Never underestimate the importance of well written checklists for smooth bar operations.

Aging wine in space really softens the tannins of a nice Bordeaux. Such are the findings of a recent experiment conducted by Space Cargo Unlimited. The company sent a case of Petrus to the international space station to orbit the earth for just over a year. Upon its return to earth, 12 experts from the Institute of Wine and Vine Research in Bordeaux tasted the wines and concluded that time spent in space accelerated the aging of the wines, softening the tannins...

The Pandemic has been good to the middle class. Middle class wines that is. An article published this week in The Drinks Business details how middle tier wines that usually suffer in times of financial crisis are flourishing during the pandemic. Their explanations are few, but some speculation is that with the closure of on-premise, consumers are more comfortable splitting the markup difference and splurging on the above entry level marks. Simultaneously,...

We lead this week with a very interesting story about witchcraft and women in brewing published by The Conversation. For centuries, brewing was an important household task primarily undertaken by women. Much of the iconography associated with witchcraft has been attributed to female brewers and the smear campaigns of the day that followed. The bubbling cauldron, the pointy hat (worn to be noticed in bustling markets), the cats for keeping mice out of the grain...

We lead off today with news in the world of rice wine. Warmed sake is making a comeback! As it turns out, warm sake is not just for your dad in an airport sushi restaurant. As the article explains, certain styles of sake really shine at temperatures ranging from tepid to pretty hot. In cities like New York where diners are currently huddled in yurts, consumers are searching for more warm beverage options. Fortunately for them, sake has a long history of...

We lead this week with a story filed under "things that make you go 'Woof.'" Woodchuck Hard Cider sold this week for $20 million. Which would be great, if the previous owner hadn't bought it 9 years ago for $305 million. C&C Group out of Dublin Ireland, owners of big name ciders like Magners and others, made a big bet on the growing US cider market in 2011 and were rewarded with, well, nothing. Woodchuck reminds us of college parties and the good ol' days...

We lead this week with good news for our Miami readership: The world's first study into whether MDMA can be used to treat alcohol addiction has produced "incredibly exciting" results, according to British researchers. As reported in an article published last week in The Times of London researchers studied a group of people with severe alcoholism. Before their therapy, they had been drinking an average of about 130 alcoholic units a week. (British Alcohol units are a...

We start out with sad news this week. Or is it a silver lining story? Last Tuesday was National Pancake Day. This year unfortunately, revelers who made the pilgrimage to their local IHOP to claim a free short stack of pancakes were confronted with the sobering reality that a global pandemic is not the best time to pack out everyone's favorite chain diner (sorry, Denny's). Instead, in a move to both boost enrollment in their MyHOP customer...