Martini Groove

The Carnival of Drinking is mine to host! MINE! Things are going to start happening to me now ! The next Carnival of Drinking is all about energy drinks and alcohol. Tell a story about the time in Las Vegas when you drank so much Vodka/Red Bull that they found one of your kidney's in the fountain at Bellagio. Or give us your best recipe for making Rockstar energy drink taste...not bad. Hell, post a picture of you lining up some Four and SoCo shots with those male strippers that your girlfriend sent to your bachelor party as a joke. It's your Carnival. Your story. Who am I to stop you from telling it to the world? The deadline for submissions is June 11. That's pretty soon! Better start writing! All submitted stories will be posted on June 12. Considering that we have very low standards and no editorial staff, it's a great way for you to be published to the world! YOU HEAR ME? THE WORLD! You can submit your story by going to http://blogcarnival.com/bc /subm

This week's Wine Woot is 3 Cathedral Ridge wines: A Pinot Gris, a Chardonnay, and a Cabernet. The wines are decent, but once you pay for shipping you're only saving yourself about $5. It's a fairly popular wine and your local wine shop will probably have it. But if you want 3 bottles of wine, then $5 is as good as any savings and you might as well get it. Wine Woot - [wine.woot.com] Tags: wine , woot

The awesome Wine X magazine has two articles this month that are, as usual, right on. The first is about how tonic as an additive to most of our favorite drinks is quickly falling by the wayside for the likes of things like Red Bull and other energy drinks. They've even included a few good recipes. The other article gives tips on how to keep all the right stuff so that you can throw together a simple dinner from scratch. If you entertain as much as we do, then it's a must know for every good host or hostess. It really sucks to be tonic water - [Winexmagazine.com] Beat The Schlock - [Winexmagazine.com] Tags: dinner , energy drinks , red bull , wine x

Though it's not unheard of to have a woman as your master distiller (there have been 3 others in history), it is unheard of to have her voted in to the all male, and very prestigious, Malt Distillers Association of Scotland. I think the most surprising thing about Polly MacDonald is not that she's the first woman voted to the Association, nor the fact that she's overseeing 2 million gallons of Tomatin's best Scotch, but the fact that she's 23. Ummm...what were you doing at 23? Yeah, thought so. You can probably take comfort in the fact that, though she is significantly better than you in knowledge and acheivement, I can't seem to find a picture of her anywhere, so she's probably ugly. One can hope. Whisky first for woman distillery manager - [Just-drinks.com] Tags: whiskey , scotch , woman , polly macdonald

Finally, a Wiki for the wine gods that are floating all over the Internet. They finally have a place to impart their wisdom upon the uninitiated and boast of their amazing oenology skills. Encyclo Wine has all the features that you love about Wikipedia but with a focus on wine. You can learn history, vinification, about regions, specific wineries, and so much more. If you know something that others don't you can easily add your own article. Even better, you can correct someone else's article and exercise your right to one of the basic tenets of the Internet: Making another person look like an idiot. Encyclowine - [Encyclowine.org] via Days That End In "Y" Tags: wine , wiki , website

Alder over at Vinography has put up an article about a company that is sending some yeast in to space, bring it back, then making sake out of it. Space sake. He goes in to the tasting notes and decides: Marketing gimmick or genuine anti-gravity goodness? Read more at Vinography - [Vinography.com] Tags: sake , space , gimmick

Tags: beer , commercial

You know how most parties have some guy that has assorted beer or cocktail accessories? Like the singing bottle opener, or the hat that holds two cans of beers, or a toolbelt with cocktail mixing stuff in it? Now you can be that guy. That's right! Be the center of attention and still go home from the party completely, and utterly, alone. Hey, they're sold out right now, but keep checking back for your chance to own a piece of party history! Beer Holster - [Redenvelope.com] Tags: beer , holster , gadget

