In the nearly four decades since, wines from other states have garnered medals at major competitions and praise from wine critics. Washington syrah, Oregon pinot noir and New York riesling are generally recognized as world-class varietals. The U.S. is now the fourth-leading wine-producing country in the world, behind France, Italy and Spain. California is still top dog—making 89 percent of the wine produced in the United States—but states from Texas to Ohio are increasing production. All 50 states now have commercial wineries. Like the craft brewing movement, local wine is now easier to find in the United States than at any time since Prohibition.

Like beer, not all wine is created equal. And certain regions get known for quality, raising the expectations for all producers. So where is America’s next great wine region? The answer just might be in the Mid-Atlantic, where 16th-century explorers discovered wild native grapes and the principal framer of the Declaration of Independence experimented with planting European vinifera grapes.

Unlike beer, where ingredients harvested in far-off lands can be brewed into something with a local sense of flavor and place, most wine is produced adjacent to the vineyards. Wine is an agrarian beverage. Many new winemakers were once farmers who grew grapes for other wineries. Some are on land that once produced tobacco or was grazing land for dairy cattle. Sure, some wineries buy grapes and juice from hundreds of miles away, but in most cases the local soil and climate determine which grapes grow best. There is a reason that Bordeaux makes big reds and Germany is known for crisp whites.

Viticulture, the science of growing grapes, can be traced back 7,000 years. Most vineyards will tell you that the best wines come from “old vines.” It takes most varieties about five years from planting to produce a reasonable crop. Winemakers can start to get the sense of how the grapes are reacting to the soil, rain levels and degree-days. Some will suggest the true test of wine quality comes when vines reach 20-25 years old. There are now about 250 wineries in Virginia and 125 in North Carolina. Originally known for sweet muscadine and scuppernong wines, these states started slowly transforming in the eyes of the wine world started about 30 years ago. The transformation has picked up pace in recent years.

“Virginia has been producing wine since Jamestown, and Thomas Jefferson had vines at Monticello,” said Jonathan Wehner, who owns Chatham Vineyards with his wife, Mills, on Virginia’s Eastern Shore. “An advantage Virginia has is we have tremendous diversity when it comes to growing conditions. We have higher elevations for making wines like pinot noir, and we can make Bordeaux-style wines along the coast.”

Wehner is a second-generation Virginia grape producer. His parents started growing grapes in northern Virginia 40 years ago and sold them to winemakers. He started Chatham Vineyards, which sells wine under the Church Creek label, in 1999. The Wehners selected the Eastern Shore AVA (American Viticultural Area, a classification that identifies the geographic origin of grapes) because of the moderate maritime climate and the sandy loam soil.

“These are classic European conditions. We produce ‘food wines’ that are 12 to 13 percent alcohol,” Wehner said. He said that in the last 10 years Virginia winemakers have developed a better understanding of growing conditions and that the state, already fifth in the nation in wine production, is ripe for a steep growth curve.

John Kiers, managing partner at Ox-Eye Vineyards in Staunton, VA, agrees with Wehner’s assessment.

“In Virginia we’ve come a very long way, particularly in the last 10 years,” Kiers said, noting that support from Virginia Tech and local cooperative extensions has resulted in “better fruit out of the vineyards.”

North Carolina ranks as the ninth-leading state in producing wine. A number of the best vineyards in the state got their start or expanded thanks to grants in the late 1990s aimed at converting tobacco farms to other agricultural uses.

The land for Raffaldini Vineyards & Winery was purchased near Ronda, NC, in 2001, and a small hand-bottled vintage was turned out in 2003. The winery has experimented with planting 30 varietals and clones, focused primarily on Italian-style wines, although petit verdot and malbec grapes are grown on the land. Through the discovery process, Raffaldini has become focused on grapes that do well in hot growing conditions in central and southern Italy, with 80 percent of production now in red wines.

“We have 42 acres, but we’ve planted 90 acres of grapes because we have ripped out 50 acres and replanted because we weren’t getting the ripe dark fruit I was looking for,” Jay Raffaldini said.  “It was a journey in deciding between what you can grow and what you should grow. We started out with grapes that do well from Tuscany north and have moved to Tuscany south. Our goal is to make robust wines.”

