7 HOME FOOD DRINKS
The old-fashioned way
5/9/2008 | DRINKS | We've just returned from two weeks in England and, man, do I miss real English ale. "Real English ale" conjures up, to many Americans, the terms "tepid and flat." Yet this cask-conditioned ale is actually at the pinnacle of the brewer's art, and I have grown to love it.
Going on a beer run
5/2/2008 | DRINKS | Maybe someday they'll call him the Don Kardong of the Spokane bar scene. I mean, if Bloomsday's babydaddy could draw tens of thousands of people to town just to run a few miles, certainly Jon Robideaux can sell people on an annual Downtown bar crawl.
Adding a little flavor
3/21/2008 | DRINKS | NEW YORK It may seem heresy to purists, but flavored beers are going mainstream as brewers reach for sales growth. The $90 billion beer industry only recently has seen a little growth after flat sales for about six years.
Irish love reborn in Scotland
3/14/2008 | DRINKS | It may seem odd to admit, this being St. Patrick's Day weekend and all, but it took two weeks in Scotland to make me fall back in love with Irish whiskey.
Raising the bar
2/22/2008 | DRINKS | Chad "Cabby" Cabanlet wanted to kickstart collaboration between the growing number of bars in downtown Spokane. So the Raw Sushi and Island Grill marketing manager decided to import an idea he used in his native home of Hawaii: The age-old Iron Bartender competition.
Watch video of the event
A hearty chuckle
2/8/2008 | DRINKS | Laughing Dog has done it again. The Ponderay brewery's latest invention a rich black India Pale Ale called Tail Wagger froths the rules of flavor until they just about overflow.
Shaking things up
12/28/2007 | DRINKS | When 7 challenged a handful of downtown bartenders to come up with the quintessential Spokane cocktail, nearly all of them knee-jerked the same response: A shot of Jδger and a beer. Then they started thinking about it: What cocktail does represent this city?
In the end, five bartenders offered five different answers.
Bringing wine worth small fee
12/14/2007 | DRINKS | When it comes to wine, restaurants take their pricing tips from Big Oil. Bottle markup is often in excess of 100 percent above retail and by-the-glass inflation is even higher that must be where restaurants make a profit.
Seasonal brews
12/7/2007 | DRINKS | Each year, my comrades and I try to drink every winter beer available in Spokane. And each year, that task becomes more daunting and full of surprises.
Tour the wine country - downtown
11/13/2007 | DRINKS | Ten wineries in one day is doable. A colleague and I proved that last year during the Holiday Wine Festival, for which every winery in Spokane opens its doors the weekend before Thanksgiving to party. But this year, two new wineries bring the total number to 12.
Back to the Booze
9/20/2007 | DRINKS | Dear students,Put down the beer bong and let me give you some advice. During your college years, the decisions you make help determine the person you will become. Whether your future is that of a desk jockey, a teacher, a folk singer or a marine biologist, each step you take, right here and now, carries you closer to that end. So I tell you this: Choose your favorite bar carefully.
Fight the mid-week bar blues
8/22/2007 | DRINKS | Barflies at Prago Argentine Cafe cheered as Matt Bogue slammed the whammy bar during a butchered version of "Mother" by Danzig. No, the drummer for local instrumental powerhouse Lines Collide hasn't started a crappy cover band.
Fight the mid-week bar blues
8/21/2007 | DRINKS | Barflies at Prago Argentine Cafe cheered as Matt Bogue slammed the whammy bar during a butchered version of "Mother" by Danzig. No, the drummer for local instrumental powerhouse Lines Collide hasn't started a crappy cover band. He was playing "Guitar Hero II."
Don't lose when you infuse your booze
8/3/2007 | DRINKS | It sounded nasty as hell:A Pomegranate Horseradish Margarita? No thanks, hombre. But after manager Caleb Gray poured me a dram of Lindaman's house-infused mix of Jose Cuervo 1800 and horseradish, I wasn't so sure. The savory, palate-slapping flavors of horseradish and tequila complemented one another perfectly. Mixed with pomegranate juice, fresh-squeezed lime, Cointreau and salt, the infused liquor filled the gaps in the flavor profile. The resulting concoction tasted like nothing I'd had before.
