocktail combining the spicy spirit with Cognac, curaçao, absinthe and bitters is sure to please.

Old Fashioned
Nothing says "I love you" like a properly made Old Fashioned—the go-to classic for Dads of all ages.

Red Pepper Daisy
This delicious variation on a classic Daisy is a brightly balanced mix of tequila, lime juice and bell pepper.

The Boulevardier
A bourbon-based Negroni, this cocktail combines Kentucky’s classic spirit with sweet vermouth and Campari for a richly complex cocktail.

Smoking Gun
Two notoriously assertive ingredients—scotch and Fernet Branca—balance each other out beautifully in this flavor-packed sipper.

Turf Cocktail
For gin-drinking dads, this classic cocktail ramps up the herbal elegance of a dry Martini with touches of maraschino liqueur and absinthe.

Photo by Stuart Mullenberg

Quick Sips: Tasty Bits from Around the Web

Twenty tons of cocoa beans set sail from the Dominican Republic and finally arrive in NYC. Wall Street Journal

Are brown ales poised for a tasty comeback? The Atlantic

Cocktail couture from the ages. NPR

Suntory's ridiculously catchy new commercial campaign. Business Insider

Is Starbucks looking to purchase Peet’s? Investor’s Business Daily

Summery Sauvignon Blancs that don’t taste like yard clippings. SF Gate

It’s a beer. No wait—it’s a robot? Popular Science

What does spring’s wacky weather mean for the California wine industry? Seattle Post Intelligencer

Is creating a “wine country” license plate in Oregon hypocritical? Portland Mercury

Win Tickets to the Finger Lakes Wine Festival!

The New York Finger Lakes region is quickly becoming one of the most exciting wine regions in the U.S., and in just a few weeks, many of those wines will be available for tasting at the Finger Lakes Wine Festival. This annual event is the largest showcase of New York wines with more than 80 wineries paired with regional foods, music, culinary classes and breweries, and we're excited to be able to offer one lucky person free passes to this year's festival!

All you have to do to enter is click here to email and tell us which wine at the festival you'd most like to try (you can view them here). Entries are due by 11:59 p.m. Pacific time on Thursday, June 16. One randomly chosen winner will be notified by Monday, June 20, and will receive 4 weekend passes, including entry to the Brewers' Garden. You must be at least 21 years old to attend. Good luck!

2011 Spirited Dinner Series

Tales of the Cocktail will be the place to be for cocktail enthusiasts the week of July 20–24 in New Orleans, and once again, we're excited to sponsor the Spirited Dinner Series. On Thursday, July 21, chefs from two dozen of the best restaurants around New Orleans will pair up with some of the country's most talented bartenders, spirits experts and authors for an unforgettable drinking and dining experience. This year's dinners feature a range of exciting themes and flavors. Here's a sneak peek of some of the dinners you can look forward to enjoying, and we invite you to join us on July 21, but get your tickets soon, as these seats always sell out fast!

Photo by Jennifer Mitchell

Drink of the Week: White Tea Sangria

Today is National Iced Tea Day, and in honor of one of America’s favorite beverages, we’ll be whipping up a pitcher of today’s Drink of the Week—White Tea Sangria. This refreshing recipe combines floral white tea and a bottle of white wine with loads of fresh fruit. With record-breaking heat blanketing much of the country, this easy-to-make sangria is a perfect way to keep you cool all weekend. Click here for the recipe.

Photo by Stuart Mullenberg.

Stumptown Coffee Releases a "Note from Duane" Regarding Rumored Sale

After several days of frenzied speculation among bloggers, Stumptown Coffee founder Duane Sorenson responded to the rumors of a sale with a letter on the company's website today. The letter begins:

“At a time when it’s difficult to find the financing to grow, run and operate a quality driven and sustainable business, I am pleased to announce that Stumptown has found an investor to help us offer opportunities and take care of our employees, farmers and customers like we’ve never been able to do before. I have been lucky enough to find an investor that will enable me to continue to run Stumptown and focus on the coffee."

To read the rest of the letter, click here.

Quick Sips: Tasty Bits from Around the Web

Is a New York tiki haven going to be forced to change its name? The Lo-Down

Wine goes über-portable with pouch packaging. Reuters

Will beer make you a mosquito magnet? Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Japan finds a fuel source in coffee. Commodity Online

Jack Daniels becomes a label of lesser words. Wall Street Journal

Looking for the best way to remove a finicky wine label? Heloise has your answer. Chicago Sun Times

Drink of the Week: Bayerischer Bahnhof Leipziger Gose

Like a little salt and spice in your beer? In “So the Story Gose” from our May/June 2011 issue, writer Joshua Bernstein explores the resurgence of the ancient gose beer style in which brewers season their kettles with salt, coriander and often other spices, and today’s Drink of the Week—the Leipziger Gose from Bayerischer Bahnhof—is a classic example. First brewed in the 18th century, Leipziger Gose virtually fell into obscurity during Germany’s economic downturn in the mid-1960s, but in 2000, German brewer Thomas Schneider set about reviving the style. This resulting beer offers herbal and apple-y aromas, a distinctive tartness on the palate and a zesty finish of fresh lemon with a hint of salt. It’s incredibly refreshing and low in alcohol (4.5% ABV), making it just the thing for a sunny weekend in June.

Quick Sips: Tasty Bits from Around the Web

Hot on the trail of a whiskey-fueled fungus. Wired

British bandits make off with $1.6 million worth of wine. New York Times

Don’t know your Hallertau from Simcoe? Learn the difference. Boston Globe

A brewing battle heats up in the Bronx. Gothamist

Yet more reasoning for why you should sip beer from a glass. Mercury News

Two bottles of the now-famous shipwrecked Champagne hit the auction block this Friday. Departures