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8 Producers You Should Know to Get Into Sake
Asian-American bars are experiencing a wave of popularity in the U.S. — as are the beverages they serve. For the first half of 2025, the U.S. was the largest global importer of sake from Japan by volume, according to the Japan Sake and Shochu Makers Association. By value, the U.S. ranks second, just behind China. Beyond the data, sake is increasingly represented on menus at restaurants of various cuisines. The article 8 Producers You Should Know to Get Into Sake appeared first on VinePair .
by Stephen Bradley6 viewsreading-about-drinkingjapanpicksproducersakeyuzu-sake - news
We Asked 13 Bartenders: Which Cocktail Do You Wish People Would Order More? (2026)
Within the vast world of cocktails, there are a few all-time favorites that land in the “greatest hits” category. Popular potent potables like the Margarita, Old Fashioned, and Espresso Martini are such ubiquitous orders, they occasionally spill into pop-culture consciousness. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, as they can be delicious when properly made. Any bartender worth their salt will make the best versions of these greatest hits every time, no matter how many times guests order them. The article We Asked 13 Bartenders: Which Cocktail Do You Wish People Would Order More? (2026) appeared first on VinePair .
by Rich Manning6 viewsreading-about-drinkingbartendersbartendingclassic-cocktailscocktailswe-asked - news
This New Bar Flips Hong Kong French Toast Into a Cocktail
Darling is a new Chinese-inspired cocktail bar from Brian Callahan and Zimu Chen that recently opened in Cambridge, Mass.’s Central Square. The bar takes inspiration from a number of sources, including the space’s previous tenant, Mary Chung’s, a beloved Chinese restaurant that served Sichuan dishes for 40 years. When researching design for the space, Callahan also looked to the cha chaan tengs of Hong Kong — cafes known for their eclectic menus that combine Eastern and Western comfort foods. The article This New Bar Flips Hong Kong French Toast Into a Cocktail appeared first on VinePair .
by Hannah Staab6 viewsreading-about-drinkingbreakfastcocktail-barcocktailsflips - news
10 Iconic Beer-and-Shot Combos From Around the World
Whether it’s a bartender’s post-shift, wind-down drink, or a dive-bar-dwellers go-to to kick-start an evening, there’s a humble, “no BS” vibe to a beer and a shot that’s earned the pairing a level of respect from drinkers of all classes and creeds. While ordering two drinks at once can be a one-way ticket to over-intoxication, many beer-and- shot combos are timeless staples unique to different countries around the world that usually add up to more than the sum of their parts. The article 10 Iconic Beer-and-Shot Combos From Around the World appeared first on VinePair .
by Pete O'Connell4 viewsreading-about-drinkingbeerbeer-pairingboilermakergeneverguinness - news
Tequila Isn’t the Only Spirit to Use Additives. Why Aren’t We Talking About the Others?
Spirits additives have been in the news a lot lately, almost solely in relation to tequila. A clash between the independently run Additive Free Alliance and the Consejo Regulador del Tequila (CRT), tequila’s regulatory body, has chilled the growing movement for transparency in the category, and currently, per the CRT, no brands may legally discuss use or non-use of additives — which are legal — on their packaging or in their marketing. The stalemate seems likely to continue without a satisfying resolution unless and until the regulator and the industry can reach a compromise. The article Tequila Isn’t the Only Spirit to Use Additives. Why Aren’t We Talking About the Others? appeared first on VinePair .
by Susannah Skiver Barton4 viewsreading-about-drinkingdistillationspiritstequilatradevp-pro - news
10 of the Best Cocktails to Make With Maraschino Liqueur
Maraschino cherries might be known for their saccharine glaze that fits right in atop a Shirley Temple, but Maraschino liqueur is a different story. While the syrupy cherries are typically sweet varieties such as Royal Ann, Rainier, or Gold, Maraschino liqueur is made from Marasca cherries, which are far more sour than their aforementioned counterparts. Moreover, the liqueur is produced not just with the fruit of the cherry itself, but its leaves, stems, and pits, which imbue the liqueur with complex bitter and botanical notes. The article 10 of the Best Cocktails to Make With Maraschino Liqueur appeared first on VinePair .
