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JUMP TO RECIPE In late 2024, BayTowne Wine & Spirits launched a collaborative series with top industry friends. We’re teaming up with bar staff from our favorite local spots to feature exclusive cocktails created by their skilled mixologists. Rochester is lucky to have such a high level of ta...

JUMP TO RECIPE This week, in the wake of snow storms and rapidly dropping temperatures, we decided to focus on a Caribbean concoction. Tropical rum drinks are always some of our favorites here at BayTowne Wine & Spirits, but their escapist potential is uniquely valuable during the Rochester g...

JUMP TO RECIPE Here’s the thing about wine pairings: most of them are just made up. Sure, there are “rules” (red with meat, white with fish, blah blah), but those rules are about as reliable as your favorite band’s second album. Enter the 2023 Comando G Rozas - a Garnacha that doesn’t follow...

JUMP TO RECIPE Last week, we featured one of my favorite modern classic cocktails, the Black Manhattan. In that feature, we included a Demerara rum-based riff I worked on last year, but in further evidence of the quality of Black Manhattan format, I actually returned to it for this week’s fea...

JUMP TO RECIPE For this week, I wanted to feature one of my favorite Modern Classic cocktails, one that I’ve found to be very well received anytime I bring it out for a class or event. The Black Manhattan was created in 2005 by Todd Smith, then of San Francisco bar Cortez. Cocktail author Rob...

JUMP TO RECIPE The Wine Buelan ‘Nevado’ Solera Palido – Andalusia, Spain My grandmother was a proper lady of Cambridge – intelligent, well-read…a draconian adherence to etiquette and grammar. She also claimed to be a resolute teetotaler – an assertion which became quite contentious when...

JUMP TO RECIPE I’ve been working on a series of cocktails inspired by the animated miniseries Over the Garden Wall for several years now, and I always get more focused on it for Fall. The plot focuses on two brothers wandering through dark woods called “The Unknown” and the folkloric characte...

JUMP TO RECIPE The key to a successful dinner party is to have a great host. You’ll want to find someone who provides a balanced diet – fruits, veggies, lean meats, etc. The right amount of alcohol is key as well – too much as it gets messy, not enough and the evening will lack flavor. (Censu...

JUMP TO RECIPE Fall – the days are still too warm for a heavy red wine; the nights too chilly for a crisp white. So let’s go back to 19th Century Puglia and breakout some old school Primitivo. The 2022 Fatalone ‘Teres’ was intended to phase-out rose but ended up in a category of its own. Made...

JUMP TO RECIPE We here at BayTowne began a program last year of partnering with some of the bar professionals we’re very lucky to call friends to create original cocktails as seasonal features for the store. That program has grown and expanded to such an extent that, under the direction of ou...

This September is the 20th anniversary of California Wine Month. More than 80% of all U.S. wines are produced in California, but just how did California become so dominant in the wine industry? We thought the best way to commemorate this year’s milestone was by exploring the heritage and uni...

Bourbon and whiskey are not exactly the same. While all bourbons are whiskey, not all whiskeys are bourbon. For National Bourbon Heritage Month, we wanted to answer some of your questions on bourbon, like its origin, how it’s made, and which bourbon is the best. What Makes A Whiskey Bou...

JUMP TO RECIPE When it comes to classic cocktails, it's tough to beat a whiskey sour. The drink is well over 150 years old, and its origins date back even further, with some inspiration taken from the 17th century sailors’ drink, punch. There were initially many variations with rum, gin...

    Check out this fun twist on a classic cocktail: the Oaxaca Old Fashioned! The Oaxaca Old Fashioned is a modern classic recipe from Phil Ward of Death & Company. It represents the first steps of the mezcal obsession that began in the late aughts and owes much of its instigation to Ron C...

We are uniquely lucky in this city to have some outstanding bar talent and some of the most supportive and invested spirits and cocktail fans around. June marks a special time in the Rochester area, as it includes a festival that’s been a staple for over ten years. The Rochester Cocktail Rev...

