Hopscotch: A Hoppy Collaboration
Hopscotch is created using a favorite local product—craft beer! Learn about this year’s collaboration with Zero Gravity.
Perfect Cocktail Pairings for Your Thanksgiving Dinner
From pre-dinner drinks to full-flavor cocktails and post-dinner sippers, we’ve picked our top cocktail pairings for your Thanksgiving holiday.
Cocktail Dos & Don’ts: Top Tips from the Mad River Team
There are do’s and don’ts when it comes to making a good cocktail. Here, we tap into the Mad River team’s cocktail-making expertise to offer you our top tips for creating excellent cocktails from home.
Must-Have Items For Your Home Bar
Barware comes in both “need to have” and “nice to have” categories. Here, we share our “must have” items to set your home bar up for success.
Source Spotlight: Kelvin Cooperage
Among the most significant decisions a distillery can make is who they partner with for barrels. A lot of facets impact the flavor of a spirit, but the barrel can make or break the flavor. Learn about Kelvin Cooperage and how their barrels help impart the distinctive flavors in our spirits.
Source Spotlight: Wood’s Vermont Syrup Company
Learn how Mad River Distiller's partnership with Wood's Vermont Syrup Company results in two excellent products—Rum Barrel Aged Maple Syrup and Maple Cask Rum.
The Difference Between Mad River’s Rums
Learn the difference between our five Mad River rums, what makes each of them unique, and some suggested cocktails you can mix at home.
What is a Control State?
If you’re a purveyor of alcohol—whether beer, wine or liquor—then you may have heard of the term “Control State.” What exactly does that mean? Well, it’s not a nod to the government-controlled dystopian society in George Orwell’s 1984. After Prohibition was abolished in the United States in 1933, the sale and distribution of alcohol fell […]
Bartender Spotlight Series: Emily Morton of The 126
Have you discovered The 126? Located at 126 College Street in Burlington, Vermont is The 126. Step inside and you will discover a bustling cocktail lounge filled with soft jazz music, the sound of cocktails being shaken, and patrons enjoying libations (both alcoholic and non-alcoholic) made by the excellent Bartenders. Originally opened as Deli 126 […]
Bartender Spotlight Series: Kate Wise of Juniper Bar at Hotel VT
“For the love of god please refrigerate your vermouth!”. That was the one thing Kate Wise of Juniper Bar at Hotel Vermont wanted to make sure I put in this piece about her, so there you go Kate! It was a warm and sunny Wednesday in October when myself and Josh, our Burlington Tasting Room […]
What exactly is Rum, anyway?
Rum, Defined Spirit categories can be nebulous and confusing. Some spirits, like gin, must make use of specific ingredients. Others, like bourbon and rye, must use certain ingredients and be aged in a specific way, while vodka can be made from virtually anything as long as it’s distilled at a high enough proof. Rum, on […]
When to Stir, When to Shake, and When to Rattle and Roll
Cocktail culture can be intimidating. You see a lot of hip bars with even hipper bartenders shaking and stirring cocktails inside. There are spirits you’ve never heard of, obscure liqueurs and strange amari lining the shelves and populating the cocktail menu. And let’s be honest, sometimes you smile and nod like you’re in the know, […]
Bourbon Comes From Kentucky...Right?
With so many other regional distinctions, like Champagne needing to be specifically from the Champagne region in France or Tequila needing to be made in Mexico, it seems natural to lump Bourbon into the mix, especially since traditionally it’s been so associated with Kentucky. And while this may be a common belief, Bourbon can actually […]
What are Bitters?
“So what’s the deal with all those little bottles?” a gentleman asks in a hushed voice leaning across the copper bar top in between sips of his Mad River Rye Manhattan. “Bitters” I whisper back. I point to the shelves lined with obscurely sized, shaped, and colored bottles, “We sell bitters from all around the […]
