Martini Groove

Listen to me now and hear me later. You're probably going to go to Vegas this year at some point and get absolutely plastered to the point that you're wondering why that Stripper beat you up and what the hell is that smell coming from your belly-button? Why not go and do all these things during the 3rd Annual Modern Drunkard Magazine convention in downtown Las Vegas? That's right. Old school! DOWNTOWN! Oh sure, it'll have the things you expect from Vegas. Like the bars, the clubs, and the guys who will drop $1000 an hour at a craps table but then wait in line for 3 hours to get a comp at the $12.99 buffet. But it'll also have live bands, liquor olympics, booze tastings, and you'll get a poster and shirt. All for $49! Some people pay that for a shirt alone! The 3rd Annual Modern Drunkard Convention - [Modern Drunkard Magazine] Tags: conventions , booze hounds

This mobile bar can be completely setup in under 3 minutes, allowing you to bring the party anywhere you damn well please. If I do so say my damn self. No tools, no screwdrivers, no annoying little pieces to lose that make the entire bar not work. Just a simple, light, easy to assemble bar that allows you to focus on much more important things, like making those Cosmo's and Daiquiri's with umbrellas in them for your next football tailgate party. Nothing says "Kick Some Ass Local Professional and/or College Sports Team!" like a Daiquiri with an umbrella in it. It even has some sexy options you can purchase on your Justincase, like an illuminated front screen, a sink, and a beer tap. Go! Go! Go! You'll be so popular! Pricing starts at US$3,150 and go to around US$5700, depending on the add-ons you want. Justincase Mobile Bar - [Product Page] via Random Good Stuff Tags: gadget , bars

Absolut's massive line-up of flavored vodkas got bigger today with the hard launch of their Ruby Red Grapefruit vodka. The flavor is supposed to be a crisp vodka with a light floral and grapefruit undertone. They're doing launch parties in major cities right now and should have the product available by June of this year. Absolut debuts Ruby Red Grapefruit - [Yahoo! News] Absolut.com Tags: absolut , vodka , grapefruit

The Spirit World wins my love once again with two great tastes that taste great together...well, besides chocolate and peanut butter. Their Happy Hour At Home piece has the perfect recipe for a warm Spring day. Sangria with plenty of fruit and ribs, oso buco style. Finally, I have a plan for the weekend. Sangria & Ribs - [The Spirit World] Tags: recipe , sangria , ribs

If you love The Martini Lounge (and let's be honest, how can you not?) then probability is that you'll love imbibe. It's got all the great topics that we cover on the site here, but more in-depth and in a handy format that you can take to the bathroom with you and, if necessary, use for toilet paper. Calling itself "The Magazine of Liquid Culture" it has more of an upper-crust look at drinking than something like Wine X, but doesn't have Wine X's attitude. imbibe Magazine - [Magazine site]

Coors is out to destroy heat this Summer with its line-up of new reduced temperature beverage delivery system technology. You like that? I knew that you would. The items: - Stay Cold Glassware: This is a dual-paned glass that stops the heat from your hand from affecting the temperature of your beer. You'll see this one being delivered to bars and restuarants at the beginning of May - Cold Wrap Bottles: These bottles have a reflective wrapper around the bottle that will reflect the heat from your hand, thus keeping the beer cooler for longer. Also available this May. - Coors Light Plastic Bottle Cooler Box: This box contains 18 16-ounce plastic bottles and the box doubles as a cooler that you can throw ice in. Perfect for those last minute trips to the beach. Okay, maybe they're not perfect, but at least *someone* is doing something interesting when it comes to beer. Coors Targets Cold for Summer - [Just-Drinks] Tags: beer , coors

The sheer amount of sake's out there bears out the fact that this is bound to happen. Someone finally has the title of "Sake Sommelier." The imcomprehensibly awesome Wine X Magazine has an article about Eric Swanson, the MGM Grand's Sultan of Sake. I made up the title myself, but I'm sure if he ever read it, that he'd quickly change his business cards. Eric seems like a cool guy, except for his disdain for the Sakebomb. He clearly doesn't get it. We don't do Sakebomb's because it gets us drunker, or to mask the taste of the swill they serve as hot sake. We do Sakebomb's because we love the sound of our fists hitting the table, the fizz that comes as the tiny glass drops into the beer, and the chug fest that quickly follows. It's not the taste. It's the ritual . Barring that, it's a good interview and Wine X's new site is everything you'd wish for in a snob-free (mostly) magazine. The wit of Maxim, the intelligence of

