What if we made this iconic Filipino street food into a cocktail?

Together with my friends at @tanduayrum, I’ve taken one of my favorite Filipino street foods and found a way to make it into a cocktail. Banana-cue is an iconic Filipino dish made with Saba bananas, that are fried with dark brown sugar to form a crispy, caramel coating. The piping hot caramelized bananas are then skewered with bamboo and eaten to-go. It’s a sweet, savory snack that I figured would be fitting with Tanduay Gold Rum - an iconic Filipino rum thats been around so long that my dad used to drink it back in the Philippines when he was my age :D

This is one of the best cocktails I’ve made this year, and the secret (besides the rum) is the Saba banana oleo saccharum, if you want the recipe sent to your inbox, comment ‘OLEO’ and I’ll send it over in the form of a recipe card so you can save it to your camera roll.

Cheers y’all!

#ad21+ #TanduayPartner

Next up for Negroni Week 2025, Ryan Wise channels the Count himself with a refined yet punchy tribute. Homage to the Count balances navy strength gin’s spice with Campari’s bitterness, rounded by Madeira’s caramel tones and a whisper of house-made allspice dram. It’s layered, aromatic, and deeply respectful of Negroni’s roots.

“Personally I love a Negroni, but I prefer mine a little punchier in the Gin department. So this Negroni variation starts with the Gin, we use a high ABV navy strength Gin, this offers balance between the smooth bitterness of Campari and the subtle sweet caramel and spice notes from the Madeira without losing the Gin. The Gin also has a nice background spice profile, like cinnamon, cardamom, turmeric, ginger and of course juniper, so we leaned into that with just a touch our house made allspice dram that we make with a locally distilled rum, cinnamon, toasted cardamom and of course allspice berries. A couple drops of 20% saline solution to enhance flavor and add complexity and Voila - “HOMAGE TO THE COUNT”. The name of our cocktail is a nod to Count Camillo Negroni for whom the original Negroni was named after.”

Cheers, y’all!

"I'm just having one drink tonight."

Today we're learning how to make soup with olive croutons aka a big 'ole batch of dirty martini. So grab your largest coupe and let's do this 🍸

Hey babe, wake up… its Negroni Week…

Together with my friends at @campari_southcarolina, we’re kicking off this week with arguably one of the best Negroni recipes I’ve ever made… and you can thank my wife for it. Negronis are all about balance, but sometimes balance means dessert in a glass because my wife’s banana bread is the inspo for this recipe. The Banana Nut Negroni takes the bitter-sweet classic and layers on notes of banana, oloroso sherry for toasty backbone, and hazelnut + black walnut bitters to tie it all together.

Seriously considering batching this one for the freezer this week.

Cheers, y’all!

For Negroni Week 2025, Charleston’s own Kris Wheeler delivers a bold and bartender-insider riff. The Shift Drink Negroni leans boozy and bitter, with navy strength gin, funky Jamaican rum, fat-washed Campari, and a dual hit of vermouth. It’s layered, rich, and full of industry in-jokes — a true “bartender’s Negroni.”

“This is my bartender centric version of a Negroni. This one comes from straight behind the bar,

Cheers, y’all!

If you add olive brine, does it automatically make it dirty? 🫒

For #WorldPalomaDay, we’re doing exactly that and it’s absolutely wonderful.

Check out the recipe below, cheers y’all.

Not your Ordinary Negroni… or is it?

Last but certainly not least, I’m excited to introduce you to my talented friend Christian Favier (christianjfavier) of The Ordinary (@eattheordinary) for #NegroniWeek with campari_southcarolina.

“We love a Negroni at The Ordinary. We didn’t want to just do a variation on something we already find nearly perfect, so we chose to flip the formula altogether. Playing on the parallel bittersweet taste of both Campari and Passionfruit, with the big bold flavor of Wray and Nephew, we did the whole thing frozen to keep it frosty cold and dangerously crushable all the way through.”

Don’t forget you can grab this cocktail at @eattheordinary this week!
This also wraps up my Negroni Week series with my talented friends here in Charleston! It’s been a blast to be able to film something/someone other than myself for a change.

Thank you to all those who have supported and if you like this series and want to see more like it, let me know below what else you’d want to see in the future.

Cheers y’all!

Home for the holidays?

