The Mixosoleum features one of my favorite spices, cinamon. Learn how to make cinamon syrup, what flavours go well with it and a few choice cocktail recipes.

Over at CHOW, they delve into the creation of bitters. Tired of Angostura or Peychaud’s? I know I am!

Tom of cogito, ergo creo starts a batch of elderberry liqueur and shows you how to do it yourself. With any luck, it’ll be ready just in time for summer.

By the way, don’t use your simple syrup recipe for all of these homemade concoctions! You want to make sugar syrup and Homebrew Underground will show you how.

Last but not least, a new bar opens up in Amsterdam that does away with the bartenders. To my mind, this is like renting a private karaoke room when you can go sing at your local bar. Leaving aside issues of crappy drinks and stupid drunkeness at bottle-service levels, it just sounds so goddamned contrived. Sure, you might have more control but whatever happened to enjoying unplanned, random fun? I’ll take the unknown any day…

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(Image taken from the Design Year Book.)