Umami Mart

Minty, refreshing, and undeniably potent, the Stinger cocktail is part reviver, part ultimate nightcap. The cocktail originates around the fin de siecle, but was not memorialized until Tom Bullock’s Ideal Bartender (1917). The Stinger was a favorite of the high society set who regularly had a brandy digestif after supper. The classic recipe is one […]

Wishing you a happy, healthy and peaceful holiday season. Cheers! Erin

If there’s one drink on the menu that PDT is perhaps most famous for, it is the Benton’s Old-Fashioned. Although PDT’s menu is ever-changing and some would say hyper-seasonal, there are a few drinks that are mainstays. The Benton’s Old-Fashioned is one of those drinks, and to my knowledge it has not come off the […]

The 100 Year Punch is a cocktail that features a couple of unique ingredients that highlight the Korean heritage of its creator, Daniel Eun (who also created the #8 cocktail). Baekseju (also spelled Bek Se Ju) or “100 Year Wine,” is a rice and corn based Korean wine flavored with ginseng and other herbs. Apparently it […]

The Kentucky Derby unites classic fashion style, 19th century cocktails, gambling, and an age-old sport of kings in a quintessentially American event. The fellows suited up in seersucker, ladies in elegant straw hats, red and white colors abound, as do bourbon mint juleps in icy beaded silver tins. Crowds lining the ground and grandstand making 20:1 […]

If you can recall, Umamimart helped organize a special bartender event back in March, with Suntory and Prizefighter bar. Bay Area bartenders came together with a couple of talented bartenders from Japan, for an afternoon of cultural exchange and cocktail knowledge sharing. By now, I’m sure you’ve seen all the photos from the event, and […]

“Made of Win” Bourbon is one of my favorite spirits to make and drink cocktails. Sadly, it is not used in many pre-Prohibition recipes due to rye whisky’s popularity during the golden age of cocktails. After Repeal, bourbon gained popularity as it became more available but was often just substituted for rye whisky in the […]

This is my new favorite winter cocktail to drink in our neck of the woods, so I named it after our neighborhood, Skylonda. I just soak some cinnamon sticks in a jar of bourbon for a few days which gives it a nice spice. Then to the bourbon, I add a few drops of bitters […]

March, as the idiom goes, comes in like a Lion, and goes out like a Lamb. This month may bring us spring-like temperatures, but also one more blizzard for the road. Winter’s last blast requires a libation celebrating the flavors of the season and is worthy of the ferocity of the month’s namesake, Mars, the […]

Novare serbando. – Fratelli Branca motto from the 19th Century (translation: “Renew but conserve.”) My obsession with the bitter Italian herbal liqueurs known as Amari is homegrown. Amari, which translates to “Bitters” in Italian, have been a staple in my house as long as I can remember– my father Francesco is Milanese after all. He […]