Raffaldini said that he encountered a process while visiting the Veneto region in northern Italy used to dry grapes made to produce Amarone that he believes will help his wines reach the desired level of intensity. When Montepulciano grapes are harvested at Raffaldini, some are taken to drying rooms, where in 10 days they lose about a third of their weight and flavors are concentrated. The first of this new wine made from these grapes is aging and will be released this fall.

Part of the maturation of the region is the recognition that not all wine in each state is the same. Just like California has wines designated for Napa, Sonoma and other growing regions, Virginia now has six American Viticultural Areas: Shenandoah Valley, Monticello, Eastern Shore, George Washington Birthplace, North Fork of Roanoke and Rocky Knob. North Carolina has three recognized AVA regions: Yadkin Valley, Swan Creek and the Haw River Valley.

“Virginia wine has got people’s attention. We have a chance to be known internationally,” Kiers said. Ox-Eye started making its own wine three years ago. “A lot of people have a romantic notion about owning a vineyard and get started buying fruit. There is a difference between being in the barrel room and out in the field. For consistency you have to control your own fruit—you have to have a vineyard.”

Kiers points out that much of Virginia’s wine industry is based off of an “agri-tourism model” where vineyards offer tours and sell nearly all of what they produce through their tasting room. Only a few restaurants sell Virginia wines, and just a small percentage of retail shelf space is given to the state. Like a number of producers, Kiers said he has “aspirations beyond that.”

The aspirations of winemakers in the Mid-Atlantic region will be realized when more consumers discover wines that meet their expectations. The next 10 years might just be the breakout decade for North Carolina and Virginia wines.

A pool cocktail should provide refreshment from the sun's heat and help set the mood for maximum relaxation.

It is that time of year. The days are longer. Temperatures are rising and the humidity sticks to your skin. Mercifully, the pool is open. And the blender is working overtime.

Just like my beer-ordering habits, the cocktails I consume change from season to season. When summer rolls around, tropical cocktails, blender drinks and fresh fruit concoctions rule the day. While a winter cocktail should be designed to ward off the chill, a pool cocktail has to provide refreshment from the sun’s heat and help set the mood for maximum relaxation.

When it comes to summer cocktails, it’s a good idea to take your cue from places on the globe that have summer-like conditions throughout the year. If you are looking for a great poolside libation, take a look at what is being served at Caribbean resorts, in bars throughout Central America and the Mediterranean, or in domestic coastal hot spots like Southern California or Florida.

At SHOREbar in Santa Monica, CA, master mixologist Billy Ray says the view and the smell of the ocean call for “fresh, natural and clean” cocktails. That means substituting ingredients like agave and honey syrup for simple syrup. “Whether it is food or drink, people are concerned about what they are putting in their bodies,” Ray says. “There has to be a spa-like quality to the cocktails. People don’t want us to just crack open a can and dump the contents in a blender with a bunch of ice.”

The changes taking place at the best cocktail lounges mirror many aspects of the craft beer movement. Mass-manufactured ingredients are giving way to handcrafted spirits and mixers that have a farm-to-glass freshness.

“People don’t see what goes into today’s craft cocktails,” Ray says. “The bar staff has to be in early each day making fresh juices, because fresh lemon and lime juice will go bad in four hours. They will oxidize.”

This change in how cocktails are made is altering what we should expect when ordering classics like the daiquiri and margarita. Premade mixers usually contain a variety of flavoring agents and preservatives to extend shelf life. They are convenient and have a place and time. But when a bar staff puts in the effort to use fresh ingredients in a cocktail, there is an immediate shift in flavor and quality. Delicate, natural flavors come forward, and the bartender controls the levels of sweetness and tartness.

Ray points out that ice becomes an even more critical component when a cocktail is being served poolside. Bartenders expect that about 20-25 percent of ice will turn to water through stirring and shaking, helping to dilute the cocktail and balance the flavors. The key to using ice in the summer heat is making sure the drinker has control and does not end up having to either drink the cocktail too quickly or watch it turn to a watered-down mess.

“The key to any cocktail is the ice. It is the most important thing in the drink beyond the spirit,” Ray says. “Great ice is very important. Big block ice cubes are essential for a cocktail in summer. Dainty ice melts very fast if you are in the sun.”

