Tom Bulleit introduced his 10 years old to Belgium and we don’t mean his grandson, we’re talking about his ‘Bulleit Bourbon 10 Years Old’. The place to be was Jord Althuizen’s grill tower, ‘Black Smoke’. Actually it was the grill tower’s rooftop, bathing in sunlight, were we spent a very pleasant afternoon, soaked in beer,…
Category: Spirits
Campari soon opens new piazza of pleasure in Antwerp: Gaspare La Piazza Dell’Aperitivo
We were invited into an old courtyard right in the centre of medieval Antwerp where Campari will open a new bar on May 5th called: Gaspare La Piazza Dell’Aperitivo. The moment we set foot in it, we fell in love with it. Tucked away from the commercial chaos of the city and her typical traffic…
Have a Teeling Irish Whiskey on St. Paddy’s Day
There’s a thing about Irish whiskey that makes it very…well, Irish actually and because of that definitely a distinct category within the whisky sphere. It was once much more popular than Scottish whisky and it’s doing its best to reclaim the title. Teeling Whiskey is relatively new on the field here, but in less than…
Belgian Steam Gin Gets Your Engine Rolling
Another gin, you say? Yes, people don’t seem to get enough of it. Which recently lead to the quaint discovery that our blood vaguely tastes of juniper. A fact which largely broadened our Transylvanian fanbase by the way. Read below why you should try Steam Gin. Steam Gin is the product of a unique cooperation…
Jigger’s launches Belle Fleur Apple Eau De Vie!
And you know what they say, an apple a day… Olivier Jacobs from Jigger’s (Ghent) wanted to make a spirit that is honest and responsibly made. A product which he followed from apple to bottle. Distilled by Biercée this results in an eau de vie that is an absolute jewel and there’s only 2000 bottles……
Maison Ferrand & The Launch Of The Belgian Cocktail Book
Every year Maison Ferrand launches a cocktail book in a different city, this book represents the (cocktail) culture and bartender scene of the country the city is located in. It started 5 years ago in Paris, followed by Berlin, London, Singapore, NYC and now Antwerp, Belgium. The good people of Maison Ferrand immediately spotted how…
How do you like your vermouth?
If somebody offered us a vermouth and asked: “Italian or French?” We would probably answer: “A Savoyan”. Because that’s where they come from, the former Duchy of Savoy. Or was it Germany? And more importantly where are they now? Italy, France? Yes and Spain and a little bit everywhere actually, even Belgium has one. Vermouth…
Hammering a good drink to life requires a Sip-smith
No doubt Sipsmith, as a relatively new gin, has earned its place among the classics and will keep it for a long while. Fairfax, Sam and the well known Jared Brown took their first steps into sip smithing with prudence, which also happens to be the name of their first small copper still. A few…
Saint James Rhum Cocktail Competition
Last week one of the cocktail competitions we judged was the Saint James Cocktail Competition. Fifteen candidates squared off against each other in the lovely ‘La Tricoterie’ in Brussels in the hope of winning one of the great prizes – amongst them one of the last bottles of Saint James 250 for Belgium. Saint James…
There’s no cheers without a good cause! And this week you’ll be toasting with Negronis
Today marks the start of the Negroni week. That means that until the 12th of June every Negroni consumed in the bars that volunteered for this project will result in 1€ going to a good cause. Besides that the Negroni is starting to burst out of craft cocktailbars and high end speakeasies straight into dive…
First Belgian Bitter launched by Biercée Distillery
Belgians like their bitter they say, I say Belgians like everything. True, we love cacao, coffee, endives, sprouts, hops and others but we’re also quite fond of our stew and fries, our waffles, genever, anything really. But what if some crazy Belgians said to each other: “what would happen if we put all the bitter…
Trends and tipular fixings for 2016
To augur the cocktail and spirit trends for 2016 is more like horoscopes, tarot and disembowelling lamb to check their livers for strange spots. It’s not hard science. So instead we take a look at what we saw in 2015 and what we would like to see in 2016, mixed together with what we could…
