Tonight, Autre Monde is hosting a four-course, Mediterranean-inspired meal, paired with artisan spirits. Tickets are still available. more ›

Brad Parsons's timely new tome provides an in-depth account of the origins, uses and benefits (both real and purported), eventual disappearance and recent resurgence of bitters. more ›

After months of hype, weeks of anticipation and three days of wine and tweeting, Chicago Gourmet 2011 is finally behind us. Despite the rain and the shoe-ruining mud (we're sending your our cleaning bill, Illinois Restaurant Association!) the event was actually pretty good. In fact, Chicago Gourmet was, dare we say, worth the money this year. more ›

The Independent Spirits Expo, a gathering of American micro-distillers, importers and small, independent spirits brands, comes to town for the first time on Wednesday, September 28. For the past several years, organizer Dave Schmier has hosted installments of the Indy Spirits Expo in New York and San Francisco, drawing an average of 40 exhibitors. The debut event in Chicago, which will take place at the Bottom Lounge's Volcano Room, in the West Loop, has already attracted lots of craft producers, including local and regional distillers like Koval, Evanston's fledgling F.E.W. Spirits, Rehorst and North Shore Distillery. more ›

To ensure its liquid offerings were up to snuff with Chicago's cocktail-savvy diner, Roka Akor Sushi & Steak brought on bartender Dante LoPresti, formerly of Mercadito's basement cocktail lounge, Double A, to assist with the Japanese-leaning bar program. When it opens to the public on Monday, the expansive 200-plus-seat River North space will become the second Roka Akor location from Arizona-based JNK Concepts. (Bombay Spice, also opening Monday next door, is another of the restaurant group's concepts with a location in Arizona.) We met up yesterday with LoPresti at Roka Akor's bar to hear about what he and his team have in the works. more ›

Chicago-area whiskey enthusiasts have one more local option to explore, now that Great Lakes Distillery's Kinnickinnic Whiskey is being sold at Binny's Chicagoland locations and through its online store. This according to a tweet sent out yesterday by the Milwaukee-based distillery. more ›

Bad news first: tickets to the Chicago edition of Malt Advocate magazine's annual WhiskyFest, which takes place tomorrow at the Hyatt Regency, are sold out. Now to the good news: whisk(e)y lovers of all stripes, including those who didn't get around to buying their WhiskyFest tickets, have numerous opportunities over the coming days to get in on the interesting tastings, pairing dinners, product launches and previews, and general brown-booze-colored revelry that make up the ancillary festivities known as WhiskyWeek. more ›

Derek Alexander and his colleagues minding the bar at Logan Square's Longman & Eagle are unveiling a stunning set of new cocktails as part of a broader overhaul of the beverage menu. Not to worry, L&E's cherished whiskey collection isn't going away; the menu change - apart from the new drinks for spring that will be tagging out some of the hot winter cocktails - is largely textual in nature. more ›

Whether you are moving into your first home, trying to jump into the craft cocktail craze or just looking to improve your home mixing, choosing bottles for your home bar can be confusing and expensive. To help you out, Chicagoist will sit down with some of Chicago's best booze experts and get their opinions about what to stock, what brands are worth trying, and how to make your home bar complete. For the first entry, we chose vodkas with The Boozehound, Kyle McHugh. more ›

From the "We're not crying wolf" department, tickets to WhiskyFest Chicago (April 15 at the Hyatt Regency Chicago) are almost sold out, according to the press release we received in our inbox this morning. Having attended a fair share of these events, we can assure you that the $135 ticket price is a value. Get them now before they're gone. more ›

For one night only, some great Chicago restaurants will be waiving their corkage fee and inviting you to "open that bottle" with them. Have you been saving a good bottle for a special occasion? Bring it in this Saturday, February 26 and pair it with some good food. If you don't have something to bring, all 13 participating restaurants are offering 20% discounts on select bottles of wine or spirits. The complete list is after the jump. more ›

Ira Koplowitz and Nick Kosevich, the duo behind Bittercube, will be dashing through town this weekend, making stops at two Lush Wine & Spirits locations. The Milwaukee-based outfit will be demonstrating its line of cocktail bitters at the Chicago Avenue Lush tonight from 6 to 8 p.m., and again from 6 to 8 p.m. on Sunday at the Lush in Roscoe Village. more ›

Will 2011 be Bourbon's year? We sure hope so. Big Star, for one, is doing its part to make that happen with exciting recent and upcoming additions to its single-barrel Bourbon program. Paul Kahan hinted at the arrival of freshly acquired barrels on Twitter last week, so we caught up with Michael Rubel, beverage director of Big Star (and neighboring Violet Hour), to find out what we should be sipping on our next visit. Rubel has been building Big Star's stockpile of exclusive Bourbons, bottled from barrels he hand-picked in Kentucky, for more than a year. Six barrels' worth are already available, and the contents of two more will hit the shelves this week and (probably) next. more ›

Some of us have been blessed with Norman Rockwell-esque families, when holiday meals have days and days of preparation carefully presented on Christmas Day alongside thoughtfully planned gifts for each dinner attendee. However, for many of us, we are the furthest from this picturesque family, and often face the panicked search for a last minute gift. more ›

As founder, CEO and acting board president of the Brotherhood and Sisterhood of Jeppsen's Malort, I have found that there's no holiday that can't be made better by applying a small dose of our locally-infamous grimace-inducing herbal liqueur. As such, select Chicagoistas y -istos flock to anything that combines the Christmakwanzakkah spirit with bitter flavor, and finding this warmed our hearts with the glow of a dozen ounces of Carl Jeppsen's mulekick. more ›

