April 6, 2012
“A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” – Lao-tzu And thus begins the first step. The PDT Project officially kicks off with the #8 cocktail, a boozy tequila-based delight. Created in the fall of 2008 by former PDT bartender Daniel Eun (who’s now busy studying law in California), the #8 […]
May 4, 2011
Tomorrow is Cinco de Mayo, and many of you will be sloshing down the compulsory Margaritas and tequila shots, which in no way would I want to stand in the way of. But if you’re an adventurous drinker like I am and want to try something new (but no less fitting of the festivities), you […]
December 15, 2010
“… just as there is no such thing as a 1/2-good girl there is no such animal as a 1/2-good drink. A mixed drink is either made correctly out of correct stuff: good; or it’s La Bebida Piojosa (lousy drink). Even a homely gal can, with cunningly-employed paint, powder, patches, rouge-pots, whale-bone and falsies, fool […]
November 24, 2010
Thanksgiving has long been the source of mixed emotions for me. On one hand it’s a day when I can unleash my monster appetite without abandon. I love to eat, and I love to eat well. Yet on the other hand I consider myself a person of conscience, and Thanksgiving is a yearly reminder of […]
October 20, 2010
Our Editor has named “death” as the theme for the remainder of October here on Umamimart, and it’s quite fitting because for most readers death is an apt description of the state of the Happy Hour column. As some of you know I haven’t written in over a month, having started a sabbatical to begin […]
August 18, 2010
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 […]
July 19, 2010
Do you remember my pickle pear liqueur, which turned out to really be called sickle pear liqueur? Making fruit liquor is pretty easy. In Japan, when green plums (unripened plum) are available in June, many people make their own umeshu (plum wine). I know Mitsuwa market in New Jersey has the whole kit (plum, liquor, […]
April 7, 2010
 Of all the names one could choose for a cocktail, the Blood and Sand is one of the oddest. It sounds odder when you consider the stuff that goes into the drink–Scotch, cherry liqueur, sweet vermouth, and orange juice, all in equal proportions. But of the relatively few classic Scotch cocktails out there, the […]
March 31, 2010
Looking for an angle when writing about a cocktail is for me the most time consuming–and sometimes agonozing–aspect of blogging. Well, today I’m dispensing with the longwinded introductions about the reasons for talking about a particular cocktail, and instead featuring a cocktail for no reasons other than it’s deliciousness, and the fact that it’s a drink […]
March 24, 2010
Classic cocktails make frequent appearances here, as dedicated readers are well aware. Since many of you aren’t cocktail geeks like myself, I do my best to keep that in mind when I write, particularly in terms of tone and content—believe me, we can get pretty esoteric if you let us. I’ve also come to realize that some […]