Sorry for the sporadic posting - and I’m heading out of town for a couple of days. In the meanwhile, check out a site or two from the blogroll.

Sorry for the time away, all. Busy week – and not enough cocktail sampling.

Thanks to those who have been linking here, including Third Decade. I also got compliments from a local bartender who sussed me out. It’s a pleasure to know this site’s so well received. As always, feel free to leave suggestions or feedback in the comments here or drop me a line: bostoncocktails AT yahoo DOT com.

Jon, via email, teases me about the “stump the bartender” game. To some extent, I’m guilty as charged: part of the fun of this blog is that I can experiment, try new places and order new drinks. Part of the “research” is seeing what exactly you can order and expect out in Boston. But my ultimate goal really is to find good places I can get well-made drinks, not to wallow in mediocre bars or to show up our city’s drinking establishments. It’s just that in seeking quality, you find a lot of mediocrity - a lot of flash without the substance.

It’s a matter of context: walking into a local pub or neighborhood bar, I’m not going to be testing the bartender on their Zombies or Pegu Club Cocktails or what not. But establishments that sell themselves as fancy, refined and expensive deserve any criticism that asks them to live up to their (self-) image. You expect well-made food when you go to an expensive restaurant. I expect a well-made cocktail if I’m spending over ten dollars for it.

Or is ten dollars now considered cheap in this town?

It should be in the back of my discussions here that one should act responsibly, whether imbibing or entertaining. I know that has a pro-forma feel to it, like those “Drink Responsibly” tags at the bottom of those liquor ads telling people to drink all night. And, true enough, I have a libertine streak that values alcohol as part of social life, diet and leisure time. But that’s the thing, it should be integrated into the fabric of a well-rounded diet and lifestyle. If there’s anything I argue for here it’s for that European sensibility, if you will (European because Prohibition killed much of it in the US). Caring for quality spirits and enjoying the taste of what you drink will not prevent you from drinking too much or driving drunk, of course, but it is a step away from the hedonism of alcopops, PGA slurries and luge shooters. Cocktails get us drunk, but fine drinking should be a world away from getting trashed.

So use best judgment. Remember, too, that Massachusetts is a state with social host laws. If you’re entertaining, you’re responsible for guests’ behavior afterward.

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.