Doesn’t matter because you’ll be wanting to make this recipe wherever you are. I made this because I was looking for a festive Boulevardier alternative and think this was it. Let me know what yall think!

You’ve heard the term teeny tiny, but have you heard the term… 🍸🤏🏾

Considering I’m always just on Instagram posting recipes but not really having an bar in town, have you ever wanted to try one of my cocktails?? WELL NOW YOU CAN!

An espresso martini crossed with a mint chocolate Irish coffee? Sure, I got you

’Tis the season after all, I’ve come up with the perfect recipe to go along with this bottle of Glendalough Double Barrel Irish Whiskey. This single grain, Irish whiskey is first aged in oak then finished in Oloroso sherry casks.

You asked for more Paloma riffs, I gotchu!

This one subs the traditional salt rim with olive brine and it works SO well with the grapefruit in this recipe. Saline and aperitivos rend to accentuate the citrus notes and in this case, it brings out some of the grapefruit in Salers. Hope yall enjoy this one, it’d be a good one to batch.

Ok, so I’ll admit I was a big btparsons fan before, but I had the honor of taking his Amaro class at BenConCHS and was completely blown away. Luckily, Charleston, SC was a stop on his ‘Amaro’ book tour and I had the opportunity to pick his brain (again) at @edmundsoast while he was in town. He was knowledgeable, down-to-earth and one of the coolest authors I’ve had the honor of meeting. This cocktail recipe is a from his book ‘Amaro’ — definitely worth the pickup, even if its not personally signed like my copy 😉

The holidays always remind of the fall/winter flavors and spices that go into everything we eat and imbibe during the season. I recently #partnered up with 1792 bourbon to create a custom cocktail that will tie in all these flavors into a simple cocktail… Can you keep a secret? It has to do with the spiced panela syrup. Infused with flavors that remind me of fall and winter, it ties in well with 1792 Bourbon due to the bourbon’s high-rye content and spice-rich notes, alongside vanilla and caramel. Check out the recipe below and let me know what cocktail reminds you of the holidays! #1792 and #1792Bourbon

HandcraftAfterDark | Episode 3: White Venetian

I’m a sucker for a Negroni with a couple dashes of saline but have you ever tried it with olive brine? Its a match made in heaven.

Here’s the third episode of Handcraft After Dark. In this series, I’ll feature some of my favorite night caps and maybe even some recipes that YOU recommend. Here’s the catch: they always have to be stirred and must contain 4 or less ingredients (not including the garnish).

This video series will be no-frills, quick, easy, and straightforward recipes that you can make in less than 5 minutes. Have a favorite recipe that fits the description above? Let me know in the comments section.

MSG gets a bad rap, but don’t let it scare you from making this 🍸

MSG or Mono-sodium Glutamate has been widely used in cooking for centuries, but did you know it can be naturally derived as well? This compound is found in every day food such as mushrooms, tomatoes, meat and many other vegetables. There’s nothing scary or dangerous about this ingredient, just like anything else… when used in moderation. MSG is important in cooking since it provides that ‘5th’ flavor profile - UMAMI.

“What does umami taste like?” - you (probably)
Umami is the savory or meaty taste of foods. It comes from three compounds that are naturally found in plants and meat: glutamate, inosinate, and guanylate.

Here’s to my ongoing obsession with trying to make a clear Negroni using new ingredients. This is a cross between a Venetian Spritz (as seen in “Spritz!” by @taliabaiocchi / @lesliepariseau) and a traditional Negroni. Just that slight salinity from the brine really balances this cocktail out. Recipe below!

What can I say, I’m a sucker for olive brine in my bittersweet cocktails.

This ones inspired by my friends up north 🇨🇦

Throwback to a challenge by my friends to create a unique cocktail using ingredients local to Victoria, BC. Using the fruity flavors found in ‘Mountain Berry Tea’ by @tealeavesco (Elderberry, Hibiscus, and Black Currant) along with local smoked honey from countrybeehoney, I was able to create a cocktail that is delicious on its own. I was able to take this cocktail even further by experimenting with a black currant (cassis), elderflower and pamplemousse foam to compliment the drink itself. Not going to lie, either one could be enjoyed on its own but combining the two takes this drink to the next level.

You haven’t lived until you’ve put olive brine into your Boulevardiers, let me show you how it’s done with this recipe.