So once you have gathered fresh ingredients and plenty of ice, the question becomes exactly which cocktails you should make. The answer for poolside sipping comes down to personal choice, but the reality is that this is a great place for colorful libations that make the heat melt away.

Nature Conservancy’s Bee Raw Blessed Honeycomb

Created by mixologist Ektoras Binikos of Michael’s in New York

1.5 oz Uncle Val’s Gin

1 oz Solerno liqueur

1 oz lemon juice

1 oz Bee Raw Basswood Honey Syrup

.5 oz egg whites

Bergamot bitters

2 sage leaves

To create the honey syrup, mix one part Bee Raw Basswood Honey with one part water in a saucepan, bring to a simmer and then cool.

Place all ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice and shake well. Strain into a coupe glass and garnish with a lemon twist and 2-3 drops of the aromatic bitters.

Peach Ambrosia

Created by Billy Ray at SHOREbar
in Santa Monica, CA.

6 blueberries

1.5 oz Ciroc peach vodka

.75 oz lemon juice

.75 oz lavender syrup

3 drops rose water

Muddle 6 blueberries in mixing tin. Add the remaining ingredients and pack with ice. Shake and strain into an Old-Fashioned glass with ice.

The Swimming Pool

1 scoop crushed ice

.25 oz sweet cream

.75 oz cream of coconut

2 oz pineapple juice

.75 oz vodka

1.5 oz light rum

.25 oz Blue Curacao liqueur

Mix ingredients, except Blue Curacao, well. Pour into wide-mouth glass. Float the Blue Curacao on top.

Fancy Bourbon Punch

Created by Matt Wallace

1 liter Maker’s Mark bourbon

1 cup granulated sugar

Peels of 3 lemons and 1 orange

Juice of peeled fruit

1 liter of strong tea (preferably green tea)

250 ml sparkling wine (club soda can be used for a less-fancy version)

Freshly grated nutmeg

Combine sugar and citrus peels in the bottom of a punch bowl. Muddle together until sugar starts to clump. Let sit for about 2 hours, (while not necessary, this does add a little complexity).

Brew the tea for about 30 minutes, remove loose tea or tea bags, and allow mixture to cool.

Add the juice of the peeled fruit, tea and bourbon, and stir.

Top with sparkling wine just before serving and stir gently. Top with freshly grated nutmeg and serve.

Watermelon Crush

From Southern Cocktails by Denise Gee

8 cups cubed watermelon

1 1/3 cups light rum

1.5 cups orange juice

.5 cup orange liqueur

.25cup powdered sugar

2 oz fresh lime juice

Freeze watermelon cubes for 8 hours. Puree the watermelon and remaining ingredients in a blender until smooth. Serve in mason jars.

Castaway

3 or 4 chunks of fresh mango

z agave syrup

1.5 oz dark aged rum

.5 oz fresh lime juice

Mint leaves for garnish

In mixing glass, muddle the mango and agave syrup. Top with ice and add rum and lime juice. Cover and shake until cold, strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Float mint leaf.

Beyond Beer is what the name implies. No one should cast aspersions at the IPA drinker who also enjoys a chilled Alsatian white. We don’t pronounce judgment on the stout drinker who sips Irish whiskey. The fact of the matter is that craft beer drinkers famously wander from brand to brand. It’s really not surprising when they jump completely outside the beer category.

For most of us, the urge to taste something different is greater at this time of year than any other. Let’s face it, our palates have been through the beer wringer for months. The fall started with Oktoberfest beers, pumpkin ales and doppelbocks. After Thanksgiving, winter warmers and spiced holiday brews arrived. The freezing January and February temperatures found us calling for imperial stouts and barley wines. It is still a few weeks before spring bocks will be ready. It’s OK to admit it: we could all use a little break from beer.

So what do we drink when we are not downing a few pints? Quite a bit depends on the beer styles we normally enjoy and how far we want to go to change things up. Here is a checklist of drinks to try, based on the taste of your favorite brews.

