Anytime I get to slow down, connect with the people I love and share a couple of drinks and a meal these days is…

In December 2018 I bought my husband his first record player. It was a pretty basic setup as I wasn’t sure he’d really be…

Folks, it’s stone fruit season. Don’t let these precious weeks pass you by without incorporating some of this amazing fruit into your cocktails. For…

I’m a big fan of hotel bars, both at home and abroad. There’s a certain romanticism to sipping a cocktail among wandering strangers. Some…

I’m a big fan of hotel bars, both at home and abroad. There’s a certain romanticism to sipping a cocktail among wandering strangers. Some…

I’m a big fan of hotel bars, both at home and abroad. There’s a certain romanticism to sipping a cocktail among wandering strangers. Some…

I’m a big fan of hotel bars, both at home and abroad. There’s a certain romanticism to sipping a cocktail among wandering strangers. Some…

I’m a big fan of hotel bars, both at home and abroad. There’s a certain romanticism to sipping a cocktail among wandering strangers. Some…

Next Monday, many folks from the bartending community will descend on the Windy City for the inaugural Chicago Style Cocktail Conference. Founded by Shelby…

Oh my gosh folks! Where have I been for the past couple of months. Great question! The answer is long and winding but mostly…

Three Parts is a column inspired by the Jack Rose Society- a group of bartenders in Boston that set out to test classic cocktail…

Three Parts is a column inspired by the Jack Rose Society- a group of bartenders in Boston that set out to test classic cocktail…

Three Parts is a column inspired by the Jack Rose Society- a group of bartenders in Boston that set out to test classic cocktail…

Three Parts is a column inspired by the Jack Rose Society- a group of bartenders in Boston that set out to test classic cocktail…

I was recently reading Robert Simonson’s A Proper Drink and stumbled upon a story about three bartenders in Boston who got together to make…

Every time I drive to Expatriate, I’m sure I’ve gone the wrong way. I make my way through winding Northeast Portland roads amidst rows…

Kacee didn’t always want to be a bartender. In the 8th grade, she had aspirations to become a lawyer but the realities of time…

I am lucky to live in a city with so many amazing women working behind the bar. Their talents, their skills, their knowledge and…

Whelp! The news just keeps coming now, doesn’t it? Michael Flynn resigns. Puzder withdraws his name from consideration for Secretary of Labour. Joe Trudeau…

Hello friends. As you may recall, I started this column pre-election day in the US, mostly as an outlet for my political angst and…

Welcome to the second edition of The Guest Shift with Shanna Farrell (the first can be found here). Shanna is an Oral Historian based…

I often get asked why I started writing this blog in the first place. The true answer is such a mixed bag and it’s…

Hi friends. How is everyone feeling today? Nervous? Anxious? Worried? In the election season that felt like it dragged on forever, we are a…

Hi friends! How’s everyone holding up this week? Relief now that the debates are over? Did I mention I’m Canadian and a political junkie?…

Can we all just stop for a moment a take a breath? I feel like my head has been spinning for months now and…

Did I mention I married the same man twice? Because I did. The man that puts the “two” in Two For The Bar agreed…

One year ago, on a warm and sunny October afternoon in Portland, I found myself sitting at a picnic table outside of Nong’s Khao…

A brief warning to those with an aversion to cheese-ball-ness. This post has all the cheese. If that’s not your jam, feel free to…

It’s 12:23am on a Friday night and I can’t not write. I’ve debated this post for a long time. Partially because for the most…

Well friends, here we are. It’s 2016, we’re halfway through February and as you may have noticed, my posts have been waning as of…

  In one week’s time, Vancouver’s Science World will be transformed into a cocktail lab wonderland.  On February 4th, 2016, Science of the Cocktails…

I have a thing for Christmas. I have a thing for traditions and baking and decorating and carols  and cards. I have a thing…

The bartending community is descending upon Portland in droves as the city’s annual Cocktail Week kicks off. From green bartenders to seasoned veterans, the…

Is it just me, or has Vancouver had a ridiculous number of restaurant openings in the past six months? Since April I’ve had a…

September 1st in Vancouver seems to be an invisible line of marked change in the city. I’ve lived other places where late summer lingers…

If you’ve been following the blog for a while, you may recall a little recurring series we had going called Bottom Of The Barrel….

Yesterday marked the 7th annual Deighton Cup in Vancouver, BC. Our city’s version of The Kentucky Derby, the event draws thousands of people to…

I recently had a conversation with someone who said they thought PDT was no longer a bar. Not that it isn’t monumentally important, but…

My recent visit to Attaboy was a great reminder to do your research. Had I done so, I would have learned that to get…

I have an irrational fear of getting lost on public transit and ending up hours away from my intended destination. This is why, when…

I hadn’t been back to New York City since my love affair with craft cocktails began. Arguably the motherland of craft bars, I set…

For those that haven’t heard, Speed Rack is making it’s inaugural trip to Canada. Founded in 2011, Speed Rack is a cocktail competition by…

I’ve been getting a number of requests recently to write about building your own home bar. I am by no means an expert in…

Lately I’ve been getting requests to write a post on building your own home bar, specifically with regard to bottles, tools and barware. While…