Beverages

33rd Annual Wine Extraordinaire

Anaheim Hilton

Lucille Kring, Anaheim Councilwoman, to 'Pop the Cork' in Wino Fundraiser With Resort Elite

This is no April Fool's gag, but the joke's on Anaheimers: Three-time city councilwoman Lucille Kring successfully campaigned last year as an 'independent' politician. "I have...no special interest support," she told working-class Latinos at an Anna Drive candidate forum last October. "I always say ... More >>

Laguna Beach A La Carte Starts Thursday

Despite the departure of restaurants in Laguna Beach this past year (The Royal Hawaiian, The Cottage, French 75 and now Katsuya), the third annual A La Carte event hasn't skipped a beat. The four-day celebration begins this Thursday with kick-off dinners galore. There are events and specials through ... More >>

Azul Café, Valle de Guadalupe: Southern Mexico's Coffee Without Leaving Baja

In the center of the wine and olive oil laboratory known as La Escuelita (but officially as la Estación de Oficios de El Porvenir) stands a wooden building with mattress springs for walls. Inside is a brown clutter of detritus: a Christmas tree made of upturned wine bottles stands anachronistically ... More >>

Dave Castillo, 320 Main Bar Manager, Finalist in Cocktail Competition Among LA Bigwig Bartenders

Last month, Jason Schiffer of the fabulous 320 Main in Seal Beach invited me to be a judge at a cocktail competition held at the Varnish, the fabulous pseudo-speakeasy at the back of the venerable Cole's in downtown LA. The purpose of the competition was to get LA bartenders ready for the cocktail c ... More >>

Oktoberfest 2012: Where To Get Your Oom-Pah-Pah On In OC

There's so much to love about Oktoberfest--old men in cute little hats and suspenders, buxom beer babes, drunken sing-a-longs, sausages galore, the bicep workout you get while chugging out of steins. "Oans, zwoa, drei, Gsuffa!" (One, two, three, drink up!)     We're in the height of t ... More >>

Joy And Good Beer: OC Brew Ho Ho Holiday Ale Festival Comes To The Phoenix Club

Great news. Beer festival season isn't over yet. The organizers of the epic OC Brew Ha Ha Craft Beer Festival are making sure 2012 ends with--yippee!--more amazing ales. The inaugural OC Brew Ho Ho Holiday Ale Festival, happening from noon to 4 p.m. at Dec. 8 at Anaheim's Phoenix Club, will fea ... More >>

Chanel Owns a Winery--And Karl Lagerfeld is Designing the Label of a Special-Edition Bottle

​Hey, fashion-savvy friends. Your new must-have label for spring is . . . a wine label. According to Glamour, Chanel owns a winery, the centuries-old Chateau Rauzan-Segla in the Bordeaux region of France. Next month, it will release a special 2009 Gran Cru Classé to celebrate the chateau's 3 ... More >>

Kevin Nealon

Irvine Improv

Napalm Death at Casanova, Our Drink of the Week!

Photo by Meranda Carter​Scotland ... where the men wear kilts and the sheep are nervous. Home of the world's greatest Scotches, one of them being Drambuie that figures in over 100 drink recipes, including Kiltlifter, Ball Bag, Sexaholic, Felcher (after a sexual practice we are not ... More >>

Tango Cabaret

MOLAA

Five Rediscovered 'Old Man' Gin Cocktails

Flickr user shannonhurstlane​You young whippersnappers! You think just because some glorified bartender figures out there's more to a cocktail than syrupy fruit liqueurs and vodkas shaken together with too much ice, you've invented more trendy cocktails. Well, we were drinking these cocktails back ... More >>

Coors Light Exec: "Budweiser is Going Down, Baby"

​As I always point out, I'm not a beer drinker, but that doesn't mean I don't taste it. And I've never understood why anyone would bother with either Budweiser or Coors, or their Light derivatives--it all smells like piss to me, and tastes barely better. But that obviously means nothing to America ... More >>

OC Brew Ha Ha

Hidden Valley Ranch

LA Water Cocktail

Jorge Negreros​When it comes to the battle of OC versus LA, at least we don't have a cocktail named after our murky drinking water. 

Drunk After Work: 320 Main

320 Main​The Place: 320 Main, 320 Main St., Seal Beach; (562) 799-6246.The Hours: 3-6 p.m. daily (including weekends); all day Sunday. Closed Monday.The Deal: $4 draft crafts, $4 house wine, $4 well drinks, $4 appetizers. $5 speciality cocktails Tuesdays.

