THE QUAFF: Ginger Cilantro Mule Edition

Last week, my dearest friend Meeshie visited me here in Los Angeles, and she absolutely insisted that we make a cocktail (I was not very hard to persuade). I handed her my favorite cocktail book, Organic, Shaken and Stirred by Paul Abercrombie and told her to pick out a recipe. After some casual browsing, Meeshie …

THE QUAFF: Fun with Veev Açaí Spirit!

Recently I received a complimentary bottle of VeeV Açaí Spirit, which meant I had to face one of my biggest fears: berries. For the uninitiated, I have something neurologically wrong wherein I detest the thing that millions — perhaps BILLIONS — of people worldwide love. I speak, of course, of the berry. I hate almost …

THE QUAFF: End of the World Cocktail Hour

This may come as a shock to you all, but the weather here in Los Angeles is often wonderful. Such was the case this past Saturday, which aside from being absolutely beautiful was also supposed to mark the End of the Days. Well, Doomsday be damned, I was going to celebrate the weather with a …

THE QUAFF: Roasted Red Pepper Juleps

How dreadful that it’s been practically three weeks since I last updated anything in The Quaff category. Well, I’ve been behind on all my posting in general, but I’m determined to catch up, beginning with a new addition to this category. I’m happy to report I have a fun item that I whipped up with …

THE QUAFF: The Mysterious Stranger

Some things look beautiful but taste average. Some things look nasty but taste really good. And some things look bad and taste worse. When my friend IndianJones and I endeavored to make The Mysterious Stranger cocktail from Paul Abercrombie’s Organic, Shaken & Stirred cocktail book, we had some serious fears that the cocktail would fall …

THE QUAFF: More National Margarita Day Fun

Since today is National Margarita Day, I knew I had to post a bonus Quaff. The only problem is that I haven’t recently created or sampled a new margarita to profile (actually, not true — I tasted my friend Sly’s margarita at the Thompson hotel last week, but I neglected to take photos; so that …

The First Annual B-Side Blog Holiday Gift Guide

Over the past year, various companies have sent me all sorts of cool swag, and in an effort to pay it forward, I’ve decided to compile a list of my favorite freebies (as well as a few that I did fork over some cold, hard cash for). For all you last minute shoppers out there, …

THE QUAFF: Dark & Stormy Edition

On the occasion of my 32nd birthday last weekend, my crew and I (née The Lametourage, since renamed The VC — as in, The Vicious Circle) decided to take in a viewing of the latest Twilight movie (a.k.a. laugh at the screen). There’s absolutely no way to slog through the vampire saga sober; so clearly, …

THE QUAFF: Sun Gold Zinger Edition

For the past several months, my friend Sly and I have been trying to see the film Winter’s Bone, but thanks to Sly’s unpredictable nature, we were never able to nail down a time to see the flick in the theaters, and thus we missed it. Thankfully, the DVD arrived in my mailbox last week, …

THE QUAFF: Saffron Margarita Edition

It’s time for more cocktail craziness, and this one comes replete with broken glass and DANGER. Such is the way of The Quaff. Back a few weeks ago, IndianJones was in town (when isn’t he in town? He has no friends), and so he, jash, and I all decided to make drinks. Once again we …