The best comforts transcend seasons: a soft scarf, pie a la mode, a good Bloody Mary. At Mayahuel in New York's East Village, the warm-spiced Black Star is one such year-round pleasure. "This became part of what I called my Indian Winter menu," says Philip Ward, co-owner and bartender, who added the Black Star to the menu as spring started to creep in. "We've been selling the bejesus out of it." More

Having spent the last few years of his professional career in downtown Manhattan and Brooklyn—his resume includes Eleven Madison Park, Atera, and most recently, Aska—Midtown is more or less uncharted waters for Eamon Rockey. While the general theme at Betony is "classics with a delicate twist," that's not to say there aren't some progressive (read: geeky) touches on the menu. More

The Manhattan Cocktail Classic kicks off tonight with the Gala at the New York Public Library on Fifth Avenue. Organizers expect to serve something like 22,000 cocktails tonight; prepping that many drinks takes some planning and hard work. I talked to Leo Robitschek, bar manager at NoMad and Eleven Madison Park, about the process of preparing and batching up cocktails for such a large gathering. More

This week marks the 20th anniversary of San Francisco's iconic Ferry Plaza Farmers Market, and we were invited to celebrate with cocktails and bites inspired by the season at last night's outdoor 'Cocktails At The Farmers Market' event. We sipped our way through the offerings, which included cocktails made with spring peas, strawberries, beets, and rhubarb from the bartenders of 15 Romolo, Tradition, Trick Dog, Lolinda, Hard Water, and others. More

Jeff Faile has crafted an evolving list of Negroni-inspired cocktails that occupies an entire page of Fiola's cocktail menu. Currently clocking in at six, the list includes a Negroni based on pisco, a clear version with Cocchi Americano and Dolin Blanc, and a richer one made with Barolo Chinato and Old Tom Gin. Each variation exposes new flavor possibilities for the drink. Lucky for you, we got the recipes for 4 favorites. More

The Margarita, Caipirinha, Cuba Libre: "These Latin drinks have a long history," says Chris Lane, bar manager of the Mission's Lolinda and its new rooftop bar and restaurant, El Techo de Lolinda. El Techo's cocktails are meant for relaxed outdoor drinking, but you'll find that there's a craft-cocktail touch here and there. More

Philadelphia possesses one of the richest and most dynamic beer-drinking cultures in America. Here are the 10 must-visits in the Philly beer-bar scene. More

Like summer tomatoes or fall leaves, rosé is seasonal, and once this year's vintage is out, last year's is no more. This ephemeral nature makes it all the more alluring, and it also means now that spring has fully sprung, it's time to dip into the 2012 rosés. Drink them while you can, as if you needed an excuse. There are tons of worthy pink wines out there, and I did my best to taste a lot of them. None were over $16, and while all were perfectly chuggable, especially if you happen to be sitting in the sun somewhere, these were my top six. More

For Morgan Schick and Eric Quilty, creating food-and-cocktail pairings was always part of the game plan. Schick (of the Mission's Trick Dog) and Quilty (of East Bay Spice Company) banded together in 2010 to form Jupiter Olympus, a cocktail consulting group. At Choke, an artichoke-themed dinner hosted by Cynar, they paired 5 cocktails with food from Chris Kronner of Kronnerburger and Kevin Cimino of St. Vincent. More

Unless you've spent a lot of time in Chicago, you've probably never tried Jeppson's Malört, an intensely bitter spirit that's only available in the city and surrounding suburbs. And if you have, you probably know it as "that drink that tastes like burnt carpet." More

Breaking glass into the ice well. Mangling the classics. Blender explosions. Serving a "virgin" cocktail to an eight-year-old and figuring out—it isn't. When orders are coming in fast, any number of things can go wrong behind the bar. We asked 24 bartenders about the worst mistakes they've ever made behind the bar. More

For those who've even heard of it on American shores, the Caffe Allongé is, to many, much-maligned. And that's no surprise: US specialty coffee trends have definitively shifted towards the short shot—ristretto, or restricted, espresso pulls that draw a small amount of concentrated espresso with intense flavor. The allongé is considered strange, at best, by those who've embraced the ristretto trend. But to make a short story long...there's more to the allongé than a style mysteriously popular in Quebec. More

Tales of the Cocktail has been celebrating the art of mixing (and drinking) cocktails in New Orleans for over a decade. The past few years, they've also brought their act on the road to Vancouver, but this year, TOTC headed south to Buenos Aires, Argentina to soak up local cocktail culture and bring a little NOLA to South America. More

This was my second trip to Belgium, but my first as a brewer. I went looking for inspiration, to taste some of the best beers in the world in their native land, but also see what's new, what's developing, what direction Belgian beer is taking. More

In the past few years, we've seen a proliferation of flavored whiskies—from cinnamon, to cherry, to honey—and these products vary widely in quality and appeal. The category is seen by many purists as a waste of good whiskey (or an attempt to doctor up bad whiskey for sale). But a recent release from Georgetown Trading Company is poised to shake up the category. More

The early settlers' weak cider would only keep for so long and cider makers soon began adding sugar to their juice to increase the final alcohol level. More booze in the cider meant that it kept better—both at home and for export. A handful of homemade raisins contributed fresh yeast for fermentation. More

Portland, Oregon's Salt & Straw is known for churning up unusual ice cream flavors. We're big fans of their Coffee Bourbon ice cream, though we found last fall's rich and savory foie gras flavor a little challenging. In honor of Father's Day, they're launching a sixpack of beer-inspired ice creams featuring local breweries. More

Brewers do the darndest things: like put marshmallows in their wort and infuse their beers with bacon. And then someone goes ahead and puts a couple of whole pepperoni pizzas in the brewing kettle (we're not exaggerating.) We asked 28 beer experts about the craziest, weirdest beers they've ever tried—and if they'd ever drink those brews again. Here's what they had to say. More

"Semillon is not a fashionable variety," announces Wine Grapes. "Nowhere outside Sauternes," the book continues, "does there seem to be a groundswell of enthusiasm for this noble variety." Time for a re-write, Wine Grapes. More

With thousands of breweries cranking out new beers at a breakneck pace, the reality is that unless you read the beer news blogs religiously and memorize the names of every new label, it can get tricky to know what to order when you're faced with a beer list at your local bar. That's why we're offering a few handy code-cracking tips to help you figure out which options will please your palate. More