Your daily dose of news and happenings from around the drink-o-sphere:
– In California, an increasing number of investors are getting into wine and applying the same business principles that made them successful in other ventures.
– A San Antonio restaurant debuted a $28 mimosa garnished with caviar, smoked salmon, fruit, cheese, a muffin and half of a lobster tail.
– An English court ordered Alex Hope—the ‘Champagne fraudster’ notorious for spending £200,000 on a round of drinks—to pay back £2.7 million, which he made from an illegal foreign exchange trading scheme.
– Scientists recently found a 45-million-year-old ancestor to coffee preserved in amber collected in the Dominican Republic.
– Despite a general decline in per capita soda consumption, companies are still trying to entice consumers to drink soft drinks with breakfast, with brands like Mountain Dew releasing their caffeinated “Kickstart” soda and Sonic promoting their “Morning Drink Stop” deal.
– After a British bar denied a lemon-and-salt combo for tequila shots, a regulatory body suggested that the Mexican spirit should be served with its traditional savory-citrus chaser.
– Finally, in Western Pennsylvania, local historians and bar owners hope to attract Whiskey Rebellion tourism, inviting visitors to explore the communities that led a revolt against the government after the proclamation of a whiskey tax.
[Photo: Flickr/Mar Mar.sk]