On Friday afternoon, I was one of the lucky attendees of a Grand Marnier tasting event at—where else?—One-Eyed Mike's in Fells Point. This was no ordinary event, however, because GM's master distiller Patrick Raguenaud had come all the way from Congnac, France to talk about their latest product, Quintessence.

Before we sampled the new product, Raguenaud spoke about the complex process of making Grand Marnier, as about 20 of us looked on (including Style magazine's Brian Lawrence, CityPeek's Patti Neumann, Fleming's manager Dae Chang, and others). Raguenaud went into great detail about what goes into GM—like the essences of oranges from Haiti, the 30-year-old congnac, and imported beet sugar.

Soon, it was time to sample the three drinks placed in front of us, pictured. On the left, there was GM's 100-anniversary edition, the center was the 150-anniversary edition, and its latest product, Quintessence, was on the right. The newest product, according to a press release, is "a superlative new spirit created from the finest components." Raguenaud explained that the cognac in Quintessence can be aged up to 100 years and the bitter oranges are doubly-distilled, creating a more sophisticated blend.

We all sampled Quintessence (becoming the first people to do so in the U.S.) and everyone was impressed. The taste was much more smooth than standard Grand Marnier. While the flavor is more complex and fragrant, the aftertaste has a more velvety, vanilla quality.

While the product (which could be up to $700 a bottle, wholesale) won't be available until the fall, One-Eyed Mike's has some Grand Marnier cocktails on their menu that you can try in the meantime. There's the reverse margarita (3/4 GM and 1/4 tequila) and the GM smash (with muddled mint and lemon). Both are refreshing takes on the orange liqueur.

[Image: courtesy of me]

A few friends of mine have been raving about the cocktails at Clementine in Hamilton. One in particular keeps coming up—the tequila fresca. According to manager Amy Daniel, the tequila fresca is Clementine's most popular drink.

The drink is made with two different simple syrups, a basil-lime syrup and a lemon-rosemary syrup. Once strained, you shake the syrups up with fresh tarragon, tequila, and ice to chill, and then serve in a martini glass. Unlike a margarita, the tequila fresca isn't too tart, but rather a good balance of sweet and savory flavors. And the tequila punch is just enough, without being too strong. The overall flavor is mild and refreshing, which Daniel warns, can make it very easy to throw a few back.

To celebrate Cinco de Mayo, the drink (usually $9.50) is available all day today for $6.

[Image: courtesy of Emily Martin]

On Wednesday night I had the pleasure of attending an event called Bottle Battle at B&O American Brasserie. The concept of the event was really creative and fun: we were served dishes created by B&O chef Thomas Dunklin and, with each dish, we were served a corresponding cocktail (created by B&O's Brendan Dorr) and a wine (selected by Kimpton Hotels' Emily Wines—yes, that is her real last name). It was up to us, as the attendees, to vote for which drink paired best with each dish.

While the concept is simple enough, the actual decision-making wasn't so much, as all the drinks paired ridiculously well with the dishes. Our first course was a Maryland rockfish, pictured, served with bacalao, spring onion, and tomato jam. Wines selected an Etude pinot gris and Dorr made a cilantro gin fizz (Plymouth gin, cilantro syrup, lime, orange flower water, soda, and egg white).The pinot was a perfect pairing with the rockfish, accentuating the dish's flavor. The cocktail was also a refreshing complement, but seemed to mask the food's flavor altogether.

The second dish was a little more experimental (at least for me): cured rabbit, tasso loin, mustard rillete, liver mousse, and spicy head cheese. While I wasn't a huge fan of everything on my plate—I don't think my palette is refined enough—I did appreciate the pairings of Route 99 pinot noir and Dorr's agave apricot drink (Cazadores Reposado tequila, Velvet Falernum, Domaine Canton, apricot syrup, lemon juice, and orange bitters). Here, I chose the cocktail. While the zesty pinot noir went well with the rabbit, the spicy agave apricot complemented the rest of the flavors, especially the mustard.

For our third and final course, we were served a rack of lamb, braised lamb belly, split pea stew, and goat cheese gnocchi. Now, I am no food expert (I leave that to Suzanne), but this was an amazing dish. The lamb was cooked perfectly (and barely) and the goat cheese gnocchi were flawless melt-in-your-mouth pillows.

To accompany this amazing dish was a Kunin "Pape Star," an earthy red, and a rye cardizian cocktail (Rittenhouse rye, Byass Solera sherry, lillet, Peychauds bitters, and Fee Bros. orange bitters). This one was a bit of a draw for me. Lamb goes so classically well with red wine and whiskey. The Kunin wine had smoky, peppery notes, which worked extremely well with the dish. The cocktail had a bold, musty flavor with a bit of sweetness that stood up well against the lamb.

In the end, the wine won over the cocktails by a narrow margin. The outcome was to be expected, as wine has always been an ideal match for food. But Dorr showed that cocktails shouldn't be counted out either. The excellent execution aside, it struck me that the entire format is a great idea for an event—whether it be a casual party or a charity gala. Of course the most difficult part would be wrangling up experts, like those on-hand at the B&O.

[Image: courtesy of me]

Yesterday, I continued my annual father-daughter tradition of going to Opening Day at Camden Yards. Of course, it wasn't really in its purest form, as we opened on the road in Tampa Bay, snagging three wins along the way. But whether it was our so-far perfect streak, the ideal 80-degree weather, or just people looking for an excuse to get drunk on a Monday afternoon, the fans came out in hoards.

The area outside of Pickles Pub was barricaded off and fans had to show I.D. to even enter. There were a few beer tents scattered around, serving $4 Miller Lite and Coors Light cans (prices which were most likely hiked up for the special day). The atmosphere was much like it's been in the past, crowded and rowdy. But, this year seemed to be amped up a little—people were throwing around bottles as if it were Preakness and chants of "Let's Go O's" started well before the game.

Walking into the stadium (which took a while, due to the considerable crowds at all the entrances), I thought the new vendor takeover was obvious from the get-go. All the facades on the concession stands were new. There were even different titles like, "Oh, What a Hot Dog." Speaking of, Natty Boh was available on draft (for a pricey $7.50), as well as a huge variety of other beers, including Flying Dog brews, Stella Artois, and Landshark, just to name a few.

Something that the new vendor, Delaware North Companies Sportservice, had boasted about was new concession-related technology to make transactions faster. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case yesterday as most of the credit card machines were down, causing plenty of frustration for hungry fans who waited in half-an-hour lines. But, 46,593 fans won't pack the Yard every game, so hopefully they'll be able to work out the kinks.

All in all, it was a great Opening Day. The Orioles prevailed over the Tigers 5-1, thanks to Brian Roberts's three-run homer in the fifth. The crowd was extremely energetic—explosively applauding when Buck Showalter was announced before the game and coming to their feet as Koji Uehara closed it out. You know it's April when there's Orioles optimism in the air and, hopefully this year, it will last.

[Image: courtesy of flickr.com/photos/visitmybaltimore]