A New Bar That Only Serves Dark Spirits, Neat

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Copper & Oak, situated on the Lower East Side, boasts a back bar of more than 600 different brown spirits.

But guests will find no cocktails on the menu and mixers are limited to a choice of soda water or ginger ale, all of which are served in a separate glasses if ordered.

“We are not against cocktails, we are just pro-spirits,” Joel Cuellar, “spirits sommelier”, told the New York Daily News. “If someone wants a whisky and ginger ale, I won’t refuse, but I will serve it in separate glasses.” Melita Kiely, The Spirits Business

This is very exciting news. As many of you know, I love my whiskeys neat, so as soon as Copper & Oak opens, I'm going to head down there and have them pour me a stiff drink.

That said, as a ginger lover, I do like that they'll allow a ginger ale mixer. It's still August, and sometimes you need some ice and bubbles in your Bourbon.

I'm not sure when it's officially open yet, but we'll look into it and report back!

You're Invited! Women Who Whiskey: Gentlemen Edition

You are cordially invited to this spring's first Women Who Whiskey: Gentlemen Edition! 

When

Monday, June 2, 6-9pm

Where

One Mile House

10 Delancey Street 

Why

To enjoy a whiskey and good company in a delightful bar with an outdoor patio and a great cocktail list! 

Please join your favorite Women Who Whiskey, and a few select gentlemen guests, for a drink! 

Hope to see you there!

Who Wants To Go In On Liters and Liters of Barrel-Aged Cocktails With Me?

{via Bourbon & Banter}

There's nothing I love more than a properly made barrel-aged cocktail. A few bars serve them in the city, but only a couple I've been too - Elsa (a delightful cocktail bar in Alphabet City) and Maysville (Char No. 4's sister restaurant)- really do it right.

Barrel-aged cocktails have all the richness of a freshly mixed cocktail, but a much deeper, more mellow undertone that comes from giving all the ingredients time to hang out and get to know each other.

Bourbon & Banter outlines the process of barrel aging at home, and even provides a great recipe to try:

Barrel Aged Vice Presidential Manhattan

• 2 Bottles Jefferson’s Bourbon
• 4 oz. Sweet Vermouth (I used Dolin)
• 1.2 oz. Blood Orange Bitters  (I used Fee Brothers)
• .8 oz. Orange Bitters (I used Peychaud’s)
• 4 oz. Maraschino Liqueur (I used Maraska)

However, this is no small or quick feat. As they say,

"A caveat: when barrel aging cocktails, you are undertaking a real liquor investment and you will need a lot of booze. So make sure you are making a cocktail that you will like to either drink copious amounts of yourself, or you are comfortable dishing out to all of your friends. It is also a time investment, as I recommend allowing your cocktail to age for at least 4-6 weeks. Yes: you must wait a month or more for your drink."

That said, I'd love to try it. Maybe this fall, when it starts to get chilly again. To read more about the process of barrel aging cocktails, check out the rest of the post here.

Anyone want to go in on a few liters of barrel-aged Manhattan with me?

What Does It Mean to Drink Like a Woman?

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"I wonder how men will respond to women’s incursion into the whiskey market. Traditionally we’ve seen male flight. As an activity, occupation, or product is increasingly associated with women, men leave. In a society where women keep infiltrating more and more of men’s domains, this is a bad long-term strategy for maintaining dominance (see, for example, the feminization of education). As I ask in my forthcoming sociology of gender textbook: What will happen when women are sipping from all the bottles?"

Read more here.

Women in Whiskey History

IN PROHIBITION, LADIES RAN THE SHOW

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“Women bootleggers ranged from the pretty faces to the shot callers. They included one-time bootleggers looking to make quick cash and rich women financing ships hauling $100,000 worth of smuggled whiskey. Women were so good that, at one point, agents believed female bootleggers outsold the men five sales to one.”

WHISKEY WAS ONCE THE AMERICAN EPIDURAL

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“Much like aqua vitae was used for treatments from the 1500s to 1700s in Europe, whiskey was the chosen remedy for coughs, runny noses, rashes, chills, fevers, and just about everything else. American pregnant women dosed up on whiskey to ease the pain of childbirth and to relax after labor.”

For more about the secret history of the fairer sex and your favorite drink, check out  6 Ways Women Made Whiskey What It Is, on Esquire. 

Women Who Whiskey: Revival Bar

So we didn't actually get to celebrate spring at Revival Bar. 

If I had done my homework, I would have learned that their beautiful backyard patio was under construction. But I didn't, so we ended up inside.  

In the end it was a great opportunity to check out how they'd remodeled the entire place, including a huge upstairs space. 

The theme seemed to be modern rustic wood cabin, and with the lingering smell of cedar, it really felt like we were out of the city and drinking our whiskey in the wild (almost). 

Although the downstairs area around the bar got a little crowded,

 upstairs was very spacious and comfortable. 

Our event had a great turnout, including a hearty showing of ladies from my work! Work hard, play hard, ladies! 

If you see women holding wine instead of whiskey it's because there was an irresistible happy hour deal on wine. Don't worry, we had some whiskey after! 

 I wanted to try to cocktails (my litmus test for a bar is how they make a Manhattan), but they were inexplicably out of Vermouth! So instead I had a Bulleit Rye neat, a safe go-to. 

They had a great selection of whiskey, and a very friendly bartender who graciously kept me entertained while I waited for the ladies. 

And this is Tommy, the delightful gentleman manning the door. He had us in stitches with his hilarious stories of car chases gone awry (he used to be a police officer) and rescue scenarios. 

Near Union Square, Revival Bar is extremely central, and a great place to grab a casual drink after work. 

I highly recommend it, and can't wait to go back to check out the backyard patio! 

***

Revival Bar

 129 East 15th Street 

(between 3rd Ave and Irving Place)

212.253.5061

***

You're Invited! wWw NY: Cheers to Spring!

You are cordially invited to toast to Spring's very belated arrival! 

When:

Friday, March 28, 6 pm - 9 pm

Where:

Revival Bar, 129 East 15th Street (between 3rd Ave and Irving Place)

Why:

To celebrate the end of the cold (fingers crossed) with a stiff drink in a beautiful backyard garden with your favorite whiskey-loving ladies! 

Come with warm weather optimism, but bring a sweater, just in case. 

Looking forward to seeing you there! 

Distiller: A New Whiskey App!

There's a new app that's all about whiskey! 

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The Baltimore Post-Examiner gives a great review:

"Distiller is a new app designed to help you choose your next bottle of whiskey. 

Other apps give you tasting notes and ratings, but Distiller looks at your personal ratings, as well as expert ratings and flavor profiles, and suggests your next whiskey purchase.

It has some fun features.  When looking for a new bottle, it asks where you will be enjoying it: by the fireplace, poker night, outdoors, etc.  Sadly, there is not an option for “in front of the TV watching House of Cards,” because that’s my real answer (although you can choose the couch on the iPad version).  I haven’t played around with it enough to detect a pattern in how the recommendations change based on location, but it’s still fun.

For each recommendation you request, you can specify a region (American, Scotch, Irish, World), a price range, how adventurous you would like to get, and whether you’re looking for a gift, something new, something for your collection, etc. 

As you rate whiskeys and add your favorites to your “Top Shelf,” Distiller learns your preferences."

I haven't tried it yet--unfortunately I haven't been doing a lot of whiskey drinking since I downloaded it yesterday--but I've heard good things, and I'm excited to see how it works!

Especially the feature that gets to know what you like and makes recommendations. I often stick with my tried and true, and this will be a good incentive to drink outside the box!

Have you tried it? Let us know what you think!