NYT points out a great cocktail find ~ Vermouth Perucchi, white or red

The cocktail lounge in the Empire State Building ~ called the Empire Room ~ opened today in what used to be a Post Office substation.

Brooke Arthur of Range in San Francisco mixes her Spring version of a Pimm's Cup for Bon Appetit. Her twist on the 1840s classic includes some herbs, strawberry and rhubarb.

The Vesper, made with gin, vodka and Lillet blanc, was created by Ian Fleming for the first James Bond book. SFist drinks it at Heaven's Dog and shares the recipe.

Served Raw features Miami-inspired recipes by Freddy Diaz of The Viceroy’s Club 50 ~ including Isla Bonita made with habanero-infused simple syrup.

Just in time for St. Patrick's Day, it's the Irish Spring Cocktail ~ made with Celery, gin, mint and lime. Tasty alternative to green beer!

At SFGate, Gary Regan tells the 'bitter truth about hard-to-find bitters' and shares his recipe for the Friar Serra Flip, which calls for Jerry Thomas Own Decanter bitters from the Bitter Truth.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/03/07/FD8R1C0RA2.DTL#recipe#ixzz0hvncpULB
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Drinkhacker gives high marks to Yeyo, a new silver tequila with a fun name

My friends at Savvy Housekeeping share a beer-making recipe for a clone of Lagunitas Brown Shugga ale ~ a hoppy, 10% beer. It is super delicious!

Imbibe Magazine presents the Benton Park Swizzle, a riff on the classic Queen's Park Swizzle that uses Frenet Branca instead of Angostura bitters.

Chow shares the Satsuma Mojito by Chochon's Donald Link. There's a whole satsuma orange in there. Yum!

David Lebovitz makes me ready to go back to France with with tales of the Cahors wine region and its thick, dark malbecs.

Love this simple and pretty white sangria by Lisa Marietta Gianotti

Herbsaint is going back to the original formula and label! It had been toned down due to absinthe-importing restrictions. NY Times says it will be available in a couple days.

Blood-orange-infused tequila is the secret to the Blood Orange Jalapeño Margarita. LA Times shares the recipes!

Time Out NY says PDT is making vodka hip again with the Gold Coast, made with Karlsson’s Gold, Carlshamns Flaggpunsch, simple syrup, dill and “black pepper essence.”

Read more: http://www3.timeoutny.com/newyork/the-feed-blog/restaurants-bars/2010/02/game-changers-pdt-introduces-a-vodka-cocktail/#ixzz0frpA1Tvs

SF Gate explores the mainstreaming of 'white whiskey.' Don't call it moonshine ... it's legal! (I'll call it hooch)

Food Gal shares her Valentine's sparkling wine find: Elyssia Pinot Noir Brut

Miami New Times shares Box of Chocolates, a Valentine's Day chocolate cocktail. One can never have too much chocolate.

A pink Valentine's cocktail that doesn't taste like a pink drink: The Margarita of Love, made with blueberry agave syrup ... and love

NYT Mag's Case Study blog shares The Fitty Spot ... a Valentine's Day cocktail with rum and hibiscus tea.

NOLA.com shares Sazerac #9 ~ winner of the "Drink Like a Saint" contest.

Joel Finsel created custom Super Bowl cocktails. For Saints fans, there's the Spicy Sazerac. For Colts fans, there's the Blue Stampede.

Light and soothing Green Tea and Ginger Cocktail on Savvy Housekeeping hits the spot!

Cocktail Virgin shares the Double Standard. Don't let the pink fool ya'! Mixed by Derric Crothers, it contains gin, rye, lime and a fresh raspberry syrup.

Miami New Times shares the recipe for Club 50's Wheat & Mint ~ a gin and beer cocktail.

My current obsession ~ Mexican Hot Chocolate! Found this outstanding recipe on Food Woolf that includes rum & maraschino liqueur.

The Green Tea Gimlet: a tea twist to the cocktail classic for this month's Mixology Monday

PS 7's Gina Chersevani created some beautiful and tasty cocktails with less than 110 calories. Washington Post's GOG Blog has the details.

The Food Channel tells you how to make a pitcher of pretty margaritas from scratch for your party. No more mixes.

Happy thoughts for a rainy day: Colleen Mullaney, author of It’s 5 O’Clock Somewhere, shares her favorite recipes for Island cocktails (pictured: The Voodoo) with Coastal Living.

Gus McShane of Copa D’Oro in Santa Monica made two fresh passion fruit cocktails for KCRW's "Good Food."

Instructables and ThinkGeek held a Cocktails vs. Mocktails contest. So fun! Here's the cocktail winner, the Color-Changing Cocktail. It " smokes elegantly, changes from a calm blue to fuschia"

The Palm cocktail by The Hedley Club at the DeAnza Hotel, which made the Mercury News' list of the best hotel bars in the Silicon Valley.

Totally jealous because I didn't make it to the Science of Cocktails event at the Exploratorium to see them playing with liquid nitrogen, among other things. Some good coverage at SF Gate.

Savvy Housekeeping mixes up bourbon, pear syrup, maraschino liqueur and ginger ale for the super-tasty Pearaschino cocktail!

Gary Regan in the SF Chronicle on how to be a superstar bartender, including photo-illustrated tips on things like chilling glasses. As you might imagine, commenters have a lot to say about it!

YumSugar mixes up an Isle of Pines cocktail, made with pomegranate. Looks dark and mysterious!

Matthew Biancaniello from the Roosevelt Hotel is collaborating with Bar Keeper in Silver Lake to turn blue-green emu eggs into cocktail cups! LA Times has great photos along with the story.

LA Times says Pisco is becoming more popular in the US ... to which I say yay!! (Pisco Sours are awesome .. and that's just the start)

South Beach Hostel's A-Bar serves up cocktails for the hostel crowd, including this Backpack Cooler. Vodka, mint tea, and sauv blanc? My kind of backpacking.

LA Times explores sherry cocktails, including the Montresor & Fortunato by Damian Windsor of the Roger Room.

Brian Miller of New York's Death & Co. shares his recipe for the mocktail Ginger Fizz with the Chicago Tribune.

Stumbled across this beauty on the Raspberri Cupcakes blog while furiously researching New Year's Eve treats: The Raspberry, Lychee and Pink Moscato Granita ... YUM!