Randall Layman’s Tales of the Cocktail, round one

Randall Layman, a bartender at Vesta Dipping Grill, is just back from New Orleans, where he attended his first Tales of the Cocktail. We’ll be printing his dispatches all week. Day one: Passing the Superdome and several cemeteries before landing in the epicenter of Bourbon Street at my hotel on…

Six porch-poundable white wines for hot summer nights

Porch pound-er (n): A highly technical, wine industry term referring to a wine which, after as little as one sip, uncontrollable guzzling of said wine occurs almost immediately. Exaggerated licking of lips and eye-rolling ensue as accompaniments.Typically, the wine is extremely affordable and has a tendency to be a crowd-pleaser…

Tryst rises from the dead — and pours free booze

Dive Bar has already taken a dive — and owner Paul Piciocchi is bringing back Tryst Lounge tonight. “Oops, my bad,” he said in announcing the switch. “To everyone who told us that we were crazy to change the beloved Tryst name after six successful years…Yeah, you were probably right…

ColoradoWino.com gives voice to Colorado’s growing wine industry

Local food has crept onto just about every menu on the Front Range. And if Jacob Harkins has his way, local wine will follow. Last fall, Harkins started an online magazine called ColoradoWino.com that focuses on the Colorado wine industry, aiming to expose consumers and chefs to Colorado wines that…

Hotel Monaco offering guests some brew-m service

Some hotels provide guests with a bottle of wine; some with a little champagne. But at Hotel Monaco, beer has entered the pantheon of beverages brought to your room. And it’s about time. The luxury boutique hotel, at 1717 Champa Street, rolled out its Denver Brew and You promotion this…

Drink more whiskey, fix my swamp cooler

Tequila makes my clothes come off.” “Drink more whiskey, fix my swamp cooler.” “Los Angeles, we can smell you.” These and a hundred other six-word memoirs, all scribbled on neon-colored note cards by patrons of the White Owl, fill a small box resting on the southern edge of the bar…

Happy hour at The 9th Door is magnificent

The Place: The 9th Door, 1808 Blake Street, 303-292-2229 The Hours: Monday through Friday from 4:30 until 6:30 p.m. The Deals: $3-5 house cocktails and sangria; $12 sangria carafes; $2-4 tapas The Digs: Walking into The 9th Door is like walking into the movie Aladdin, and happy hour there is…

The Beer Buckle company looks to expand by a few notches

The only thing better than drinking your favorite beer: wearing it. At least that’s what the founder of the Beer Buckle is hoping as he searches in Denver and Boulder for a place to open a new store dedicated to branded beer fashion. Jay Kriner founded the Beer Clothing Company…

Taste Of The Nation: Cocktails for the Kids Competition results

As part of Denver’s Taste of the Nation/Share Our Strength benefit last night at Mile High Station, eight generous drink slingers from some of the city’s hottest bars participated in a spirited cocktail competition to raise money for the non-profit organization, whose mission it is to make sure that no…

Hawaiian Sun Margarita at the Flagstaff House

I lived in New York City after college and longed for the day I could go to one of the many expensive restaurants I read about in New York magazine — but I was barely able to pay my rent, much less splurge on an expensive meal. That, of course,…

Five wines that say “viva la vin” this Bastille Day

Every July 14, Frenchmen and francophiles alike revel in Bastille Day celebrations around the world. They’re all fêteing that historic day in 1789 when French liberal political groups staged an infamous uprising against Louis XVI and the French monarchy at the Bastille prison in Paris. To you, this may seem…

Elk Mountain Brewing opens in Parker

With a bar made from beetle-kill pine and a beer list that specializes in German styles, Elk Mountain Brewing became Colorado’s newest microbrewery on July 1 when it opened at 18921 Plaza Drive, Unit 104, in an industrial part of Parker. The brewery and tasting room – complete with a…

Boulder breweries Asher and Twisted Pine expand tasting rooms

Two of Boulder’s successful small breweries are adding to their tasting rooms and helping to pump up the city’s already strong beer culture. Twisted Pine Brewing Company — which was founded in 1995 and moved into its current location at 3201 Walnut Street in 2003 — will expand its production…