Edward III: a not-so-green fairy.

​Mark Maurice was one of those "crazy Limelight club kids," as he puts it. One night at the club, he met a man carrying these mysterious green vials. The man told him the vials contained absinthe, and proceeded to write down a formula for Maurice, as well as the address of a holistic healer in the East Village. Upon procuring the necessary ingredients, Maurice began making his own absinthe at home. Years later, he met Edward Jahn at a karaoke night at the Chelsea Hotel. Jahn sampled Maurice's kitchen absinthe and liked it, but suggested that the formula could be improved. The two tasted, chewed, even smoked the various herbs that would go into their recipe. Soon, Edward III New York Absinthe was born.

"At the time, Lucid and Kubler were the only two absinthes that had been approved," says Jahn. "By the time we were approved, there were more than 50 absinthes for sale in the U.S. About 40 of those were imports."

As of next week, Edward III will be available at several bars and liquor stores around the city. (For now, it can be purchased only at DrinkUpNY.) It's the second absinthe to be made in New York since Prohibition; Delaware Phoenix Distillery's offerings being the first. This delicate, not-so-green fairy -- it's clear, made in the Swiss Blanche style -- has notes of hay and baking spices, with a clean coriander finish. It's sweet enough to be drunk without adding sugar. Just louche (dilute, slowly, with water) and enjoy.

In his new book, Wondrich tackles punch.

​Last week, several dozen bartenders gathered on the low-riding banquettes and plush lounge chairs of the Pegu Club to hear cocktail historian and author of Imbibe!, David Wondrich, talk about punch. The presentation was essentially a preview of Wondrich's forthcoming book on the subject, due out this fall. He took his drink-slinging audience through the history of punch, which dates the 1600s, offering not just a chronological progression of the concoction, but also some sociological perspective on those who have enjoyed it over the years.

For starters, did you know that punch was invented to recreate the taste of wine? Wondrich began by telling the story of how British naval officers, whose wine reserves would sour before they reached their final destinations, learned to mix potions that emulated the taste of wine using the spirits they collected abroad, such as Arrack from Southeast Asia. Good Arrack punch was not cheap: it sold for today's equivalent of $200 a bowl. Ordering it was like getting bottle service in a swank club, mused Wondrich.

What's in a name?

​While there has been some debate over the origins of the word "cocktailian," an even more pressing etymological dispute is at hand: where does the word "cocktail" come from? Some say Antoine Peychaud, a Creole pharmacist and the creator of Peychaud's bitters, coined the term back in the mid-19th century. But others say the word might not have had its origins in the glass at all.

According to the blog Grammarphobia, the original usage of "cocktail" in reference to a mixed drink dates an 1802 issue of a weekly Amherst, N.H. newspaper: "Drank a glass of cocktail -- excellent for the head... Call'd at the Doct's... drank another glass of cocktail."

Those who have done it say it's surprisingly easy. Legend has it that the practice of sabrage -- opening a bottle of champagne with a saber -- was started by Napoleon's officers (who else?). Wired demonstrates how it's done in this video.

Mix it up with Junior Merino

​If you're a bartender, you've likely heard of Junior Merino's Liquid Lab. If you haven't scored yourself an invite yet, it's well worth it to try, if only for a chance to glimpse the lab itself. The space, accessed via an Old World-y courtyard in Riverdale, houses more booze than most people will ever set eyes on in one place.

​Punch may have been the summer's darling, but the holiday season is the perfect time of year to whip up a Tom and Jerry cocktail. This labor-intensive eggnog-style drink probably dates the early to mid-19th century, writes spirits historian and author David Wondrich in the current issue of Saveur, and was made popular by the era's lauded bartender, Jerry Thomas.

Bar Henry, which opened last month, is serving up a limited number of Tom and Jerry cocktails every night through Valentine's Day. Bar manager Patrick Costigan says that the yuletide tipple "is to cocktail-dom what fondue is to hospitality cuisine. It says, 'You are my welcome guest. I am honored you are here. I did this for you.'"

Dry Dock, soon to wet Van Brunt

​ The space that once held dearly departed LeNell's is still for rent, but Red Hook is about to get two new wine shops within a few blocks of each other on Van Brunt Street.

Reasons to drink Stella: it's on Our 10 Best Beers list; it could lead to a greener, hedgier world.

[via ColdMud]

​Amid the grinding, sparkles, and gratuitous under-boob shots, you catch a glimpse of the gleaming, angular bottle of Nemiroff. The brand touts itself as the vodka "for the Great, the Successful, the Courageous, for those who change this world and hold it on their shoulders." Lady Gaga is sure to change the world of the makers of this little-known spirits brand. Of course, such blatant product placement is nothing new to the pop star.

Watch the video

.Mitch/flickr

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If you're a bartender or bar owner on the Lower East Side, you might have run into Dr. Richard Ocejo at some point or another, either bellied up to the bar by himself or skulking around some community board meeting, furiously scribbling down what is being said. The 28-year-old sociology professor at CUNY's John Jay College earned his PhD this past summer after years of hanging out in bars. Unlike most grad students, he wasn't just out trying to avoid working on his thesis. He was studying said bars, their patrons, and how they reflect urban change in the neighborhood. His findings have been published in academic journals and presented at various sociology conferences. Fork in the Road was curious as to how one comes to study bar culture and get awarded a degree for it.