Earlier this week, we got together at Double Crown for the Clear Liquor Tweet-Up, here's the evidence:

Already, the buzz for Phil Ward's new tequila themed mixology den has exceeded any healthy level. So, as your eyes and ears, we couldn't turn an opportunity to give you the first look at their full cocktail menu (click through the gallery below).

The cocktails were all as amazing as they sound and the decor downstairs matches the vibe perfectly. We were fortunate enough to score Jim as our bartender last night, and he was as personable as he was skilled behind the bar.

He mixed up an Italian Inquisition for my first cocktail, and I was impressed with how complex and light something that dark and seemingly syrupy tasted. We moved onto El Jimador Shifty next, which featured Mezcal and Negro Modelo.  It was spicy, it was flavorful. In short, it was great. Over the next hour we sampled half of the menu, and were impressed with each drink Jim slid our way.

We spent the bulk of the evening in the downstairs bar, which you can check out over on Urban Daddy, if you're so inclined. Jim suggested we take the trip upstairs to check out the "baby maker" (his term not mine), and the upstairs might be the only part of Mayahuel that underwhelmed me.  The vibe upstairs was definitely very loungey with plush velvet and extreme red lighting.  Somehow, it didn't quite fit with the tiles and veladors downstairs. 

Upstairs be damned, this is a great spot, and certainly a destination for any tequila lover.

Mayahuel
304 E. 6th St
(at 2nd Ave)
East Village
New York, NY 10003
   

Day 1 - total meat overdose

This weekend Lush Life will be meeting up with wine expert Kevin Zraly — our friend in real life and on Twitter @KevinZraly.

Zraly will be showing off his knowledge of wine at the New York Wine Expo starting Friday where he will be offering an hour-long course from his popular Windows on the World Complete Wine Course.

The Wine Expo will be Friday and Saturday at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center. Tickets are still available at the Expo’s Web site.
 

Click the image to watch the video out of Kentucky.

So much delicious bourbon and whiskey poured down the drain to prove a point — a noble point, no less.

Kentucky’s master distillers and liquor company executives stood outside the state’s capitol and poured out bottles of the sweet nectar of life their own liquor hoping to stop the legislature from adding more booze taxes.

Kentucky is not the only state eyeing higher taxes on booze, New York, California and others are looking for ways to covers their asses in the budget department by taxing a whole slew of items, including alcohol sales, smoking and porn.

But lawmakers going after liquor and beer companies, in any state, seems like a bad idea to me (same goes for the other vice industries).

Like it or not, liquor companies, no matter what their politics, hold a lot of sway in state government. With the kind of money they command and lobbying power, liquor companies are usually pretty quiet about their political involvement.

So, to see a dozen liquor execs and distillers staging a protest on the steps of the Capitol like a bunch of Tea Party revolutionaries, you know the situation in the Bluegrass State has gotten dire.

Liquor companies prefer the hushed, behind-the-scenes kind of influence. Back in the State Capitol in Missouri (when I was working as a “real reporter”) it was not uncommon to see St. Louis-based Anheuser-Busch products stocked in lawmakers’ offices and in state employee refrigerators. No one really asked where it came from and everyone was free to enjoy.

Let's hope the situation turns around for those KY distillers. But if they are going to keep pouring out bourbin tell us next time and we will bring our Sham-Wow to help clean up afterward.
 

Patron tequila hosted an event where chefs and festival guests enjoyed a night of dance and liquid nitrogen-infused drinks.

Bartenders shook up spicy mojitos, tequila shots and an Italian Ice that used liquid nitrogen to flash-freeze lime juice and a rum mixture. For more photos from the South Beach Wine and Food fest, click the photo below or go here.