Alcoholic Beverages

Idrank my first cocktail in New Orleans in my youth, downing fuzzy navels on Bourbon Street with my cousin Caroline Brady. Back then, I was content with cheap booze and plastic cups. Times have changed. Recently, while visiting Caroline and her family, I found a city with a renewed appreciation for serious cocktails.

THE nose was like an armful of herbs and dried grasses, followed by a whisper of smoke on the palate. In short, this whiskey was a bit like a noble old Scotch from Speyside, except that a splash of water brought out a bright note of anise. And except for the fact that it wasn't a Scotch at all. It was a 21-year-old bourbon. Bourbon is usually the most extroverted of spirits, but this long-aged example -- Black Maple Hill 21 years, cask No.

Absinthe, an intense alcoholic spirit favored by artists such as Degas, Van Gogh and Hemingway, is making a comeback in the U.S. after being banned by the government for almost 100 years. Its rebirth in trendy restaurants and bars is a triumph of marketing -- and of maneuvering through a maze of federal rules on formulas and labels. It took a Swiss distiller, an importer and a Washington attorney four years to navigate the bureaucracy, even after the drink was legalized again in Europe.

Here's a sobering thought: Hundreds of bottles of Jack Daniel's whiskey, some of it almost 100 years old, might be unceremoniously poured down a drain because authorities suspect it was being sold by someone without a license. Officials seized 2,400 bottles late last month during warehouse raids in Nashville and Lynchburg, the southern Tennessee town where the whiskey is distilled. "Punish the person, not the whiskey," protested Kyle MacDonald, 28, a Jack Daniel's drinker from British Columbia.

SAN DIEGO -- After two weeks of civic togetherness forged by fire, the San Diego City Council today returns to regular business with an issue that has bitterly divided residents for years: Should drinking be allowed on city beaches? Virtually alone among Southern California cities, San Diego allows the consumption of beer and spirits on most of its beaches. But a booze-fueled Labor Day brawl at Pacific Beach has led to a call for San Diego to ban beach drinking altogether.

Easy to use, with fun shapes, silicone ice cube trays are great for making edible cocktails. They're generally less expensive than silicone candy molds and more widely available. Brands such as Tovolo, Silicone Zone and Lekue produce trays that make hearts, fruits, penguins, you name it. But simpler shapes make for easier jelly-shot removal. Silicone ice cube trays, about $5.95 to $9.99 from various manufacturers, available at some Target stores and online at www.target.

YOU have every reason to throw a party. There are signs of diplomatic progress in North Korea, America's Team is undefeated, and both the Sex Pistols and Spice Girls are getting back together (though not to form one band). But the best reason of all is to show off edible cocktails -- gorgeous jiggly cubes or slices or pyramids that you serve like hors d'oeuvres. They're making a splash at bars and restaurants and on the party circuit. Everybody's doing it.

Total time: 25 minutes, plus overnight chilling Servings: Makes about 32 ( 1/2 -ounce) cocktails Note: Adapted from Providence pastry chef Adrian Vasquez. At the restaurant, square silicone ice cube trays are used, and each square of gelee is cut into slices three-eighths-inch thick. You also could use a baking dish lined with plastic wrap and cut the gelee into squares. Citric acid can be found at select Jons markets, as well as restaurant and baking supply stores.

Rat Packer Dean Martin put the martini on the table in Las Vegas and made it the cocktail du jour for all those who bought into the formula that Vegas + cocktails = cool. In fact, he lived his famous one-liner onstage at the Sands night after night when he told audiences, "If you can lie on the floor without holding on, you're not drunk." Las Vegas has gone far beyond its martini days. The cocktail is no longer a cocktail.