Beverages

Chappellet Vineyards at Gotham Steak Tonight

Tonight's installment of Fontainebleau's Cellar 1954 Series features one of the oldest family-run wineries in Napa, Chappelet Vineyards. Iwner Cyril Chappellet will be on hand to discuss his family vineyard while explaining the intricacies of each wine as they are paired with a special menu from Got ... More >>

Miami's Tierra Nueva Introduces Coffee Thins, a Candy To Wake You Up

Did you know that there's a chocolate factory right here in Miami that specializes in private label productions and premium label sweets? We've got our own version of Willy Wonka, and it's called Tierra Nueva. The local chocolate-makers launched here two years ago, but just recently they've introdu ... More >>

Two Miami Mixologists Compete Today in U.S. Bartender of the Year Showdown

Julio Cabrera (Regent Cocktail Club) and Michael Parish (Broken Shaker) are heading to the Big Apple to represent the 305 in one of the country's most prestigious bartending competitions -- the U.S. Bartenders' Guild (USBG) and World Class U.S. "U.S. Bartender of the Year" competition. Both Miami mi ... More >>

Top Chefs Name Favorite Beers: Flying Dog in Heat Wheat Among Them

The restaurant industry basically runs on booze and cigarettes, so it's no surprise that most chefs have more than a little knowledge when it comes to libations. Pair a trained palate with a taste for craft brews -- and you've got yourself some serious experts on all things beer. So in honor of Ame ... More >>

American Craft Beer Week in Miami: Ten Best Free Tastings and Tap Takeovers

For too many years, Americans have consumed mass-produced beer purchased mainly in supermarkets by the case. Fortunately, there's a growing craft beer movement and people are educating their palates. American Craft Beer Week is here, and it's a great time to experience some small-batch beers and i ... More >>

Tony Abou-Ganim: Make the Best Daiquiri Ever

The daiquiri, a favorite of Ernest Hemingway and President John F. Kennedy, was rumored to have been invented by an American mining engineer who was in Cuba during the Spanish-American war. Named after a beach in Santiago, Cuba, the drink simply combined rum, lime, and sugar (ingredients readily fou ... More >>

Best Mother's Day Brunch Deals in Miami

Your mother birthed you, fed you, clothed you, and defended you from the bully down the street. She put Bactine on your skinned knees and nursed you through your first heartbreak. Her thankless job included getting up early to wake your lazy butt for school, loaning you money when you spent your ren ... More >>

World Cocktail Week Starts Today: Doma Polo Bistro Introduces Molecular Mixology Cocktails, Pre-Prohibition Classics

With World Cocktail Week running from May 6 to 13, it's the perfect time to pause and take stock of Miami's rapidly improving mixology landscape. Lucky for us, more than a few creative minds are hard at work creating craft cocktails these days, leaving the Red Bull vodkas and Jack and Cokes in the w ... More >>

Homebrew Day in Miami: AHA Big Brew Toast Tomorrow

Local homebrew club Miami Area Society of Homebrewers and will participate in a local gathering of the 16th Annual American Homebrewers Association Big Brew on Saturday, May 4, at Miami Beer and Wine Makers Warehouse in HIaleah to celebrate National Homebrew Day. Big Brew will be held from 10 a.m. ... More >>

Miami Rum Renaissance Festival: Ten Rums You Probably Haven't Tried Yet

This year's Miami Rum Renaissance Festival was bigger than ever. In its new home at the Miami Airport Convention Center at the Doubletree by Hilton, there was ample room for rum exhibitors, seminars, and even on outdoor cigar lounge where attendees could enjoy a spirited smoke. Tasting our way thr ... More >>

Krups Best Brew: Eternity Coffee Roasters and Tinta y Cafe Vie for Title

The Magic City takes it coffee seriously. Many Miamians will tell you it's not blood, but thick, syrupy colada, that runs through their veins. Now the time has come to choose who will win the coveted title of "Best Brew," and two coffeehouses have risen to the top.Voting for the 2013 Krups ... More >>

DrinkSkool.com: Learn Bartending from the Comfort of Your Couch

As the mixology world grows increasingly complex, crafting concoctions can be intimidating, both for budding bartenders and at-home drinkers. Juniper sugar? Gelatin cubes? Bacon-infused bitters? Where the hell are you supposed to begin? But the dudes behind the uber-prestigious Beverage Alcohol Res ... More >>

