Daily News: Making Frozen Booze Cubes, Synthetic Wine

Ice Cubes

Your daily dose of news and happenings from around the drink-o-sphere:

– Flame-branded citrus peels, custom garnish picks and chiseled ice cubes are just a few of the creative ways bars have started inscribing logos onto their drinks.

– Frascati, a wine known as a papal favorite in the 17th century, fell from favor as quality declined, but recently, a few notable producers have brought new attention to the crisp, Italian white.

Jackson Family Wines has bought boutique Sonoma winery, Copain, the second major acquisition for the brand in recent months.

– Looking for a simpler approach to wine production, a San Francisco startup has begun producing synthetic wine without grapes, relying instead on the combination of flavor compounds and ethanol to mimic the tastes of top rated bottles.

– When his local London Lager began to be brewed in the Netherlands, Matt Clinch was prompted to ask whether craft beer has lost its essence to globalization.

– Finally, frozen booze cubes are now a thing, thanks to a $7,999 machine capable of cooling alcohol to its freezing point.

[Photo: Flickr/liz west]