Classic Cocktails TONIGHT at Estragon

No promises that Damn the Weather cocktail will be on the menu tonight at Estragon's Classic Cocktail Challenge.

Bar man Eric Cross is making his way, after all, through 100 or so old school beverages, weather-inspired and otherwise.

That covers a lot of real estate, from turn-of-the-century to Prohibition and beyond.

Tonight's Cocktail Challenge, plus the resurgence of organizations like LUPEC (Ladies United for the Preservation of Endangered Cocktails), are proof positive that classic cocktails will never go out of style.

It isn't just that the cocktails themselves are eternally appealing.

It's also that the style is throw-back. Retro. Mad Men-ish.

It's that beverages of choice go in phases, and the tide of cocktails is on the rise.

And Estragon has a hundred or so ways to prove it.


WHAT: Classic Cocktail Challenge
WHERE: Estragon, 700 Harrison Avenue, Boston
WHEN: Tonight and every Tuesday until the 100 cocktails are up
MORE INFO: Call 617.266.0443


DAILY TIDBIT:

Damn the Weather cocktail:

2 ounces gin

1/2 ounce orange juice
1/4 ounce sweet vermouth
1/4 ounce orange curacao

Combine all ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice. Strain into a cocktail glass.

Single Malts + Belgian Beer, Two Nights This Week at Morton's

Single-malt Scotch from Scotland. Traditional craft beers from Belgium.

It's practically National Drink Week at Morton's The Steakhouse.

No one's calling it that, but look at their calendar and you'll see why.

Wednesday, March 31: Tasting of The Glenlivet 12 Year Old, 15 Year Old, 16 Year Old and 18 Year Old Scotches.

Thursday, April 1: Tasting of Chimay Premier, Chimay Grand Cru, Chimay Cinq Cents, Chouffe Houblon IPA, Duvel and Duvel Green.

Each night Morton's will be putting up all kinds of hors d'oeuvres to pair with the beverages.

Each night a very helpful expert on the drink will be on hand to lead you through the tasting.

And each night's tasting runs from 6 to 7:30, which is that sweet spot of the evening after work but before you settle in for dinner.

Spend it with the Scots, or the Belgians, and walk away knowing a whole lot more about their National Drinks.


WHAT: The Glenlivet tasting this Wednesday, Belgian beer tasting this Thursday
WHERE: Morton's The Steakhouse, 2 Seaport Lane, Boston
COST: $49 for Scotch, $30 for beer
RSVP: Required. Call 617.526.0410


DAILY TIDBIT:

The Glenlivet distillery is known in some circles as "The single malt that started it all." And in addition to the beers listed above, Thursday's tasting will also include a Trappist beer, one of only seven in the world brewed by monks in an abbey or church.

Eat Drink Man Woman, Tonight in Cambridge

Fifteen years ago, Ang Lee wrote and directed an Oscar-nominated film called Eat Drink Man Woman.

The story, set in Taipei, revolves around elaborate Sunday dinners put on by a master chef and his three daughters.

(Okay, really it revolves around their love lives but what's a good food story without a little love?)

It isn't a film you see around all that much but it's being screened tonight in Cambridge and you are invited. You are also invited to munch on dumplings throughout the movie (which is another activity you don't see around all that much.)

Drinks afterward -- beer? Gewurztraminer? baijiu?? -- are completely up to you.


WHAT: Screening of Eat Drink Man Woman, hosted by foodat24framespersecond
WHEN: Tonight at 7 p.m.
WHERE: 52 Oxford Street, Cambridge
COST: $0 though donations are welcome and appreciated


DAILY TIDBIT:

The film tonight will be introduced by Jen Lin-Liu, founder of the Black Sesame Kitchencooking school in Beijing and author of Serve the People: A Stir-Fried Journey Through China.

Sauvignon Blanc Three Ways, at Tastings

Sauvignon Blanc looks innocent enough, with its pale yellow color and maybe a tinge of green here and there.

But then you put your nose in the glass. One sniff, and you know you're dealing with no rookie.

It's Sauvignon Blanc's aromas, maybe even more than its flavors, that are destined to express themselves come hell or high water.

Or, for that matter, a difference in terroir.

It isn't often that someone lines up three Sauvignon Blancs for you from three vastly different places, giving you the opportunity to smell (and see, and taste) the various personalities of this potent grape from around the world.

Tonight Tastings Wine Bar & Bistro in Foxborough is doing that for you.

They call it their Tuesday Tasting. It'll cost you $15 up front, but you'll get it right back when you stay for dinner.

Which you will definitely want to do.

Because the other thing Sauvignon Blanc is, is friendly to many of the foods on Tasting's exceptionally creative (and exceptionally local) menu.


WHAT: Tuesday Tasting: Sauvignon Blanc from California, New Zealand, and France
WHERE: Tastings Wine Bar & Bistro, 201 Patriot Place, Foxborough
WHEN: Tuesday, March 23 from 6 to 8 p.m.
COST: $15, which is credited toward your dinner

DAILY SIP:

The most salient characteristic of sauvignon blanc is its distinctive, penetrating aroma, which can evoke scents of grapefruit, lime, green melon, gooseberry, passion fruit, freshly mown grass, and bell pepper. Grown in cooler climates and in fertile soils promoting excessive vine growth, herbaceous smells and flavors can dominate the character of the wine, while in warmer regions, the melon, citrus and passion fruit aromas and flavors emerge. (Source: DrinkWine.com)

Spring Fling in Salem: Wine Food Beer Music, This Saturday

Check out the list of folks involved in Saturday's Spring Fling in Salem, and you start to get a sense of what the event will be like.

