Pay up, Beardo!

This week in 1698, Tsar Peter the Great tried to change the face of Russia… by instituting a beard tax. Fight the power - and put some hair on your chest - with a classic cocktail from America’s most famous Russian-themed restaurant.


The Birth of Swing and the Hep Benny

When Benny Goodman first played swing music, audiences threw bottles at him. We celebrate the moment the crowd came around by getting out some bottles of our own - to make a cocktail.


The Throne of Stone and The Kelvin Car Bomb

This week back in 1996, the British government announced the Stone of Scone was going home. The Stone, a 340-pound sandstone block, sat on a shelf within Britain's coronation chair for 700 years — much to the chagrin of the Scots, from whom it was taken back in the 13th century.


The Smoke-Filled Room and “The Dark Horse”

This week back in 1920, a group of politicians gathered in a hotel suite… and a political cliche was born. Learn about the original “smoke-filled room,” then take a deep drag of this murky cocktail.


Spider-Dan and Trumped

On Memorial Day, 1981, Dan Goodwin did some climbing. Which sounds normal enough for a guy who was a rock climber… except his target was the surface of the (then) tallest building in the world – Chicago’s Sears Tower — and he scaled it dressed as Spider-Man.


That Sounds Delicious

Our interview this week with ?uestlove got me thinking about the marriage of my two favorite things – food and music. While not all food-related songs are actual odes to the edible (“Cherry Pie”, anyone?), there is no shortage of tasty metaphors in the world of music.


The Blood & Straw

This week in 1814, the physician who lent his name to one of France’s best-known inventions died. Learn about Dr. Guillotin and his “enlightened” death machine, and then drink this custom cocktail ’til your head falls off:


The Smoke and Honey

This week back in 1954, Willie Mosconi performed one of the most brilliant feats in sports, ever, draining 526 consecutive billiard balls. Learn about the child prodigy-turned-15-time-World-Champion – then rack up a set of these custom cocktails.


The Astronaughties Deep Space Freeze

On March 13th, 1781, famed astronomer Sir William Herschel was using a homemade telescope in his backyard… when he spotted an object in the sky.