Journal

Tajín: What It Is and How to Use the Chili-Lime Seasoning

Tajin is a Mexican chili lime seasoning made of three core things: chili, lime, and salt. It is the reddish powder you see dusted over mango from a street cart and crusted around the rim of a miche...

Tamarind: What It Is and Why It's in Your Worcestershire

Tamarind is a sweet and sour fruit that grows in a pod, and you have almost certainly tasted it without knowing. If you have ever used Worcestershire sauce, splashed it into a Bloody Mary, or eaten...

Horseradish: What It Is and Why It Makes Your Eyes Water

Horseradish is a root, and it is the reason a good Bloody Mary bites back. Whole and uncut it smells like nothing. Grate it, and within seconds it clears your sinuses and stings your eyes. That sud...

Quinine: What It Is and Why Tonic Water Tastes Bitter

Quinine is the compound that makes tonic water bitter. It comes from the bark of the cinchona tree, a South American evergreen, and it is the single ingredient that separates tonic water from plain...

Cocktail Sauce Without Horseradish (Easy 5-Minute Recipe)

Most cocktail sauce recipes lean on horseradish for the bite. If you are out of it, cooking for kids, or you just do not like the sinus burn, you do not have to skip the sauce. This version leaves ...

How to Make Tonic Water at Home (Without the Quinine Risk)

You can make tonic water at home, and it will taste better than anything in a bottle. You can also give yourself ringing ears and a pounding headache if you get one ingredient wrong. Both are true....

Cocktail Infusion Kit: How to Make Flavored Spirits at Home

A cocktail infusion kit is a jar of dried fruit, herbs, and spices that you add your own spirit to. It steeps for a few days and turns a plain bottle into something with real character. You control...

Cocktail Smoker Kit: What It Is and How to Use One

A cocktail smoker kit adds wood smoke to a finished drink. No heat, no cooking, just aroma and a layer of flavor that was not there before. It is one of the few bar tools that changes how a drink t...

After Dinner Drinks: What to Serve, Boozy or Zero-Proof

The best after dinner drinks, from amaro and limoncello to real zero-proof digestifs. What to serve, how to pour it, and how to please the whole table.

Cynar Spritz: The Bittersweet Italian Spritz, Done Right

A Cynar spritz is the bittersweet answer to an Aperol spritz. Here is the 3-2-1 recipe, the right ratio, and a lower-proof version with real bite.