Tonight, the Rob Roy, one of Seattle's classiest cocktail joints, will host Portland food dude, cocktail geek, and author Jacob Grier, who is celebrating the release of his new book, Cocktails on Tap, all about beertails. I may have just made that word up, but whether you call them beer cocktails, shandies, micheladas, red beers, or "a wee splash of porter in my morning coffee won't hurt," they're downright delicious and you've probably been drinking them in some form for years.

I ran into Jacob at Old Ballard Liquor Co. this morning, where he was doing a bit of research on our local aquavits (and some cool imports that magically appeared from beneath the counter), and I had a chance to flip through his book. It's filled with recipes for the type of super-Portlandy but ludicrously delicious drinks I fantasize about having the time to make every night. While you might never find time in your schedule to make spiced syrups from expensive and rare dark beers, if you can find time to make it to Rob Roy tonight (7-9 p.m.) for the release party, he'll be doing it for you.