Golden Beers

Pilsner: Fresh, well-made pilsners are bright, refreshing and effervescent. These are often talked about as the Champagnes of the beer world. There are certainly similarities, and you would not be wrong popping a cork on a sparkling wine. A sparkling cider could also be an alternative.

Kölsch: Cologne (Köln) sits along the Rhine River just north of the German wine-growing region. A fresh Früh, Sion or Gaffel kölsch is a clean and crisp drink. A slate-dry Riesling is the way to go.

Saison/farmhouse ales: These beers were once brewed for the enjoyment and fortification of seasonal farm workers. Try substituting a Beaujolais Nouveau, the young wine that was originally made in France as a way to celebrate the end of the grape harvest.

Hefeweizen: There are plenty of different flavors that flow through beers like Franziskaner Hefe-Weisse, and that means you should look for something that is equally flavorful. A classic gin and tonic is a good choice. Be sure to call for a gin that is full of botanicals, like Rogue Spirits Spruce Gin.

Belgian-style witbier: The trailing hints of orange and coriander in this beer style remind me of a top-shelf margarita made with Cointreau or Grand Marnier. You can argue all day about not wasting añejo or repasado tequila in a Margarita, but the recommendation here is to replace the triple sec with one of these two classic liqueurs.

Dark Beers

Altbier or dunkel: Dark beers from Germany and Central Europe are light on the palate, with sometimes either sweet or slight roasted notes. Consider a cocktail option such as a dark and stormy made with ginger beer and Gosling’s Black Seal Rum or a classic old-fashioned.

Brown ale: The roasted, less hoppy cousin of pale ale, this beer should be replaced with a flavorful, yet reserved drink. A cocktail made with Canadian whiskey might be the answer.

Rauchbier: Smoked beers come in a variety of levels of intensity. So do Scotch whiskies. For those who like lighter intensity, blended Highland malts are the way to go. True smoke eaters should try Islay malts, such as Laphroaig or Lagavulin. If you desire wine, try an Italian Amarone.

Porter: Dark and mildly roasted porters are lighter in body than many dark beers. Try a pinot noir if you are into red wines. If you fancy white wines, sauvignon blanc or pinot gris would be a solid choice.

Irish stout: Roasty stouts have a good level of flavor. Ignoring the vast color difference, try a lightly oaked chardonnay. In the spirits world, try an aged sipping rum such as Appleton Estate Reserve from Jamaica or Flor de Caña Centenario from Nicaragua.

Baltic porter/milk stout: Dark, sweet and powerful, both of these beer styles offer loads of complexity and plenty of kick. Often these are end-of-the-evening beers. You can substitute port as an alternative.

Abbey dubbel: When you pop open a Westmalle Dubbel or Rochefort 10, you expect complex, layered flavors. The answer here is a Bordeaux-style red. Many of the best French labels are expensive, so you may decide to look for a California blend.

Hoppy Ales

India pale ale: IPAs are refreshing and can range from floral to spicy. If you think that white wines don’t pack enough of a flavor punch, give gewürztraminer a try. While lighter in mouthfeel, these wines tend to have a spice edge with floral and fruity notes.

Imperial IPA: If you are only satisfied when you dial the bitterness up to something north of 75 IBUs, you are serious about hops. Most often these are brews that are heavy in sticky pine characteristics. You may need to take things in an entirely different direction, but if you want to stay with the same note, there are liqueurs packed with flavor, like Cynar (Italy), Unicum Zwack (Hungary) and Vana Tallinn (Estonia) that might hit the mark. You might also give absinthe a try.

Barley wine: There is nothing shy about the flavor profile of barley wine. You can take this in several directions. If you are thinking wine, an Australian shiraz might be the ticket. But you might want to switch to a spirit. Añejo Tequila is one option, but small-batch bourbons pack a ton of flavor, too.

Flavored Beers

Barrel-aged beers: So much here depends on the base beer and the type of barrel that has been used. If the end result is a decidedly woody character, then go for a rye whiskey like Sazerac Rye or Templeton Rye. If whiskey is coming through, most often it is bourbon. Try to learn which distillery the barrel was from and go in that direction. Woodford Reserve is a worthy place to land if you are not sure.

