November's ballot looms, but June cleanup continues
Two San Diego city council hopefuls cough up ethics fines
Matt Potter 8:29 p.m., Oct. 16
Booze News
Waterbar’s Merlion
Put the smack-down on Mother Nature’s angry winds
Sing, o goddess, of the rage of Singapore’s Merlion!... Well, okay, Homer never got around to singing about Singapore, but the old Greek scribbler also never had Waterbar’s Merlion to get his inspirational juices flowing… ...
Voodoo culture
Flaming Tiki drinks emerge like disembodied spirits from the Club’s purple-tinted semidarkness
The Cat Eye Club is a weird hybrid— a Tiki bar with a speakeasy vibe. It might be too dear to refer to it as a “Tik-easy,” but stranger things have come out of the ...
A strong stirred direct cocktail
“But the lavender softens it around the edges.”
If your tongue is quiet enough, it can taste the whisper of Japanese whisky folded gently into the other spirits that Herb & Wood’s cocktail curator Meghan Balser puts into her Vodka & Lavender. “I ...
Nighttime spreads its cloak
Shibuya Nights is a virtuoso of distilled contradictions
The Cloak & Petal’s bar manager Faisal Asseri explains that the name for Little Italy’s Japanese-inspired restaurant blends opposites to form a new whole. “Cloak” communicates mystery and intrigue, and “Petal” is a rough English ...
A warm greeting in a glass
Bartender Wetherbee "wanted to encapsulate the freshness of Thailand"
Say “Sawatdi!” to the Sawadee! “Sawatdi” is a common Thai greeting (like Hawaii’s “Aloha!”) and the Sawadee (same word respelled for the American palate) is one of the newest inspirations from Prohibition mix-master Heath Wetherbee. ...
Shiny medals for local boozemakers
Seven Caves and Cutwater Spirits set the pace
Several local booze businesses have acquired hardware for their tasting rooms, thanks to a slew of medals won at recent competitions. First up, newcomer Lost Cause Meadery earned a silver medal at The Mazer Cup, ...
A progressive agenda of flavors
Driftwood's Vanilla Old Fashioned
The bartender for Driftwood Craft Cocktails at Open House, Scarlett Hannon is an Old Fashioned kind of gal—but just because it’s her favorite drink doesn’t mean she has to play by all the rules to ...
Sunshine from a home-built still
"We use Ramona wine barrels for our aging."
It doesn't make moonshine, but no distillery in the county better reflects the history of the backyard still than San Diego Sunshine Craft Spirits. Sunshine opened to the public two years ago this week, in ...
Biggest San Diego beer and booze news of 2017
A year that tested local beers' metal/mettle
1. San Diego beer's unchecked growth Thirty-two new breweries started operating in San Diego in 2017, the most yet in a single year. Twenty-two of them were new enterprises, and two others returned from hiatus. ...
New tax bill a win for craft brew biz?
"This is a huge deal for small distilleries."
A part of the federal tax overhaul that passed through Congress this week was a provision likely to impact local craft-beverage business. The Craft Beverage Modernization and Tax Reform Act lowers the federal excise tax ...
San Diego wines catching on?
Acres planted, gross sales, and varietals produced — all up
A new study commissioned by the San Diego County Vintners Association reports the economic impact of the San Diego wine industry reached $30.4 million in 2016. Written by economic analyst Vince Vasquez, The Economic Impact ...
Booze fest nicks blueprint from beer fest
Spirits by the Bay to be the first of its kind liquor-tasting event
The beer festival has become a fixture in the San Diego events landscape. Not a month goes by without a festival featuring local beers, and most months there are several. However, October 14th, a boozy ...
Baked goods distilled into booze
Misadventure & Co. makes vodka out of discarded bread
A new spirit producer in San Diego has debuted a line of vodka made from an unlikely source: discarded baked goods. Misadventure & Co. was founded by local bartenders who initially got together four years ...
Neither grape nor grain — but craft, indeed
"The science behind fermentation allows any fruit wine to be fermented to dryness."
A different sort of craft-beverage company has landed in Hillcrest, just in time for the summer heat. Fruitcraft Fermentery and Distillery grand-opened the sweltering last weekend of June, serving alcoholic drinks produced not from grain, ...
Henebery brings production home
Legacy whiskey brand opens tasting room and distillery in Vista
Producing whiskey requires fermented grain, a still, a barrel, and patience. Henebery Spirits has shown plenty of the latter. Jesse Fanning launched Henebery in 2013 with his wife Natalie and her family, including parents Annette ...