Lucas developed this riff on a classic Navy Grog build to showcase the interplay of three distinct high proof rums. Following the lead of Donn Beach in layering different varieties of rum to create a delicious sum, he used 151 Demerara rum for heft and its bass notes of dark spice and earthi...

Andy riffed off of the classic aged rum cocktail “100 Year Old Cigar” for this nuanced original. The interplay of various bold modifiers act as a perfect complement to the rich, mature flavor of our single cask of full-bodied Belizean Holmes Cay. Andy’s work here has built it into an ideal aft...

Brandon chose to focus on a truly unique spirit, with very few parallels within the market. A distillate of fresh sorghum juice and syrup, there is little else like it and it offers a profile all its own. Brandon emphasized the savory side of it with this minimalist build, allowing the choic...

Kyle made use of our exclusive batch of Cinco Sentidos agave distillate for this inspired cocktail. We had the rare opportunity to get a full batch from Cinco Sentidos, and when we sampled this Tobasiche-Mexicano blend, we knew it had to be ours. Kyle played off of the unique balance of shar...

Bet on our latest signature cocktail, Bottle of Smoke. This is the second of two whiskey drinks we're sharing today - for those that couldn't get enough this past St. Patrick's Day. This drink is a little on the sweeter side, with blueberry jam coloring the flavor, as well as a rich, smokey...

Raise a parting glass with this signature drink from our staff. The Parting Glass is a twist on the Old Pal, which itself is a variation of the classic Negroni. The bitters and vermouth add the rye spice to the drink without overpowering the smooth Irish whiskey flavor. While St. Patrick's D...

Happy Margarita Day! Get ready to celebrate with the quintessential cocktail. This iconic drink is a perfect blend of tangy lime, smooth tequila, and a hint of orange liqueur, served in a salt-rimmed glass for that extra zing. Whether you prefer yours shaken or blended, on the rocks or strai...

Before the Mai Tai, there was the Zombie. Donn Beach, the founding father of tiki bars, created the world's most famous tropical drink and put Don the Beachcomber's on the map. Donn kept the recipe a secret, never so much as identifying the contents of the bottles poured into the drink. The...

The Hurricane is one of the most identifiable pictures in mixology and one of New Orleans most notorious mixes. Although its history can get a bit murky, it’s irrevocably tied to Pat O’Brien’s landmark bar in New Orleans’ French Quarter. As the story is told, whiskey could be quite challengi...

Imagine crisp, savory, salty, citrus mineral white wines perfect for food. No, not Chenin Blanc, not Soave, not aged Riesling or old Burgundy. I’m talking about Palomino; a grape I suspect you would have heard more about if not for the infinitely random nature of the universe. Okay, sure- I’m...

By Amy Loritali 16 December 2021 I get to enjoy some really lovely, interesting, hand-made wines from around the world. I am particularly excited about wines made with minimal inputs that come from vineyards grown holistically and sustainably and that present a real sense of place. I’m als...

By Amy Loritali 16 December 2021 I get to enjoy some really lovely, interesting, hand-made wines from around the world. I am particularly excited about wines made with minimal inputs that come from vineyards grown holistically and sustainably and that present a real sense of place. I’m als...

By Drew Tschappat My house is filled with empty wine bottles – not because I’m too lazy to take out the recycling, but because to me, each bottle is a memory. Each represents an experience that’s been had. I remember who I was with, what the occasion was, and most importantly, what the wine t...

  By Amy Loritali 1 December 2021   Pittsford Dairy Eggnog, Dairy-Free Holiday Nog, Homemade Nog[1], or whatever your pleasure, if you choose to spike your Nog, you need only one thing:  gin. Don’t be afraid, I know, it sounds crazy. You’ve always been told that rum and whiskey are t...

  The task was to regroup behind the Old Church on Graben St. There were four of us, five if you counted Johannes, but he had torn his knee and could no longer run as he could when I first met him. And he was young and brave, and the Church was dark and icy from days of snow. And it sloped do...