About

Photo by Lush Life Productions.

Unless you’ve been hiding under a bottle of margarita mix (in which case I’m very sorry for you), you’re aware that handcrafted, fresh-ingredient drinks are all the rage, and I believe they are here to stay. Sure, I’m swept up in the classic cocktail renaissance, with its arcane ingredients and period charm, but at the end of the day, I just want a drink that tastes damn good. Liver-deep in the middle of this dewy libation craze, I’m thirsty for drinks that are made well ( even better if they tell a story) and quench my desire for something new.

The Dizzy Fizz is a “blogazine” for the casual imbiber and serious connoisseur alike, covering everything from cocktail-related news and trends to in-depth features on the bartenders, master mixologists, purveyors, and other personalities who making drinking in NYC such a thrilling, dizzying experience. Every week I will seek to find the best cocktails in the city, whether I’m on the hunt for the purest Old Fashioneds, the yummiest Mai Tais, or the best cocktails using ginger beer.

I’m a journalist who has delved into subcultures for the past 10 years, writing for the largest daily newspaper in Maine, editing music and fashion pages for TRACE Magazine here in New York, and most recently I was Nightlife Editor for Sheckys.com. I’m an amateur bartender and I don’t consider myself a cocktail expert–just a highly curious enthusiast who happens to be friends with some of NYC’s finest mixologists. Not only does this mean I get to raid their liquor supplies, read their cocktail books, and sample their concoctions, but they also help keep me in the loop on many things liquid- and bar-related. They will be contributing to this blog from time to time, along with others in the cocktail brethren.

My favorite drink? Well that’s really too hard to answer, there’s just so many. I’m a sucker for a frothy Ramos Gin Fizz, a tart Negroni, a spicy cucumber margarita, or ginger-y drinks like the Presbyterian and the Moscow Mule. In a pinch, a gin and tonic or a chilled gin martini will do. And nothing closes out a long day like a tall glass of ale and a shot of whiskey. Pickle back!

“Better read it first, for if one drinks much from a bottle marked ‘Poison’, it’s almost certain to disagree with one sooner or later.” — Alice in Wonderland

Selected links to my writing in other places:

CBS New York

Manhattan Spirits Examiner

Directory of New York City

Oyster Locals, New York

“Best Summer Cocktails” (Time Out New York, 6/17/2010)

“Sustainable Food Movement Spawns Butcher Boutiques” (Essence, 3/15/2010)

“A Cocktail Contest for The Tales of Hoffman Gives the Metropolitan Opera a Little Extra Punch”(Village Voice, 12/17/09)

“One Year in, Harlem Speakeasy 67 Orange Hits its Stride” (Village Voice, 12/16/09)

“Rum’s the Word at Williamsburg’s Roneria Caracas” (Village Voice, 12/4/09)

“What Do Mixologists Do on Their Off-Nights? Drink at Other People’s Bars, of Course” (Village Voice, 10/28/09)

“Imbibe! An Interview with Cocktail Historian David Wondrich” (Sheckys.com, 10/28/08)

“The Fixer-Upper: Bewitched by Elizabeth’s Mixologist” (Sheckys.com, 5/6/08)

“King Praises, Prods NAACP” (Portland Press Herald, 10/3/04)

Photo by Lush Life Productions.