The Bitter Truth Celery Bitters wins Spirit of the Year at the 2008 Mixology Bar Awards.

Gantt's Caiprissima by Craig Hermann, a Forbidden Island cocktail contest runner-up, as featured on Trader Tiki.com

Amazon Al Dente dresses up a classic for a night on the town: Black-Tie Martinis include peppercorn-steeped gin and a salt-and-pepper rim.

Tiare visits the world’s biggest whiskey festival and samples Yamazaki whisky from Japan’s Suntory.

The Intoxicated Zodiac makes things interesting with a Scorpio-inspired Tomato Basil-tini.

The Kitchn demystifies aromatic cocktail bitters: Angostura, Peychaud's, and orange. Sazeracs anyone?

Fat City visits bartender Noah Robinson and samples a White Lady, an-almost forgotten gin classic.

Paul Clarke cracks a bleary eye to peek into the world of morning cocktails... beyond mere mimosas and boring Bloody Marys.

The Whiskey Exchange has an exclusive peek at the new Octomore bottle design. Inside will be a super-peaty Scotch "twenty times higher than normal Bruichladdich."

Part 5 of 6 of the Drinks of Cinq: Seattle's own Beat Bartender, Keith Waldbauer, contributes The Aristocrat Swizzle.

I'm loving Polka's Josephine Glasscarafe with a drinking glass. I love that the carafe has a stem and is shaped like a glass, and that the stopper is the drinking glass itself.

Raising the Bar's brief history of tiki drinks and the bars that served them, illustrated with a recipe for Don the Beachcomber's own Test Pilot.

My Life on the Rocks shares the Claymore Cocktail: Rum, Drambuie, Chartreuse, and lemon bitters.

The Cellarist spotlights the beautiful cork-cage art on Francois Pinon Vouvray Brut Non-Dosé.
(The stuff inside the bottle pairs well with Korean-style fried chicken, in case you wondered.)

The Corpse Canonizer by Paranoid123, a Forbidden Island Cocktail Contest runner-up!

Spirits aficionados will flock to San Francisco next week for WhiskeyFest events celebrating everything from rare single-malt Scotches to Kentucky rye.

Mexican vs. American Coke: Kate at Accidental Hedonist debunks the soda-maker's claim that they all taste the same.

BrewSocial, a networking site for beer lovers.

If we can trust our rusty high school German, it seems master distiller Hans Reisetbauer crafts liquors from interesting produce, including carrot and ginger.

The sleek Rido bottle opener by Blomus puts a stylish twist on a classic bar essential.

Ednbrg makes his first batch of grapefruitcello, then designs drinks to make good use of it, including "Papa Ain’t Comin’ Home": Rum, 'cello, lemon juice, bitters, and egg white.

Clever wine coasters by Montreal designer Julien De Repentigny

It’s high time tikiphiles had a morning drink of their own: a little Hair of the Mongoose from Humuhumu

Crystal Head Vodka, presented by Dan Aykroyd. His video here is amazing. Not sure why he has jumped into the spirits game, but with an opening like this, welcome.

Number 4 in the 6-part series of drink previews for Le Mixeur Cinq, it's Andrew Bohrer's "Randy Baker."

Stanley Flask ~ love this flask, just saw it in person at the DWR Tools for Living in Santa Monica

"Have you seen this moai?" A limited-edition tiki mug for sale to benefit the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.

Strawberry-Rhubarb Sangria -- a drink that's as delicious as is beautiful!

A visual timeline of wine vessels and closures throughout the centuries at Francis Ford Coppola's Encyclopedia Wines.

Each set of Citi Skyline cocktail glasses illustrates the view from afar of New York, London, Paris, and San Francisco.

Underhill Lounge takes the Savoy Cocktail Book out for a drink... the Fairbanks Cocktail (No. 1) made by Jennifer Colliau at San Francisco's Slanted Door.

Bursting with bright, spicy fruit, the 2005 Matteo Correggia Roero (about $20) achieves a fine balance. It's perfect with meaty or mushroom-y pastas, says the Los Angeles Times.

It's Day 1 of the 2008 Eat Local Challenge -- have you laid in your provisions yet? Food on the Food worries her initial stocking-up might not be enough.

Drinkhacker reviews the Smith Woodhouse Lodge Reserve, a rich and vibrant ruby Port, full of fruit and jam flavors. At $18, it's a winner.

Some drink syrups are simple to make, while others, like Orgeat, leave you cursing every known tiki bartender, dead or alive. (via Kaiser Penguin)

The Daily Green recounts how a wine-bottle manufacturer violated federal pollution laws, and questions whether glass packaging deserves its environmentally sound reputation.

The Fountain of Youth: Pomegranate and vodka in a martini glass topped with a splash of sparkling wine and garnished with a few blueberries.

"Ladies, fire up your brew pots and polish those carboys." The LA Times profiles homebrewing as the hot new female hobby.

NY Times' Eric Asimov celebrates Oktoberfest with a roundup of 24 samples of Märtzen, the traditional autumn beers of Germany.

Kevin Diedrich is featured next in the series of drinks for Le Mixeur Cinq. The Spiced Marmalade comes to life...

To celebrate the release of Quantum of Solace Bollinger have released a limited-edition Champagne cooler in the shape of a Walther PPK bullet.

Who's got Cabin Fever? A new 80-proof maple spirit liqueur produced by a family in New England.

Meet Albert Trummer, the Austrian-born impresario at Apotheke in Manhattan's Chinatown: "part lounge, part pharmacy, and part Cirque du Soleil."

Jon Bonne's online addendum to his SF Chronicle article highlights the non-Chardonnay offerings of three profiled wineries.