On Dec. 4, my first e-book will be released.
UPDATE: Here’s where to buy it:
iTunes
Kobo
Amazon
Google
Barnes & Noble
OverDrive
Drink Different: A Refreshing Guide to Home Mixology is based on my columns in the National Post, but I rewrote stuff and added to it so that it functions as a primer on making cocktails at home. That’s fun and easier than you might think.
As a teaser, you can read the first chapter here.
Anyway, if you have a thirst, a thirst for knowledge, and an e-reader …
Imbibe is a quality magazine about drinks based in Portland, Ore.; in my opinion, it’s the most important publication on the subject of drinks that are not wine. Why? Because if you’re a good bartender or booze geek in North America, it’s how you keep on top of the trends, simple as that.
In the current issue, my Destination Toronto piece talks about the great things that have been happening for cocktail and beer drinkers in this burg over the past couple of years. I’m pretty proud of us, so it was really gratifying to do the story. Pick the issue up if you see it! There’s other great stuff in there, including a DIY spiced rum recipe that I plan to make very soon.
Do you like Scotch? Do you think you would enjoy reading a tantalizing tale of one man’s whirlwind tour around Scotland to drink crazy delicious whisky, complete with an explanation of what it is and how it’s made? Scotchey Scotch Scotch?
Then pick up the fall/winter edition of Sharp’s Book for Men. No, you can’t read my piece online. But if you buy a copy, you’ll also learn about knifes and tuxedos and watches and stuff like that.
Have you ever noticed how many microbreweries and wineries there seem to be in Nova Scotia these days? Not to mention a couple of small distilleries. Back in October, I went to the province to check out the booze scene, with an eye to writing a travel piece about drinking one’s way through Nova Scotia. Fun to do, fun to write.
Cool water seeps into my boots as Ben Swetnam guides me through the fine mist that lingers over the vineyard. It is an October morning, the height of harvest season at Avondale Sky Winery. Ben plucks a cluster of L’Acadie blanc grapes off the vine and hands them to me for a nibble.
[UPDATE] … and about Ironworks Distillery here.
(Both photos by yours truly.)
Glenfiddich Distillery Malt 15 Years Old
In today’s National Post I relate the story of the most wonderfully strange junket I’ve ever been on. It involved three days in Scotland, two in Denmark, a lot of whisky and plenty of insight into what makes Scotch whisky the beloved spirit it is.
To wit, one nugget I had to cut from the story for length: Male distillery workers will sometimes wear women’s grooming products. When you’re nosing 300 casks a day, explained Glenfiddich’s affable malt master Brian Kinsman, “You have to buy ladies’ deodorant. Unscented men’s doesn’t exist — or at least I haven’t found it.”
The principal lesson, however, was that marketing Scotch means being up for new ideas and adventures: trying venison with sticks, holding meetings in Malaysia and maintaining ties to quiet little whisky festivals in Denmark. Continue reading
So! Interesting couple of weeks.
I was off to Key West, Fla., for a few days this week to go sailing as a guest of Mount Gay rum, which HAVE I MENTIONED I ENJOY VERY MUCH?
(Actually, I have endorsed it on more than one occasion. So I don’t really feel bad about accepting a junket from Mount Gay. It’s only payola if you don’t like the product – right?)
Key West is a pretty cool place: soaked in sunshine, littered with Ernest Hemingway memorabilia and populated with crusty-looking sun-dried barflies who probably don’t give the first shit about anything. I guess the most laid-back/burnt out Americans end up at the bottom of the country like so many played-out pinballs. One day soon I will write more about Key West, Florida’s spic-and-span, SpongeBob SquarePants-esque old-timer’s answer to New Orleans.
Also, they let me pilot a $3-million boat.
In the meantime, here’s a bit of what I’ve been …
Writing:
I thought I’d get more flak for calling Toronto the most exciting city in Canada while also making the point that it should learn some self-promotion mojo from New York.
Toronto Mayor Rob Ford as Humpty Dumpty. Ford as Godzilla. Ford as a plain garden variety fat blob.
Has it ever occurred to you that Ford gets caricatured a heck of a lot? Like, for example, here, here and oh yeah, here ? I was sort of turning this over in my head, trying to figure out whether this is just plain, old-fashioned mean lampooning of a fat man. Or are Ford’s physical flaws fair game in the age-old game of political caricature? I couldn’t decide, and being in debate with oneself typically leads to a good story, especially an essay-style one.
Good or not, I got to speak with some very thoughtful and persuasive people along the way and this is what I came up with for the Saturday, Jan. 7 edition of the National Post.
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