Christmas

What a year 2020 has been! We’ve all been cooped up in our homes while the pandemic rages on. But it looks like this Spring and Summer we’ll be pandemic free, and your friends and family will be anxious to get outside and enjoy the beautiful things that life has to offer! This Holiday Season, gift your friends and family the perfect gift…  something they’ll value, that they’ll remember, that will make them think of you. Research shows that it’s better across the board to pursue experiences rather than material possessions. The science backs us up, and we love when that happens!  Rather than aggregate more and more stuff, spend your money on things to do, memories to make, making new friends, and sharing new things with people you love. That’s where we come in.  We love offering the best…

The holidays have barreled down on us like a freight train and suddenly, it’s almost 2018.  Are you prepared for the parties and gifts?  How about dinners with family and friends? Prepared or not, there’s very little that can’t be improved with the proper application of delicious wine and beer, so here are some of our suggestions to help you add to your holiday spirit.  Enjoy! First of all – what do your winter holiday plans entail? If you’re looking for last-minute gifts, the following beers are timely and delicious.  If you don’t celebrate (or are just boycotting the holidays this year) we think that the best thing you can do is treat yourself, whether it’s celebratory or “just because.”  The best way to do that, in our opinion, is to sample some of the many legendary San Diego beers…

The holidays have barreled down on us like a freight train and suddenly, it’s almost 2015.  Are you prepared for the parties and gifts?  How about dinners with family and friends? Prepared or not, there’s very little that can’t be improved with the proper application of delicious wine and beer, so here are some of our suggestions to help you add to your holiday spirit.  Enjoy! First of all – what do your winter holiday plans entail? If you’re looking for last-minute gifts, the following beers are timely and delicious.  If you don’t celebrate (or are just boycotting the holidays this year) we think that the best thing you can do is treat yourself, whether it’s celebratory or “just because.”  The best way to do that, in our opinion, is to sample some of the many legendary San Diego beers…

Happy holidays! This time of year has become equal parts frenzied shopping and calls to reject consumerism and simply spend time enjoying family and all it has to offer.  We are torn, because we do love a good deal and sometimes those holiday family dinners can get a little long, especially when Uncle Ed has had a little too much Christmas cheer.    However, we feel that we can learn a lot from tradition.  One of our favorites is Yule, a midwinter celebration that was originally celebrated by Germanic and Northern European people and incorporated into the Christmastime celebrations.  The festival came from "Yolnir" or "Yulnir," both alternate names for Odin, the Norse god of death, rebirth, ecstasy… and intoxication. Families would bring in evergreen branches on the iciest nights, to symbolize the return of spring.  They would then heap sticks on…

We at San Diego Beer and Wine Tours love this time of year. We are a truly international group, so our holiday memories range from bundling up and playing in the snow to shopping for Christmas presents under a relentless drizzle to merely switching from a spring suit to a full wetsuit before going surfing. There's one thing we can all agree on around here, though – it's one of the best times of the year! This year, winter has hit San Diego hard, bringing rains and chilly temperatures. That means we have the perfect excuse to wear our favorite scarves and curl up on the couch with blankets and our favorite novels. If you don't see what all the fuss about winter is about, let us help. We have some truly tasty ideas for warming up from the inside…

It was Thursday November 29, 2012, and Paul Anthony and I were very excited about the evening’s plans. We had signed up for Michael David "Zins of Sin" 6-Course Dinner at Proprietor's Reserve. In fact, we were so looking forward to eating and drinking at one of our favorite San Diego places that we arrived a whole half hour early to the event!  That was a very slow half hour as we waited with anticipatory breath and salivatory glands for an evening we predicted would be full of delightful decadence.  Erin and Michael did not disappoint. Erin impressed our refined palates with dishes she had prepared with perfect precision and a brilliant mind for impeccable wine pairing. We even got to purchase these beautiful wines at a great price. (Being a member of Proprietors Reserve Wine Club has some huge…

`Tis the season for giving. While we think that nothing is better than the gift of a winery train tour, chauffeured tour, or a beer tasting tour through beautiful San Diego, we also like to give back. In fact, it's one of the things we're most proud of! Did you know that a portion of all of our money made goes to San Diego's underprivileged children and teens, and another portion goes to people struggling with health or financial challenges? So every time you buy a tour, you're not just having a great time, you're also helping out people who need it.   If you prefer to donate directly, here are some of our favorite charities:   Summit4StemCell, tour guide Marti's organization of choice, is part of the Parkinson's Association of San Diego and supports non-embryonic stem cell research in…

Let’s talk about the top best things to do in San Diego. Utter the words San Diego to a person from out of the area and immediately images of palm trees, beaches and pristine weather fill the imagination. To so many, San Diego means visiting some of the most beautiful beaches in California, but this city has so much more to offer for a holiday getaway or staycation. Great activities abound. You’ve heard of a beach vacation yes, but how about a “beer vacation”? To describe San Diego as a Mecca for craft and micro brews is an understatement. A more accurate description would be: The Land of Fantastic Beer. San Diego’s beer history dates back to 1989, when Karl Strauss opened the area’s first brewpub in over 50 years, and it was only a matter of time until other…

It’s a great day to make soup. Here’s a tasty recipe that’s easy and full of delicious minerals! Yellow Lentil Soup Boil lentils in 3x the water. Turn off stove and let sit 2 hrs. Drain and rinse. Make broth by simmering veggies of choice with water, kombu (dried seaweed), dried mushrooms, garlic, onions, bayleaf, dried herbs such as thyme. Cook the lentils with the broth. Add sweet potato chunks last half hour of cooking. When done add salt, pepper and little curry powder and WeOlive olive oil. Cook for another 10 mins. Serve with warm crusty rye bread and butter and an IPA (my current fav is Lagunitas Hop Stoopid). Join us on a beer and food walking tour and taste some great local IPAs. -Shira Bliss, Lentil Lover