Adam Driver once joked that Dry January “means you just don’t take a bath.” When the month-long test of self-wellness was invented, by modern-day abolitionists, I suppose, I’m sure their hearts and livers were in the right place. It’s believed that more than 10% of Americans will lay off the hooch, the vino and the […]
Beer & Drink
Posted inFood & Drink
New Year’s Eve Cheat Sheet
Champagne toasts, live music and more to ring in 2022
If you’re someone who’s been perfectly content staying home, cozied up by a fire while COVID melds the years 2019, 2020 and 2021 into one bewildering mega-year, then the following list is probably not for you. If you’re among those ready to venture out and to ring in 2022 with a New Year’s Eve bash, […]
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Winter is Finally Coming. Drink These Beers to Fend it Off.
Whether you celebrate Santa or Saturnalia, sip these seasonal suds
I‘m not even sure if serious wine lovers enjoy mulled wine, but I can assure you beer lovers love “winter warmers.” These are ales that are typically brewed to higher gravities, meaning punchier in the ABV department so as to fight off Jack Frost. While we can start to get excited that the 8th annual […]
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Missing Ingredient: The Holiday Cocktail
Give the gift of locally made products. Then make a great drink out of them.
Buy local. Buy gifts of experience. These are just some of the mantras one might hear from a certain type of shopper this time of year. But by picking up a bottle or two of a locally made spirit, locals have a way to do both things at once. Grab a bottle from one of […]
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Bend’s Bitter Truth: Bitter Ales Warrant Rediscovery
From ordinary bitter to ESB, a local mini-resurgence
You’d never know it based on the scant bitter offerings on tap (or, way better, on cask) around Central Oregon, but decades before craft breweries became IPA factories, most microbreweries served ESB. It’s safe to presume that today’s beer drinkers know what an India Pale Ale is—which is to say, a beer completely defined by […]
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Oregon Wine for Fire Relief
“Keep Oregon Green” wine directs money to fire efforts
A handful of Oregon wineries is donating grapes toward a project aimed at helping fire victims and preventing future fires. Six Oregon wineries, in partnership with Union Wine Company, are producing a limited-production pinot noir cuvee, with 100% of the proceeds going to future fire efforts. Eighty percent of the proceeds of the wine go to […]
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New Spirits Company Slings Batched and Bottled Cocktails
Forth Distilled Goods is the second to offer canned RTDs made in Bend
I discovered Forth Distilled Goods the way most Bendites who are already hip to them have: at the Northwest Crossing Farmers Market. That market is now closed for the season but fear not, if you’re looking for that tasty, canned Bourbon Smash, co-founder Joey Pleich offered you a sample of, you can soon find it at […]
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Three Central Oregon Breweries Earn GABF Medals
The Great American Beer Festival is the stiffest, hoppiest beer competition
Congratulations are in order for Three Creeks Brewing in Sisters and Bend’s own Deschutes and Worthy breweries for bringing home a gold medal and two silvers, respectively, at this year’s version of the Beer Olympic Games, the Great American Beer Festival Competition. In this era of cancel culture, where anything and anyone is in danger […]
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Inaugural Oregon Whiskey Fest Celebrates Beaver State Spirits
New-fashioned Oregon whiskeys make great old-fashioneds
Are you a whiskey lover who can’t make that pilgrimage to Kentucky or Scotland anytime soon? Instead of a flight to Louisville or Edinburgh, enjoy a flight of Oregon single-malt whiskeys. Or ryes. Or any of the other types of whiskey that will be available at the premiere of the Oregon Whiskey Fest taking place […]
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Overflowing with Beer and Drink Events
From whiskey fests to Oktoberfest, here’s what’s on for local happenings
Mid to late September is always a gold rush when it comes to beer. Normally the domain of many an Oktoberfest-inspired event, this year, as last year, remains an outlier in which some events are going on as scheduled; others are falling by the Delta-variant wayside. For those looking to enjoy the craft-beer bliss that […]