Good Morning! Happy Friday morning.

We are hosting the next Cocktail Dinner Club event on June 4th, with our friends at Lalo Spirits! This event will be held (as they all are) at my bar & restaurant, Ember & Alma, and it will feature 2 original cocktails, tastings and a full unique 3-course meal that utilizes the spirits as well. This event is sure to be a hit and it's likely to sell out, so if you want to get your tickets click here now! Come hang out!

I also posted this video this week about Is The Tequila Market About to Collapse?! I think this is such an important topic and really proud of how this video came out!

🥃 Why Your Favorite Tequila, Rum, Scotch, and Stout Might Owe Everything to Bourbon

The Wild Journey of the Humble Bourbon Barrel

I was deep in a late-night YouTube rabbit hole (as one does at 1:30 a.m.) when I stumbled across a 60 Minutes segment that completely changed how I think about barrels — yes, barrels. Specifically, the surprising, world-shaping second life of ex-bourbon barrels.

Here’s what blew my mind:

🇺🇸 In the U.S., bourbon must legally be aged in new, charred American oak barrels. Once used, they can never be used for bourbon again. So what happens to them?

They begin new lives — often many.

Even though the bourbon buzz may have cooled since its early 2010s peak, the industry itself is thriving. And the result? A booming market for used barrels — quietly shaping the global flavor landscape.

🌍 Global Flavor, Bourbon Roots:

• 🥃 Scotch — Over 90% is aged in used bourbon barrels.

• 🌵 Tequila — Aged expressions like reposado and añejo often rest in ex-bourbon casks.

• 🏝️ Rum — Those rich, mellow notes? Frequently thanks to bourbon oak.

And it doesn’t stop there.

🍺 Craft beer (especially stouts and sours), 🌶️ hot sauces, 🍁 maple syrups, and even ☕ coffee beans are often aged in ex-bourbon barrels to develop deeper flavor profiles.

So, one barrel might age four years of Kentucky bourbon, then cross the Atlantic to hold Scotch for a decade, then age a stout in Chicago, and finally sweeten syrup in Vermont. That "single-use" rule? It’s a global flavor engine in disguise — and it’s turned Kentucky into the world’s most prolific barrel exporter.

🪵 One barrel. Many spirits. A global impact.

Next time you sip a complex Scotch, a rich aged rum, or even a barrel-aged cold brew, there’s a good chance you’re tasting the legacy of bourbon — quietly doing its work in the background.

🧊 Is Ice Overrated? Some Bars Think So.

In cocktails, ice has always been more than just a cooling agent — it’s a statement of craftsmanship. That pristine, slow-melting cube in your Old Fashioned? Aesthetic and functional. But some bars are challenging the long-standing norms around ice — questioning its necessity, cost, and environmental impact.

📰 In The Spirits Business article, Is the On-Trade Ice Age Coming to an End? by Lauren Bowes, we meet bars doing just that.

💡 Rethinking the Cube

At Kiki Lounge on the Isle of Man, co-founder Drew Fleming faced a logistical challenge: no local supplier for clear ice. Shipping heavy blocks? Expensive and eco-unfriendly.

The solution? A chance encounter with a wedding ice sculptor. Now, the sculptor provides blocks, and Fleming hand-cuts them weekly for service. Local, creative, and efficient.

Meanwhile, in NYC, Sip & Guzzle has gone all-in on sustainability. Owner Ben Yabrow eliminated machine-made ice completely. The bar receives large blocks, hand-cuts them for drinks, and stores unused pieces to reduce waste. This method uses less water and encourages bartenders to treat ice like a valuable ingredient — not a disposable one.

🚫 The Ice-Free Frontier

And then there’s Bar de Vie in Paris, pushing boundaries even further. Founders Barney O’Kane and Alex Francis (from Little Red Door) have created a completely ice-free bar.

Here’s how it works:

• Drinks are pre-batched, diluted, and chilled in advance

• Served in custom glassware designed to maintain temperature

• No ice machines, no cubes, no chillers

It’s minimalist. It’s sustainable. And it challenges the very foundation of modern bartending.

🏠 Meanwhile, at Home…

While bars innovate, home bartenders are learning to make crystal-clear ice without industrial tools. The secret? ❄️ Directional freezing — where water freezes from one direction and pushes impurities to one end.

You can do it with:

• 🧊 An insulated cooler

• 🧊 Specialized molds

• 🧊 Home kits like Klaris, Ghost Ice, or Wintersmiths' Phantom Ice Maker

These systems yield bar-worthy cubes at home — and at a fraction of the cost. (Though for bars, I’d be hesitant to recommend Klaris due to capacity.)

🔚 The Bottom Line: A Paradigm Shift in Ice

There’s a clear movement in cocktail culture: reduce, rethink, or even remove ice altogether — for sustainability, creativity, and efficiency. But here's the irony…

💬 Getting clear, beautiful ice has never been easier — or cheaper.

I make plenty of clear ice for my own bar using affordable molds and the directional freezing method. No fancy deliveries. No invoices. Just planning ahead.

Am I oversimplifying it? Maybe. Is there something I’m missing? Possibly. But why spend hundreds on ice delivery when you could make it yourself?

And bars going completely ice-free? That’s the innovation I’m most curious to watch evolve. Seriously fascinating stuff.

Best Video We Saw This Week

Weeks or even months ago I talked about how Tequila Matchmaker had launched the Agavos Awards! An award series for tequila and agave brands. And the results are in for the first edition!

You can see all the winners here.

In Other News…

• 📚 World Class 2017 winner Kaitlyn Stewart (aka @Likeablecocktails) is publishing her first cocktail book! It’s called Three Cheers: Cocktail Classics & Clever Zero-Proof Twists — and it’s available for pre-order:
  👉 Three Cheers on Amazon

• 🍹 VinePair published a great piece by Rich Manning on the best rums for daiquiris — according to bartenders.
  👉 Read the full article

• 🍽️ Michelin Guide is coming to the Northeast for the first time — including Boston and Philly. That means Michelin-starred restaurants in Boston may finally be a thing!
  👉 Here’s the full scoop

• 🍸 Punch explored which cocktail might become the next Modern Classic. Some great contenders and perspectives from top industry folks.
  👉 Check out the article