Poor, Much-Maligned Alcohol Gets A Good Word: It's quarter to three, there's no one in the place/Except you and me,/So set 'em' up Joe, I got a little story/ I think you should know... And the story is something, if you're a drinker, you probably already know. (I was so surprised by this article I wondered if it was sponsored by the booze industry. But then I mixed myself another drink; read the wonderfully-named, probably Guinness - and poteen-fuelled - Dublin Principles and drank its health anyway!)
posted by MiguelCardoso on Nov 3, 2003 - 16 comments

The Last Bastion Of Serious Sexual Discrimination: Booze! Do men and women really have different tastes when it comes to drinking? What does it all mean? Do girls really like girly cocktails? Do men hate sweet, fruity drinks? Are rye and malt whiskeys, cognac, red wine and beer resolutely masculine? Are gin, cocktails, liqueurs, white wine and champagne eternally feminine? Is vodka neutral? Is a gin and tonic always truly gay? Is tequila bisexual? Too neat? Perhaps. I wonder whether guy booze, girl booze and gay booze can ever be satisfactorily mapped out...
posted by MiguelCardoso on Sep 2, 2003 - 96 comments

You've Come A Long Way, Baby: Unfortunately, you picked the wrong one, dear old Old-Fashioned, dean of cocktails. Robert Hess's definitive essay on the ever-changing ways of making one shows just how contentious a cocktail recipe can be. It also bears sad testimony to how the great classics are being fruited up, iced up, fizzed up, shaken till obliteration and generally girlied, dumbed and boozed down. So how do you stand on the cherry, the pineapple and the orange? And don't even bother commenting if you're a seltzer fan! ;)
posted by MiguelCardoso on May 21, 2003 - 51 comments