If there was one spot in Chicago where we would chose to pair food with our weekly dose of bourbon, it would be The Gage. They have put together an awesome menu focused on the classic American spirit, including new appetizers, entrees, bourbon flights and cocktails. The special Bourbon Week menu will be available from the 14th - 22nd of November. more ›

The most intriguing aspect of Ed Marszewski's complete overhaul of his mother's Bridgeport bar and package store is the community cocktail menu. Instead of bringing in a ringer like the Whislter's Paul McGee or Brad Bolt of Bar DeVille to craft a cocktail menu, the list of highballs is being crafted by neighborhood locals and customers on a case-by-case basis. It fits with Marszewski's concept of bringing back the semblance of community to the tavern and gives those customers who do land a drink on the menu a sense of ownership and pride. more ›

one sixtyblue has a very interesting dinner scheduled for next Wednesday pairing the cooking of chef Michael McDonald with absinthe cocktails crafted by absinthe historian and chemist Ted Breaux. Breaux was one of the folks behind the re-entry of absinthe in America a couple years back and helped develop Lucid Absinthe, so he's more than qualified to mix some cocktails with the Green Fairy. more ›

New Holland Brewing's Hatter Days are an annual event celebrating the success of the Michigan brewery and distillery with their customers and fans with a litany of versions of the flagship "Mad Hatter" ale. Starting today New Holland is bringing the Hatter Days to Chicago for a rousing bacchanalia. more ›

Every year, the National Restaurant Association releases its top 20 trends in the restaurant industry on the eve of its annual trade show (closing its run today at McCormick Place). And yet we've stopped being surprised at the disconnect between the report — with its focus on local, sustainable and nutritious foodstuffs — and the realities on the show floor with its emphasis on pre-packaged, processed food, factory farms and heavy duty refrigeration. more ›

It's Spring, and time to do some cleaning. Kitchens and pantries are full of "non-perishable" items that get kept until the dust coating them is thick enough to use for socks. Most of these items DO have a shelf life, and it's often shorter than you think. more ›

Craft Brewers Conference kicked off yesterday, capped by an opening reception at the Field Museum. But it was the after parties and later events where the big surprises were sprung on people throughout the city. One such reception at Green Mill hosted by New Holland Brewing found owner/"beervangelist" Fred Bueltmann putting a formidable hand on my shoulder and stating, "we've got some new stuff for you to sample.". New Holland's spirits more than meet the standards of high quality of their beers. But owner and distiller Brett VanderKamp may have exceeded even his expectations with a spirit he calls "hopquila." VanderKamp described it thus:"I distilled some barley grain and then added a lot of hops." more ›

Fellow at-home cooks, we heard your call and we want to answer it - more recipes, more ways to help you in the kitchen. Chicagoist is taking submissions to build a monthly cooking, wine, beer and spirits class calendar. Please e-mail me to submit your class to our monthly calendar. more ›

Occasionally, we come across a new boozy ingredient that catches our eye. There are always new brands of vodka or new vintages of wine, but once in a while something really different calls out to us in the liquor store. Sometimes, this is a good thing. And sometimes... well, let's just say tasting booze isn't always fun and games. more ›

Two weeks ago Drinks Over Dearborn owner Kyle McHugh, facing the closure of his River North liquor store, unable to pay his vendors and receive a small business loan to float him until his books were in the black, announced an ambitious plan to raise funds to keep the store open long enough for his projected profits to start to show. The "500 Benjamins or Bust" campaign was created to raise the necessary funds for McHugh to pay off his creditors, but only if DoD was able to find 500 customers to open $100 accounts with the store. If McHugh couldn't reach that goal, DoD would close its doors March 5. more ›

The last time Sam's Wine and Spirits had a warehouse sale we made out like bandits, buying nearly $600 worth of wine for just over $100 after discounts. They're doing it again from October 14-25, slashing up to 75% off of their inventory. Some lucky shopper will also win a six liter bottle of Reignac Rouge Bordeaux 2003, which will be given away in a raffle more ›

(Last month we arranged to have our "Properly Sauced" tag team of Anthony and Rob tour North Shore Distillery. North Shore's Sonja Kassebaum told us that today is the distillery's fifth year anniversary. We hope you enjoy this recap of Anthony and Rob's tour.) more ›

Labor Day's not too far off but coming up sooner is a new tax hike on booze that might make that Labor Day picnic whiskey a touch more expensive if you wait until after September 1 - when the hike goes into effect - to hit the liquor store. Distilled spirits have the highest increase, with a fifth going up from $0.90 per bottle (to a total of $1.71 a bottle), a bottle of wine jumps by $0.13 to $0.28 a bottle, and beer goes up to $0.13 a six-pack. So, as always, the cheapest option is to just buy a case of High Life and see where the day takes you. [Tribune] more ›

This past weekend, Chicagoist visited the trade show of the National Restaurant Association and its sister convention, the International Wine, Beer and Spirits Event. Despite the downturn in the economy, the convention was still hopping, filled with new products, new packaging, extravagant pavilions and thousands of companies hoping to sell the “next big thing” in food service. You’ll be seeing products and companies that we met up with at NRA featured over the next several months but for now, here are a few notes from a first-time attendee. more ›

Tomorrow is National Rum Day. Normally we make fun of silly, profit-driven holidays designed by PR flacks, but in this case we’re totally on board. It may have something to do with the fact that we love drinking rum cocktails on mild summer days like this one. Here are a couple of drinks to try out on your friends this weekend! more ›