I don't know anyone that didn't have a tough winter this year. Even us Californians battled through some strange weather and fought the floods and we're ready to get the hell out of the house and get drunk and sunburned. I thought I'd fire off some of my favorite recipes for the upcoming Carnival of Drinking . Sure, you can always rely on beers for these types of outings, but what if you want something that's still easy but can help you change it up for a bit? The Martini Lounge is here to help. One of my far and away favorites is the Cucumber Martini. You can use muddled cucumber with a good gin for this, but to do it right, you need to get the right ingredients (plus, it's just easier this way). Cucumber Martini You'll need: A martini glass A cucumber Hendrick's Cucumber Gin Dry vermouth Ice A shaker Cut yourself a nice slice of cucumber and put it in the bottom of the glass. Put a drop or two of the vermouth on the cucumber. Put the gin in a

The Voga Italia Pinot Grigio comes in this cool looking bottle and is said to have a fruity flavor with apple and pear aromas. The bottle actually has a cork underneath the black cap. I think it'd be nice to see more of these types of bottles coming out and displacing the old fashioned wine bottle. 3 bottles of the stuff sold for US$10.50 on eBay. Volga Italia - [Volgaitalia.com] via Luxist Tags: volga italia , bottle , wine , grigio

It would seem that the wine applications are just starting to flood the market. There's Cork'd, Log A Bottle, and now Winelog.net which is full of AJAX goodness. The cool thing about Winelog is that you're able to input the wine's you've tried and rate them. It then can recommend wines that you might want to try based on *other* user's recommendations. So, a little bit of Amazon.com recommend style in an easy-to-use format dedicated to wine. No mobile access yet though, which is just something that is very clutch for me. I want to have that so I can be out at the shop and get my recommendations. WineLog - [winelog.net] via TechCrunch Tags: winelog , wine , database

Okay, it's to American Cheerleader magazine. But who doesn't love cheerleaders? Free subscription to American Cheerleader Magazine - [Freebizmag.com] Tags: cheerleaders , drunk , insane

One of my favorite regional airlines, Alaska Airlines, is now making sure that as soon as cell phone service begins again on airplanes, that you will be able to amp yourself up to talk nonstop on that trip from Seattle to Cabo. Their now offering Red Bull on all their flights for $5, only 2 and a half times more than you would pay for it at a liquor store. Considering that a cocktail is only $3 in coach, I don't expect sales to do very well. Of course, it will be free to those of you flying first class. Ah, it used to be a better meal, now it's a better life. Alaska gives Red Bull wings - [Cheapflights.com] Tags: alaska , red bull

Thanks to an offer that Days That End in "Y" came up with, I ordered the Wines From Spain book. This book is *really* good. It's clearly marketing material, but it's not afraid to talk about what's wrong with regions or the Spanish wine system either. It tells you which regions are still trying to gain a foothold in the world of wine as well as talking about how overly complicated the rating system has become as Spain tries to compete on a world level. It has great information on all the territories as well as excellent examples from the wineries there with ratings and approximate bottle costs, including which distributor in the US you could buy it from. Easily and far and away one of the best free books I've ever recieved and it rivals many of the books that you would purchase on the subject. Go get yours now. Wines from Spain Book - Free - [Winesfromspainusa.com] via Days That End in "Y" Tags: free , spain , wine , book

For those of you still under a rock and think that it's "cool" to order an "appletini" then you may not know what Woot.com is. It's a deal-a-day site that puts up a new product every night at Midnight (Central Time) for a low price and goes until it's sold out. Sometimes the price is ridiculously low (MP3 players for 10 bucks) and sometimes it's so-so. At the very least, the site is humorous in its descriptions. This same group has now launched wine.woot. Instead of daily the deal will be weekly, though. It will be some hodge-podge of wines like today's sampler, or a special bottle, all at a special price. I expect it will be the same though, sometimes an amazing deal, sometimes something that you can pass on. It's being managed by a company called "Wine Country Connect" in Sonoma County, California. It's in the town of Vineburg. You couldn't make up a better name for a town to have your wine company in. Each week, on

