Kayahara

In many ways, the city of Toronto is like New York’s little brother. But when it comes to namesake cocktails, there’s nothing little about The Toronto: it’s all big, bold flavour. The key ingredient here is Fernet Branca, a herbal Italian digestivo that tastes like what Jägermeister wants to be when it grows up. Apparently, [...]

The blogs have been abuzz over the past week with an innovative approach to alcohol infusions suggested by the good people behind the Cooking Issues blog. At its most basic, it involves placing the spirits and aromatics to be infused in a whipped cream siphon, like the iSi Gourmet Whip,  charging it, and waiting for [...]

If you followed my advice and made up a batch of falernum for the Zombie, by now you’re probably wondering what else you can mix with it. Here’s your answer!
The Royal Bermuda Yacht Club, like many rum-based drinks, is essentially a riff on the original Daiquiri. The trinity of rum, juice and sugar can produce [...]

Cherry season is approaching again in the Niagara region. A Manhattan served to me recently by a friend with some very good homemade cocktail cherries (Me: “What kind of booze did you preserve them in?” Her: “I don’t remember!”) made me realize that I need to start planning my own batch of cocktail cherries for [...]

With the weather being so unusually warm this spring, I’ve been drinking a lot of rum cocktails lately. Among rum drinks, none are tastier or more complicated than the family known as faux-Polynesian, or “Tiki,” drinks. And among Tiki drinks, none packs a bigger punch than the Zombie.
Originally devised by Don the Beachcomber in the [...]

So it turns out that distilling alcohol at home is technically illegal, which somewhat limits your options for making your own hard liquor. Only somewhat, though, because modern bar culture has spawned a wide variety of often fancy bottles that all hold what is essentially a blank canvas: vodka. Lacking a still, vodka is the [...]