Gin has long been the mature, clever sister to party-girl vodka. Where the latter dissolves into its surroundings without individuality, gin counters with an unapologetic punch of personality. “Gin is effortlessly cool,” says Eleanor Maxf...

If vodka is the utilitarian fur cap of the spirits world, bourbon is its big-brim, sassy Derby hat. And that’s not just because bourbon flows faster at the Kentucky Derby (this Saturday) than the prized thoroughbreds on the track. “It con...

You’re invited to a dinner party! Um, hooray? Except maybe root canals and performance reviews, few other invitations inspire quite the same flashes of trepidation. Will the food be edible? The other guests tolerable? Will it be like the board ...

From coeds to day laborers to Cary Grant in “His Girl Friday,” imbibers spanning continents and generations find the lure of a spiked coffee drink in its very definition — the marriage of two favorite vices. “It was the Italia...

It goes without saying that the Founding Fathers were wise dudes. One exception: “Snap Dragon” — an 18th-century party game in which holiday revelers filled a punch bowl with walnuts and booze, set it ablaze and then attempted to fi...

The craze for all things Victorian is hitting home(s), and we don’t just mean U Street hipsters dandying up their pads with tweed sofas and taxidermy. Rather, old-timey terrariums — i.e. shrunken gardens encased in glass — brush off...

For anyone looking for the antidote to an overdose of “grown-up” drinks — think rye whiskeys and gins peering down from the top shelf — here’s a clue: A shot (or three) of rum should do the trick. Just add a paper umbrel...

Rum wears its personality on its sleeve, with hues ranging from as clear and mild as vodka to as dark and as in-your-face as crude oil. Light (white) rum is young like the spring-breakers who love it, while dark (or black) rum is aged three to 12 yea...

You might say painter Dana Ellyn is never more at home than when she’s sidled up to her easel. In her case, though, that’s more than a figure of speech — where Ellyn lays her paintbrushes to dry is just across the paint-splattered r...

Artists looking for affordable live-work spaces can consider many different options, from traditional studios to funky townhouses to airy lofts located in communities filled with creative types. Here are some of the newest affordable local homes and ...