Lambic, gueuze and other sours: Sour beers are interesting and eccentric beverages. Some cocktails can answer the call, such as whiskey and amaretto sours, along with the sidecar and margarita.

Coffee/chocolate: Plenty of coffee and chocolate beers appear during the holidays and winter months. What is the answer if you just cannot get that flavor profile out of your head? Thankfully, there are a ton of coffee cocktails that most bartenders can make—everything from Irish coffee to a white Russian. In the chocolate category, there are chocolate liqueurs and even chocolate-flavored vodkas ready for mixing.

Fruit lambics: Fruit-flavored lambics have two balancing components: the sour beer base and the fruity sugars. It really depends on which fruit you want to imbibe. Here are recommendations for three of the most popular. Framboise (raspberry): You might be tempted to go in the direction of Chambord-based cocktails, but try to find a bottle of cassis made from black currants (not crème de cassis, which has sugar added). Kriek (cherry): This is a difficult flavor profile, since liqueurs such as kirsch and other cherry-based products don’t capture the fruit profile as well. If you can find a bottle of Travis Hasse’s Cherry Pie Liqueur, use the recipe for a Cherry Pie Tart or Fizzy Cherry Pie and see what you think. Pêche (peach): Look for Poire William or peach brandy. Avoid trying pear liqueur because it will be too sweet compared with the lambic.

Not every beyond-beer alternative will hit the mark. And in some cases you might just want to change things entirely. The fun thing for most beer lovers is that these departures to other beverages only serve to remind us of why we love beer in the first place. It is clearly the most diverse and flavorful drink on the face of the Earth.

In most places, if you wanted a white wine, you had better get ready to enjoy the oaky characteristics of a buttery chardonnay that had undergone malolactic fermentation. There is nothing wrong with a well-made chardonnay. The problem is that America’s fascination with chardonnay, which started in the late 1970s and lasted for 25-30 years, meant that, like the dominant lagers of the post-World War II era, you could have any white wine you wanted—as long as it was a chardonnay.

Diversity in the white wine segment lagged most other beverage categories. Beer, which had its Budweiser-Miller Lite-Coors-Schlitz-Old Style-Pabst Blue Ribbon-Stroh’s period of conformity, long ago shook off its creative cobwebs. Now, thankfully, white wine is no longer a one-note song.

Many wine lists are shifting so that chardonnays no longer dominate. Not long ago I was in a restaurant in the Los Angeles area where I would have expected chardonnays to pack the left-hand page of its wine list. Instead, the list was about 70 percent other white varietals. The chardonnay offering was sufficient to satisfy lovers of that grape, but there was ample room given to pinot gris, sauvignon blanc, riesling, viognier, gewürztraminer, chenin blanc, grüner veltliner and müller thurgau. It was the kind of range of whites that just a few years ago you would have had to go to a wine festival to experience.

“Perceptions are changing about white wine in America. It’s not just for the cocktail hour anymore,” said Gustavo Gonzalez, winemaker at Mira Winery in Napa, CA. “More white wines are being made, and they’re not all being made in a chardonnay style that had become so innocuous.”

Mira is a 2009 startup winery that buys fruit from vineyards in the region. The winery makes three whites: a chardonnay, a sauvignon blanc—both made with 100 percent grapes of those styles—and Admiration White, a blend of 80 percent sauvignon blanc and 20 percent chardonnay.

“I love sauvignon blanc. It has so much to offer as a grape, very aromatic and very fragrant,” Gonzalez says. “It has citrus elements and flower notes. I try to retain that in the wine. Most of it is aged in stainless-steel tanks, but we do age a small amount in oak barrels to help give the wine some density.”

If you want to understand the diversity potential of white wine, you need look no further than riesling. It is a fascinating grape because it grows best in colder, often wetter, conditions: in places like the Finger Lakes region in Upstate New York, the western edge of Germany and near hop-growing fields in Washington where you might expect most people to be beer drinkers. Winemakers have plenty of cards to play when it comes to making riesling, but they also must count on Mother Nature for a successful harvest.

