Source: Washington Post
by LP O’Brien
“The holidays haven’t arrived yet, but many bars and restaurants are already testing recipes, calculating costs and placing bottle orders for what you’ll drink in December. That peppermint martini or cranberry cocktail takes time to reach the menu. Complicating the process this year: tariffs on countries that supply some of America’s favorite spirits. The latest is a ban on imports of certain Canadian whiskies, put in place by President Donald Trump to bring Canada back to the tariff negotiating table. As a longtime bartender and hospitality consultant, I hope the president’s negotiating gambit works. But I’m also worried about my colleagues in the hospitality industry, who need predictability to plan for the critical season ahead and are already facing tight margins as inflation curbs what customers are willing to spend.” (11/09/26)