Wines in a box have started blowing up and have seen the most substantial growth in the last year, in fact, 3.5 times the growth of traditionally bottled wine. Granted, there was nowhere but up for this genre of storage to go, but the growth is definitely more than I expected. Oh, by the way, these aren't called box wines. They're "Cask Wines." Smart move. The article also talks about how wine was the #2 growth drink behind bottled water. Not a bad year for the beverage. Also, I stole that picture from sfgate.com. Thanks for that. Now I feel better. Premium Wines in Boxes and Screwcap Bottles Fuel Growth In U.S. Wine Sales - [Drinks Media Wire]

The UK Based company, Gunjee, will take the party that you were planning on throwing with some bacon-wraps and pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey and turn it in to something that actually doesn't suck (as much). You'll still have to find some girls that will actually go to your party, but getting there is half the fun, isn't it? Here's a video showing more: Tags: foam , party , gunjee

It's official, fatter is better. The Beerbelly, a strap on bag that holds up to 80 ounces of your favorite fluid, has really taken off. Our friends over there tell us that they had over 2 million hits just a few days after it's official launch and there are calls to sell it in almost every country in the world. They've actually had a problem with delays trying to keep up with all the orders. The belly claims that it can keep your drink hot or cold for hours and even longer with the "extended pleasure" pack. The problem comes, I think, if you already have a substantial belly. Then it's just a belly on top of a belly. As we all know, that's just wrong. The Beerbelly - US$49.95 - [Beerbelly.com] Tags: beer , gadget

A review of Modern Spirits vodka - (The Village Voice takes on the celery and tea flavored vodka) - [villagevoice.com] Beware! Energy Drinks - (A reasonable warning about how energy drinks dehydrate you) - [Tartan Online] A good reason to never drink Grey Goose again...Guilt by association - (Tara Reid is spotted getting trashed on the stuff) - [jossip.com] Summer's almost here, time to spend too much on stuff for the patio - (Luxist has a guide to summer furniture that is sure to break your bank. Of note is the 180 degree bar ) Asahi Beer is going to buy a baby food maker - (It's a great time to be a kid) - [Wall Street Journal - Reg Required]

The good happy hours aren't always easy to find. You want one with a good crowd, good drinks that won't break the bank, and some great cheap or free food. The Happy-Hour.com database is here to help you find that after-work watering hole you've been seeking. It has some great finds like Il Fornaio's excellent happy hour and some of the regular spots that you'd expect like TGI Friday's and Chili's. Know of a great spot you want to share? Then you add your own with ease. The site also has forums and drink recipes and a drink dictionary. Happy-Hour.com - [Front page]

If you took a porn movie director and asked him to make a regular vlog about bartending, then you'd probably end up with Bartender Weekly. So yeah, it's like a porn. Except without nudity, sex, and the annoying shots of the guy's face right in the middle. It's a weekly video of drinks and bar type things for what looks like the home bartender. It's definitely fun to watch from an entertainment standpoint and it looks like they're picking up steam, though I fail to understand why anyone would make a chocolate martini without any chocolate shavings and measure the ingredients in all their drinks so precisely. It's clearly written from the point-of-view of what a college drinker thinks is upscale, ie. "Bombay Sapphire is the best" I'm pretty sure that the host is drunk during tapings too, which wins big points in my book. Bartender Weekly Vlog - [Phenious.com] Tags: bartending , vlog

Fire! Fire! Tags: shots , fire , roulette

Not everyone has the space for a massive wine cellar or even a small one. This galvanized cube wine bar is an excellent alternative to ripping out a wall so you can put your 2003's somewhere. it stores and organizes your favorite bottles of wine, glassware, serving pieces, and linens. Perfect for the empty wall and without making you install a temperature control unit. Galvanized Cube Wine Bar - US$849.71 - [The Container Store] Tags: wine , storage