Rieslings can range from bone-dry to syrupy-sweet. Winemakers with the right climate conditions can even roll the dice and produce late-harvest and ice wines using the riesling grape. Residual sugar is one way to determine sweetness, but acidity makes a major difference in the balance of the wine. What is in a bottle of riesling on your store shelf is so confusing that the International Riesling Foundation devised a simple scale for members to use on the back of their bottles to tell consumers what to expect, from dry to medium-dry to medium-sweet to sweet.

Scott Harvey, winemaker and owner of Scott Harvey Wines in St. Helena, CA, makes several whites, including a blend—One Last Kiss—and a Jana Napa Valley Riesling.

“Perceived sweetness does not directly have to do with residual sugar. It has more to do with balance. It’s directly related to acidity,” Harvey says. “Chardonnay is made in the winery. It is bouquet-rich from the yeast, the barrels and the malolactic fermentation. Riesling is made in the vineyard. It is aroma-rich.”

While most chardonnays and red wines gain so many characteristics from barrel aging, many whites only see the inside of a stainless-steel tank. The vineyard soil and that vintage’s growing season influence what ends up in your glass.

If your wine consumption is a steady diet of big reds, my advice is the same that I give to friends who drink only barrel-aged beers, sours and imperial IPAs. I tell them that big and bold has its place, but there are also style and grace in the clean and subtle flavors of a fresh kölsch or well-made pilsner. If your Beyond Beer choice is white wine, go beyond chardonnay and experience something that just might surprise your taste buds.

It’s not surprising that rum’s development is linked to the sea. While making alcohol from sugar cane goes back hundreds of years to places like China, India and Iran, much of today’s rum production is centered in Caribbean island nations and Latin America. Early records from the 1600s suggest slaves made alcohol by fermenting molasses. Ironically, rum would become a key component in the triangle between Europe, Africa and the New World. The demand for labor to work Caribbean sugar plantations fueled the slave-trading market in the New World.

Most people associate pirates with rum, but wide distribution of the spirit was propelled by the British navy when it adopted rum as its drink of choice in 1655. The British captured Jamaica and its sugar cane plantations and rum distilleries from Spain. That allowed them to eliminate brandy, which had to be procured from oft-enemy France, changing the daily ration for sailors. Rum was part of daily British naval life until 1970. Now it is served only on special occasions declared by the queen or high-ranking naval officers.

Rum came to what would become the United States more than a century before the Revolutionary War. To keep up with the growing demand in the colonies, the first rum distillery was built on Staten Island in 1664. Today, a growing number of American craft distillers are producing rum, and many of the traditional producers have added aged expressions that put rum on par with whiskey and cognac.

Mat Perry was a high-school history teacher in New England and knew that rum was once a major part of the regional economy. During a sabbatical, he started to wonder if there was a place for a new rum distillery in his hometown of Ipswich, Mass. Soon Perry and a friend, Evan Parker, quit their jobs and launched Turkey Shore Distilleries. The company’s Old Ipswich Rum, which is available in several expressions, rolled out in June 2011.

“There was a pretty steep learning curve,” Perry says. “You spend so much time worrying about making it and what the rum is going to taste like, but then you realize you still have to market it and sell it.”

Perry said the goal of Turkey Shore is to reawaken the appreciation of rum in New England and turn Old Ipswich into a regional brand with a distinct New England flavor. “New England rum has drier components and is not as sweet as Caribbean rums,” Perry says. “We use new North American white oak barrels with a medium char on them. Rum from New England traditionally had a bit more of a smokier profile, in some ways more whiskey-like.”

The experience you have with rum starts with the style of rum you are drinking. Setting aside the overproof and spiced rums, rums from the Caribbean and Latin America can be broken into three major categories. Each traces its roots back to colonial outposts that were once controlled by major European military powers that fought wars and jockeyed for position to control the New World.

This Jamaican rum is a warm amber-brown color and has an attractive sweet nose. The 86-proof rum has a mellow wood flavor that has a bright finish combining sweetness and citrus notes.

Atlantico Reserva

This Dominican Republic import pours a golden color and has a light, sweet aroma. The flavor is light, with sweet tropical notes. The finish has some attractive oaky notes.

Bacardi OakHeart

This spiced rum is 70-proof and is a light amber color. It has a sweet vanilla nose. The flavor has some holiday cookie-like qualities.

