Cachaça Looks to Its Future

Like a lot of people in the liquor world, I haven't spent a lot of time lately troubling my mind about the fate of Cachaça. Sure, it was fun falling in love with the Caipirinha several years ago. It was delicious and easy to make, and vaguely exotic. But the Cachaça folks haven't given us much of a follow-up thrill since then, and the industry battle to have the liquor recognized as a separate category by the American government (and not as "Brazilian rum") grew rather tedious after a while.

However, that campaign eventually succeeded. By summer's end, Cachaça will have gotten the respect from Washington D.C. that it so long desired. In other news, Diageo got into the Cachaça game, buying the huge Ypióca brand for $470 million. Clearly, Diageo things the sugar-cane booze has a future. Given those events, I felt it was time to reappraise the status of Cachaça in the United States.

Here's the story I wrote for the New York Times:

A Visit to Lani Kai

Saloon keeper Julie Reiner has been adamant that her new SoHo bar, Lani Kai, is not a tiki bar, but tavern evocative of the Pacific and her native Hawaii. And, indeed, the place kind of falls between two stools, landing somewhere between the sophisticated cocktail dens she's known for (Flatiron Lounge, Clover Club) and the newer tiki joints (Painkiller). There are tropical touches in the decor, but they're not overdone. The menu offers a Pupu platter and poi donuts, but also pork buns, lobsters roles, chicken wings and other things you could find at many another Manhattan spot. Many of the drinks feature rum and various fruit juices, but none of them are served in tiki mugs. The glassware is, well, glass.

The Sipping News

Eben Freeman has become "director of bar operations and innovation" at Michael White's Altamarea group. Nice to see Freeman finally land a new place in New York's bar world. He left his previous perch, Tailor, last year. [TONY via Eater]

Is tequila the new vodka? Or: The "Entourage" Effect. [Washington Post]

New York bars are spiking their milkshakes with liquor. [NYT]

More on the ongoing Tiki bar revival, including news of the coming Hurricane Club in Manhattan. [NYT]

Julie Reiner Christens SoHo Bar Lani Kai

Lani Kai will be the name of Julie Reiner's upcoming SoHo bar.

"It’s a beach in Kailua on Oahu," Reiner, a native Hawaiian, told me for an item recently posted in the New York Times' Diner's Journal. "It’s a beach I spent a lot of time at as a kid. It’s a beautiful spot. It’s means ‘heavenly waters.’ For me, the name refers to both the beauty of the island, which I’m trying to capture in this new space, but also to the liquid form itself, which I’m always about."