Clearly the alcoholic beverage industry thought way too many people were passing out from it's products. So now everything from vodka, to gin, to beer is now being infused with caffeine, guarana, or whatever else it's going to take to keep you awake in order to allow you to drink more beer. Miller is pushing out a pick-me-up beer under it's Mickey's brand and be called "Stinger" and A-B is doing it under the name "Tilt." Stinger has caffeine, guarana, and taurine and come in 16oz cans (think: Rockstar energy drink). Tilt throws some ginsent in to the mix. A-B's other beer, B to the E, has the same stuff but is fruit-flavored. Now you'll finally be able to make it through the entire greasy spoon meal after a night out partying without passing out in your eggs. Miller, A-B to compete in caffeinated malt beverage market - [Milwaukee Business Journal] Tags: stinger , tilt , beer , caffeine

I've been really digging on herbal cocktails lately. They just seem to cool off so much better on the warm days we've been getting here. One of my favorites is a cucumber slice with Hendrick's cucumber's infused gin. But man that stuff is hard to find. The LA Times has a short article on how to make your own herbals, including a cucumber martini without having to find the Hendrick's and with chervil thrown in to the mix. Yummy. How about a Honeydew-cilantro agua fresca with tequila (Pictured)? Interesting drinks will rule your party this summer and these ones are easy to boot. Herbal cocktails, anyone? - [LATimes.com] Tags: herbal , cucumber , martini

Hey, not everyone can go out and get drunk on $12 martini's these days. That's almost 4 gallons of gas! A new study shows that you can drunk quicker if you take that rum and Coke and turn it in to a Rum and Diet Coke. The story is that your stomach empties out the diet drink faster because it digests faster thanks to the artificial sweetener. Sugar adds to the digestion time and makes it so that you absorb things slower. They don't say just how much higher the Blood Alcohol Level got on the diet drink, but they do say it was "significantly higher." So, if you're going out that night before payday and want to make a go of it but without all the green to make the scene, go diet. Sure, it'll taste like ass and you'll look like you're a subscriber to Details magazine when you order, but at least you'll get drunk quick. Artifically sweet cocktails speed alcohol absorption - [New.com] Tags: drunk , diet

The press release for p.i.n.k. says that it was released "filling a void in the spirits category." With the huge amount of vodka's out there, from hemp to jewels, I can't think of any real "voids" in the market. At most, it saves "a step." This new vodka has caffeinne and guarana (flawlessly) infused in to the formula in order to get around the pesky Red Bull mixture that is often used when you're out late at night and need the extra kick. One thing I will say that impresses me is that they were able to get the essence of the guarana been and the energy it provides without the color or the taste that often comes with it (that's the tartness you usually taste in most energy drinks). The vodka is made in Holland, bottled in Florida, and inside of a French made bottle. About as cosmopolitan you can get. What is it about Florida and all the vodka's being launched from there? Southern wine and spirits is distributing it, so that means it

French company Mikasa has launched a new glass made from their latest technology called "Kwarx." The special crystal is supposed to retain brilliance, reduce scratches, and be virtually unbreakable. Clearly they've never been to any of my wine parties, "unbreakable" is just a challenge to these people. I posted on this glass before because of it's color brilliancy and it's ability to not affect the actual color of the liquid you put in it, but it's official launch today and it's availability for sale focused on its unbreakability are new, so worth bringing up. 'Unbreakable' glass launched - [Decanter News] Tags: mikasa , kwarx , wine glass

The headline should read "An over-rated vodka buys an under-rated one" but I don't write the stuff, I'm just the messenger. Under the terms, Danzka vodka will continue to produce the stuff under licenses for the next 5 months while Belvedere takes over marketing and distribution, which should be a nice boost for Danzka. What happens after the initial 5 months wasn't stated. Having Danzka out from under the thumb of V&S (makers of Absolut) will give it some good street cred too. Belvedere to buy Danzka Vodka - [Just-drinks.com] Tags: danzka , belvedere , absolut , vodka