by Olivia White4 viewsreading-about-drinkingcocktail-recipesliqueurrecipespirits - news
Prestige Alcohol Brands Are Difficult to Build — and All Too Easy to Ruin
It was the evening after my wedding in New Orleans — ages ago — and the core crew of our leftover revelers had descended upon a relaxing Marigny haunt to unwind in style before the impending crash back to our respective realities. “Johnnie Black on the rocks,” I said to the barkeep. “Scratch that,” my brother quickly interrupted. “He’ll take the Macallan 25, neat.” The barman stretched for the gloriously toffee-hued bottle lording over the back bar as my brother turned his sly signature grin my direction. “Relax! It’s on me. You only get married once, right? The article Prestige Alcohol Brands Are Difficult to Build — and All Too Easy to Ruin appeared first on VinePair .
by John Sumners4 viewsreading-about-drinkingbusinessluxurynhbspirittrade - news
Every Major Spirit Category and Its Base Ingredient [Infographic]
Although cask aging, different types of stills, blending, and numerous other factors dictate the profile and quality of a finished spirit, the creation of any alcoholic beverage begins with fermentation. Some form of sugar in the base liquid is exposed to yeast, which converts those sugars into ethanol. Sugars are simple carbohydrates that can be found in everything from fruits and potatoes to various plants and cereal grains. And the type of base ingredients distillers use varies from spirit to spirit. The article Every Major Spirit Category and Its Base Ingredient [Infographic] appeared first on VinePair .
by Pete O'Connell4 viewsreading-about-drinkingdistillationinfographicsspiritvisualization - news
We Asked 14 Bartenders: Which Cocktail Do You Wish People Would Order More? (2025)
2025 is here and with it comes a slew of predictions regarding what the drink of the year will be. The Negroni, the Aperol Spritz, and the Martini have dominated in recent years, but with trends changing at the drop of a dime, it’s impossible to predict which cocktail will fall into hands most often for the next 12 months. Despite the difficulty in forecasting the drink of 2025, bartenders can certainly hope to make some drinks more often. Maybe they’re tired of shaking up espresso-soaked Martinis and want to see guests sip on more savory drinks. The article We Asked 14 Bartenders: Which Cocktail Do You Wish People Would Order More? (2025) appeared first on VinePair .
by Olivia White4 viewsreading-about-drinkingbartenderscocktail-trendscocktailswe-asked - news
The 50 Best Spirits of 2024
Check out the best spirits from previous years here! Since 2020, VinePair has released our annual ranking of the 50 best spirits of the year. Every iteration of this list has represented the product of a dozen or so major spirits categories tasted throughout the year, not to mention the subcategories and styles that exist within them: blanco, reposado, and añejo tequila; aged and unaged rums produced from molasses, Demerara, and cane juice; whiskeys spanning every major region of the world. All things told, each ranking takes into consideration more than a thousand bottles submitted and tasted. The article The 50 Best Spirits of 2024 appeared first on VinePair .
by VinePair Staff4 viewsreading-about-drinking50-best-spiritsrecommendationspirit-recommendationspirits - news
We Asked 15 Bartenders: Which Cognac Offers the Best Bang for Your Buck? (2024)
It’s no secret that Cognac carries a strong association with luxury. The category’s most famous high-end expression, Remy Martin’s Louis XIII, can set you back thousands of dollars. Empty bottles of the label, which are made from Baccarat crystal, routinely show up on eBay for triple digits. The notoriety of Louis XIII and other pricey Cognacs can make jumping into the category a bit intimidating. Fortunately, not all excellent examples require a mortgage payment to acquire. In fact, there is a wealth of expressions on the market whose quality punches well above its price tag. The article We Asked 15 Bartenders: Which Cognac Offers the Best Bang for Your Buck? (2024) appeared first on VinePair .
by Rich Manning4 viewsreading-about-drinkingbartenderscognacspirit-recommendationspiritswe-asked - news
Here’s Why Sake ONO Makes an Ideal Gift for Those With Discerning Taste
Many of us know that person who is hard to shop for, not because they’re hard to please, but because they seem to have such great taste that it’s a daunting task, especially if they like good things to drink. People have probably already thought of giving them the usual go-tos — some bubbly, whisky, additive-free tequila, or maybe a new, funky wine. But have you considered sake? The article Here’s Why Sake ONO Makes an Ideal Gift for Those With Discerning Taste appeared first on VinePair .
