NY Barfly

Tiki Monday Lineup Announced Through June

Fans of tiki drinks (read: anyone who’s had halfway decent tiki drinks) should mark Mondays on their calendar, as that’s when the spruced-up version of GoldBar holds their tiki Monday bash, a celebration brought over from Lani Kai. The venue’s bartender Tim Cooper teams up with Brian Miller to create the cocktail selection, and they usually play host to another special guest star. The lineup of visitors has been released through June – you can take a gander below to see when might be best for a visit (or you can just do what we plan on doing and make this a regular Monday night thing)

Mar 18th - Todd Richman (Sidney Frank)

Mar 25th - Damon Dyer (Brooklyn Gin)

Apr 1st - Adam Kolesar (Sorel)

Win A Trip To Vegas From Jager (With Boxing)

Jager wants to send you to Vegas as part of their new contest dubbed A Brother in Your Corner – a campaign that the brand came up with legendary boxer Freddie Roach. The brand is going to send one winner and three of their friends to Sin City for a training session with Roach (which, hopefully is not scheduled after a night of shots on the strip).

You can enter on the brand’s Facebook page – finalists will be put up against one another and Roach will personally select the winner. In addition to the training session, the winners will get to sit ringside at a boxing game and then party at the club (just be sure not to gamble too much – we don’t think the brand will help you with bankruptcy proceedings). Get more info here.

Nightclub & Bar Lists 100 Highest-Grossing Venues

It’s not a surprise that the country’s highest grossing nightclubs are in Vegas, but did NYC really fail to make the top 5? Come on Big Apple partiers – we expect better from you! This year the top two grossers were XS and Marquee in Sin City – both of which cleared over $80 million in receipts. NYC doesn’t make an appearance until number seven, with Lavo ringing up $25 to 35 million in sales. Other Manhattan-based venues include Pacha (number 15) Ph-D in the Dream Hotel Downtown (number 23) and 1 OAK (number 45). To see the full list, check this out.

Top 10 Breakfast Cocktails

The best part of waking up isn’t coffee in your cup. It’s something a bit, well, stronger than that. A breakfast cocktail or two will help perk you up in the AM and make the rest of your day more fun (provided you don’t keep drinking until sunset). For our first Tablespoon article of 2013, we thought we’d help you get your year, and your days, started out right. Check out this list of the top 10 breakfast beverages, and get drinkin before noon comes and ruins your chance.

National Headache Foundation Issues Anti-Hangover Advice

In fitting with the theme of busting those hangovers in the New Year, the National Headache Foundation (yes, that’s a thing) has issued some helpful advice on dealing with your pounding brain the morning after. Of course, there are some obvious ones on their list – practice moderation, blah blah blah. But there are also some hints that we haven’t come across before. Like honey. Apparently, if you eat a few tablespoons on toast before drinking, it could help with the effects of that hangover (sugar helps metabolize the hooch, and vitamin B6 helps reduce hangover symptoms).

You also should eat greasy food before you hit the bottle and yep, that coffee will help shake the headache the next day. You can get the full list of tips here.

Yes, It’s Possible to Drink and Work Out

Bryan Dayton, we salute you. This Denver-based bartender was featured in an article for Greatist.com, delving into the all important issue of drinking and working out. Being a lush, we always find it a balance to juggle getting our miles in with getting our drink on. Well, if you use this guy’s tips as an example, you should be able to find the proper balance between fit and tipsy. Check out the piece here – he provides tips for post-run imbibing, how to earn drinks by working out hangover cures. We’re not sure how we feel about his advice to drink Red Bull, but the rest is pretty on point.

LUPEC Fundraises for Cancer, Tonight at Macao Trading Co.

NYC cocktail lovers surely know about LUPEC, aka “Ladies United for the Preservation of Endangered Cocktails.” The organization has put together a fundraiser tonight that should get your whistle nice and wet, and raise money for cancer while providing said lubrication. The female cocktail writers and bartenders will gather in the basement of Macao Trading Co. from 8 PM to midnight, and $10 will get you cocktails and punch made with Caliche Rum. The money raised, including the tips that generous folks throw down during the event, will be donated to Memorial Sloan-Kettering. Once you have one too many, you should be extra generous with those bills. Macao Trading Co. is located at 311 Church St.

Introducing The Noble Experiment, A New Distillery in Brooklyn

Brooklyn is the focal point of NYC’s craft spirits movement, and last week a new distillery got up and running. The Noble Experiment unveiled its stainless steel stills last week. The founder is from the Rockaways and her family operated a speakeasy in the basement of her pad out there, so booze culture is in her blood. Right now the focus will be on white rum, and the distillery hopes to expand to other options like aged rum and whiskey soon. The first label is named Owney’s, and the distillery is welcoming visitors who want to check out the space and maybe buy a bottle. You can get more information on the operation’s website here.

Brandy Library Launches Tasting Express for Busy NYC Drinkers

Sure, you want to learn more about bourbon and run, but you also want to take up painting, work out more, and pay off your credit card (that last one = never gonna happen), but there’s never enough time to get everything done. New Yokers are notoriously busy, which is why we like the Tasting Express classes that the Brandy Library plan to launch tonight. These seminars will teach you a thing or two about bourbon, rum and cognac over the course of an hour (that’s right – a mere 60 minutes of your precious time. Better yet, the classes are only $50 and include five spirit tastings, cheese and charcuterie. Tonight it’s a visit with 12 to 23 year old bourbons starting at 5:15, and there other fun events coming up. Check out the schedule below, and call 212-226-5545 to secure your spot, each of the classes runs from 5:!5 to 6:15. 

-Tuesday, November 13th: "Old Bourbons" as in "12 to 23 year-old beauties from the USA" 

-Wednesday, November 14th "Rumming through" as in "touring the Caribbean for its spirituous wealth", a rum class!

-Tuesday, November 27th "Cognac" as in "king of brandies..." 

Watch Full Episodes of Moonshiners Online, Prepare for Season Two

Everyone is going on and on about this dreadful Honey Boo Boo child, which is taking important focus away from the reality show that boozers should be watching: Moonshiners, which is debut a new season on the Discovery Channel. The series is just that it sounds like – a journey into the backwoods of Appalachia where distillers still illegally operate, making their own hooch. The booze makers disguise their stills with camouflage and try to avoid authorities as they provide the sauce for their next – no we’re not sure if this is a technical term – hootenanny.

The new season premieres on Wednesday, November 7 at 10 PM Eastern Standard time, and those following can check out full episodes online here. Now if there was just a reality show that would teach us to play the jug, we’d be set.