HALLUCINOGENIC GREEN FAIRIES, murder, lunatic asylums, zombie-like alcoholism and a consumption ceremony that wouldn’t look out of place in heroin den – absinthe sounds less like a spirits drink and more like a Hollywood horror film. “Without doubt it has the most salacious and sordid back story of any spirits drink, more so than even gin,” says absinthe maker and expert…

Like a glass of icy water knocked into the lap of an unsuspecting diner it’s come as an abrupt, sobering shock to an industry grown accustomed to years of ever-rising sales.  Chinese president Xi Jinping’s austerity campaign’s very successful crackdown on the luxury gift-giving and lavish lifestyles of government and military officials has dealt the major Cognac houses a hefty blow since its…

Chile’s reputation came from making cheap, tasty wines. This viticultural paradise, short on vine pests and diseases, but big on sunshine and long, dry summers, has proved adept at meeting the demands of export markets. Its scale of production – unlike so many other wine countries – is better suited than most to the needs of modern retail.  But it is at the…

In a few short years, mezcal has leapt out of the smoking pits of Oaxacan obscurity on to the menus of the world’s best bars. The agave spirit is catnip to bartenders – it is full and uniquely flavoured, artisanal and often organic. In fact, in terms of ‘craft’, mezcal has more ticks than there are boxes. But there is trouble in…

Springing from the sugar industry that fuelled colonialism in the 17th-18th century, Jamaican rum was an early English archetype, but once unshackled it went its own way, carving out its own inimitable style.  “The English were the first to begin making rum from fermented sugar cane but the product was an intoxicating, rough and unpleasant liquor, initially used to trade with…

Now the Rum Report has looked at rhum agricole, the sweeter Spanish-influenced rums, British Navy, Cuban and Jamaican rums, we can fine-tune our investigation to take in the lesser-known styles of the Caribbean.  Guyana  Guyana’s rum is a body-size down on Jamaican, but remains a rich dark liquid that speaks of its molasses more than any other rum. This is…

Two years ago, just as Drinks International’s last Pisco report was going to press, a Peruvian man called Martin Morales was opening his first London restaurant, Ceviche.   The hipsters weren’t to know it yet, but Peruvian food was about to become London’s next foodie fetish. Soon the capital’s pilgrims-of-trend would be saying “so long” to their Vietnamese Pho and Saigon,…