by Jonah Flicker5 viewsreading-about-drinkingfood-pairingsgift-guidegiftingsakespirits - news
Rémy Martin Turns 300: Celebrating Three Centuries of Excellence
There aren’t too many brands that can hit the 300 mark and still be at the top of their game. But then again, there aren’t too many brands like renowned Cognac house, Rémy Martin. This holiday season, let’s raise a toast to one of the four original Cognac houses that is celebrating an exceptional 300 years old. In 1724, an entrepreneurial winemaker in southwestern France with a catchy name — Rémy Martin — began his journey with distilling the now famous spirit. The Cognac region, like Champagne, has become eponymous for its most famous export. The article Rémy Martin Turns 300: Celebrating Three Centuries of Excellence appeared first on VinePair .
by Alex May4 viewsreading-about-drinkinganniversarycognacremy-martin - news
The Trade Up: How Rémy V Upgrades Any Cocktail
Founded in 1724 by a visionary winegrower in the Cognac region of France, Rémy Martin has spent three centuries perfecting the art of distillation. With an update to Rémy V, the Cognac house aims to bring their timeless traditions to your table. They describe the reinvention of Rémy V as going “back to basics,” but the resulting spirit is anything but. The House of Rémy Martin has long been synonymous with exceptional craftsmanship and taste. They specialize in producing high-quality spirits made exclusively from grapes grown in the Grande Champagne and Petite Champagne regions of Cognac. The article The Trade Up: How Rémy V Upgrades Any Cocktail appeared first on VinePair .
by Julia Ernst4 viewsreading-about-drinkingcocktail - news
The VinePair Podcast: Making Sake Work in America
There’s probably no drink in the beverage alcohol space that’s simultaneously more familiar to American drinkers, yet less marketed and branded as sake. Everyone’s tried it. Everybody has some idea of what it is, but if someone said, “name a sake — any sake,” most would admittedly be a little tongue-tied. It’s a category in which stateside brand building has been somewhat absent over the years. But now, through unique packaging, pitching the drink as a cocktail ingredient, or a slept-on pairing with myriad cuisines, there are a few brands making moves to change that phenomenon. The article The VinePair Podcast: Making Sake Work in America appeared first on VinePair .
by VinePair Staff4 viewsreading-about-drinkingjapansakethe-vinepair-podcast - news
The 15 Best Brandy Cocktails
Let’s face it: Brandy isn’t exactly hot right now. The category is considered to be a bit old school, and with its equally niche subcategories, it can be downright confusing to consumers. But when it comes down to it, brandy is just distilled wine made from grapes, apples, pears, and the like. Brandy is largely classified by its base and origin: Cognac and Armagnac are aged expressions of distilled grapes from specific regions in France, while Calvados, from Normandy, is made with apples. The article The 15 Best Brandy Cocktails appeared first on VinePair .
by Hannah Staab4 viewsreading-about-drinkingbrandycocktail-recipescocktailsreciperoundup - news
NYC’s New Wave of Seafood Restaurants Is Shaking Up Beverage Pairings
This year, a new wave of hype-dining washed ashore in New York City. Seafood, in all of its stunning, salty forms, took center stage at the city’s buzziest restaurants. Sure, smash burgers are having a moment and hot dogs keep showing up on menus (sometimes in unexpected forms), but ultimately it’s the seafood-centric spots that have come to dominate the dining scene in 2024. This trend stretches beyond the influx of luxury bromakase options, wine bars slinging tinned fish, and dishes that boast often unnecessary spoonfuls of caviar. The article NYC’s New Wave of Seafood Restaurants Is Shaking Up Beverage Pairings appeared first on VinePair .
by Hannah Staab4 viewsreading-about-drinkingcocktailfood-pairingsseafoodwine-pairings - news
What We Miss When We Write Off Warm Sake
For Americans, the phrase “hot sake” may conjure all sorts of — often visceral — reactions. In the case of my social media community, these included: “inexpensive, lower quality,” “cheap,” and “acrid,” plus several, more specific associations: downing sake bombs (in at least one instance “with a fake ID”), the catchall of “college,” the first time they tried sushi, and in one cryptic case, the year 1988. The article What We Miss When We Write Off Warm Sake appeared first on VinePair .