Brugal Especial Extra Dry

This oak-cask-aged rum from the Dominican Republic is a silver rum with a very clean aroma. The flavor is smooth with hints of oak, citrus and just a touch of herbs.

Cockspur 12

Golden amber color with a lovely vanilla bean nose. This 80-proof rum from Barbados opens with some nice tropical notes, sugar cane and then hints of the bourbon barrels where it had aged.

Flor de Caña Centenario

This 12-year-old rum from Nicaragua is a lovely polished-wood color and has a nose that hints of bourbon. The flavor is rich and supple with plenty of depth.

Mount Gay Extra Old

This 86-proof rum is from Barbados. It has a deep amber color and mellow nose. There is plenty of wood in the base of the flavor. The rum rounds out with some citrus notes and a balancing sweetness.

Old Ipswich Tavern Style RuM

Made by Turkey Shore Distilleries in Ipswich, Mass., this 80-proof rum is a golden color with a sweet nose. The flavor is full, but not overpowering. There is a base level of sweetness, with earthy notes from the barrel aging.

Plantation 3 Stars Artisanal Rum

This is an 82.4-proof rum from Barbados, Trinidad and Jamaica. This white rum has a slightly citrus nose. The flavor has plenty of cane character with a tropical fruit finish.

Italian monks in the 11th century are said to have been the first to distill spirits using juniper berries, gin’s base flavoring agent. It is doubtful that this drink would remind anyone of today’s modern gin. A German-born physician and scientist who spent most of his life in the Netherlands, Franciscus Sylvius, is given credit for developing the first modern-day gin during the 1600s. Dr. Sylvius, born Franz de le Boë, is recognized for early research into the circulatory system and the brain, and for being a leading professor of medicine at the University of Leiden. He also gets credit for more than a few hangovers.

During the Eighty Years’ War (1568-1648) British troops fighting in Holland against the Spanish nicknamed gin “Dutch Courage” because it could calm the nerves before battle. By 1700 there were said to be 400 gin distilleries in Amsterdam alone. William of Orange helped make gin popular in England, but it was heavy taxes imposed on imported spirits and the permitting of unregulated distilling—much of it taking place in private homes—in the U.K. that caused an explosion in gin production. Thousands of “gin mills” popped up. When Parliament tried to get things under control in 1736 by passing the Gin Act, there were riots in the streets.

The relative ease of and speed in making gin—it is basically a flavored neutral spirit—made it a favorite during Prohibition in the United States. Crude distillers were able to take the edge off bathtub gin by flavoring the liquid with any number of ingredients. Few of these would make the list of prized botanicals that today’s distillers employ for making gin.

But gin also has a classy side best articulated by James Bond, the British 007 secret agent created by novelist Ian Fleming. In Casino Royale, Bond orders a Vesper Martini and is quite specific in the recipe, telling a barkeeper: “Three measures of Gordon’s (gin), one of vodka, half a measure of Kina Lillet. Shake it very well until it’s ice-cold, then add a large slice of lemon-peel.”

With so much history, you would expect the spirit would be as stiff and traditional as a happy hour gin and tonic served at an upper-crust country club. Not likely as a new wave of gin is served across American bars.

“There are all kinds of new things happening with gin,” says Bill Owens, who founded the American Distilling Institute in 2003. Part of the change has been fueled by the growth in craft distillers, including some that harvest their own grain and hand select the botanicals they use. “There are distilleries that are experimenting with barrel aging gin and making yellow gin,” Owens says, “Others are making classic gin styles. Gin is a great cocktail ingredient. I had a gin fizz the other day, a drink I had not had in a long time. It is a wonderful drink on a bright sunny day.”

“Craft spirits are all the rage,” comments Jack Joyce of Rogue Distilling in Oregon, pointing out that making grain-neutral spirits to produce vodka or as a base for gin is simpler and more economical than making a whiskey or other spirits that require aging.

“The important thing for us is asking, What is the distiller’s contribution? With our gin we add our own botanicals. We feel we can be credible in making gin,” Joyce says. “I don’t think we should or would want to be credible making vodka—unless we mashed our own potatoes.”

Rogue uses spruce as a key flavoring component in its gin because “we grow a lot of spruce out here. It’s indigenous, part of the terroir,” Joyce says. “The thing to keep in mind is that botanicals are agricultural products, and they change every year.”

