Welcome to Shelf Stars, The Growler’s cheap wine column in which we discover the best under-$15 bottles in town. This edition of Shelf Stars is brought to you with underwriting support from Central Avenue Liquors. Every spring, my good friends down the block host a gathering in their backyard called the Vinho Verde Opener. It’s … [ Read more]
Amaro at Alma
July 30, 2020 by
Filled with mystery and allure, amaro is a liqueur worthy of our attention. In fact, it demands it. Dualities of bitter and sweet, backed up by bold herbaceous, spicy flavors require us to slow down. Most purveyors guard their proprietary blends of macerated botanicals, leaving us to tune into our palette in order to uncover … [ Read more]
Spirits Close-Up: Tea with Honey is the Bee’s Knees
July 30, 2020 by
On the morning of May 29, 2020, Chris and Shanelle Montana arrived to find the inside of Du Nord Craft Spirits’ warehouse gutted and burned. The first black-owned craft distillery in the country, Du Nord was one of many minority-owned businesses damaged by rioters in the weeks that followed George Floyd’s killing. Distilling is a … [ Read more]
Pink Drink Pandemonium: The rise of rose-colored gin, plus cocktail recipe
December 23, 2019 by
A pink wave is washing over the Western world and there’s no shortage of strong opinions on the matter. The European and Australian continents are currently glowing with the rosy hue of an explosive drinking trend which might soon light up the U.S.: pink gin. The current definition of pink gin is a far cry from … [ Read more]
The Taste Test: What we learned from blind tasting 70 hard seltzers in search of the best
December 23, 2019 by
Hard seltzer came upon us suddenly. It materialized out of nowhere at a Fourth of July barbecue. In a cooler on a fishing trip. At the concession stand of a townball park. We don’t recall asking for it, and yet there it appeared in some faint shade of berry or lime, conjured into our hand … [ Read more]
Botanical Bonanza: The aromatic additions that define our local gins
August 29, 2019 by
Gin is by definition is a juniper-flavored spirit—but it’s also flavored with everything else. It was born in Holland, where the Dutch East India Company once conglomerated all the world’s spices. Juniper had been soaked into medicinal spirits and tonics since the Middle Ages, and later, so was every exotic spice that was scurried back … [ Read more]
Eastern Promises: Shochu and baijiu are entering the Minnesota market—getting them right in a cocktail takes a delicate touch
May 28, 2019 by
The bottle in question was some type of clear spirit, purchased on a business trip to China, secondhand gifted to me. Its only English lettering was the word “Taiwan” and a three-digit number that I figured to be the spirit’s proof. It smelled like an auto mechanic’s shop on a humid July afternoon—stuffy like hot … [ Read more]
Leaves of Change: Verdant Tea champions China’s unheralded family farms by going straight to the source
March 26, 2019 by
The future of tea is a new generation—one of thoughtful drinkers who have developed their palates by selecting pour-overs from lists describing coffee beans’ origins and consuming spirits in the same building in which they were distilled. Developing that same relationship between tea farmer and tea drinker is where Verdant Tea has staked its mission, … [ Read more]
Heirloom Liqueurs: Oddball flavors, excellent mixers
October 26, 2018 by
No one has ever accused the Bittercube group of being too straight-laced, and their newest project is appropriately off-the-wall—a collection of intense liqueurs in surprising flavors, but ones that are easy to mix and a delight to drink. Heirloom, from Bittercube founders Nick Kosevich and Ira Koplowitz, partnering with their research and development coordinator Brandon Reyes, is … [ Read more]
Bartender, There’s Cheese In My Drink: The how and why of fat-washing spirits
September 20, 2018 by
Fat-washing spirits.” It sounds disgusting, right? But, when a bacon bourbon old fashioned is on the menu, it sells like hotcakes. Fat-washing is the revolting terminology for a delicious and popular technique in the cocktail world, and, despite my many emails advocating for a name change, the global bartending community has yet to change the … [ Read more]
Craft Cocktail: Tattersall’s Salty Dog
June 14, 2018 by
A clear spirit and a slug of Fresca is tailor-made for an oversized plastic cup and the ragged sunshine of June. It’s a combination that says, “I’m going to lounge on a boat that’s still tied to the dock and don’t bother me until I finish this book,” or perhaps, “I have to spend Saturday … [ Read more]
