Happy Hour

Cocktail creations by Umami Mart: shaken, stirred, and remixed.

September 8, 2010

Happy Hour: Torch’n Scorch

by Payman Bahmani

  As far as Summers go, this was one of the best in recent memory. My first trip to Tales of the Cocktail, a new puppy, and all around nice, scorching hot weather made this season a tough act for Fall to follow. But alas, we have arrived at Summer’s twilight here in New York: […]

September 1, 2010

Happy Hour: What’s a Barspoon?

by Payman Bahmani

Here at Happy Hour the subject all day every day is cocktails. I provide the recipes, and hopefully you enjoy them, and learn a little something new in the process.  But a recent question from a friend prompted the realization that in all the posts about cocktails, I never really dedicated a post to cocktail […]

August 25, 2010

Happy Hour: The Devil’s Idle Hands

by Payman Bahmani

“Idle hands are the Devil’s tools.” -Some historic hotard It’s a rare thing for me to have down time these days, but after a very frenzied summer, I’ve stumbled upon a bit of unstructured time which quite frankly scares me. Naturally, I found a way to get into some trouble. Today’s cocktail, which I call […]

August 18, 2010

Happy Hour: Cherry Samba

by Payman Bahmani

Since returning from New Orleans it seems like the pace of my life has only sped up, so I was thankful to be able to take a breather last week and have Kayoko fill in for me with an awesome post about Savoy Night at The Alembic in San Francisco. Truth be told, I would […]

August 11, 2010

Happy Hour: Savoy Cocktail Book Night (SF)

by Kayoko Akabori

Paystyle is out this week– after his series of recaps on Tales of the Cocktail in New Orleans, he’s burnt out and taking a personal day. It is Sloth Season after all, and we all deserve a break from Umamimart reporting. He suggested I fill in this week for Happy Hour as a guest writer. […]

August 5, 2010

Happy Hour: Tales Recap Pt. 6 (New Amsterdam Gin Competition, Spirited Awards Winners, Lessons for Next Time, and Final Farewell)

by Payman Bahmani

PREFACE: Tales of the Cocktail Recap Part 1 Tales of the Cocktail Recap Part 2 Tales of the Cocktail Recap Part 3 Tales of the Cocktail Recap Part 4 Tales of the Cocktail Recap Part 5 Alas my friends, as all good things eventually come to an end, so did this year’s Tales of the Cocktail, […]

August 4, 2010

Happy Hour: Tales Recap Pt. 5 (Bax vs. Clift)

by Payman Bahmani

  PREFACE: Tales of the Cocktail Recap Part 1 Tales of the Cocktail Recap Part 2 Tales of the Cocktail Recap Part 3 Tales of the Cocktail Recap Part 4 Of all the seminars I attended down at Tales of the Cocktail, the most memorable had to be a seminar called Bax vs. Clift: Progressive […]

August 3, 2010

Happy Hour: Tales Recap Pt. 4 (Highlights and Lowlights)

by Payman Bahmani

PREFACE: Tales of the Cocktail Recap Part 1 Tales of the Cocktail Recap Part 2 Tales of the Cocktail Recap Part 3 I had never been to New Orleans prior to going down for this year’s Tales of the Cocktail, so when it came to deciding where to eat and drink (which are always my […]

August 2, 2010

Happy Hour: Tales Recap Pt. 3 (John Besh + Kermit Ruffins = happy mouth & ears)

by Payman Bahmani

PREFACE: Tales of the Cocktail Recap Part 1 Tales of the Cocktail Recap Part 2 New Orleans is perhaps most famous for its great food and rich musical tradition. They’re what folks often point to as the most tangible markers of a New Orleans culture that’s sometimes too intangible to define. So despite a schedule packed […]

July 30, 2010

Happy Hour: Tales of the Cocktail Recap Pt. 2 (my liver will make yours quiver)

by Payman Bahmani

PREFACE Tales Recap Part 1 Anticipating that I’d have a hangover the size of a punch bowl, and knowing that I’d be competing as a finalist in the Catdaddy Bar Chef Challenge in the afternoon of my second day at Tales of the Cocktail, I intentionally lightened my schedule to allow some breathing room.  In the […]