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Articles By Wayne Curtis

Imbibe Contributing Editor Wayne Curtis is a designated drinker, freelance writer, contributing editor to The Atlantic and online columnist at The American Scholar. His favorite drink is the Sazerac, which makes perfect sense considering he calls New Orleans home.

Battery Powered Bartender

Revisiting the golden era of cocktail kitsch.

cocktail umbrellas

How this enduring symbol of drinking-as-leisure came to be.

waring blender

The boozy slushy might not be what it is today without the invention.

Mini Liquor Bottles

Wayne Curtis uncovers a storied history that dates back to 1862.

Home Cocktail Revolution

As Wayne Curtis finds, passion still fuels the best home entertainers.

Wayne Curtis explores 175 years of sweetness.

Drinking Districts

Most mid-sized cities in North America have a few blocks devoted to drinking and eating.

martini glass

Wayne Curtis explores the rise and fall of the most iconic cocktail glass.

immigrants and american bars

Bars have attracted immigrants and their ideas from abroad for more than a century.

julep strainer

The julep strainer is a noble artifact of the cocktail’s first great ice age.

maraschino cherry

Wayne Curtis delves into the history of the cocktail world’s essential non-essential.

bryant's

Wayne Curtis gets the backstory on Milwaukee’s contrary lounge.

Wayne Curtis takes a look at the history of Pinkie Master’s in Savannah, where a president held forth.

Newcomers like Fort Defiance, Elixir and Occidental are picking up the neighborhood-bar mantle.

cocktail menu design

Prior to Prohibition, cocktail menus were rare. Now, we're amid a golden age of the cocktail menu—creative, fun and occasionally outlandish.

portland-allagash-beersampler-horiz-crdt greta-rybus

Portland, Maine's Drinks Scene has evolved more slowly than other hubs around the country. Wayne Curtis reports on how the coastal gem is finally coming into its own.

madison square roof garden-horizontal.jpg

Contributor Wayne Curtis looks at the illuminating history of New York's original rooftop bars.

clarence's bar

Every neighborhood has—or should have—a Martini’s, a place where they know you, and they know when something’s not right.