Esquire has come out with their list of best bars in America and does a good job of pointing out some that may not be visited as much as they need to be. The San Francisco ones were definitely right on and I give big ups to The Owl Tree and Zeitgeist, though they are on opposite ends of the social spectrum. I know any list has to be cut as some point, but they just left out too many good ones. Including Shanghai Tunnel in Portland, Filter14 in the meatpacking district in Manhattan, and The Bitter End in San Diego (Pictured) to name a few. I'd probably add Trader Sam's in SF as well, just for the Scorpion Bowl. Esquire's Best Bars in America - [Keepmedia.com] Tags: best bars , america

Smirnoff's top shelf vodka is getting a new look. The idea is to get it away from the antiquated look and the familiar label of a cheap vodka (Smirnoff Red) and show that they're making a serious entry in to the market of good stuff. And we all love good stuff. I have yet to find it in the US and non-vodka places (though I know most Vodka bars import it), but it is full of tasty goodness and we love that too. If you're in the UK, it's pretty much everywhere. New look for Smirnoff Black in UK - [Just-drinks.com] Smirnoff Black - £ 17.29 - [thedrinkshop.com] Tags: smirnoff , black , label

The state of Washington is fighting tooth and nail to make sure they have all of the recognition of the famous appelations around the world and, so far, every one of their arguments for it has been well deserved. The Quilceda Creek Cabernet's are no exception. They already had a 100 point rating from Wine Advocate but now Robert Parker has pushed them in to the upper-echelon's of wine fame by rating their 2002 and 2003 Cabernet Savignon's at 100 points as well. This small winery, just southeast of Seattle, is in the Red Mountain area that is becoming well known for it's superb wines. Good luck finding it though. The $80/bottle wine is already sold out. Your best bet to get some of the new stuff is to get on their mailing list and some good kneepads. Snohomish Winery Claims State's First 100 - [kitsapsun.com] Quilceda Creek Winery - [quilcedacreek.com] Tags: 100 point wines , quilceda creek , red mountain

Let's say you're the guy in the picture here. You clearly can get NO play at any club, bar, or strip joint that you go to. The T-Qualizer shirt gets you the attention you need to show the world just how cool you are on the outside so they'll talk to you. You know, because you're beautiful *inside.* Or you can just really screw with your drunken friends. This shirt takes 4 AAA batteries which power it's sound sensitive lights so that you can be the walking stereo system you always knew you could be. So if you wear clothes (and I know some of you do), this might be just the thing to cover the top part of your body! The T-Qualizer Music Tee - US$32.18 - [Iwantoneofthose.com] Tags: clubs , clothes , t-shirt

The time of year is upon us when we make our ways to beaches and lakes for campfires and hot dog roasts. So, why not add a little more fun to the activity? This roaster allows you to show off your superior camping skills as well as your unmatched sense of humor. That usually costs you at LEAST $30. This will only cost you $14.99 Novelty Weenie Roaster - $14.99 - [eBay.com] Tags: novelty , hot dog , roaster

Hey, you know that table you have in your house that you found on Craig's List in the free section? Then you brought it home and put it in a corner and put a bottle of Two Buck Chuck, a bottle of Grenadine, and four glasses on then called it your "Bar?" Yeah. I'm talking about that. It sucks. Seriously, what the hell were you thinking? Now draw up a better one, no, not one that looks EXACTLY like what you already have. Dream a little. Think of a good description and fire it off to Guiness by July 31. If it doesn't suck and happens to not suck as much as all the other entries, they'll build it for you. Not a bad deal for just creating something on paper that doesn't suck. I wonder how many more ways I can put "suck" in a paragraph? Guiness Build-A-Bar Sweepstakes - [Guiness.com] Tags: contest , bar

The Smoke set of glasses has been around for a long time but are specifically designed for you to allow you to have your drink and hold your cigar/cigarette in the same hand. With flutes, highballs, wine glasses, and whisky glasses, you'll be able to find the type that goes with your drink. This type of convienence doesn't come cheap though. The glasses are hand blown and start at $75 each. Smoke - [Tuscan Hills] Tags: glasses , bar , smoke

