So if you watched Drink Masters on Netflix, there were probably a whole lot of techniques they used that seem hard and intimidating. Look, if you’re a home bartender, the stuff they did on that show may be too much for you to start with, but if you have been making the same Manhattan and Margarita for the last year and are looking for something a little more challenging, there are plenty of mixology techniques to learn from Drink Masters. At HBIC, we have collectively worked for decades in craft cocktails, so we have used these techniques before, and they really aren’t as hard as the show depi ..read more

Wow, good question, person reading this. Alright, so I’m guessing you’re the type of person who usually drinks beer and wine at home. Maybe you’ve started accumulating some bottles of liquor, and you’re tired of ripping shots straight from the bottle. We’re out of lockdown, you don’t need to do that to yourself anymore. The only problem is that you don’t have any bar tools to make yourself cocktails, and even if you did, you wouldn’t know how to use them. Well, on today’s Ted Talk, I’m going to review all the tools you’ll need as you start your home bar, how to use them, and which are the most ..read more

I’ll answer both of these questions in one sentence. They are a type of bitter liqueur, and they are delicious. There, that’s it. That’s the article. If you’ve gotten this far, it probably means you want to know more, so here it goes… So, Amaro is an Italian word that simply means bitter. It’s an herbal liqueur with a wonderful concoction of an untold number of botanicals, bittering agents, and aromatics. Most Amari [plural for Amaro] started out as medicine; hell, most spirits, in general, started out as medicine. The reason Amari, in particular, was used as medicine, is that our stomachs r ..read more

It’s 2023, and you’re feeling curious. We all feel a little curious from time to time, so it’s only natural. Personally, I didn’t start drinking until I was in college, the most curious time of most of our lives in more ways than one. But since then, I don’t know if I have gone an entire month without drinking, and I’m thirty. It has been a very long few years… shit, over a decade on my liver but this year, I’m feeling a little sober curious. That’s right, folks…I’m doing dry January. The month that we collectively nurse our hangovers of too much family time, not enough alone time, and try to ..read more

One holiday may be behind us, but we’ve got a couple more before we call it quits on this year. And the ones coming up kind of require you to buy gifts for people. I know…Capitalism! Am I, right?  Look, I know it’s stressful; but don’t worry, I’ve got you. Whenever I don’t know what to get someone for Christmas, I fall back to a bottle of alcohol. One, it’s a relatively easy and cheap gift. Two, they usually share some with you, so you’re kind of gifting yourself. In this article, I will go into different bottles and brands you should look for, which are the best bang for their buck, and ..read more

Hey…we are all beginners at some point, so don’t be so hard on yourself. After a number of years working behind the bar in Chicago, I’ve learned a few things that took me a lot longer to learn than I’d care to admit. In this time, I have trained many-a-mixologist how to work at a bar. So! Today, let’s pretend you just started working at my bar, and you have no idea what you’re doing. The only difference is…I won’t complain to my manager about their hiring process. Bartender’s Vocab First things first, if you are following us on HBIC, you are going to be learning from a lot of experienced barte ..read more