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🇰🇷 What to Drink in South Korea: A Sip-by-Sip Guide to Korean Drinks Culture
Every country has a national drink. Korea has a national drinking system, and the difference matters more than you’d think. Spend a few days in Seoul and you’ll notice the drinks arrive with rules attached — who pours for whom, which hand does the pouring, and when you’re allowed to make eye contact with your elders.…
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🇯🇵 Understanding Shochu: Japan’s Best-Selling Spirit You’ve Never Heard Of
The Japanese have been making shochu for about five hundred years. That sounds ancient, until you remember that sake has been around for at least 2,000 years. By Japanese drinking standards, shochu is practically a startup. Shochu’s origin story is different, too. While sake grew up around gods, emperors and temples, shochu grew up in…
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🍶 Understanding Sake: The Drink That Explains Japan
Sake has been part of Japanese life for more than 2,000 years, which makes determining exactly who invented it a little like identifying the first person who looked at grapes and thought, I wonder what happens if I leave these unsupervised in a bucket. What began with rice, water and fermentation became something much bigger than…
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🥂 In Defense of the Drink: Resisting the Cult of Clean Living
Let’s get one thing out of the way: I love a good drink. I’ve spent over two decades studying wine and spirits, working in the industry, and tasting my way across the globe. Drinks are woven into culture, history, and ritual – and I am completely here for all of it. Over the past decade…
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Introducing: The Weekly Twist
If you’ve subscribed to my blog for any amount of time, you know I have things to say. A lot of things. Possibly too many things, depending on who you ask. Ken would probably say too many things. For a while now, the blog has been my outlet – travel stories, drinks culture, the occasional…
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🍷 🇭🇺 What to Drink in Hungary: A Guide to Hungarian Drinks
We spent four days in Budapest before our Danube River cruise, which gave me plenty of time to investigate Hungary’s drinks culture. And Hungary gave me plenty to investigate. So, what do Hungarians drink? Start with pálinka, the country’s famously potent fruit brandy, Unicum, the bitter herbal liqueur Hungarians inexplicably keep drinking on purpose, and some…
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🇭🇺 A Food Tour of Budapest: You Only Think You’re Full
Today’s activity: A food tour of Budapest with our charming local guide, Dorá. If you’ve been reading my blog for any amount of time, you know I’m a firm believer that one of the best ways to get to know a country is by experiencing its food and (especially) drinks. Whenever we visit a new-to-us…
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🍷 🇹🇷 What to Drink in Istanbul: A Sip-by-Sip Guide to Turkish Drinks Culture
I’ve been studying wine and spirits for over two decades. Whenever we travel, I’m obsessed with what I call drinks culture — what a country’s drinks reveal about its people, history, and habits. I’ve been known to order several drinks off a menu – just so I can taste them. And I could spend hours in the…
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🍷 🛳️ What to Drink on a Cruise: A Sip-by-Sip Guide to Mediterranean Drinks Culture
Cruising is a double-edged sword. One of the things I like most about cruising (well, the two cruises I’ve been on, anyway) is also one of the things I like least. Cruising give you an opportunity to see many different places, and you only have to unpack once. Huge plus for me. But (and it’s…
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🍷🇱🇻 What to Drink in Riga: A Sip-by-Sip Guide to Latvian Drinks Culture
I’ve been studying wine and spirits for over two decades. One of the things I’m most interested in when we travel is what I call drinks culture – what can you learn about a country through their cultural drinking habits and traditions. I’ve been known to order several drinks off a menu – just so…
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🍷🇪🇪 What to Drink in Tallinn: A Sip-by-Sip Guide to Estonian Drinks Culture
One of my favorite things to do when we travel is to explore the local drinks situation (alcoholic and not). I could spend hours in the local grocery/wine/liquor store just studying the shelves. Ken is not as enthusiastic about this activity, so I usually send him off to climb a mountain or something. When we’re…
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🍷 Understanding German Schnaps: It’s More than a Drink. It’s Tradition.
When Americans think about schnapps, we think peach and peppermint. And poor life choices. For Germans, schnaps is more than just a drink – it’s a cultural tradition. Distilled primarily from locally grown fruits like pears, cherries, apples, and plums, German schnaps is known for its purity, craftsmanship, and regional character. Ok, and probably a…