The Wine Voyage

Table of Contents - What Is an Old Fashioned? - Where the Old Fashioned Comes From - The Classic Build and How to Make It - Old Fashioned Variations Worth Knowing - Building a Group Tasting Around the Old Fashioned - Common Questions - Bringing an Old Fashioned Tasting to Your Team - Further Reading The Old Fashioned is the drink I hand to people who say they "don't really like cocktails" — because technically, it isn't one. It's whiskey with the rough edges sanded off: a little sugar, a little bitters, a bit of dilution, nothing added that changes what the whiskey actually is. That's not a marketing line, either. It's the literal, documented origin of the name, and it's exactly why the drink has survived more or less unchanged for over 150 years while entire categories of cocktails have come and gone around it. This guide covers where the Old Fashioned actually comes from, the build that makes it work, its most important variations, and how to turn it...

Table of Contents - What Makes Akron Unique for Team Building - 15 Team Building Activities Akron Groups Love - How to Choose the Right Team Building Activities Akron Activity for Your Team - Why Wine and Spirits Tastings Work So Well in Akron Specifically - Booking Team Building Activities in Akron - Further Reading Ask most people what Akron is known for and you'll get "tires," and honestly, that's fair — this is the city that put rubber on the map, home to Goodyear's world headquarters and a manufacturing legacy that still shapes the local economy. What surprises people who haven't spent time here is what Akron built on top of that legacy: a genuinely strong healthcare and insurance sector anchored by Summa Health and the Akron Children's Hospital system, a growing polymer science and materials research base tied to the University of Akron, and a downtown that's quietly reinvented itself with converted industrial buildings, a real craft beverage sce...

Table of Contents - What Makes Akron Unique for Team Building - 15 Team Building Activities Akron Groups Love - How to Choose the Right Team Building Activities Akron Activity for Your Team - Why Wine and Spirits Tastings Work So Well in Akron Specifically - Booking Team Building Activities in Akron - Further Reading Ask most people what Akron is known for and you'll get "tires," and honestly, that's fair — this is the city that put rubber on the map, home to Goodyear's world headquarters and a manufacturing legacy that still shapes the local economy. What surprises people who haven't spent time here is what Akron built on top of that legacy: a genuinely strong healthcare and insurance sector anchored by Summa Health and the Akron Children's Hospital system, a growing polymer science and materials research base tied to the University of Akron, and a downtown that's quietly reinvented itself with converted industrial buildings, a real craft beverage sce...

Table of Contents - What Is a Martini? - Where the Martini Comes From - Gin vs. Vodka: The Real Difference - Shaken vs. Stirred: What Actually Changes - Martini Variations and Ratios Worth Knowing - Building a Group Tasting Around the Martini - Common Questions - Bringing a Martini Tasting to Your Team - Further Reading No cocktail generates more arguments per ounce of liquid than the Martini. Gin or vodka. Shaken or stirred. Wet, dry, or bone-dry. Olive or twist. Every single one of those questions has a passionate camp behind it, and every single camp is convinced the other side is doing it wrong. That's not a flaw in the drink — it's basically the entire appeal. A Martini isn't really one cocktail. It's a template with a dozen defensible answers, which is exactly why it's stayed the definitive "serious drinker's drink" for well over a century. This guide covers where the Martini actually comes from, the ratios and variations worth knowing, the gin-v...

Table of Contents - What Is a Martini? - Where the Martini Comes From - Gin vs. Vodka: The Real Difference - Shaken vs. Stirred: What Actually Changes - Martini Variations and Ratios Worth Knowing - Building a Group Tasting Around the Martini - Common Questions - Bringing a Martini Tasting to Your Team - Further Reading No cocktail generates more arguments per ounce of liquid than the Martini. Gin or vodka. Shaken or stirred. Wet, dry, or bone-dry. Olive or twist. Every single one of those questions has a passionate camp behind it, and every single camp is convinced the other side is doing it wrong. That's not a flaw in the drink — it's basically the entire appeal. A Martini isn't really one cocktail. It's a template with a dozen defensible answers, which is exactly why it's stayed the definitive "serious drinker's drink" for well over a century. This guide covers where the Martini actually comes from, the ratios and variations worth knowing, the gin-v...

Table of Contents - What Makes Rochester Unique for Team Building - 15 Team Building Activities Rochester Groups Love - How to Choose the Right Team Building Activities Rochester Activity for Your Team - Why Wine and Spirits Tastings Work So Well in Rochester Specifically - Booking Team Building Activities in Rochester - Further Reading Say "Rochester" to most people outside upstate New York and you'll get Kodak, maybe Xerox if they're old enough to remember when that was a local headquarters story instead of a punchline. What that reputation misses is what Rochester actually is now: a genuine optics-and-photonics hub anchored by the University of Rochester and RIT, a health-and-biotech sector built around URMC that's grown steadily while the old imaging giants shrank, and — the part that matters most for what I do — a front door to the Finger Lakes wine region that most companies planning a Rochester offsite never think to use. I've run tastings for Rochester...