Most people on the West Coast have taken to an ABC motto, Anything But Chardonnay. However most of the rest of the wine-drinking U.S. disagrees with it apparently. According to a recent AC Nielsen report, Chardonnay gets top honors with Merlot coming in second. The wine blogs and their associated snobbery have been so caught up in Pinot's thanks to recent popularity that they forget that there may be something out there that people are actually buying. Pinot Noir did grow to #4, but still behind White Zinfandel. It's a shame too that there's not more coverage of Chard's and Merlot's, because most Pinot's are pretty much alright, but there are a lot of really bad Chardonnay's and Merlot's out there alongside some GREAT ones. Would be nice if the wine blogs helped their readers navigate the pitfalls of these two great varietals and help them enjoy something more than what a movie recommended. Chardonnay remains the top-selling wine in US - [Wine.co.za

The folks over at Orange V vodka were nice enough to send me a bottle of the stuff in order for me to see just exactly how much it would take before I put my wife's panties on my head and ran around the neighborhood and trying to spray the neighborhood dogs with a Super Soaker. Answer: Not much This stuff has some great orange flavor but doesn't taste like a vitamin C pill. I had kept it in the freezer for a week or so and when it came out in my martini glass (straight) it was pretty syrupy and almost too orange-y. Once it got back to room temperature, I mixed it like a regular martini and it became probably one of the best flavored vodka's I've ever had. It's like comparing fresh squeezed orange juice to the stuff you get in a frozen can and have to mix in 3 cans of water to get it to turn back in to orange juice. This is the good stuff. There's really no reason to mix anything with Orange V, it has enough flavor by itself to handle the entire glass. I th

I'm looking forward to this one. Square One vodka is being launched in San Francisco at one of my favorite restaurants, Frisson. Rather than use rye for some sort of whisky, they've turned it in to a vodka with high organic standards. The rye is pulled from organic-certified farms in North Dakota, then distilled in Idaho using water from the Teton mountains. The vodka is also certified by Oregon Tilth as organic. I'm sure that you care deeply about that. You weren't sold on it until I told you about Tilth, were you? There are two other things I like about this vodka. The label comes off easy, so you can use the cool bottle for something. Re-purposing rules! They're not trying to tell us how many times it's distilled. In fact, it's only distilled once and for only a short time. This process leaves the character and flavor more in tact. Square One Organic Vodka Debuts - [Drinks Media Wire] Square One Organic Vodka - [Product Site] Frisson SF - [Restau

Easily one of the best martini bars on the West Coast, Tini Bigs has the art deco/dive look you want in a martini bar. They have a ton of creative martinis and a great scotch menu as well. They've recently just added a bunch of new martini flavors to compliment they're already abundant list. Things like the Aloe Tini and the Roasted Bell Pepper Tini make this place a must visit. The bar gets crowded with a fun crowd too. Worth the trip. Tini Bigs introduces new martini flavors - [Seattlepi.com] Tini Biggs Website - [tinibigs.com]

Hey! Look at that! We got two new features at the ol' Martini Lounge. One is an important one that pretty much every blog in existence has. A collection of favorite links. Oh sure, it's small right now, but just wait until I get excited! The other thing is a little slideshow of drunk/drinking photos. The best part of this one is that all you have to do is click on a photo and you can add your own. How cool is that? Seriously. C'mon. You know it's pretty cool. Admit it. Start adding right now!

I'm starting to get more and more press releases in my Inbox every day. This is a good thing though it does mean weeding through a bunch of absolute crap as well. However, if you want to get me to post on something, then just send me what you're doing to actually make the world a little bit of a better place. Green Mountain Coffee Roasters is doing just that. They are spending a week cleaning up Vermont's Winooski River. Last year, Green Mountain Coffee Roasters employees cleaned 10 miles of the Winooski River and pulled out 110 tires, 3.1 tons of metal, 17 cubic yards of trash, two snowmobiles, and a Chevy Truck. Not a bad haul and I'm sure the river is much prettier for it. These guys also donate 5 per cent of their pre-tax profits to worthy causes. This is the kind of stuff that will make me buy their coffee. Hey, I may not get the most traffic on the Web here, but I get enough for it to make sense to send me some info about what you're company might be doin

