About

Welcome to Rocktail Culture!

The purpose of this blog is simple: to shake and stir great music with delicious cocktails in efforts to expand our ever-evolving pallets.

In each posting I will:

• Feature a band/artist and hear first hand stories about their drinking tastes, preferences and experiences in our Rocktails exclusive Q&A session.
• Create an original and customized cocktail recipe, named in honor of the band/artist, incorporating their favorite spirits, flavors, and the way their music makes us feel.
• Provide you with a downloadable or streaming MP3 of the band/artist’s music (at artist’s discretion).
• Feature a choice YouTube video of our artist
• List band/artist links for tour dates, music purchases, and social networking sites so you can keep in the loop with your newly found flame.

My aim for you cocktail enthusiasts is to discover the best music around today and enjoy newly conceived tipplers in the artists’ honor.  For you music aficionados, we hope to push your pallets “beyond the well” and pave the way to a sophisticated and indulgent liquid lifestyle.

Regarding both creatures, I am not only interested in the new and innovative, but also the classics that defined a generation, and for which without, everything modern would not even exist.  While many of the acts featured are up and coming stars on the rise – others will be virtually unknown – some will be legacy acts who simply are too awesome to NOT have a cocktail created in their honor!  In addition to my postings, I will provide a variety of links to sites from artists, music bloggers, industry leading mixologists, cocktail scholars, marquee liquor brands, bars, cocktail lounges, and generally great information sources.

A quick into to yours truly:  I am a music junkie.  As cliche as it sounds, music really is the soundtrack to life – framing the emotional component to our countless experiences. In my case, I’m fortunate that music has not only guided much of my social life, but also my career, as I’ve worked in the music industry for the last 8 years as an artist manager, publicist, and entrepreneur.   I remember the exact day my love affair with the proper cocktail began – November 24, 2007 at The Violet Hour in Chicago. I had never seen anything like this place in my life. I’d grown tired of sports bars, pubs, dives, and the occasional club.  Not that there’s anything wrong with those places (although the club scene isn’t my thing), but I felt something truly and uniquely special when I stepped foot into The Violet Hour – it was like stepping into a long forgotten era. The room was not precocious or ostentatious – it was not full of stumbling drunks desperately trying to get laid. It had character, charm, class, and wasn’t trying to be anything of a certain kind. It simply was, in a word, cool. The sounds of Billie Holiday, Tom Waits, and Miles Davis set a warm, inviting tone that encouraged conversation. In fact, you weren’t even allowed in the door unless there was space for your party at a table. This was a place to unwind, to disconnect from the hectic city life, and to appreciate the finer things in life. I ordered a Dark and Stormy and vividly remember my first taste of such a thing of beauty. The caramel tones from the Cruzan Black Strap, the spice and woodiness of the Brugal Anejo, the bursting tartness of the fresh squeezed lime juice, the throat warming spice of the ginger syrup, and the effervescence of the soda floater – perfectly garnished with a quarter sized piece of candied ginger. It was complex yet expertly balanced and I felt alive as I drink it. At that moment, I knew I was smitten.