Lisa Futterman – Page 4

Empirical Spirits is a new line of distillates from Noma restaurant alums. The very plain labels belie the complex spirits inside, including this Charlene McGee Blend, made from juniper berries smoked over juniper wood and aged in sherry casks.

Innovative restaurant alums create distilled spirits with flavors like no other

October 2, 2019 at 11:28 a.m.

It was only a matter of time before molecular gastronomy made its way from the kitchen into the distillery. Lars Williams was the head of research and development at Noma,...

The beer cocktail Spaghett (aka hobo Negroni) is made by taking a bottle of Miller High Life, pouring out a neck's worth of the beer, then replacing that amount with Campari.

Love a Negroni? Then try a hobo Negroni, aka Spaghett — a beer and Campari cocktail that’s shockingly good

September 17, 2019 at 9:00 a.m.

If you've watched Season 1 of Netflix's current iteration of "Queer Eye," you know all about the hillbilly margarita, a bastardization of the classic tequila cocktail that features good old...

PBR for breakfast? New hard coffee offers a different kind of buzz — and nails it

August 28, 2019 at 11:37 a.m.

I had to try it to believe it. Pabst Blue Ribbon, the maker of the original ironic hipster beer, has created a hard coffee beverage. Yes, you read that correctly,...

A vermouth drink with watermelon, fresh mint and rose wine photographed in the baiduhai studio on Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2019. (Terrence Antonio James/baiduhai)

It’s time for vermouth to come out of the depths and star in cocktails

August 27, 2019 at 4:50 p.m.

It's time vermouth came out of the back seat and leapt into the driver's seat. No longer just the briny backbone of a martini or the sweet round note in...

Traditionally, baijiu is served in thimble-sized shot glasses with lots of food, accompanied by lots of toasting and mutual refilling of said tiny shot glasses, until the bottle is empty.

The next spirit you’ll be drinking with your Sichuan food is baijiu

August 6, 2019 at 11:38 a.m.

The world's most popular spirit has arrived in the U.S., and it's not what you might expect. Baijiu (pronounced BYE-joe), meaning "white spirits" in Mandarin, isn't whiskey or vodka, but...

A chocolate cake batter is poured into jars then topped with dulce de leche before being steamed in the Instant Pot.

How to Instant Pot your picnic, with recipes for pate, savory cheesecake and dessert

March 12, 2024 at 12:13 p.m.

Now that I've been cooking in the Instant Pot for a while, I've been trying to think outside of the box about it. I've tripped up a few times (overcooked...

Bittercube turns sweet with liqueurs that continue the bitters maker’s artisan approach

June 4, 2019 at 2:05 p.m.

Good stuff comes from Wisconsin when bitters makers turn to the sweet stuff. Bar pros Nick Kosevich and Ira Koplowitz launched the well-known Bittercube Bitters in Milwaukee in 2009, macerating...

Rhum agricole from Martinique comes in white or blanc (tasting more of the terroir of the island) and gold versions (which take the flavor to a funky and exciting place).

Setting sail for Martinique through its rhum agricole

May 31, 2019 at 4:04 p.m.

Toby Maloney had just returned from a month crewing on a 67-foot sailboat off Martinique when I met him in the back room of Chicago's Violet Hour. Six lucky guests...

Bluebird Alpine Liqueur, by Townshend Distillery in Portland, Ore., is created as a byproduct of kombucha production. Fennel, ginger and angelica root are infused at the end to get the herbal flavor notes.

Alpine liqueur (and other flavors) is a fine use of alcohol that’s a byproduct of fermenting Brew Dr. Kombucha

May 31, 2019 at 4:03 p.m.

I've been looking high and low for an alpine liqueur to fill a mountainous hole in my heart. I first tried the style in bars in Switzerland, where I noticed...

French aperitifs, left to right, Byrrh Grand Quinquina, Dolin Blanc Vermouth de Chambéry and Ricard Pastis de Marseille (also seen in the glass) shown on Tuesday, April 16, 2019. (Terrence Antonio James/baiduhai)

What you need to know about French aperitifs — the low-alcohol, intensely flavored sip before dinner

May 31, 2019 at 4:02 p.m.

In Italy, before dinner there are spritzes, and international cocktail drinkers can't resist their colorful, fizzy flirtations. In Spain, oversized gin tonics rule the cocktail hour. I prefer the French...

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