(Alex Salkever is the editor of Hawaii travel blog Hawaiirama.com and a general travel maven on all things Hawaii.)
Aloha Airlines says "Mele Kelikimaka!" to haute vodka tossers with the post-Xmas introduction of Ocean Vodka for its First Class bar carts. This zippy liquor comes straight outta Maui, where it's made with deep sea water sucked up from 3,000 feet off the coast of the Big Island.
The grains that go into it are organic. Yet despite these wow ingredients, Ocean still manages to land squarely in the middle of the premium pack with retail prices per big bottle at $40 or less. One catch: due to some weird legalities, an Aloha flight may be the only place you can get the stuff outside of Hawaii. It's not sold on the Mainland, even though you can buy it at Costco, for crying out loud, in the islands.
I've personally tippled Ocean and it's right up there with Hangar One, Ketel, Grey Goose and the other super-premiums. After its First Class debut, Ocean should flow back to Economy in the not so distant future, sez the vodka maker. Make that a double Ocean with tonic, Aloha.
Slavs know that drinking goes well with a lot of things, including writing, and by extension, reading. After spying New York magazine's recent round-up of literary reading spots that feature, uh, booze, Slavs of New York noted that many of them are overtly Slavic or have Slavic reading nights.
Where to go for a high-class taste of the near, near, near east? There's Russian Samovar and KGB Bar--no need for an explanation of the connection there--but restaurant Barbes in Brooklyn has a Slavic Soul Party on Tuesdays, and the Bowery Poetry Club also plays host to a plethora of Slavic events.
The mixologists behind the "At Brown's Bar" podcast clued us into the wonders of The Zig-Zag Café, which they call the best cocktail bar in Seattle. The Zig-Zag keeps lots of semi-obscure liqueurs and other ingredients on hand, and takes pride in sloshing them together well. Sounds like a perfect place to finally try those drinks that were your great-grandpappies' favorites back in the day.
Belly up while you can on those international trips. As Daily Traveler reports, Northwest will soon stop offering free booze on its long-haul Asia-Pacific flights. United, American, and US Air have already done the same. Saving pennies isn't the only reason: it's also the mean drunks that have ruined it for the rest of us.
And we don't mean Thanksgiving. As we let you in on a while back, Nov. 24th is the day that the country's pubs become the recipients of a new law: they can stay open as long as they like. They previously closed at 11pm.
Apparently they are geared up and ready to handle the revelers. A mobile field hospital has been set up in Newcastle to aid with detoxing for the drunken set, and to deal with any injuries. They'll also have bottled water and toilets for partiers.
There's something about being on vacation that seems to encourage the trying of new drinks one would never touch at home. A blue mai tai? No problem. Campari and soda? Why, we always have a few after work. Drinking locally seems to um, enhance the whole trip.
The Denver Post has a fun column this week about memorable drinks in memorable places. Like this one in Cuba, 10 years ago when the Soviet Union had withdrawn all of its money from the island:
Mojitos had yet to invade the States, and we had never tasted anything so tropically elegant. I had 2 1/2, followed by a really good idea for a novel involving a bullfighter. Every mojito since has brought it back.
Or this one:
Stag's Leap petite syrah in Napa, where I had gone on assignment for Food and Wine magazine without knowing the slightest thing about food. Or wine. "Oh, no big deal," said the PR person assigned to my case. "Just say one of these two things: I'm getting a sort of cherry-berry, cherry-berry thing, and what's going on in the mid-palate? And slosh the wine around in your glass. It makes you look important." Before long, a sort of happy-sappy, sappy-happy thing was going in my mental mid-palate.
Yep, there are quite a few we'd like to relive (vodka in Iceland, that wine harvest in Fiesole). Check out the column and soon enough you'll start remembering yours too....
Last night's book party for Modern Drunkard "handbook for drinking" was at the East Village near-dive Scenic. Given the subject matter, it brought in exactly the sort of crowd you'd expect (we were there, natch). Between the Busches and some peach vodka concoction, we think that fun was had by most everyone, although we'll have to check more photos to be sure. The book itself, a spinoff of the popular website, has lots of advice, from knowing your bartender to planning your own lost weekend. We especially love the "Excuses to Get Loaded" -- one for every day of the year. To help you plan ahead, tomorrow is Warlock Day: "The first stanger you meet on this day dressed entirely in black will be a warlock." Suggested drink? Demon Rum.
Sister site HotelChatter alerts us to a pretty cool "fantasy camp for the whisky lover." The Bruichladdich Academy in Scotland offers a four-night stay at the brand's distillery, where, during the day you get to follow around the craftsmen, and learn all the essential steps of the process. And sneak in a few tastes of course...ya know, just to make sure it's not poison or anything.
The experience is limited to 6 guests at a time, so its intimate and personal. It'll set you back at $1,410, but as we know the unique things in life are often the most worth it.
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by ASalkever
Slavs know that drinking goes well with a lot of things, including writing, and by extension, reading. After 
The mixologists behind the "
Belly up while you can on those international trips. As 
And we don't mean Thanksgiving. As 
There's something about being on vacation that seems to encourage the trying of new drinks one would never touch at home. A blue mai tai? No problem. Campari and soda? Why, we always have a few after work. Drinking locally seems to um, enhance the whole trip.
Sister site HotelChatter alerts us to a pretty cool "fantasy camp for the whisky lover." 