I covered the self-cooling can a short time back and it seems that now Miller has latched on to it for it's ability to quickly cool a beer by 30 degrees. At the time of launch I was skeptical that it even existed but Miller has proven me wrong. They expect that camping and fishing will drive initial sales, which makes sense. Except the cans to be on the shelves by mid-2007. Miller beer to be first to use (Cold Can) Technology - [Newtechspy.com] Tags: cold can , technology

Strap a cooler on to a go-cart as the seat, charge someone US$1995 for it, and you have the American Dream. Oh yeah, and the rims. Don't forget the mag rims! If you want to be the most popular guy at the park this summer, or maybe just an ice cream man with a gimmick, this baby's for you. The Cooler Cruiser - [Product Page] via Born Rich Tags: gadget , cruiser

DeKuyperUS, the company behind the Pucker line of drink add-ins, is launching a contest called "Bump It Up" that is offering 100 prizes a day of things like music downloads, a DJ, caterer, or bartender for a party, or the grand prize of $15,000. The Grand Prize is given away at the end of August. The site also offers recipes, a party calculator, and a drink finder. Bump Up Your Party - [DekyperUSA] Tags: beam , sweepstakes , pucker

I love preparing for summer and it seems that with each summer, the cool things you can get to enjoy it get better and better. The Aquapub is the latest pool entry and it allows you to sit at a swim up table with 5 friends. You can even sit by yourself in it (though you have to correct the 7 degree angle you'll create with a swim noodle). It even has an area in the middle that allows you to put ice or food to keep things cold. The seats are all filled with water so that provides ballast for an even table regardless of weight (supposedly). The table will set you back US$1399.95 and doesn't come with the umbrella shown, though it says that pretty much any umbrella will work in it. Aquapub - $1399.95 - [Product Page] via Gizmodo Tags: aquapub , pool , accessory

Okay, so expensive clothing and stain-making beverages are just drawn together. I never spill wine on the free t-shirt I got for applying for a job at Quizno's at some job fair, but I will spill everything out there on my custom-tailored shirts from various San Francisco shops that I buy for work. Despite this unholy matching, Diesel jeans is now in the winemaking business. Their new label sells for US$213 to US$267 per bottle and comes in three varietals. The three wines are Bianco di Rosso, a Chardonnay, Rosso di Rosso (Merlot/Cabernet Sauvignon) and Nero di Rosso (Pinot Nero). Though they are still striving to gain a better sense of terroir (which should please the Fermentation crowd), they realize they're not there yet. Renowned oenologist Roberto Cipresso, who is overseeing the production, says they're about 30% there. Diesel fashion launches label wines - [Decanter.com] Tags: diesel , wine

My first note on Michael Collins whiskey back a bit ago and it is now out and the ever-intelligent Scotch Blog has reviewed it. Check out the full review with tasting notes over there. Bottom line: A pretty good drink but maybe not the best value. Michael Collins Whiskey - [The Scotch Blog] Tags: scotch , michael collins , whiskey

Hey man! You can party without hurting the environment, man! AOL's reference site has a short to-do on how to party organically. Though it has no reference as to how to purchase your marijuana from organic only suppliers, which seems to be quite a fad in such circles, it does offer up advice on the full list you need in order to keep your parties green (so to speak). Most of the tips are no-brainers, but if everyone had a brain, we wouldn't need to worry about green tips at all, would we? Green Parties - [AOL] Tags: green , party

Nothing to do with beer, but awesome prank. Tags: beer , pranks , commercial

Too bad the Easter Bunny hates you. So much so that we won't even be posting here on Monday to recover from it. Tags: easter , drunk

Two of the coolest things on the planet, vodka and firefighters, are coming together. Ivanabitch vodka is setting up the campaign, "Cheers to our Hardcore Heroes" which will see a percentage of Ivanabitch revenue going to national and local firefighting organizations. The program has full endorsement of a lot of firefighting organizations as a way to raise money for equipment and training at many volunteer firefighting companies. It's great to see a company making a significant contribution to a cause they believe in, not just the usual tax write-off lip service we usually see. If you're a distributor and order the vodka for a fundraiser, they'll even give you 10 free shirts to giveaway. Nice work. I really like this promotion and idea, you'll see a lot more coverage of it here as the information comes. Vodka Company Fundraises For U.S. Firefighting Organizations - [Press Release] Fire Services Fund - [Ivanabitch Vodka] Tags: firefighters , vodka

