His heart might belong to spirits, but Marcis Dzelzainis also has a soft spot for fortified wines

Rum mix topped with bubbly

It’s often overlooked, but Marcis Dzelzainis tells us why calvados is the apple of his eye

Any Port in the storm of Martinis

Wary of cultural elitism creeping into bars, Marcis Dzelzainis hauls out some fun eighties classics

Balsamic, pebbles among unusual drink ingredients

All of this year's winners of the Martell Star Blog prize in one place

Scotch, the new bitters of the cocktailian set

Give liqueurs and cremes some love and you’ll have the classics licked, says Marcis Dzelzainis

Premixes are the Vauxhall Astra of the barworld: as sexy as corduroy, but practical? Hell yeah! Nushi Wijewardena and a team of bartenders put a stack of time-saving contenders to the test.

From hyssop and lovage to beef jerky and duck sauce, ingredients that were once used on plates are now making it into our glasses. Naren Young looks at the blurring of the lines between kitchen and bar

In which our woman on the inside celebrates that oft-overlooked species: the barback

Enough of the historical stuff – here are some fresh ideas to get the bartending ball rolling, says Marcis Dzelzainis

A hot category, gin has seen plenty of innovation of late. But is the drink in danger of losing its personality in the process? Clinton Cawood asks two industry figures for their views

A whole wall of prejudice and muddled thinking surrounds whisky drinking. Dave Broom loads up his Mosquito with bombs of truth and takes to the skies. All together now, cue The Dam Busters music: daa… da… da… da... da-da... da... da