Reasons why this is the best video in the world
Whiskey? Check. Syringe? Check. Blowtorch? Check. Dude's arm on fire? Oh, hell yes.
YouTube - Blue Blazer Mix-Off: Johnny Iuzzini and Dave Arnold (via Standards & Pours and Liqurious).
Havana laugh
I'm a bartender, therefore I like rum, which leads me to say all kinds of nice things about the roundup of the Havana Club range at A Mountain of Crushed Ice. Tiare's post touches on Bacardi's version of Havana Club, which is only available in the USA, which reminds me of two things.
The first is spending literally an entire day in Manhattan's liquor stores trying to find a bottle to (very illegally) bring back to Scotland. The second, courtesy of the guys at Bramble, is trying it.
It's absolutely horrendous. Maybe it's me. Maybe I've been spoiled by Britain's rich rum heritage. Maybe I'm comparing it with things it should never be measured against, like an aged Jamaican or Guatemalan rum, or even Bacardi's own 8 year old. Maybe I've become a rum snob.
And if it is me? It still tastes like someone made a vodka flavoured with burnt caramel. From meths.
Pretty bottle, though.
It's got a light side, a dark side, and it holds the universe together
Anyone who's worked in a bar will tell you that standard plasters are literally no use in the event of gashing your hands open. Good to see the rest of the world's catching up.
D-fly (2005-2008, 2008- )
Dragonfly - one of the bars that kickstarted the cocktail renaissance in Edinburgh - is up for sale. If any passing millionaires want to toss me some change (about a quarter of a million should do, I guess), I'll give it a shot. It's a great bar, run by awesome folk. Deserves more of the same. Businesses for sale - brief details. [Via Barbore]
Metaphor doesn't seem like the right word
Meantime, people are calling Sarah Palin’s six-year rise from part-time mayor to V.P. nominee improbable, but people who say that have a poor understanding of probability. Sarah Palin’s election as governor was improbable: getting hit by lightning. The fact that she might be vice president is more like getting hit by an asteroid and yet surviving because the asteroid has a hole in it shaped exactly like Sarah Palin.
Welcome to the Palindrome by Kevin Guilfoile & John Warner - The Morning News.