This is another in a series of columns for the North Coast Journal called The Drunken Botanist. Book by the same title coming in 2013.   Several years ago, at a family Christmas gathering in Sacramento, my brother-in-law served the pie and asked if anybody would like a drink to go with it. There was a pot of decaf going in the kitchen, so I asked him for a coffee with Bailey’s. He gave me an odd look.  “Are you sure?” Was I...

Here's another in my ongoing series of "Drunken Botanist" cocktail articles for the North Coast Journal, loosely based on my forthcoming book of the same name. Forgive the Humboldt references, which are, of course, of interest only to people in Humboldt. Seems like everyone in these parts has an opinion about what Humboldt needs to make it truly great.  A railroad.  A trail around the bay.  A general plan. ...

This time last year, I made a little homemade grenadine during pomegranate season.  We had a party shortly after that in which we mixed up Pink Lady cocktails according to this recipe in Imbibe magazine. The drinks were a hit–and although we hadn't been using grenadine around the house before that, we definitely put it into heavy rotation after the party. Then we ran out. By that time, pomegranates were out of season.  We...

As long as we're talking about booze today, here's a strange and marvelous thing:  the people at Hendrick's Gin are injecting their usual madcap absurdity into London Cocktail Week, an event it pains me greatly to miss.  Anyway, they've created an Umbrella Emporium to pay tribute to the cocktail umbrella.  Check this one out–the Mumbrella:  ‘A miniature umbrella made out of iridescent feathers is...

This is another in a series I'm writing for the North Coast Journal based on my book in progress, The Drunken Botanist. (Your intrepid reporter at the Cassissium.  Notice the pen and notebook. This is work.  Really.) After a week spent touring distilleries in France, Scott and I had come to suspect that anything called a museum must receive special benefits:  tax cuts, subsidies, an extra-long vacation every August. ...

This is the latest in a series I'm writing for the North Coast Journal loosely based on my next book, The Drunken Botanist, due out in 2013.  Read earlier cocktail-ish posts here.     Bess assisting with my photo shoot. It is almost too late to write this column–almost.  Peach season is winding down, but as of this writing I’m still getting sweet, local summer peaches in the market.  So move...