Spirit Related Websites
A spirit of some type, forms the foundation of any good cocktail. While many of the commercial distilleries have websites that pontificate on the wonders of their products, sometimes you want to learn about the qualities of a particular spirit from an impartial source.

The following websites are the ones that I've located that are dedicated to one or more of the base spirits, and provide you with information that will hopefully help you understand that particular spirit better.

	CocktailDB One of the webs largest collection of real cocktail recipes, as well as comprehensive details about the liquors they contain. CocktailDB is a wonderful site that is full of great information for the budding cocktail researcher. It's database contains the largest number of real cocktail recipes that I know of, and all of the ingredients that is included in those recipes has been carefully detailed with information about their makeup, taste, and availability. A fun little side feature of this site, is the Mixilator, a random recipe creator that is the result of carefully applying ingredient blending concepts and theories to actually produce drinks that "might" actually be worth drinking.
	Happy Hours While not fully up yet, you can still register to receive a semi-regular newsletter. All you can do at this site at the moment is sign up for receiving a semi-regular news letter that they send out in e-mail. While it might be a little suprising that I'd include a link for a site that is still "under construction", the newsletter alone makes this a valueable site to visit at least once.
	Hendricks Gin A great new gin, includes cucumber and rose petals It might be hard to find everywhere, but I recently had the opportunity to try this gin in California, and found it to be a great product. It's characteristics make it work well either sipped neat, or mixed into a cocktail. An online source for this gin appears to be "SamsSuperstore".
	Liqueur Making A hobbiest site containing a wide variety of recipes for making various liqueurs and cordials at home By his own admission, Gunther Anderson is a shameless computer nerd, but fortunately, one of his favorite hobbies is making liqueurs at home. On his relatively simple site, he has written a lot of information about his pasttime in hopes that he can provide the rest of us with both information and inspiration on our similar pursuits.
	Ministry Of Rum Dedicated To The Understanding and Appreciation Of This Noble Spirit, RUM This website is owned and operated by Edward Hamilton, one of the foremost authorities on rum. He currently lives on his boat, Tafia, sailing around the Caribbean sampling the finest of the distillers' art. The information he shares on his website come from his experienes traveling around the Caribbean and visiting the distilleries themselves.
	SaskyCom A site chock full of reference information related to spirits, liqueurs, wines, and beer. This site appears to contain a fairly extensive amount of reference material relating to various types of spirits, wines, beers, as well as bartending information for the home or professionsl bartender.
	the Spirit Journal The Spirit Journal is a independent guide to distilled spirits, beer and fortified wines Paul Pacult, author of "Kindred Spirits", and "The Beer Essentials", produces a quarterly newsletter to share his insights and reviews on various products. This website is primarily a vehical for gaining new subscribers, and doesn't contain much conentent in and of itself.
	Tequila This site offers a comprehensive look at the Mexican drink called tequila Out of what appears to be a true love of the topic, Ian Chadwick has pulled together a multi-page writeup about the various aspects of Tequila. On his site he presents a facinating examination of tequila that I think all could benefit by reading.
	Wormwood Society A global discussion forum devoted towards providing details and information about Absinthe Absinthe is facing a bit of a resurgence these days, and after existing only in the darkness for almost a hundred years, it isn't surprising that there might be a little bit of misinformation about what Absinthe really is. The Wormwood Soceity is a tightly knit, and very knowledgeable gathering of individuals who are working at dispelling the myths and providing accurate information and feedback on this product. Of specific interest to many, may be the details contained in their FAQ, which is located here: http://wormwoodsociety.org/ABSfaq.html {imageRef ("NoBurning", explanation:"Friends don't let friends burn absinthe")}