Days That End In "Y" found an article on my own stomping grounds! Damn him for being 3 hours ahead of me. The article in question is in SFGate and talks about sommelier secrets and how you can work with sommelier's and wine directors to get the most bang for your buck, learn some new things, and not be put off by the fact that there's a wine guru that you can talk to without feeling like an idiot. They use a lot of quotes from Andrea Immer who, arguably, is probably one of the most approachable Master Sommliers in history, I love her. But they also talk to some locals at SF restaurants that can be a little more snooty. The bottom line though is that these guys aren't looking to just flaunt their knowledge over you, they're teachers and they love to teach. So if you let them teach, you'll both come away from it with a good time. Sommelier Secrets - [SFGate.com] via Days That End In "Y" Andrea Immer's Awesome Site - [andreaimmer.com]

Since I announced Thursday's t-shirt contest for the 42 Below t-shirts, I've gotten 47 e-mails with recipes. And one good one. Seriously, do people really think I don't know a gin martini has vermouth in it? C'mon guys. So, there's still plenty of t-shirts left, just e-mail a cool vodka recipe to me at abeautifulmartini@gmail.com For now here's the one great one I've gotten. First, make your own pomegranate vodka. Oh, don't look at me like that. It's easy, meditative, and can be done in front of the tv. Fill a mason jar with one pomegranate's worth of fruit (the juicy bits, not the pith; stay sensible), macerate, add 1/2 cup sugar, fill to the top with vodka. Store in a cool dark place for a minimum of three weeks, shaking weekly. Bitter Pomegranate*: 2 oz pomegranate vodka 1 oz lemon juice dash of bitters Because pomegranate vodka is sweeter than you think. * The author of this recipe takes no responsibility if you wind up licking the walls a

Bingo Barnes, who must have the most awesome parents in the entire world just for the sheer fact they gave him a super kick-ass name, writes about the Martini Mix-Off taking place right now in Boise. This is a pretty good deal. For $50 you get 1 martini at 12 participating bars plus whatever snacks they are serving, as well as a ticket to the gala at the end of the month. All of the proceeds go to support the Boise Art Museum. Check it out if you're in the area, and Google Analytics says that some of you reading this are! Martini Mix-Off Week One - [Boise Weekly] Tags: martini , competition , benefit

42 Below is sponsoring a Cocktails World Cup. Forty-two bartenders representing 18 countries descend on New Zealand’s adventure capital on September 10 for a week of merry mixology mayhem. There they perform on an ice bar mixing up a storm using their leading edge cocktail concoctions. The seven-day event also sees bartenders making cocktails whilst bungy jumping, dangling out of a helicopter and shooting down the Shotover River in a jet boat. And for the first time, the grand finale at Earnslaw Park on September 16 is open to the public. If you think you can be on of the 42 that are flown down to New Zealand for the contest, then you can enter at the link below. Contest! Got a great vodka recipe that you want to share? E-mail it to me at abeautifulmartini@gmail.com and I'll send you a 42 Below shirt. I'll give out the shirts for as long as I have them. They sent me a bunch of them, but most of them are girls shirts, so girls may have an advantage in this contest. The on

David Burke's Primehouse is just the latest in upscale restaurants that are spending a lot more time taking their cocktails seriously and getting it down to a science. It has become easier and easier for restaurants to have exceptional wine lists, especially steak houses who aren't varying their menu's so much as to be constantly concerned about pairings. So differentiating themselves just based on that isn't working out as well as it used to. So, more and more restuarants are finding cool new ways to do cocktails, which are another nice little profit margin for any restaurant. How about a martini with an olive flavored lollipop? Or bitters that are infused with maraschino cherries? Resaurants are hiring directors of cocktail development in order to be on the cutting edge of mixology technology. Two Parts Vodka, a Twist of Science - [NYTimes.com] Tags: mixology , restaurants , bartenders