The Whisky Bible is a slippery beast. Many people have to go to some used book store on eBay to find themselves a copy and they're usually outdated. Not something you want with the plethora (do you even know what a plethora is?) of whisky's being released nowadays. The Scotch Blog's own Doceon Press is selling these now in the U.S. via a shady Canadian book connection (like there's any other kind of Canadian connection that isn't shady). It's reasonably priced at $17.95 too, though the damned customs for shipping from America Jr. raises the shipping price to $6. Jim Murray's Whisky Bible - $17.95 - [Doceon Press] via The Scotch Blog Tags: whisky , bible

Proving yet again that all great things come out of Holiday Inn's (Including, I'm fairly sure, my own conception), the Long Island Iced Coffee makes it's debut. The resident mixologist of the Holiday Inn, Long Island-Islip Airport invented this concoction in Summer of 2005. It includes "four dark spirits and fresh coffee." No word on if the dark spirits require a baby sacrifice or just the usual blood drops. It actually sounds like a fairly tasty drink and perfect for a hot summer day WHEN THE BLOOD OF AGAMEMNON SEARCHES FOR THE SOULS OF THE UNPURE DESCENDANTS OF THE DAY OF RAGE! Crap. More dark spirits. LONG ISLAND ICED COFFEE CREATED -- THE BREW WITH A BUZZ! - [Press Release] Tags: drink , dark forces

The arguably decided drink of white people is teaching those same people how to assimilate themselves better in to Black Culture, and they're doing it in Brooklyn. So, if you want to buy in to the mass marketing of Hip Hop Consumerism, you can take a complimentary course in music, art, or dance. You can train to be a Hip Hop Hero! (Or just look like one) Smirnoff Movement Studio - [Launch site] via Consumerist Tags: smirnoff , vodka , classes

Yeah, but can you do this? Tags: vodka , bong

England's World Cup winning soccer (football) team from 1966 signed a bottle of 1966 Dom Perignon, thus insuring a future bottle of champagned that will be auctioned for a completely unreasonable amount. Sotheby's is about to auction off the bottle in honor of Bobby Moore, the 1966 Captain of the Team who died of Bowel Cancer. Proceeds will go to the charity that his wife started and help them towards their goal of raising £3 Million this year. 80% of all bowel cancer is curable if caught early enough. The bottle should go for about US$8,700 to US$13,000, but could go a lot higher for a die hard football fan. But seriously. Ouch. I'm donating just on the pain factor. Vintage 1966: champagne to be auctioned in memory of Moore - [Independent] Tags: auction , champagne

Rather than overclocking a cpu and running water cooling through a PC, Jared Bouck decided to build a refrigator PC mod that kept things icy cold inside an easily dispensable case. He even took it to a LAN Party for validation. Build your own for about $200 and put beer in it. Let me know how that goes. ThermalTake MiniFridge - [Inventgeek.com] Tags: gadget , mods

5 Good Questions About Whisk(e)y - (A nice tutorial on the basics, via Days That End in "Y" ) - [Kiplingers] Smirnoff retains top spot for spirits - (Thanks to Smirnoff) - [Just-drinks] Art of the Drink reviews us! - (Sort of) - [Art of the Drink] Screw caps offer a twist - (Yet another story on the change in corks) - [SFgate.com] Tags: linkology

This little pleasure is the ultimate party favor. The Outdoor Beer Refrigerator will run for 5 hours on a single charge and keep the 57 cans it holds nice and cold and ready for the next picnicker looking to get a frosty one. It's sturdy top allows you to mix drinks on it and it's huge wheels allow you to get it wherever you want quickly and easily. You can put it outdoors and keep it plugged in so people aren't running inside to the fridge at your summer get togethers. It even has a bottle caddy for the wine lovers. Roll Bar - US$399 - [First Street] via Coolest Gadgets

