Alcoholic Beverages

Happy hour is getting happier, and that's making restaurants sadder. As the recession drags on, drinkers such as Luis Romero of Anaheim are gravitating to happy hour -- that late-afternoon period when bars and restaurants sell discounted drinks and food to attract customers during what otherwise would be a slow time. "You start watching your pennies a bit more," said Romero as he sipped a $3.

As master brewers have done for 13 centuries before him, the sake factory boss is everywhere at once in his rustic timbered building along Japan's rugged northern coastline: helping to drag sacks of rice, gently issuing instructions to his four brewing assistants, consulting with his own boss, a fifth-generation owner.

Walk down the aisle of any Beverages & More store and you'll be confronted by boxes and bottles of wine -- and a bevy of wine scores. There are 89 points for the Sterling Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc and 90 points for a Beaulieu Vineyards Rutherford Cabernet Sauvignon. Wine merchants across California display various wine ratings to inform customers and promote their wines. There are ratings from Wine Spectator, from Robert Parker of the Wine Advocate and others.

GIN cocktails are having a moment. Now that gin, no longer shouldered aside by vodka, has reclaimed its rightful place in classic cocktails -- not just in the martini but in the Greyhound, the Bronx, even (according to some) the Red Snapper, a.k.a. the Bloody Mary -- L.A.'s latest bartenders are stepping up with their own imaginative gin creations.

Artist Jeff Foye savors the bitter flavor and floral aromas that emanate from a well-crafted beer. Lately, the San Pedro resident has experienced an unexpected sensation when he reaches for a brew -- the unpleasant taste of rising prices. A worldwide shortage of hops -- a key ingredient for the pale ales Foye likes so much -- and rising prices for malted barley have pushed up the cost of imbibing a tall cold one. These days, he's paying $9.

The makers call it a "party in a pouch." Critics say it's more like an alcoholic candy bar. ShotPak is a line of alcoholic beverages that come in shot-sized, laminated-foil plastic pouches that are reminiscent of the drinks children pack in school lunches. Purple Hooter is one of the drinks, which sell for 99 cents to $1.50 in liquor stores and for more in some nightclubs.

IT'S ONE of the many home brew competitions that take place around the country each year. There's the panel of certified judges, the international entrants in 28 categories of beer and mead -- and there's the hops-filled afternoon of sipping and scribbling until a winner is crowned. But photos on the website for the Queen of Beer's Women's Homebrew competition -- this year's judging takes place Oct.

This is the season when food and wine articles in the national media suggest that the advent of colder weather calls for seasonal dishes (daubes, pork roasts, apple desserts) and richer, heftier wines (Zinfandel, Barolo, Port) to stave off winter's chill. True, except that our version of "chill" can be downright temperate; before heading to the farmers market and the wine shop, I sometimes still have to slather on sunblock and grab my wide-brimmed hat.

Bored by your bar? As we head into the heart of the holidays, it may be time to take a hard look at what you're serving to guests in the way of drinks. If you're in a rut, spirits-wise, now is the occasion to give your bar a holiday makeover.

Men with high blood pressure are usually told to avoid alcohol, but U.S. and Dutch researchers reported this week in the Annals of Internal Medicine that a drink or two every day may reduce their chances of a heart attack. They analyzed data from 11,711 health professionals taking part in a survey between 1986 and 2002. Men who had one or two drinks a day had lower rates of heart attacks.