Welcome to Boston Cocktails. Remarkably there seem to be few, if any, cocktail blogs out there, and this one looks to step into the gap. What is a cocktail blog? Well, this one is part commentary, part guidebook, and part assessment of Boston nightlife offerings. It will include:

• Recipes for cocktails and mixed drinks that are classic, newly discovered, forgotten or simply favorites of mine.
• Reviews of Boston drinking establishments and the libations they prepare. Which bars are the coziest? Where can you get a decent sidecar? Which hotel bars are worth visiting? Does Back Bay have a bar that’s affordable or free from the Newbury St. scene? There are a lot of incompetent bartenders out there; at the same time, some of Boston’s bartenders create drinks that truly deserve attention.
• Thoughts on drink trends. Nothing seems so trend-driven as cocktail culture, yet like good food or drink, spirits do have a value that goes beyond the lifestyle fads and fashions. They can be complex, well-balanced and even as artisanally-made as a fine cheese. Cocktails are fun and get us drunk, but that’s not a good excuse for artificially flavored ingredients and substandard booze.
• Features on spirits, from advice on which gin to buy to possibilities if you’re looking to splurge on a bottle of cordials. And where to buy the harder-to-find stuff.
• Occasional reviews of beer and wine. I’m not a big wine drinker myself, but will bring in a guest wine buff suggesting what bottle to buy for a reasonable price range - perhaps a welcome feature to those who read magazine and newspaper reviews of wines that are nowhere to be found in local liquor stores.
• How-to guidelines for novices at mixing drinks and ideas for incorporating spirits into entertaining in your home. As an amateur, I doubt I have any great advice about cocktail mixing beyond what’s in your basic bartending book. Then again, why wade through 500 recipes for shots or improbably named drinks meant to be served in plastic cups, when you’re really just looking for something simple, nice and impressive to serve at your next dinner party?

I’m not a professional bartender and never have been. I’m just someone who likes cocktails and spirits, whether making them at home or ordering them out. To me, home bartending means something different than restaurant bartending - and a different set of priorities in entertaining than the average bartending book deals with. The local newspaper and nightlife magazines produce cocktail sections that say more about their advertisers than about the quality of drinks. Finally, the cocktail craze has reintroduced a sense of fun and sophistication to nightlife but has also spawned mere trendiness. It’s amazing what the pickiest of wine snobs will swill down if you put it in a cocktail glass.

Maybe none of that bothers you like it does me. I still hope you find this blog enjoyable and useful.