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Compiled by Paul Mitchell



Autumn brings renewed activity as people get back to their post-summer routines and their regular duties at work. Similar to my own increased schedule, professionals in the drinks world begin to stir as new products are launched and the thrill of beer promotions and golf tournaments wane. It may be expedient (I would rather explain it as pragmatism), but I have assembled a list of interesting articles that you will no doubt enjoy.

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By Paul Mitchell



The pace of life keeps accelerating and keeping up with what is going on in the world of drinks is getting more difficult. Generally, more news and new information is a good thing. It keeps us interested in the trade, proves that there is always something new to learn and that people are always pursuing innovation.
There have been quite a few stories in the press lately, and it seemed a good time to report back with a few items of interest.

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By Paul Mitchell



A friend and I recently took a road trip to visit Toronto's famous Distillery District. What was once a major Canadian whisky production site has long been replaced with trendy boutiques, incredible restaurants (I strongly recommend Pure Spirits) and a thriving brewery/brewpub, but the hertiage of the distillery still lives on. The bones of the original buildings, with an interspersement of ancient whisky kettles and piping, have been transformed into an open brick styling and a retro-cool chique that makes the area unique. We hit the road to visit the Mill Street Brewery and have dinner but I was reminded most of Gooderham and Worts' legacy as an incredible drinks maker.

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By Paul Mitchell


One of my favourite forms of communication is the magazine. Regardless of what happens to print news in the foreseeable future, magazine sales will always remain strong and popular. The price of full-colour printing has dropped incredibly making custom publishing and smaller runs more viable to entrepreneurs and professionals in the communications field. I chalk the longevity of print magazines up to the quality of design, the creativeness of the ads (yes, even the ads are entertaining), and the sheer tangibility of the paper that readers don’t get with other forms. On those boring, hungover Sunday mornings, it is nice to relax with a magazine, read and take things easy.

So what do magazine have to do with the drinks trade? Simply enough, the number of beer, wine and cocktail magazines available on shelves and by subscription has increased substantially over the last few years. From the local freebie available at the entrance to your favourite restaurant, to large-run international publications, magazines have incredible power to determine trends and success in the drinks trade. There are good ones and bad ones, so I wanted to focus on what factors differentiated the two.

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By Paul Mitchell


Most “real bartenders”, most people in fact – outside the remaining women from the 1990’s who still think Tom Cruise is cute and not insane – do not like the movie “Cocktail”. It is easy enough to understand. A superficial, money-mongering student gets fascinated by the “get rich quick” schemes of a bartending mentor and falls prey to "flash over substance" lifestyle. In the glamour of trying to make flair bartenders sexy, any allusion or semblance to the real world of bartending was lost. None of this is new or shocking, but what I did find interesting while watching a television replay of the movie over the weekend was how the movie’s prognostications were correct in one regard.

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By Paul Mitchell

Lately, there has been a lot of public discourse and small private initiatives surrounding the culinary concept of local eating and the “100-Mile Diet”. Certainly there are compelling reasons and apparent benefits to supporting local farmers and to eating more traceable regionally native foods. The documentary “The Future of Food”, produced by Morgan Spurlock – the guy who sacrificed his health and body for 30 days by eating nothing but McDonald’s food for breakfast, lunch and dinner – is an incredible discussion of the social and economic problems with commercial farming. And, not to ruin the surprise ending, the film’s conclusion is that supporting local farmers and horticultural diversity results in healthier societies and more stable and secure food supplies. It is an interesting argument and topic for modern times.

So what does this all have to do with drinking? That’s the point; what doesn’t it?

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…or at least the way the world looks at drinks
Part One • by Paul Mitchell

I had been thinking lately about how different brands in the drinks world suddenly appear on the shelves one day, explode in popularity, and then have an ever-after effect on how we look at certain drink categories. It dawned on me that while there have been relatively few of these innovators, when they do appear, their influence in overwhelming. We usually steep our drinks and brands, much like marketers, in tradition, and at some moments it seems like there is nothing left to do. It is usually at that point in time when a new product hits the market, and we change the way we think about the whole business.
Now, while we should not confuse the importance of these “revolutionary brands” as I have dubbed them with real, substantial changes in our society or the world at large (industrialism, environmentalism, etc.), it is important to note their influence as a catalyst to our way of thinking much in same way. It is for this reason that I believe these drinks to be substantial and important. In all cases, the products are neither the first, nor the best, but are the ones that capture the market’s attention and achieve that sought after tipping point of acceptance and popularity. Society unfortunately equates popularity with respectability.
Now here, in no particular order, I present the “Seven Revolutionary Drinks that Changed the World”:

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…or at least the way the world looks at drinks
Part Two • by Paul Mitchell

Without further delay, here are the remaining drinks that had particular cultural influence on our drinking habits. Of course, in no particular order.

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By Paul Mitchell



There’s a fun – but quirky – television show entitled, “Mythbusters” that explores various urban legends and ideas that people have about products and historically accepted facts. The show explores some pretty interesting things while trying to apply the ‘scientific method’ through some fascinating and occasionally bizarre experiments.

Recently, and not for the first time, the television’s team investigated myths surrounding vodka, and specifically, whether or not cheap vodka could be turned into premium vodka (or what they called, “top shelf”) by running it through home charcoal water filters six times. This experiment seemed to be particularly interesting, and potentially disastrous to the now-established market of ultra- luxurious imports like Grey Goose and Chopin.

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By Paul Mitchell

At BoozeNews.ca, I try to cover various marketing and branding topics relating to the beverage and drinks trade. In this installment, I want to look at a few of the new commercials I have seen lately. To start off on a positive note, let's start with the good...

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