Veritage Miami Craft Beer Tasting Event: Get Half-Priced Tickets With Voice Daily Deals

Veritage Miami is the multi-day wine and beer event that features notable chefs, prestigious wineries, and craft brewers all coming together to benefit the United Way.Veritage Miami, formerly the United Way Wine & Food Festival, is celebrating its 18th year with an impressive roster of events wh ... More >>

Celebrate O, Miami With the Mot Juste Cocktail at the Betsy (Recipe)

It's that time of the year where celebrate the big O, Miami. No, not that "Big O" -- O, Miami, the Miami-Dade literary event produced by the University of Wynwood, that celebrates poetry with parties, salons, and exhibits.And, since most of history's great poets were also great drinkers, BLT St ... More >>

Wine and Dine

Five Things You Didn't Know About Wine from Books & Books Wine Instructor Patrick Alexander

Let's face it: there's probably a lot you don't know about wine. Unless you're a professional sommelier, it's nearly impossible to master the wide world of vino. It spans centuries, continents and even religions. Everyone loves the grape juice. Though we'll likely never know it all, we can certainl ... More >>

Miami's Best Eats and Drinks this Weekend

We can bitch and complain all we want about our laborious weekdays at work, but when it comes to the weekend, the bitching needs to stop. Ain't nobody got time fo' anything besides chocolate festivals, beer festivals, and Calle Ocho. So quit your complaining and start planning your sure-to-be-awes ... More >>

Miami Cocktail Company's Low-Cal Concoctions

Move over, Bethenny Frankel, and take your Skinny Girl swill with you. There's a tastier, stronger low-cal cocktail company in town. And P.S.: The makers are better-looking than you too. The dudes at Miami Cocktail Company are now plying the 305 with their zero-sugar, zero-carb, 99.9 percent natura ... More >>

Most Wanted Brewery's Eddie Leon Talks Brewery Startups

So you're a homebrewer in Miami and you want to start a brewery. If population density is any indicator, the market is ripe compared to Asheville, North Carolina, a city of 83,000 people that has at least a dozen breweries (including brewpubs) and counting. Eddie Leon, 44, founder of Most Wanted Bre ... More >>

Spiegelau's Matt Rutkowski: Labels Lie, German Beers Mostly the Same

As the craft-brew scene explodes across South Florida, how exactly do you learn about beer?(Besides drinking it in massive quantities.) Learn from the experts. Duh.We spoke with Matt Rutkowski, U.S. vice president of Spiegelau (the guru of beer glasses), about the biggest myths circulating ... More >>

SoBeWFF: Master Sommeliers Can Get It Wrong

If you're reading this blog post, you probably like wine. But however well versed you think you are, we highly doubt you have the knowledge of a master sommelier. There are only 129 in North America. Well, whether you are a wino or a wine connoisseur, Delta's Taste Wine Like a Master Sommelier at th ... More >>

Are You A Wine Snob? Find Out in Time for the Festival

For more on the South Beach Wine & Food Festival, check out New Times' Taste guide, hitting newsstands Thursday, February 21. Think about the last time you shared a bottle of vino with friends. Unless you're a group of uppity wine connoisseurs or sommeliers, chances are the wine in your glass mean ... More >>

The Vini: Fine Wine, One Glass at a Time

For commitment-phobes, sticking with anything can be tough -- even if it's just a bottle of wine. After all, that's four glasses to guzzle. Wouldn't it be better if you could switch up it up with every swig? Meet "The Vini," a patented screw-top vial serving up one glass of fine wine at a time. Th ... More >>

Alaska Coffee Roasting Co. In North Miami Offers Much More Than Coffee (Video)

Charismatic Alaska Coffee Roasting Co. owner, Karen Tuvio, recently invited us not only to a tasting at her North Miami shop, but also to watch her roast coffee beans in the coolest contraption since the flux capacitor. This isn't VIP treatment -- patrons are also invited to watch on select dates vi ... More >>

Mountain Dew Breakfast Beverage: How Bad is It?