So, the other night I'm sitting at a watering hole and watching this guy order a Manhattan and then complain to the bartender that it had bitters in it. She was pretty new and he was loudly protesting, "I've been drinking Manhattan's for 12 years, they don't have bitters in them!" The guy was bumming her out, so I pulled up the Webtender on my Treo and showed her that she had no reason to worry, she was doing things right. I then proceeded to chat with the guy and slowly let him know of his error. "I've been drinking them wrong for 12 years!" he exclaims. Much mirth and merriment ensued. The venerable mixologists over at The Spirit World have done a fantastic write-up on this oft misunderstood drink and includes how to make it properly (with bitters) and just how enjoyable it can be. If nothing else it makes it so you can order a unique drink and seperate yourself from the masses of vodka martini's out there. The Manhattan Cocktail - [T

This Tiki connects via a USB port and has eyes with 3 settings. They can pulse to music, be set to a steady color, or cycle and fade through all the colors. There are only 4 of these going to be made and each one runs $169.99. A must have for that home bar top, especially if you're that guy who has to have the complete Hawaiian theme in his bar. USB Tiki V3 - [Product Page] via Gizmodo Tags: junk , bar

Yet another good Google module. Add this one to your homepage to find breweries in a specific location. Would have been handier when I was travelling 130,000 miles a year, but comes in handy for any trip. Beermaping.com Module [Google Modules] Tags: beer , mapping , google , module

You've been there. Crawling drunk out of your favorite bar, up the street, in to the nearest Walgreen's in order to buy a Kit Kat bar. Except then the clerk can't see you because you're still crawling so when you pop up he hits the alarm button and the cops are called. Your wife, who went to get the car earlier, comes back to you sprawled out on the floor. Okay, that was pretty specific. Here's a game that simulates with alarming accuracy the "Home Run." That long walk home where you have about a 50% chance of actually making it to the destination you started out going to. Home Run Game - [wagenschenke.ch] Tags: drinking , game

One of my favorite martini bars in the U.S. is Red Square in Las Vegas. Though they treat people requesting info like criminals until proven innocent, it's a great place to hang out and their ice bar is pretty fun to hang out at. I'll do a full review later on. For now, here's a great martini pour from there. Tags: martini , red square , las vegas

Bombay Sapphire had a competition to design a new type of martini glass. The prize was a cool US$15k for the winning glass (shown here), named "Inverted." The US Winning glass was one of my favorites and can be seen on the competition site . Designer Glass Competition - [Bombay Sapphire] Tags: martini , glass

Luxist covered a story from the SF Chronicle about Corkage Fees around the US and how much people were willing to pay for them. It included some of the more outrageous fees as well. In their musing the folks at Luxist mentioned that it would be great to have a nationwide corkage fee chart for restaurants. So, I cruised over to Ning.com and setup a Corkage Fee social app. Add your own and rate the restaurant while you're at it, tags too. Corkage Fees, how much is too much? - [Luxist] 2 Cents, How much have you paid for corkage fees? - [sfgate.com] Corkage Fees Across the US App - [ning.com] Tags: application , corkage , fees

Here's a beer commercial from Argentina. Nice to see one where the guy actually gets away with it. Tags: beer , commercial

This will be a regular feature. A bunch of stuff not worth an entire post about but worth noting. Vodka's Uncivil War (Two russian vodka makers are battling it out over which one is the true Russian vodka) - [New York Post] A Word on Cognac (If you're going to start drinking the stuff, proper terminology helps) - [The Eagle via Days That End In "Y" ) Expert Says Hard Liquor Helps Houseplants (Finally, I'll have someone to drink with) - [CBSNews.com] Daniel Craig deals Bond a bad hand (Basically, the new Bond really sucks at being Bond) - [Femalefirst.com] Canadian Club is now in IRL (Drinking and driving really do mix) - [Businesswire] Tags: news , alcohol

When you're headed out to a night on the town and looking spiffy, you might order a drink that you may not get at your local watering hole. For the bartenders, there are some drinks that will make them not look at you for your order the next time you want a drink. If the club or bar is slow none of these drinks are really a problem, but if things are moving, who do you think they are going to take an order from first, the guy who ordered two Corona's last time or the guy who wants two frozen lemon drops? A good read and definitely worth keeping in mind. Five drinks that bartenders just hate to make - [sfgate.com] Tags: drinks , bars

Here's the video from the auction of the legendary bottle. The final going price was $20k and proceeds went to the City Harvest charity. Tags: whisky , auction , glenfiddich , 1937

