Subject: Beverages

• Newport Hipsters Paralyzed

  Yes, it's true. Even Balboa Peninsula's ultimate ennui establishment has been forced to close its doors. Alta Coffee, home of stunning baristas, live music, freshly brewed coffee and - as written about in Best of OC 2005 - a damn fine vanilla soy chai latte, is closed this hazy Monday. What could force me into Starbucks, with its alluring T-mobile hotspots and sickly-sentimental soundtrack for the Starbucks-sponsored movie playing in the background? What could cripple the Alta? According to t

  May 1, 2006

• Wine & Ice Cream Tasting

  When I first heard about the unusual pairing of wine and ice cream, honestly it sounded like a stomach ache waiting to happen. Then again, I'm one of those people who likes to try weird and possibly gross food, so I decided to check it out. The four-course tasting was held at the Wine Gallery in Corona Del Mar, and I have to say it was a little weird, but not gross at all. The pairings were complex and absolutely delicious. I snagged one of the menus, in case any of you have adventurous p

  August 31, 2007

• Fast Food Reviews: New Mountain Dew Flavors

  As you can see, I'm not fundamentalist in my definition of fast food. All mass-produced snack product is fair game, as perhaps could be noted by the fact that the first one I did involved the Dave & Busters menu. On a late night beer run, I espied a display at the 7-11 with three new kinds of Mountain Dew. Since I adore all Dew except for that pretender flavor that you can only get at Taco Bell and doesn't even taste good with vodka, this was like a goldmine. Alas, two of these flavors are temp

  May 25, 2008

• Ingratuity

  July 12, 2001

• A Reality Shrine for a Wired World

  January 3, 2002

• Just Like Rainforests in a Glass

  September 25, 2003

• There Stands the Glass

  June 22, 2006

• Midastee Brews A Mighty Fine Cuppa In Brea

  I'm always in favor of the underdog, or at least giving them a shot, and, when it comes to eating out, that basically means anything that's not a chain.That's why it was nice to discover a new tea shop in Brea. The nearby Starbucks had closed anyways (it's about to be replaced by a branch of Yogurtland--because there aren't enough froyo shops, seemingly). And the Seattle's Best Coffee inside the local Borders is perennially overrun with students who take root with their textbooks and laptops and

  March 6, 2009

• Booze News: Next Vintage Wine Shop's 50 For 50 Events

  I'm not advocating that we all reach for the bottle during these stressful times (if a recent study is to be believed, even one small glass of wine a day can increase a woman's cancer risk), but for those of us who like an occasional top-quality tipple but who balk at the high prices, there's good news.There are a ton of local wine deals and--to repeat that overused word--"experiences" in Orange County right now, and we'll be blogging about as many as we can manage. First, we kick off at the hig

  March 30, 2009

• Martin Diedrich on Surviving Starbucks And Thriving With Kéan

  When I visited Kéan Coffee's new Tustin location last Sunday, it had only been open six days and already the lines were out the door. While that may have been due in part to staff still getting up to speed, it was definitely pulling in the punters. For good reason, it seems.The drinks menu is lengthy, with everything from the usual suspects (lattes, iced drinks, juices) to more unusual varieties, including Turkish caffè latte with cardamom, café au lait and açai fruit smoothies.I enjoye

  April 3, 2009

• Tustin's Lost Bean Coffeehouse Is How Starbucks Should've Been

  January 1, 2009

• California-Wine-History Saga 'Bottle Shock' Isn't Quite Ripe

  August 7, 2008

• Shout Wipes!

  June 12, 2008

• Afternoon Tea at the Ritz-Carlton in Dana Point Means Making Your Friends Envious

  April 24, 2008

• Skunk As a Drunk

  How to stay hammered until 2007

  December 7, 2006

• This Hole-in-the-Wall Life

  November 16, 2006

• Coffee. Talk.

  October 19, 2006

• 'Back to Square One'

  October 12, 2006

• Silly Ladies

  September 28, 2006

• 'Definitely Not Vintage'

  March 9, 2006

• This Week in Great Scot Whisky

  February 16, 2006

• Star-bucker

  February 2, 2006

• In Vino Veritastic

  January 19, 2006

• Hey, You!

  January 12, 2006

• Steaming Art

  January 5, 2006

• Hey, You!

  December 15, 2005

• Evenings of Wine and Coke

  July 7, 2005

• Better Than Health Insurance

  June 9, 2005

• Less Whining By More Wining

  April 7, 2005

• Espresso Your Love

  February 24, 2005

• Chug! Hug! Chug!

