In response to Executive Order 2020-04, declaring a state of emergency across the state of Michigan concerning the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), Great Lakes Wine & Spirits has taken the following action steps to ensure the safety of our employees and customers during the COVID-19 pandemic in accordance with OSHA and CDC recommendations:
Implement Basic Infection Prevention MeasuresFor Michigan Coronavirus/COVID-19 information and updates go to https://www.michigan.gov/Coronavirus
The original theme of this month’s edition was going to be the second half of our “Top 10” list. Trust us when we tell you that it’s not easy to write a short list of things that inspired us over the past year and ideas that keep us so passionate …
To start the New Year off right I’m featuring the Rusty Nail as my classic cocktail. According to cocktail historian David Wondrich, this concoction dates back to 1937 and is credited to one F. Benniman. Wondrich also states that it’s supposedly named after the British Industries Fair. Nonetheless, the Rusty …
In the world of hot craft cocktails we often see tea, coffee, cider, etc. However, my favorite this time of year is cranberry. This months featured craft cocktail is a hot cranberry drink called the Winter Warmer. I created this cocktail about 10 years ago while bartending in Portland, Oregon …
January 21, 2005 was the U.S. theatrical release of the iconic film Sideways. Recently, Geek has seen numerous articles noting this pending 10 year anniversary, and the effect the movie had on Pinot Noir sales, Merlot sales and wine tourism. Of course, Wine Geek has his own opinions. In case …
It’s that time of the year when we make a couple of lists and check them twice. This won’t be like David Letterman’s Top 10, more like Five & Five. Five things that inspired us about this past year and five trends we hope either continue into 2015 or simply …
Now that winter is here and the weather has shifted it’s time for hot cocktails. For this reason, the classic cocktail feature this month is the Blue Blazer. This drink was made famous by Jerry Thomas who is credited with being America’s first great Mixologist. His reign was during the Gold …
I’m in the process of studying for my Certified Cicerone® exam. For those of you not familiar with the Cicerone program, it is a Certification Program for product, systems, and service knowledge (beer is the implied subject). There are three levels: Certified Beer Server, Certified Cicerone®, and Master Cicerone®. As …
Bourbon Bramble Our craft cocktail feature for this month is a Bourbon Bramble. This is a riff off the classic Bramble cocktail. Or more accurately, it’s a marriage between a Whiskey Sour and the Bramble. Much like a proper Whiskey Sour or Bramble, the key to making this cocktail shine …
One of our hardworking retail wine reps posted this video on YouTube of him building a display. If you’ve ever wondered what a retail wine sales rep does, check it out. (Most don’t don’t make short films though; nice job, Jake.)
The Bramble This month The Bramble is our featured classic cocktail. The Bramble was created in the mid- 1980’s by Dick Bradsell at Fred’s Club in Soho, London. Typically, Classic Cocktails date back to prohibition era. However, the Bramble became so popular worldwide it is now an entire classification of beverage. …