Soft drink powerhouse PepsiCo has announced the launch of a new breakfast beverage by Mountain Dew.Kickstart is being touted as an "entirely new beverage," which is sort of not true. The beverage, which blends juice and the favorite soda of hyped-up children and frat boys everywhere, actually starte ... More >>

Taste of Brickell Valentine: Score Cheap VIP Couple's Pass Here

Come March, memories of the South Beach Wine & Fodd Festival (SOBEWFF) will be fading fast -- and you'll need some new bacchanalia to look forward to. Luckily, the third annual Taste of Brickell Food and Wine Festival is bringing eats, drinks, and entertainment to the Miami Circle on March 23 an ... More >>

Maker's Mark Shortage? Lower Alcohol Content

As a Maker's Mark ambassador (an important-sounding name for someone on the company's mailing list), I get some pretty cool perks -- calling cards, an annual holiday trinket, and my name on a barrel that's aging somewhere in Loretto, Kentucky. I also get email blasts updating me on Maker's Mark news ... More >>

Good Beer Larry on Super Bowl Food and Brew Pairings

Let's face it, Super Bowl Sunday isn't about touchdowns, halftime shows or hot cheerleaders. Second only to Thanksgiving in the quantity of food consumed by Americans, it's a foodie holiday more than anything else. And for this particular caloric onslaught, beer is the beverage of choice. But don't ... More >>

New York, Listen Up: Top Five "Healthy" Sodas, From Cola to Lychee

In light of the New York ban and ensuing bruhaha, we must admit: there is no such thing as a completely healthy soda. But there are much healthier alternatives than those BPA-laden cans full of phosphate fizzies pumped full of high fructose corn syrup and caramel coloring.The ingredients in regular ... More >>

Toro Toro Joins the Brunch Club in Downtown Miami

Should we find ourselves in Downtown Miami and in need of [a few] mimosas and some serious eats, Toro Toro's new brunch service will swiftly cater to the hungry. The Pan-Latin steakhouse that New Times called "bullish" for its ambitious fare and moderate prices, is now offering brunch on Sundays fr ... More >>

South Florida Beer Week: Here Are The Miami Events

South Florida Beer Week may sound like some low-budget film by the makers of the American Pie films, but it's real and in its second year.The event, which covers a lot of territory, from Miami all the way up to Jupiter, is filled with beer pairing dinners, tastings, and events. Short Order is postin ... More >>

Craft Brewja Arwen Lehman's 2013 Beer Predictions

As we transition into 2013, "experts" in every field are making their annual predictions about what's bound to happen in the new year. But does anyone really care about who's planning to get preggers (like the world needs another Kardashian) or which social network's gonna go bust? Not so much. Scr ... More >>

South Florida Beer Week Returns In January: Miami Events Announced

The second annual South Florida Beer Week returns January 19-26, officially casting away any doubt that Miami has a thriving craft beer scene. The brew-filled week features events scattered throughout south Florida, from Miami all the way north to Jupiter, where Beer Week's two main festivals will ... More >>

First Trust: Free Cocktails at Pop-Up Lounge During Art Basel

Art Basel is just starting and Short Order is making plans for the closing night's festivities. We suggest you do the same, especially when it entails a pop-up lounge and four different cocktails -- and everything's free.First Trust is a new cocktail lounge scheduled to open in downtown Miami in fal ... More >>

Macallan's Teaches Scotch 101

When people get serious about Scotch, they get The Macallan. After all, the brand has been brewing the golden-hued spirit for almost 200 years. Their Scotland distillery creates a whole host of options -- from their 10-year-old Fine Oak to their Macallan in Lalique Six Pillars collection (a bottle o ... More >>

Biltmore's Afternoon Tea: High-Class Living for Only $20

More and more these days, we hear Miami touted as a "World-Class City." Putting marketing copy aside, it isn't really a town to which you'd attach adjectives like old world, el;egant, or classy. So it's not the kind of place you'd expect daily afternoon tea accompanied by live classical music from ... More >>

Jim Patton, Abita Founder and Wynwood Brewing Genius, Dead at 59

Jim Patton, brewmaster for Wynwood Brewing Company, Abita Brewing Company founder, anthropologist and craft beer pioneer died last week, he was 59. Luis Brignoni Jr., Wynwood Brewing Company founder, said: "It is with our deepest of regrets and sadness that we say goodbye to our brewer and frie ... More >>

