Alcohol
Bacteria in Beverages: The Good and the Bad
There have been several stories in the news lately about the dangers of drinking, and we're not talking about alcohol and durian fruit this time.Recently, the International Journal of Food Microbiology reported that biologists in Roanoke, Virginia analyzed "microbial populations" in soda and water ...
January 05, 2010 |
By Amanda Bensen
Space Beer: One Giant Chug for Mankind
Astronauts do important things when they go up in space, like search for evidence of alien life forms, explore the mysteries of the universe, perform scientific experiments and, you know, make beer.OK, they don't actually brew beer. But, for five months in 2006, crew members aboard the Internationa...
December 09, 2009 |
By Lisa Bramen
25 Holiday Gift Ideas For Foodies, Cooks and Sustainable Eaters
Brain Food
1. A food-themed film, such as the serious documentaries “Food Inc.” or "The Future of Food," or the more light-hearted "Julie & Julia" or "Ratatouille," packaged with some gourmet popcorn.2. Subscription to a food magazine. Bon Appetit is a good entry point for cooks just beginning ...
December 04, 2009 |
By Amanda Bensen
Turkey-Day Tipples
Legend has it that the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock in present-day Massachusetts, rather than traveling farther, because they were running low on provisions—namely beer. The first structure they built is even said to have been a brewery.Like so much about the Thanksgiving story, though, this an...
November 25, 2009 |
By Lisa Bramen
History According to Beer
On Saturday, I visited "Beer Planet," as the Smithsonian Resident Associates invitingly titled their latest program at DC's Brickskeller. Captained by Horst Dornbusch, a crew of about 100 boldly trekked through a global history of beer that featured 13 tastings.Actually, I think the title was a bi...
November 13, 2009 |
By Amanda Bensen
The Ghost Wineries of Napa Valley
In the peaks and valleys of California’s wine country, vinters remember the region’s rich history and rebuild for the future
October 27, 2009 |
By Matt Kettmann
Vintage Violet Cocktails Make a Comeback
As I've mentioned before, I live in the boonies, which is lovely but not exactly hopping with art museums, ethnic cuisine or cool historic bars where you can order a vintage cocktail. So, when I visit my family in Los Angeles (or go to any big city), I try to cram in as much of that stuff as I can....
October 22, 2009 |
By Lisa Bramen
Steeped in History: The Art of Tea at UCLA
I depend on coffee for my morning caffeine, but I prefer the more delicate flavor of tea when I need an afternoon warmer or a mild pick-me-up. The various international rituals and accoutrements of tea I've encountered in my travels are also part of its appeal for me: I loved how, in Turkey, every ...
October 21, 2009 |
By Lisa Bramen
The Art of the Aluminum Can
I may not like the taste of Red Bull, but I've got to give them props for clever marketing. The first (and only) time I've ever tasted their energy drink was in a very unexpected place—on my favorite hiking trail the mountains of northern Vermont, a few years ago. I've been there hundreds of times ...
October 09, 2009 |
By Amanda Bensen
What To Eat in Italy
When I tell friends and colleagues that I vacationed in Tuscany, many want to know what I ate there as well as which great works of art I’d seen. Well, of course, I ate lots of gelato -- blueberry, pineapple and tangy lemon were my favorites. More intense flavor and less butterfat are the big diff...
September 03, 2009 |
By admin
The Other Black Gold
Can you name a substance that comes from the earth, is refined by heat, and is used daily by millions of people worldwide? Hint: It's a black liquid.Nope, not oil. Try what is often called the world's second-most valuable commodity*—coffee.Collectively, we drink four billion cups of coffee a year, ...
September 01, 2009 |
By Amanda Bensen
The Department of Weird Soft Drinks—Carbonated Milk
I don't usually take much notice of new products, especially in the soft drink category, but Coca-Cola is test-marketing a new beverage called Vio that caught my attention because it sounded so bizarre. Vio is a carbonated fruit-flavored milk drink—or, as it says on the bottle, a "vibrancy drink...
August 10, 2009 |
By Lisa Bramen
Can Pepper Save Wine Grapes?
Occasionally, winemakers find a silver lining in rotting grapes, but most of the time, rot is just plain rotten. It ruins the grapes' natural taste and thus the flavor of the wine.In the United States, one of the most common culprits is bitter rot (greeneria uvicola), a sneaky fungus that hides its...
July 24, 2009 |
By Amanda Bensen
Bottoms Up for the Burgess Shale Centennial
This year marks the 100th anniversary of the discovery of the fossil-rich Burgess Shale in British Columbia by Charles Doolittle Walcott, the fourth secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. The centennial is being celebrated many ways, from articles to conferences, but one tribute has caught more ...
July 22, 2009 |
By Ashley Luthern
How to Toast Hemingway's 110th Birthday
If Ernest Hemingway were around to celebrate his 110th birthday today, his party would no doubt involve a staggering amount of alcohol. He was a renowned writer—with more than a dozen books and a Nobel Prize in Literature to his credit by the time he ended his own life in 1961—and he was an equally...
July 21, 2009 |
By Amanda Bensen
Terrible Terroir
Vintners in two of the world's biggest wine-producing regions, California and South Africa, have been fretting lately, and not just about the global recession. At least the economy affects all grape-growing nations more or less across the board. But the problem these winemakers have is decidedly si...
July 17, 2009 |
By Lisa Bramen
Land of the Lost Food Traditions, Part II - The South
Of the regions of the United States profiled in The Food of a Younger Land, the South has probably changed the most since the 1930s and early 1940s. That's when the articles covered in the book were written for the WPA's America Eats project. Racial segregation was still the norm, and some people w...
July 10, 2009 |
By Lisa Bramen
Five Red Wines to Drink This Summer
As I wrote last week, hot weather often makes people reach for chilly white wines. But there's no reason to reject reds!Although most people think red wines taste best at "room temperature," that's not as warm as you might think, especially in summer. Between 60-65 degrees Fahrenheit is ideal for m...
June 29, 2009 |
By Amanda Bensen
Five White Wines to Drink This Summer
Wondering which wines to pack for picnics or bring to barbecues this summer?White wines tend to be more popular in hot weather, since they're served chilled. Look for types described as light and crisp, rather than rich or full-bodied. As a general rule, wines aged in stainless steel tanks rather t...
June 24, 2009 |
By Amanda Bensen
Is Headache-Free Wine Too Good to Be True?
If a genie granted me three wishes, one of them might be for a wine that wouldn't give me a migraine. For those of you fortunate enough to have never had a migraine, it feels a little like having a dentist drill pierce your skull from base to forehead. The fact that drinking wine, especially red wi...
June 17, 2009 |
By Lisa Bramen