A herbal, earthy nose. This brand came to fame as a story line on the HBO series Entourage. The flavor is smooth, with hints of spice, a touch of grass, a hit of citrus and fresh herbs. There is just a slight smoke note to the aftertaste.

Cazadores Reposado Tequila

A straw-yellow color with an inviting sweet nose. There is a mellow flavor base that is surrounded by the wood. Fairly round and full in the finish.

Distinguido Añejo Tequila

Light amber color. Nice inviting aroma that combines earthy notes with toffee. This tequila has been aged for three years, using some ex-bourbon barrels in the process. The flavor is focused on peppery spice with hints of pralines around the edge.

Herradura Añejo

A rich copper color, this 80-proof tequila is aged for two years, offering mellow flavors. It has an oak base, a hint of vanilla and a long finish. Peppery at the end. A very nicely put-together drink.

El Jimador Tequila Reposado

Very light straw color, with a nose that hints of tropical fruit. Smooth flavor with agave notes and a finish that has some nice sweet character.

Don Julio 70 Tequila Reserva AÑejo Claro

Sample from bottle 130 of 200. Clear color and slight tropical nose. Refined flavor opens and grows as it goes. Spices at the end tell you this is not a silver.

Don Julio añejo Tequila

Golden color and traditional agave nose. Slightly bitter green grass notes in the base.

Don Julio 1942

Faint golden color with a sweet agave nose. Great depth that is dominated by fresh-cut hay and pepper. Some smoke elements emerge near the end.

Partida Añejo Tequila

A very aromatic tequila. Partida Añejo is a light golden color and pours with a bright nose. Plenty
of earthiness, grass and citrus.

Tequila Revolucion Añejo

Maple syrup golden color with a deep agave nose. Spice up front with hints of grass. Smooth finish.

Sauza Tres generaciones Añejo

This tequila is light gold with a hint of honey in the nose. A very flavorful finish with tones of pepper, nuts and agave throughout.

Tequila has left the frat house and taken a place among top-shelf liquors.

It has been a long and strange path to respectability. Mexico has a distilling heritage that predates bourbon by about 250 years. In fact, distilling in Mexico can be traced back almost as far as scotch. But tequila had a mixed reputation, and the lore of the worm—a marketing ploy among some mescal makers—took the category to low respectability.

Tradition and heritage are just one measure of tequila's place in the hierarchy of drinks.

Spanish conquistadors arrived in Mexico in the early 1500s and found the Aztecs gathering agave to make pulque, a fermented beverage used for ceremonies and made from juice taken from the maguey agave shoots. Pulque—also called octli—had been a part of the native culture for more than 1,000 years. Before long the Spaniards starting distilling pulque, and the early forms of tequila emerged.

Tradition and heritage are just one measure of tequila’s place in the hierarchy of drinks. Like cognac and Champagne, tequila also has strict geographic boundaries. To qualify as tequila, it must be made in the state of Jalisco around the town of Tequila, northwest of Guadalajara. Like brandy is to cognac, there are other drinks made in different areas of Mexico or from different types of agave—mescal, sotol and bacanora. But tequila is unique and desirable.

Now tequila is something more than a punch line. When you mention the spirit to most people, they automatically reach for the blender, or perhaps they have a distant memory of a night with one too many shooters. But the reality is that tequila’s reputation is changing.

“I think people have changed the way they enjoy Tequila. More consumers sip and enjoy 100 percent agave tequila brands,” says Jacques Bezuidenhout, bartender ambassador for Partida tequila. “I like to enjoy it in many ways. In a quality fresh cocktail, with a beer or food. Many times just neat. Depends on the mood, but most of all you should always have fun while having tequila.”

New tequila brands continue to pop up and, even during the economic downturn of the last few years, many of these are aged. Reposado tequilas are “rested” for two to 11 months. These tequilas spend time in American or French oak barrels, which often previously held bourbon, cognac, wine or other beverages.

Añejo means the tequila has been aged between a year and three years in oak barrels that are under 600 liters. In 2006, the designation extra añejo was added for tequilas left to rest for more than three years.