Newsdesk: summer is coming

It's summer! It must be, all the clues are there. There was sunlight this afternoon - proper sunlight with warmth and everything! The other big clue?

• It's the Guardian's guide to making the perfect cocktail, of course! Not only that, but they've started a weekly series on the Word of Mouth blog called How To Drink, kicking off with the perfect summer topic: ice.
• The Times looks at the resurgence of gin and the establishment of a vineyard in London.
• Two mysteries solved this week: the secret recipe of Dr. Pepper, and how to open champagne without smashing anything or blinding someone.

Newsdesk: what's in a name?

This week's links don't know what you should call them, in case they sound like a dick.

• After all, the word "mixologist" has a decent amount of history behind it, not that it stops the discussion. Just don't say bar-chef. That'll get you a slap.
• Table Matters looks at the evolution of the Martini, while the WSJ looks back at the Whiskey Sour (the Katherine Hepburn of drinks? That'd make a Martini, who? Audrey Hepburn? Negroni - Federico Fellini, that's easy. Long Island Iced Tea - Pete Doherty? OK, stop now.)
• Proving once again that men of God really know their stuff when it comes to booze, workers at an English monastery reckon they've recreated the secret recipe of Chartreuse. It doesn't stop with closely-guarded herbal liqueurs - they're even making whisky now. [Via just-drinks and the Edinburgh Whisky Blog]
• Beam Global launches what it calls "the first boxed margarita cocktail in the U.S. market containing real tequila". Which is kinda terrifying - how many house parties have been fueled by the placebo effect?
• Intriguingly, the Times has just put up a separate Drinks page in the Food & Drink section of their website, including a lovely piece on the attraction of a well-made cocktail.
• The week in shame: UK teenagers leading Europe in problem drinking. Hey, at least we're no. 1 at something! No? Just knock it on the head, then? After all, giving up booze would transform the UK - and you can probably guess what we'd change into.

Newsdesk: best in Britain

This edition of Newsdesk is sponsored by local pride coloured with a touch of envy.

• Lots of lovely things have been written about Bramble down on Queen Street, all of which are annoyingly true. So, congratulations to the team on winning Best Place to Drink in the 2009 Observer Food Monthly Awards.
• The other things Scots are good at? Dying from drink-related problems no matter where they go.
• The BBC hit up New York's cocktailians for demos of historic drinks (Not sure how well iPlayer embeds work outside of the UK - let me know if the video works overseas).
• Over at Proof, what your favourite drink says about you.
• On creation - not the divisive theological kind, more the fun, drinky kind - though there's a solid theoretical base to all the artistry.
• The New York Times happens across Paris' Experimental Cocktail Club. Coincidence, or are they following the Cocktail Guru?

Newsdesk: maximising the minimums

(Graphic from BBC News.) This week's news is minimum drink pricing, because you can't keep a controversial public health policy down.

• While Holyrood has forced the Scottish Government to delay the introduction of minimum pricing north of the border, the UK's Chief Medical Officer has suggested that Westminster implement a similar scheme to combat problem drinkers (PDF link). Sir Liam Donaldson's recommendation - charging at least 50p per unit of alcohol - has met with resistance from the Prime Minister, but he's determined to fight on. Unsurprisingly, the drinks industry believes self-regulation to be the solution, but there are those beginning to wonder if something drastic should be done. Then again, there are those beginning to wonder if a new age of puritanism will actually help, and there are those who can always see the upside.

(Happy St Patrick's Day!... by shannonpatrick17, licensed under Creative Commons.)

• Of course, all of this breaks in the 24 hours ahead of St. Patrick's Day (a.k.a Amateur Night) which is as good a time as any to celebrate 250 years of Guinness.
• Over in Indonesia, it's not how much they're charging for booze: it's where they're serving it as the Buddha Bar in Jakarta faces allegations of religious insensitivity and corruption.

Newsdesk: no, you can't

• There are many noble Scottish traditions - St Andrews Day, the Edinburgh Festival, for example, and it's important not to forget drinking. Whether it's three litres of cheap cider in a supermarket carpark or an expensive single malt in an upmarket bar, we're much better at it north of the border. But the current Scottish Government - the Scottish Nationalist Party, no less - are set on introducing a flotilla of measures aimed at combating the nation's, uh, complicated relationship with the bottle. Funnily enough, not everybody is impressed.
  
• Joining the entirety of Scotland in the problem-drinker club this week - members of the world's orchestras. C'mon in boys, there's beer for everyone!
• Bad news for anyone planning on releasing a whisky in 2009, as Whisky Magazine name their Icons of Whisky for 2009 while I try to include the words "whisky" and "2009" as many times as I can in one sentence without it sounding weird
• Things the internet is already aware of: Gary Regan asks Obama can we haz metric? - Paul Clarke on moonshiners - Eric Felten on sibling rivalry in the world of liqueurs.