This week's Bartender Weekly is AWESOME! It basically just shows Josh getting hammered on tequila for Cinco de Mayo with some hot girl with a great accent. In between shots Josh explains the history of Cinco de Mayo. C'mon dude, you could have made a few more cuts so it looked like she drank you under the table after like 10 shots. He also answers his critics with a "Shutup, this is supposed to be fun" attitude. Excellent. Bartender Weekly - Week 8 - [Vlog]

Let's say that you have 10 minutes right now, but you know that you'll be wanting a tasty micro-brew in 21 days. The BrewZer is the mini-micro-brewery that allows you to throw in the ingredients for a great beer then does all the work while you sit and wait and think about how tasty a beer will be in 21 days. It comes with a pack of ingredients that allows you to make your first 10 pints of 4.5% abv beer. Their clever motto "Cheap beer that doesn't taste like piss" and extensive FAQ can be seen at the site. BrewZer Lager - US$32.50 - [Boystuff.co.uk] Tags: home brew , beer , micro-brew

Well, we've heard the beer business has been getting pretty bad for the major manufacturers. Revenue is down and all kinds of new campaigns are being launched to bring people back to beer. Looks like Budweiser is hedging their bets by breaking in to some new markets. Most recently, BBQ Sauce. Betting on the fact that nothing goes better than beer and BBQ (and babes), they brewed up their own recipe for a sauce to be made by Vita foods. They came up with a baste, two bbq sauces, and a wing sauce. Should be available in the next few weeks. King of Beers now wants to reign over the barbecue - [STLtoday] bbq, sauce, budweiser Tags:

Logabottle.com uses AJAX goodness alongside Google Maps to allow you to keep an online repository for all the wines you drink. It allows you to show the location on the map, your own comments and ratings for the bottle, it has a wine guide so you can learn more, and coming soon are wine clubs, so that all the users can review a wine at the same time. The site allows other users to comment on your page as well, so a sense of community is already evolving on the site. The site even allows you mobile access, so you can get on it from your Crackberry or mobile phone while browsing at the supermarket or post live from a tasting event. It's basically bringing wine and Web 2.0 together and does a great job of it so far. Logabottle.com - Free - [Product Site] Tags: wine , blog , database

There are a few magazines out there that have some great wine writers. Mark Fisher writes Uncorked over at the Dayton Daily News and the SF Chronicle is the only daily newspaper with a wine section that publishes every day, there are others out there, but those are the two that don't suck. USA Today has joined the fray with "Cheers." A new, daily wine blog that will start May 12 and post a bottle a day of good wine that is under $15. So, over the next year you'll see 250+ wines that are supposed to be good and cheap. Apparently the guy is already in hot water for recommending pork with a Zinfandel to Jewish people. Oh yeah, this is gonna be fun. You'll drink to this - [USA Today] Uncorked - [Dayton Daily News] SF Chronicle Wine - [SFGate.com] Tags: wine blog

For some reason this thing makes me flash back to Steve Martin's "The Jerk" where he has a 5 gallon wine dispenser that looks like your typical Sparklett's water cooler. This thing is not for wanna-be's though. It holds 16 bottles of wine and can serve 8 of them at a time. It uses Nitrogen to keep the wines in just-opened form and is refrigerated in order to keep them all at the right temperature. Of course, the $4,495 price tag probably means that you'll only be able to afford to fill it with whatever's on special at Trader Joe's, but at least you'll look like an innovator. EuroCave Vin au Verre Wine Dispenser - $4,495 - [Wine Enthusiast] via Luxist Tags: wine , storage , dispenser

Hi all, I appreciate the e-mails wondering where the posts are, it's very nice of you. But here's my policy. I know that the successful blog formula is 12 posts a day. But if I can't find things to post about that don't suck, then I would just rather not post. There are enough blogs on the Intarweb for you to look at during the downtime. That being said, I have a few posts going up here in a bit. --Rick