Champagne With Wild Hibiscus Flowers

​BevMo! carries just about every type of alcohol you could possibly need and if they don't have it in stock, they will special-order it. Their most under-appreciated aisle happens to house all of the non-alcoholic items. There is just about every flavor of rim salt and sugar possibl ... More >>

Pink Elephant at Tantalum

Jessica Ford​Sure, your parents always told you not to swallow your bubble gum because it would live in your stomach for the next 20-something years, but Tantalum in Long Beach has some bubble gum that breaks all the rules your parents gave you--and you'll like it.

Asian Pear Martini at OPAH

Jessica Ford​OPAH's light-up bar top stretches around a whole side of the Irvine restaurant. The expansive indoor bar seating is exceeded in swanky-ness only by the heated outdoor patio; even during those colder nights, you can stay warm outside while sipping on a specialty Asian Pea ... More >>

Asiana Martini at Kimera Restaurant Lounge

Jessica Ford The blur must be from those beer goggles...​Kimera Restaurant Lounge, located near the Irvine Business Complex, attracts mostly young professionals looking for a place to unwind after work. The extensive drink menu here covers wines, beers and specialty cocktails, and the ki ... More >>

Things to Do With Bad or Leftover Champagne

thewendyhouse @ flickr.com CC BY-NC-ND 2.0Gee, thanks. Did it make the trip from the 7-Eleven on the corner OK?​What they say: "We brought you a bottle of Champagne*!"What you secretly wish you could say: "How did you know? We're having a New Year's Eve party for 50 people and we didn't think abou ... More >>

OC Beer Fest

Irvine Lake

Tasting Party At Laguna Canyon Winery Tonight

​The winery, whose tipples were awarded four medals at this year's OC Fair wine competition, holds the event every month. (In September, also look out for the fab-sounding Annual Barrel Tasting Prime Rib Dinner Event).Tonight you'll get to sample the winners (a Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec and two s ... More >>

McDonald's Coffee Update--And "Free Mocha Mondays"

Every Monday from July 13 through August 3, participating McDonald's will be handing out one complimentary reduced-size cup of hot or iced mocha per person as part of a "nationwide sampling". An estimated 10 million cups will be served over the four weeks.As for whether or not McD's attempt at corne ... More >>

The Benefits Of Social Networks: Free Ice Cream For Your Friends

Starbucks is giving away a total of 20,000 complimentary pints of its own-brand ice cream from now until July 19 (that's around 800 an hour). The catch? You have to be on Facebook, and you have to nominate a "Friend" to receive the coupon (redeemable at local grocery stores).I've not tried the froze ... More >>

The C Word

No, not that one. I'm talking about Champagne. Or, rather, the lack of it. Picture it: Cedar Creek Inn, Brea, Valentine's Day dinner. I was already mentally black-marking the restaurant for informing me just the day before, when confirming the reservation, that there was a "strict two-hour table tim ... More >>

FDA Wags Finger at Diet Coke's Vitamin Claims

The FDA has issues with Coca Cola's new Diet Coke Plus.  It sent the company a letter earlier this month about the drink, which Coke purports to have a "refreshing taste...AND several essential nutrients" with "each 8 fl. oz. serving of Diet Coke Plus provid(ing) 15% of your RDI ... More >>

To Do Tonight 4/23

This Hole-In-the-Wall Life

There Goes the Neighborhood

Hey, You!

Baffled barista

Captain Bombay's

Evenings of Wine and Coke

Sipping gourmet vintages with a classy dame at La Maison Gourmet

Better Than Health Insurance

Staying alive with Blue Nile Cafe

Tea and a Bit of Joe

Less Whining By More Wining

Appreciating the ways of the oenophile at Tannins

Tea and A

Enjoying the beautiful ambience, ass conversations at the Tea House on Los Rios

Espresso Your Love

Remembering paninis and the Italian boy who got away at Kaffa

Just Like Rainforests in a Glass

Taps Doesnt Blow

Actually, its quite good

Summer Eats (Drinks)

Trawling for Tinis

The Island of Lost Drinks

Iron Barista

Competitors test their beans

A Reality Shrine for a Wired World

The year in coffeehouse founder Carl Diedrich

Ingratuity

Trout Season

Cha, Cha, Cha

Tea bar brews superlative stuff

The Future of Beer

We call it 'urination fermentation'

Guide to Our Advertisers

The Starbucks Solution

Mike Sheldrake figured he was dead when Starbucks opened two stores near his indie coffeehouse. Now his business is up 40 percent.