"alcohol" news and stories

Some chatter over at The Soapbox caught our eye. Should boozy beverages sport nutritional labeling? It's a topic federal regulators have been reviewing and one that's been brewing since 2003.

Current labeling regulations are complex. Wine, beer and liquor producers are not required to list actual ingredients on the label, but must list items like sulfites or FD&C Yellow No. 5 for consumers who are sensitive. Whether or not nutritional information like calories, carbohydrates and serving size should be added to labels is up for discussion, but Tom Hogue, spokesman for the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) told USA Today that it's unclear when federal officials might make a decision.

"I hear echos of the topic, but I don't think it will become a government mandate," says Rob Cooper, president and founder of St-Germain/Cooper Spirits Company. "There are already a lot of regulations surrounding alcohol. You have to go through the TTB formal approval process to ensure consumers are getting a safe product. It's not the Wild West. You can't just do what you want. They're strict about the ingredients."

And besides, adds Cooper, "Alcohol is not a critical component of ones sustenance. It's for recreational use. Who cares if it's good for you?"

He's got a point.

My grandfather grew watermelons, and one of my fondest childhood memories involves chilling a melon in the brisk running water of a creek and later sharing it with friends and family with nothing but a fork and a salt shaker.

You won't find watermelon called for in many classic cocktail books. The watermelon martini grew in popularity at the turn of this century. I will never forget my first watermelon martini (made with equal parts citrus vodka and watermelon juice and a teaspoon of simple syrup) in a patio garden bar in Manhattan in 2000.

Watermelon is practically the essence of summer itself, so take a hot, hazy happy hour to the next level by serving a watermelon punch in a carved out watermelon.

Besides being a great addition to your beef marinades, juniper berries have long been used for medicinal purposes: fighting off infections, stimulating the kidneys, and even serving as an early Viagra. References to juniper use in health tonics have been found as far back as the 1200's. Franciscus Sylvius de la Boe, a professor at a Dutch university in the 1600's, often gets credited for mixing juniper with alcohol, creating the world's first gin -- however, juniper and alcohol had already made friends at least a hundred years earlier according to old Dutch distilling records.

Genever is one of the earliest styles of gin. Since 2008, the EU has granted genever a protected status, regulating where and how it can be made. Most genever comes from Holland; however Belgium and Department 59 (Nord) Department 62 (Pas-de-Calais) of France as well as the Nordrhein-Westfalen (bordering Belgium and Holland) and Niedersachsen (north of Nordrhein) areas of Germany are also allowed production rights. Genever styles range from a light almost vodka-like flavor to sweetened, fruity, almost liqueur-like bottlings. I spent a month in Holland last year "studying" genever, so let me just say there's not space here to outline in detail all the wonderful variations of this spirit. The brands you might find in the US include Zuidam, Boomsma, Schlichte Steinhäger, and the big daddy Bols.

More after the jump...

Kombucha -- a fermented tea drink that Tina Fey once affectionately described as tasting like "a wine cooler left in a hot car" -- has skyrocketed in popularity in the past few years, making big inroads in health food stores and even attracting attention from mainstream companies like Coca Cola, according to a report on Forbes.com.

The probiotic-rich drink, which is marketed in many different flavors, often sells for five bucks a bottle, making it one of the more expensive beverages out there. Proponents claim it has numerous health benefits, including stimulating the immune system and even preventing cancer (there's little science to go on). But, being a fermented beverage, kombucha also packs a small alcoholic kick -- and now, reports The New York Times, some questions are being raised about just how small that kick really is.

Alcoholics Anonymous first began by the meeting of two men, Dr. Bob and Bill W. -- anonymity is a basic tenet of AA, thus the abbreviated names -- who offered one another moral support. Dr. Bob's last drink was on June 10, 1935, making this year's AA convention in San Antonio, Texas, a 75th anniversary celebration for the organization, which now boasts 2 million members. The birthplace of the two men's determination to help themselves and others is considered Akron, Ohio, which just celebrated the anniversary over the weekend with Founder's Day events, including a motorcade to the grave site of Dr. Bob.

For those of you closer to New York City who would also like to conduct some sort of pilgrimage, you can visit 182 Clinton Street in Brooklyn, the former home of AA founder Bill W. and where early NYC AA meetings were conducted. Later a clubhouse was established at 334 1/2 West 24th Street in Manhattan, with headquarters also located at 30 Vesey Street. AA groups now exist all over the world to help people from all walks of life recover from alcoholism.

AA members focus on a 12-step and 12-traditions program that helps them deal with their illness one day at a time. According to the group, one drink is too many and a thousand is not enough.

Proving that alcoholism isn't just about men or women on skid row with a panhandling bucket, Bill W. had worked in Manhattan as a stockbroker.