A little introduction...

There is something wrong with the world when Bacardi flavored rums, bad beer and vodka and cranberry are widely consumed. It angers me that in the presence of so much good booze, most people order crap. It angers me even more that most bartenders think they are serving good drinks when they are in fact peddling crap. What angers me most though is that nobody is the wiser.

Why is it that a bartender nowadays is not seen as the creative equivalent of a chef? Like chefs, not all bartenders can be good and creative, but why is it that there is no equivalent of a Garces or Solomonov in the bar scene in Philadelphia?

This has become a city of beer. I feel like this parallels our development as a steakhouse town. It has come to my attention that a lot of Philadelphians equate expensive to good. They think that spending $70 on a steak with mashed potatoes, creamed spinach and either a beer or overpriced glass of wine (that they likely don't appreciate anyway) is a way to show off how high classed they are. I would just like to voice one man's opinion that this is not classy. This is an example of wasting money because people don't know any better. Fuck beer and steak.

Since this is an introduction, I feel I should tell you a little bit about my liquid history. I love booze, liquor, hooch, whatever you want to call it. I like whiskey, gin, tequila, rum, absinthe, pastis, brandy, scotch, and cordials of all kinds. I like them neat. I like them on ice. I like them mixed. I like bitters and vermouths and all the other ingredients that time forgot.

What I don't like are flavored vodkas and people that are convinced that Cuervo is actually tequila. Here is a hint: It isn't.