Pamplemousse, whose owner used to produce big-ticket music events. She also carries a very thoughtful selection of boutique wines and local and European craft beers.

Magic Hat Brewing Company, based in South Burlington, Vermont, who post info on their website (and to their 32,000+ Facebook fans) about things like creating your own beer dinner at home and inspiring democracy through the power of music.

A&J King Artisan Bakers, who think making bread is more about technique and tradition than any ole recipe. (Check out the Daily Sip, below.)

The Upper Crust Pizzeria. We know you know who they are, but for the moment just remember their beer and wine list they developed to pair with their specific pizzas.

Start to notice a pattern? Or a few?

Top products.

Created with intention.

And all on display -- meaning, for consumption -- at the Spring Fling happening in Salem this Saturday.

Get ready to dig in.


WHAT: Spring Fling: A Celebration of Art, Food, Wine, Beer & Music
WHERE: Old Town Hall, Derby Square, Salem
WHEN: Saturday, March 27 from 6 to 9 p.m.

COST: $25. Click here to purchase.


DAILY SIP:

There's nothing like the smell of freshly baked Italian ciabatta. There's nothing like the crackle of the crust of a French baguette. There's nothing like pulling apart the layers of a hand-make croissant. There's nothing like a real sourdough flecked with roasted garlic, or the sheer joy of biting into a caramelized morning bun, still warm from the oven. And there's nothing like a small, artisan bakery to pull that off. -- A&J King Artisan Bakers, Salem

Events This Week-End at Venues We've Never Mentioned Before

Call it the Red White Boston version of spring cleaning.

It's what happened this week, right around the time the sun started shining again, as we looked ahead in our calendar of bookings.

Suddenly there were events, and venues, and parties, and openings, and all sorts of fun beverage-related things sprouting up around town.

There's nothing new there exactly. But here's the thing: most of them were happening at places we've never been to before, or have (almost) never mentioned in these emails.

Which is why we're including them here today. And if you've got another something to add while we're at it? Just let us know.

Out with the old. In with the new.

Indeed.


WHAT: Weekly beer and wine & cheese tastings
WHERE: Menotomy Beer & Wine, 80 Broadway, Arlington
WHEN: Friday, March 19 (beer) and Saturday, March 20 (wine), both from 4 to 7 p.m.
COST: $0

WHAT: Weekly craft beer tasting: Coastal Extreme Brewing Company
WHERE: Bermans Fine Wines and Spirits, 55 Massachusetts Avenue, Lexington
WHEN: Friday, March 19 from 5 to 7 p.m.
COST: $0

WHAT: Post-Diluvian Grand Tasting, featuring wines from Oz Pacific and Charles River
WHERE: Andover Liquors, 209 North Main Street, Andover
WHEN: Saturday, March 20 from 2 to 6 p.m.
COST: $0

WHAT: Tasting of 2006 Joseph Phelps Insignia
WHERE: Lower Falls Wine Co., 2366 Washington Street, Newton Lower Falls
WHEN: Saturday, March 20 from noon to 4 p.m.
COST: $0 or $25 contribution to Haitian Relief / Partners in Health in order to additionally taste Insignia from 1994, 2002, 2005

WHAT: Monday Night Wine Club: Charles Smith's Modernist Project
WHERE: Ashmont Grill, 555 Talbot Avenue, Dorchester
WHEN: Monday, March 22 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.
COST: $30 for four courses and four wines

Our Friends in Beer: Harpoon Beer Dinner at Finz, Salem

There's a theory floating around that it's actually beer that pairs better with cheese than wine does.

The folks floating that theory know a lot about beer's nuances, like what adds to a beer's aroma or how to set off a beer's meaty, nut-like flavors or how malt impacts the decibel level of a beer's character.

They'd be the same folks who put together beer dinners, like the one happening next week at Finz on Pickering Wharf in Salem.

In this case, it's our friends from Harpoon.

And the menu for their beer dinner reads like a how-to of beer and food pairing.

Belgian Pale Ale with lobster potato skins.

IPA with beer brat corn dog.

Island Creek Oyster Stout with (naturally) oysters.

Imperial Red with Korean BBQ ribs.

UFO Raspberry with chocolate waffles and -- get this -- UFO raspberry-flavored ice cream.

By the end of this dinner, you'll be thinking there's a lot more than beer that pairs well with cheese.


WHAT: Harpoon Beer Dinner
WHERE: Finz Seafood & Grill, 76 Wharf Street, Pickering Wharf, Salem
WHEN: Tuesday, March 23 at 6:30 p.m.

COST: $34.99 plus tax + tip

DAILY TIDBIT:

"A wine landscape is an urban landscape." That's what they say about wine in Germany, because historically vines were an integral part of every German town, for reasons of both commerce and culture.