An actually good liquor website

In today's SF Chronicle, I have this short write-up:

Bay Area bartenders invade the Interweb

Most spirits Web sites are a mess of Flash animation and overly loud house music that you can't turn off, but the relaunched Roth Vodka Web site is actually kind of cool. It stars many of the Bay Area bartenders we know and love, including Greg Lindgren from Rye (pictured at right), Jonny Raglin (Absinthe), Martin Cate (Forbidden Island), and Nicole Burke (Garibaldi's), in hundreds of short videos wherein they demonstrate recipes and drink preparation techniques. Because there is a lot of overlap in topics, it's great fun to watch bartenders with contrasting opinions, such as the nine bartenders who justify their muddler of choice or Zack Morlock (Frisson) dismissing "Ice is ice" while Dominic Venegas (Range) says, "It's the backbone to a drink." Stalk your favorite bartender at www.rothvodka.com.

Check out the site- you can spend hours on there. It's great that they don't hit you over the head with product placement. And for those of us struggling to make proper drinks at home, hearing bartenders disagree with each other on techniques and recipes makes you feel a lot less stupid.