WhiskeyWhiskey's Dividing Lines
A drinker who loves peated Islay malt and a drinker who loves Kentucky bourbon are not really drinking the same thing. The rules that separate them explain almost everything about what lands in the glass.
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Beverage BusinessAlcohol and Health: The Big Rethink
The old story that a daily glass was good for you has quietly collapsed, and the guidance has followed. What that means for anyone who loves a well-made drink is more interesting than the headlines suggest.
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ProductionSake and Its Cousins: A Family Divided by Fire
Rice gives rise to an entire family of Asian drinks, yet they could hardly taste more different from one another. The dividing line comes down to a single decision in the production hall.
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Other Spirits
Pisco: One Name, Two Nations, and a Grape Transformed
A clear grape brandy from the sunbaked Pacific coast has become the object of a rivalry as fierce as any in the drinks world. Behind the feud lies a spirit of startling purity and freshness.
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History
A Short History of the Cocktail
The people, ingredients and social changes that transformed mixed drinks into cocktail culture.
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Other Spirits
The Exotics of Asia: From Shōchū to Snake Liquor
Sake is a worthy ambassador, but it represents a sliver of what the continent actually ferments and distills. Follow the trail far enough and it ends at a pit viper coiled in the bottom of a bottle.
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Beverage Business
Checking In on Brown Spirits: A Category at the Crossroads
After two decades of almost uninterrupted ascent, the world of whiskey, aged rum, and reposado has hit a genuine reckoning. The numbers tell a story of correction, not collapse, and of a market splitting in two.
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Specialty
The Evolution of Craft Beer
For two decades, American breweries multiplied at a dizzying pace. Now the numbers are shrinking, and the industry is learning what comes after the gold rush.
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Whiskey
The Rise of Japanese Whisky
A spirit that began as a careful imitation of Scotch has become one of the most coveted categories in the world. The story of how it happened is a lesson in patience, precision, and the rewards of doing things slowly.
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History
Coffee has Always been the World's Social Center
Long before the cocktail hour, an entire civilization built its public life around a small cup of something dark and stimulating. Today the rest of the world is rediscovering what that culture knew all along.
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Other Spirits
Is Lower Alcohol a Fad or a Fixture?
A generation is rewriting its relationship with the drink, and the industry built on the old rules is scrambling to keep up. The question is whether this is a passing mood or a permanent shift.
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History
The Story of Espresso: The Small Cup That Built a Culture
A study in pressure, ritual, and the Italian conviction that coffee deserves a faster, deeper expression.
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