Beer-ification guide
7/27/2007 | DRINKS | In the beginning there was beer, and some might have called that good enough. But between today's tinkering brewers and more experimental drinkers, we've got fruit-infused beers, summer beers, tequila beers and organic beers to go along with the stouts, Pilsners, pale ales, porters, Bocks and lagers we were finally getting used to.
Nasty bout of nostalgia
6/29/2007 | DRINKS | The Safeway clerk scanned my four-pack of Bartles and Jaymes wine coolers without a second glance. "Do you guys carry Boone's Farm? " I asked. Then he did a double take. "No, we don't," he responded. "Actually, I can't remember the last time I saw it." "I wonder if they stopped making it," I said. "That'd be a shame," he replied. "I was weaned on that stuff."
The good, the bad and the caffeinated
6/15/2007 | DRINKS | Starbucks DoubleShot Espresso and CreamStyle: Coffee drinkPanel reviews: Just OK. A little watered down, but I'm guessing that's where the cream comes in.
A classy cocktail oasis
6/13/2007 | DRINKS | Ambrosia Bistro and Wine Bar isn't the only place in Spokane Valley that serves mojitos. But it's the only place I've been in the Valley that makes me feel like ordering one. This metro-chic spot in the Argonne Village strip mall banks on making people feel a little froufrou, offering seven different versions of the trendy Cuban concoction alongside other cocktails, beer and wines by-the-glass.
Pounding buttons and beer
6/8/2007 | DRINKS | The beer was flowing and the baseball game was on, but the focus was squarely on dozens of much more heated competitions going on around this crowded pub.
Don't miss killer suds and spot-on staffers
5/25/2007 | DRINKS | When you walk into Hills' Restaurant and Lounge, I recommend you point your feet toward the exposed brick wall at the back of the restaurant and don't stop until you park your elbows on the darkly rich, Brazilian-wood bar preferably somewhere with a clear view of the taps.
Pizza plus beer equals awesome
5/18/2007 | DRINKS | Eating at 30 pizza joints in less than a month makes a guy thirsty, and nothing wets the whistle quite like a good beer. But what beer tastes best with a slice of pie? If you're like my friends, the answer is "any." But I decided to ask some local experts for recommendations on what suds to sip with a scrumptious slice. "It really comes down to certain styles of drinkers," said Chris Bennett, owner of Pizza Throwdown winner Bennidito's Pizza, which has locations on Spokane's South Hill and the North Side. "But it seems that the hoppier, the better we do with it up here."
Drinking like a grown-up
4/27/2007 | DRINKS | Kevin Settles didn't like gin until he decided to grow up. "When I was in my mid-30s, I said, 'I want to learn to drink an adult cocktail,' " Settles said. So Settles, now the owner of Boise's Bardenay Restaurant and Distillery, settled on a gin martini. "It wasn't something I learned to like right away, but I kept experimenting, looked into the history a little bit, played around and developed a true fondness," he said.
Huge craft brews may satisfy any palate
4/24/2007 | DRINKS | Big, big beer. That's the name of the game for brewery special releases right now. Walk down the beer aisle and you'd think Darth Vader and Emperor Palpatine were in charge the word "Imperial" lures you in, big and bold, modifying "Porter" and "India Pale Ale. In other words, it's a great time to be a beer drinker. First thing I did when I recovered from flu season was rush out and drop a few Hamiltons on brew. Here are a few to watch out for.
On a sippin' safari
4/6/2007 | DRINKS | Flatbreads and dessert samplers aside, people on the hunt for top-shelf fruity cocktails and decent well pours may want to plan an excursion to the Safari Room Fresh Grill and Bar. Sure, it's in a brightly lit hotel lobby not even the elephant-head statues and exotic stuffed animals cover up that fact. But it's still worth a stop on your First Avenue bar crawl, if only for the Dewar's and Jack Daniel's well whiskies or the signature cocktails.
Pomegranates eat at the cool kids' table
4/6/2007 | DRINKS | As a kid, every once in a while I'd open my sack lunch and there it would be. A halved pomegranate. Exactly what every shy fifth grader wants to plop down on his desk during lunchtime. Just when I thought I escaped the cries of "Eww" and "Your mom must hate you" from my formative years, pomegranates have become ubiquitous at my favorite bars, liquor stores and grocery store beer aisles.
