Welcome to to Tessin Rinpoche.  TR is an online saloon, sort of a projection of how I would view my living room if it were a shabby and spectacular drinking club.

So, you’ll find a lot of focus on cocktails.  This is because I really like mixing cocktails and playing with flavors.  It sounds weird to call mixing drinks a hobby, but it is one, and it provides joy to me and those around me.  It seems like this endeavor requires a Theory of the Cocktail – some organizing force guiding my drink-making.

I haven’t honed my theory yet, but I have a start.  If you come by TR often, you’ll get to taste its development.  I do think people should drink Locally, Socially, and Seasonally.  I would even take LSS down to a micro level: drink what is appropriate to the temperature in the room, the humidity, the food you are eating (or not eating), and the company you are keeping.  This means one should not always drink the same thing.  I also know some things my theory isn’t: I am not overly focused on brands and I don’t care if a drink is “cool” or “what I should drink.”

While drinkers should not be asking “what should I drink?”, they should be asking “what are you having?”  Asking “what are you having” allows us to gain experiences with new flavors and combinations; how else can we know what we like?.  Don’t be afraid to pour out a bad idea – it’s just a drink.  Part of the fun in mixology instead of cooking is that the sunk cost is much lower.

Of course, there’s a lot to my living room beyond drinking.  So you can expect to hear about other topics from time to time, and from other contributors a bit.  A prominent example may well be style and design because under the LSS theory, your drink should complement and enhance the existing (stylish) milieu.

Anyway, enough with all that.

Welcome, what are you having?

Bertessa