By Jay Erisman, EQ Wine & Spirits Manager

With the thermometer soaring to a ridiculous 96 degrees this weekend, I know what I’ll be reaching for in the shade: a bottle of Aperol, Italy’s amazingly appetizing rhubarb bitter liqueur. Aperol claims that over three million Italians drink it every day. I think they’re on to something…

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By Jay Erisman, EQ Wine and Spirits Manager

We had our friends the Haltons over for dinner a while back. We of course enjoyed some nice wine with the free-form wild mushroom lasagna. All of us, that is, except Charles. Charles has a terrific job at a nice Baptist seminary. He loves his co-workers, but the job does require that he abstain from alcohol. Poor fellow. I wanted to serve Charles a non-alcoholic but grown-up cocktail, and came up with a bittered tonic. And it was Special.

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Master of Whisky Robert Sickler ventured from Ohio’s capitol city to our EQ cooking school for a spectacular Scotch tasting last Friday, May 16. Possibly there is no group of EQ students more devoted to their favorite product than our Scotch crowd, and they came out in force tonight for 8, count ‘em eight delicious and definitely classic single malts.

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By Jay Erisman, EQ Wine And Spirits Manager

Like a liquid superhero, the Green Fairy has returned to Greater Cincinnati. Absinthe, the legendary libation of the Belle Époque, Impressionist paintings, and Parisian dens of iniquity, is again legal in America. Kübler Absinthe is set to hit the shelf this very week, with absinthes from France and even from craft distillers across America following soon after that. 

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By Jay Erisman, EQ Wine and Spirits Manager

By now the craft beer revolution in America is complete, as microbreweries and brewpubs have changed the way we think of beer. Now a similar movement is trickling along in distilled spirits. American craft distillers are producing a huge range of spirits, from maple syrup vodkas to tea liqueurs to wild whiskeys and brandies of every stripe. These small stills are truly “micro,” little start-up operations working out of barns and sheds, basements and old airplane hangars.

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No other spirit—except our native Bourbon whiskey—is so closely connected with American history as rum. And nothing mixes up a zesty summertime cocktail like fine white rum. Lately we’ve run across some terrific new rums that stand out from the pack. La Favorite and Neisson distilleries are rhums agricoles from the French island of Martinique. Protected by the same laws that govern French wine, these ultra-pure, small-batch rums are some of the best we’ve ever tasted.

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By Jay Erisman, EQ Wine and Spirits Manager

Well, our Manhattan seminar has come and gone. Our EQ students had a terrific time tasting not only five varieties of Manhattan, but all the different components in this classic cocktail. We had (small thimbleful) tastes of three whiskeys, three vermouths, a bunch of bitters—basically, we did the Manhattan to death. We finished with an all-new Manhattan recipe—plus I shared with the students the secret of making excellent cocktails in bulk quantities. Party Read on…

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My class last night at EQ was lots of fun. As always, we had a great group of students and my team knocked me out with their skill and timing. Thanks to everyone involved!