  September 23, 2004

• Taps Doesnt Blow

  September 12, 2002

• Summer Eats (Drinks)

  July 25, 2002

• Trawling for Tinis

  July 25, 2002

• The Island of Lost Drinks

  July 25, 2002

• Summer of Weiss

  May 30, 2002

• Iron Barista

  May 23, 2002

• Cha, Cha, Cha

  August 31, 2000

• The Future of Beer

  June 1, 2000

• Guide to Our Advertisers

  March 23, 2000

• The Starbucks Solution

  June 17, 1999

• In The Battle Of The Beans, Starbucks Should Be Worried

  Just as the new ads for Starbucks are lazy, the ones for McDonald's new coffees are horrendously grating, not to mention lowbrow. "McCafé Your Day" is bad enough, but how about "A Better Day is Possiblé"? Huh?. Or  "It's All About The Accent Mark"? Accent mark???.So I naturally assumed that the drinks would be awful too. After all, the worse the ad, the worse the food, right? (Note: this doesn't always work in reverse--Denny's and Jack In The Box sometimes create brilliant ads, but I'd ha

  May 11, 2009

• Angels & Demons, Food & Wine

  For those Dan Brown fans who can't wait till Friday to see Angels & Demons, which surely has to be an improvement on The DaVinci Code, fear not: an advance screening is being held on Thursday night in conjunction with Fleming's Steakhouse in Newport Beach.  Okay, it's $45 per person, but for that you get an appetizer reception of posh nosh and a wine tasting. And not just any old wine tasting, but the "Red Carpet Vintage Release" of the

  May 11, 2009

• Tippling Treats This Weekend (And Beyond)

  Now that Lent is but a distant memory, we can take to the bottle again without fear of recrimination.Tomorrow, Saturday April 25, sees two wine events taking place locally: The first is at WineStyles in Irvine (Portola Parkway) from 4:00pm to 6:00pm, where you can taste up to six wines for just $5. (The same event runs on Thursday, April 30, from 6:00pm to 8:00pm). If you've more cash to splash, there's the "50 for 50" sale at Charlie Palmer's Next Vintage Wine Shop, which I recently blogged abo

  April 24, 2009

• Reminder: 50 for 50 Event at Charlie Palmer on Saturday

  If you're celebrating Memorial Day at home but need some top-class booze to liven up your dinner, head down to South Coast Plaza between 3:00pm and 5:30pm this Saturday, May 23, for the second of four scheduled sales at the Next Vintage Wine Shop, inside the Charlie Palmer restaurant in Bloomingdale's. As I mentioned previously, these events are a chance to get your hands on top wines at half price. The first event in April was a sell-out, and I'm not surprised. Okay, you have to take i

  May 21, 2009

• Stars Of Santa Barbara--And Other Upcoming South Coast Plaza Wine Events

  Charlie Palmer's monthly 50 for 50 sell-off, with bargains aplenty, has come around again. It's this Saturday, June 13, from 3:00pm to 5:00pm, in the Next Vintage Wine Shop.Antonello Ristorante has started a "wine mixer" once a month, featuring eight wines for $30 per person, followed by a sale of wines at retail prices. The next one, showcasing a trio of Napa Valley wineries, takes place on Friday, June 26, from 5:00pm to 7:00pm. Reservations are required: call (714) 751-7153--as is business ca

  June 9, 2009

• UPDATE: Not A John Lennon Latte In Sight...But Javatinis Still Impresses

  Good independent cafés are few and far between, so I count myself lucky that one of them, Javatinis, is right on my doorstep. Admittedly, the setting isn't the nicest, set in a lackluster strip mall on what feels like the edge of the world. The drinks list is familiar (including frozen drinks with names like Mango Tango), and there's a limited choice of food (bundt cakes, muffins and plain bagels, for instance). But the coffees are the real deal, created by people with passion for what they do.

  June 17, 2009

• Two Upcoming Wine Events (One Tomorrow)

   First up, Saturday July 25, is the monthly 50 for 50 event at the Next Vintage Wine Shop next to Charlie Palmer at Bloomingdale's, South Coast Plaza. From 3 to 5.30 p.m., around 30 top wines and champagnes will be sold off for half their original price. Expect some stunners among the bargains. There'll also be nibbles to soak up the samples, and sommeliers on hand for advice.Then, next Wednesday, July 29, Sage on the Coast is hosting a Wine Tasting Dinner, where Kathleen Spillane of Domain

  July 24, 2009

• Free Wine Tastings at Resort at Pelican Hill From Tonight!

  ​It's not often that you'll see "free" and "Pelican Hill" in the same sentence, so grab the chance while you can. From this evening, OC residents can enjoy Vertical Ladder Wine Tastings plus hors d'oeuvres in the resort's Great Room. What on earth is a Vertical Ladder Wine Tasting, you ask? Weeell, it's when different vintages from the same winery are poured (as opposed to horizontal wine tastings, which feature wines from the same vintage but different wineries).On tonight's menu: Planeta Win

  September 10, 2009

• Meet Winemakers of Bodegas M.

  September 24, 2009