Jim Patton, Wynwood Brewing Genius, Talks Craft Beer, Abita and Anthropology

There is a mantra that goes something like this: do one thing and do it well. For Wynwood Brewing Company's brewmaster, Jim Patton, that one thing is making good beer.Patton joined Luis Brignoni's brewing operation last month. He, Brignoni and Luis Brignoni Sr. are currently preparing to open the fi ... More >>

David Bernard Talks Tejo Wine Tasting Tomorrow At Smith & Wollensky

Wine enthusiasts can indulge in an all-you-can-drink wine tasting celebrating the wines of Portugal at Smith & Wollensky tomorrow, Wednesday, October 10. The Tejo Wine Tasting offers 100 distinct wines from Portugal's Tejo region, a hilly place around the River Tagus.Tejo offers quite a variety, ... More >>

Oktoberfest Features Pop-Up Bier Garden and Michelin Chef Wolfgang Ban

For the second year, Brickell is getting in on this Oktoberfest business and celebrating arguably the largest beer festival in the world. It all takes place this Friday, October 5. Part of this year's event is the Bier Garden Pop-Up Restaurant hosted by top Michelin-rated chef Wolfgang Ban. C ... More >>

Miami Oktoberfest Roundup: Grovetoberfest, The Federal, Fritz and Franz Bierhaus

Don some lederhosen and fill your stein, Oktoberfest 2012 is here. The Bavarian autumn holiday began several days ago but the fever is rising like the head of a freshly poured beer. And lucky for Miami, we all get to take the proverbial first chug at several locations around town in the following we ... More >>

The Business of Bacchus

Celebrate National Chocolate Milkshake Day With These Boozy Drinks

Today is national chocolate milkshake day -- another completely made up holiday brimming with awesome potential. We were planning to write a list of the best chocolate milkshakes in Miami....then we figured we would up the ante and share the places that offered boozy versions.And yes...each place ha ... More >>

Free Beer Tasting Tonight at Gordon Biersch Brewery in Brickell This Monday

Free beer is hard to come by in Miami, so when a brewery like Gordon Biersch in Brickell offers free samples of beer, you best take advantage of it. From 6 to 8 p.m., free Belgian beer will be handed out in honor of "Belgian Respect Day", which entails gulping down suds from the French-speaking moth ... More >>

Celebrate Bourbon Heritage Month at These Five Miami Restaurants

There are so many spirits in the world, most of which bring to mind the country of origin. There's Scotch, which invokes the misty highlands of Scotland. Vodka brings to mind cold, crisp nights in Russia and Sweden, and tequila reminds us of sun-filled Mexican beaches and wind-swept deserts. And the ... More >>

Celebrate Oktoberfest With Pop-Up Beer Garden, Munchen Brunching

Oktoberfest, that 200-year-old celebration that sees lederhosen and dirndl-clad lads and lassies turning the German town of Munich into a giant month-long frat party, is drawing near. But with flights to Europe pricing out at around $1,000 these days, you might want to plan your beer buzz a little c ... More >>

Gabriel Orta and Tequila Don Julio: Easy Tequila Cocktails To Make at Home

The Broken Shaker Returns to Miami BeachBest Bartender 2012: Gabriel OrtaAs I walked into the W Hotel South Beach, I was greeted by a friendly gentleman who immediately whisked me to a suite on the 14th floor. Upon opening the door, I was pleased to find two amazing sights: a panoramic view of South ... More >>

Neon Trees at Revolution Live August 10

Five Cocktail Trends To Look Out For

If the Tales of the Cocktail conference in New Orleans last week taught me one thing, it's that your liver can take five days of abuse as long as you feed it lots of red beans and rice. (Oh ... coconut water and cat naps work well, too.)Seriously, there was much to learn at Tales of the Cocktail. Wi ... More >>

Tales of the Cocktail: New Indie Spirits You Should Try

There was a time when spirits were distilled by family-run companies. Small batches of rye, bourbon, or rum were made and distributed. In time, large corporations started buying out these small companies until it seemed like most every item in your local liquor store could be traced back to a few la ... More >>