One more note on the new Roth Grape Vodka. Beam is now taking it nationwide rather than just the few good restaurants and bars here in CA. It's worth noting that the famous French Laundry restaurant serves the stuff and must be pushing it quite a bit because every release seems to talk about it. French Laundry are epicurian geniuses, but what happens when the upscale local steakhouse starts selling the stuff? I don't expect it will work well. I'd like to hear from someone who has tasted the stuff and doesn't work for Beam and doesn't think that it sucks. Beam Wine to take Roth nationwide - [San Francisco Business Times] Tags: roth , grape+vodka

I received a package yesterday from some friendly anonymous person who was kind enough to include Heineken's new Light Lager inside of an awesome carrying case. The carrying case is a hard shell that can be used to safely transport wine, scotch, or any other type of liquid. It's gorgeous. I quickly threw it out and chilled the beer in order to taste it. My first taste made me think of Corona. Hey, that's pretty good for a guy who's not that in to Heineken. It was a very light taste that is sure to be refreshing on hot summer nights. I saw that one of the test markets for the beer was Miami, smart move as this is the kind of beer I'd want to use to be refreshed on a night out clubbing. The drawback came as I continued through the beer. It began to lose it's taste. No, it didn't taste bad, it just had *no* taste. As a matter of fact, it almost seemed as it was pulling taste from my mouth. It was the anti-taste. Bottom line: This stuff is

How come we don't get these awesome commercials in the U.S.? For the country that has the biggest amount of spending consumers in the world, it's amazing how much the commercials suck. It seems every country I've ever been in has better commercials than us. Tags: clooney , martini , commercial

If you want me to link to you, there's no better way than posting simple recipes that are yummy and what wine to pair it with. Frequent commenter, Mike from Days That End in "Y", has put up two recipes of his own creation doing just that. The recipes include steamed mussells in white wine sauce and poached salmon with wasabe and black pepper. Both recipes look relatively simple with a huge payoff of taste. Though it'd be nice if he told me specifically which wines to pair it with (hint, hint), he gives you an idea of what to get so you can match it to your taste a little better. The site has at least one thing every day that I want to link to. Be sure to add it to your RSS. Two seafood recipes with white wine - [daysthatendiny.com] Tags: recipe , wine , seafood

What does it mean when you're looking at the girl across the bar and she orders a mojito? Or when the guy you spot next to the pool table orders a margarita? AOL's Love.com has put up the Happy Hour Drink Decoder to help you figure it all out. Well, sort of. It's definitely a good start and the page has some exceptionally useful links to AOL's venerable CityGuide, allowing you to find some of the more trusted hotspots in your local area. The drink decoder is a lot of fun even though it reads like it was written by the same people who write horoscopes for a living. Happy Hour Drink Decoder - [personals.aol.com] Tags: love , personals , guide , drinks

Dear Mom, Remember how I always wanted a huge pool in the shape of a dollar sign, and a disco with my own friends in it, and a shower so big you can wash your car in it? And remember how I always wanted a chandelier with a girl hanging from it who would feed me or serve me my drinks? Well, I didn't get any of those, but I did find the chandelier/girl combo. This super hot girl (called an "Angel") hanging from a chandelier comes down and pours my drink. I'm finally someone. THINGS ARE GOING TO START HAPPENING TO ME NOW! Love, Navin Happy Hour Chandelier Company - [happyhourchandelier.com] Tags: party , fun , angel

I went out last night and got to taste some of the stuff I hadn't had a chance to previously. To Wit: - Tasted Roth Grape Vodka . I think the only way that the stuff would be anywhere near decent tasting would be if you heated it up like they do with bad sake and shoot it. Seriously, everyone talks about how their vodka is derived from grapes or potatoes, Roth Vodka is clearly derived from ass. Someone may shout out that it's an acquired taste, I would rather not acquire this one. - Wasabe Vodka . VERY good. If you like Wasabi at all, you'll love this stuff. Very gentle flavor, not overpowering at all. Had a few good bourbons too. I'm really starting to like this stuff more and more. A lot more complexities than the vodkas I've been drinking. A very nice change, though it takes someone with some pretty good knowledge to get you turned on to it properly.