Let's be honest: Jell-O shots were invented so that guys could get more girls drunk. At no point in the history of drinking were there a few guys sitting around, slapping each other on the back, fixing the engine on a stripper's car, and one of them suddenly goes "Hey! Let's totally put some alcohol in Jell-O and then drink it!" After which they squealed with delight then gave big hugs all around. No. So, what did we do to regain our masculinity after perverting Bill Cosby's source of advertising fame in to something that would get girls in to a drunken stupor? Well, now that I put it that way, maybe that was all we needed to do. But we also set the fucker on fire. "How do I do that?" you might say. Well, My Science Project has got you covered. From making the shots to turning them in to an edible Sterno, it's all right there. Check it out. Light a Jell-O Shot on Fire - [My Science Project] via Liquor Snob Tags: shots , jell-o , fire

Apparently, there is some sort of law in .eu that every Belgian or Dutch beer label has to have a freaking bike on it. Rant aside, the new Skinny Dip beer from New Belgium Brewery, a brewery that bills itself as the most eco-friendly brewery in the country, has developed a health conscious beer that packs a citrus, light flavor in to 110 calories. The beer is designed by the owner, who is a tri-athlete, and made for hot summer days or after a workout. Men's Health magazine has given it positive reviews for taste vs. health. Plunge Into Summer With Skinny Dip Beer - [Drinks Media Wire] New Belgium Brewery - [Company Site] Tags: beer , belgium , bikes

Voodoo Tiki Tequila has been around for about 5 years and has a full line of flavored tequilas ready for consumption. Their flavors include: • ANEJO – 100% Blue Agave aged 1 year minimum • REPOSADO – 100% Blue Agave aged 6 months • SILVER 100% Blue Agave • MOJO ANJEO - Aged 3 years “limited edition” • GREEN DRAGON - Lime Infusion • DESERT ROSE - Prickly Pear Infusion • BLUE DRAGON - Blue Kiwi Infusion Quite a list. The bottles are also hand-signed and numbered for authenticity and contain 1 of 100 "magic words" which you can then use to register online at their website for prizes. Brilliant marketing on the part of this company. I wish more companies could figure out how to do things so clever. Voodoo Tiki and the Latest Trend in Tequila - [pr.com] Voodoo Tiki Tequila - [Product Site] Tags: tequila , voodoo

The San Francisco World Spirits competition saw the launch of a huge batch of new spirits. One of them is an organic vodka from Colorado and it walked away with a silver. Vodka 14 is distilled and filtered in a 4 column system and uses the spring water that the Rocky's are so well known from a 200 foot deep well. Spirit Journal has already jumped on the bandwagon and said that it was “wonderfully clear and pristine” (Spirit Journal, March 2006). Currently available in Colorado and Wyoming. Coming soon to California and across the US after that. Vodka14 - US$28.98 - [Vodka14.com] Tags: vodka , organic

Jose Cuervo is launching 3 flavored tequilas in order to better expand their tequila market. The three flavors - Citrico, Oranjo and Tropina - are based on a silver-style tequila and uses natural flavors to enhance it. Cuervo Citrico is made with natural flavors of lime and other citrus fruits; Cuervo Oranjo contains natural flavors of orange and other citrus fruits; and Cuervo Tropina is a blend of pineapple and other tropical fruit flavors. Probably the perfect shot of tequila for people who may not be big fans of tequila. Good stuff is worth sipping, but this stuff is made to be knocked back. Should be available in most stores now. Jose Cuervo Flavored Tequila - US$16.99 and US$18.99 - [Just-drinks.com] Tags: tequila , jose cuervo

Over at Neiman Marcus they have the perfect ice machine for the back fo the car, the cubicle, or wherever you need some ice without carrying around a refrigerator with you. It makes 3 different cube sizes, makes 12 cubes in 8 minutes, and holds 2.5 lbs of ice in storage. This beast can push out 33 lbs a day of chilly goodness. It's basically a 17" cube but doesn't have a cigarette lighter plug-in, so you'll need an inverter to use it in the car. Portable Ice Maker - US$400 - [Neiman Marcus Online] Tags: ice , gadget