by Maggie Hennessy4 viewsreading-about-drinkinghot-drinksjapansake - news
The VinePair Podcast: Gruppo Campari Couldn’t Pass on Courvoisier
From Gallo’s purchase of Rombauer and Massican to cannabis brand Tilray’s surprising acquisition of eight craft breweries and beverage companies from AB-InBev, there’s been no shortage of head-turning deals just this year alone. However, arguably the most surprising one came just last week when news broke that Gruppo Campari will be purchasing Courvoisier from Beam Suntory for a whopping $1.32 billion. During the early days of the pandemic, Cognac experienced a massive explosion of growth. Rémy Martin, Hennessy, and the like were on fire — so much so that many producers ran out of stock. The article The VinePair Podcast: Gruppo Campari Couldn’t Pass on Courvoisier appeared first on VinePair .
by VinePair Staff5 viewsreading-about-drinkingcamparicognacmergers-and-acquisitionsthe-vinepair-podcast - news
We Asked 12 Bartenders: Which Cognac Offers the Best Bang For Your Buck?
There’s a longstanding visual that’s often associated with drinking Cognac. It involves an old, rich white guy in a smoking jacket sitting by a roaring fireplace, slowly and joylessly swirling the liquid in the broad-based snifter in his palm. Despite the category’s efforts to distance itself from this stuffy stereotype, it persists. This assumption does more than convey pretentiousness — it implies that Cognac is the forbidden fruit of the spirits world, unattainable unless you have deep pockets. This is untrue: Cognac is for everyone, and for every budget. The article We Asked 12 Bartenders: Which Cognac Offers the Best Bang For Your Buck? appeared first on VinePair .
by Rich Manning4 viewsreading-about-drinkingbartenderscognacspirit-recommendationspiritswe-asked - news
4 Ways to Go Bold This Holiday Season With Grand Marnier Cuvée Louis-Alexandre
Frenchman Louis-Alexandre Marnier-Lapostolle had an affinity for aged Cognac, a refined brandy from France’s Cognac region. This traditional spirit is made from grapes and aged in oak casks to impart nuanced and complex notes to the liquid — but in 1880, Marnier-Lapostolle took it one step further by blending his Cognac with exotic orange liqueur, thus introducing the world to Grand Marnier Cordon Rouge. At the time, this unique combination of exceptional Cognac and rare Caribbean oranges was audacious and had never been done before. The article 4 Ways to Go Bold This Holiday Season With Grand Marnier Cuvée Louis-Alexandre appeared first on VinePair .
by Hana LaRock4 viewsreading-about-drinkingcognacgrand-marniergrand-marnier-cuvee-louis-alexandreholiday-entertainingliqueur - news
We Asked 11 Bartenders: What Are the Best Split-Base Cocktails?
Classic cocktails typically feature one star spirit that’s considered central to the drink’s identity. It can dictate where the beverage appears in a cocktail book or on a bar menu, and is a major factor in attracting — or dissuading — guests from ordering it. But as bartenders continue to push the limits of mixology, more and more programs are spotlighting split-base cocktails, which use two different spirits as the foundation of their builds. The article We Asked 11 Bartenders: What Are the Best Split-Base Cocktails? appeared first on VinePair .
by Hannah Staab4 viewsreading-about-drinkingbartenderscocktailsspiritwe-asked - news
The 7 Best Maple Cocktails for Fall
As nights get a little longer and temperatures get a little cooler, there’s no doubt that fall is just around the bend. And while pumpkin spice may dominate the seasonal fall flavor camp, there are a number of other delightful autumnal tastes to relish in this time of year. Take maple syrup, for example. Rich, sweet, and sticky with notes of caramel and vanilla, maple syrup makes a wonderful addition to fall cocktails, providing concoctions with an edge of sweetness and seasonal spice. The article The 7 Best Maple Cocktails for Fall appeared first on VinePair .
by Olivia White4 viewsreading-about-drinkingautumncocktailcocktailsfallroundup - news
10 of the Best Coffee Cocktails for 2023
We’ve all experienced that feeling of dread right around 9 p.m. on a Friday night, when those plans we made earlier in the week begin to sound less and less appealing. But if you don’t want to bail on plans for the third time despite being down for the count, a coffee cocktail could be the perfect concoction to revive you. While the Red Bull Vodka is a great dive bar staple, upping your cocktail game (and mood) with an icy drink infused with a cup of joe just feels a little sexier. The article 10 of the Best Coffee Cocktails for 2023 appeared first on VinePair .
by VinePair Staff4 viewsreading-about-drinkingcocktail-recipescoffeespiked-coffee