An icon above all icons of Southern imbibing, the julep can be somewhat tricky for an amateur mixologist to master. But nail the ideal ratio of sweet bourbon to muddled mint and you’ll want to keep serving it long after Kentucky Derby season has passed. Get the full history and see variations here
Ingredients
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4 to 5 leaves fresh mint
½ tbsp. powdered sugar
2 oz. good bourbon
Crushed or cracked ice
Preparation
In a julep cup, muddle mint leaves and sugar together lightly to express oils, not overworking the mint.
Add bourbon and fill glass halfway with crushed or cracked ice.
Stir until cup is frosted, then pack glass full with ice. Add straw and garnish with mint sprig.
Watch Now
How to make a mint julep.
VIDEO: MIGUEL BUENCAMINO / HOLY CITY HANDCRAFT
Illustration: Derik Hobbs
The Yellow Hammer, also known as the Northern Flicker, is Alabama’s state bird. But during University of Alabama football games, the Yellow Hammer is a bird of a different color. It’s a potent tailgate star, packing five ounces of alcohol in a serving. The home of the Yellow Hammer is Gallettes, a bar inside the Campus Party Store near Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa that’s been serving them to Bama fans in iconic yellow plastic tumblers since 1976. Gallettes has never shared the exact recipe, but there are plenty of versions of it sloshing around online. If you can’t get to Tuscaloosa, this will get you close.
Ingredients
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2 oz. vodka
2 oz. white rum
1 oz. amaretto
4 oz. orange juice
7 oz. pineapple juice
Preparation
Mix all ingredients and serve in a 20 oz. cup over ice.
In the mid-century heyday of tiki bars, California and Hawaii got most of the action. But the Florida Keys had the beachfront Holiday Isle hotel in Islamorada and its open-air bar, the Hapi Hula Hut, later renamed Tiki Bar. In the early 1970s, bar manager John Elber needed to clear out some old bottles for new inventory, so tossed a bunch of random stuff into a blender: Meyers rum, banana liqueur, blackberry brandy, and grenadine. He dubbed the gloriously tropical result the Rum Runner after the Keys’s history of liquor smuggling, and the cocktail soon became just as beloved and notorious. Today, Tiki Bar still serves them up by the score, shaken or frozen.
Ingredients
-
2 cups ice
1 oz. pineapple juice
1 oz. orange juice
1 oz. blackberry brandy or liqueur
1 oz. banana liqueur
1 oz. light rum
1 oz. dark or aged rum
Splash of grenadine
Orange slice, for garnish
Preparation
(Frozen) Fill blender with ice. Add all liquid ingredients and blend until smooth. Serve in a hurricane glass. Garnish with orange slice.
Artillery punches weren’t named for their explosive effect on sobriety. They’re a legacy of the nineteenth century, when local militias were men’s clubs for the social elite. When men gather, drinking can become a competition, and that was true of Savannah’s militia, the Chatham Artillery. While some claim their signature punch was served to George Washington when he gave the regiment two cannons in 1792, most accounts credit Sergeant A.B. Luce with devising the booze-forward formula to welcome the militia back from a drill in Macon in the 1850s. The punch’s reputation was cemented when journalists toured Savannah in 1870 and dubbed the drink “a mortal enemy of despair.”
Ingredients
-
8 lemons
1½ cups sugar
1 pint brandy
1 pint rum
1 pint whiskey
2 (750ml) bottles dry sparkling wine
Preparation
The night before, thinly peel lemons and muddle peels with sugar in a jar. Juice lemons to get 1½ cups juice and add to jar to dissolve sugar. Let stand overnight. Fill a large bowl with crushed ice and add brandy, rum, and whiskey. Strain lemon juice and sugar mixture into bowl, discarding peels. Just before serving, add sparkling wine. Yield: At least 20 servings.
From Punch: The Delights (and Dangers) of the Flowing Bowl by David Wondrich.
The first weekend in May belongs to the Mint Julep. But any other time than the Derby, many bourbon-loving Kentuckians keep their tipple simple. Branch water is just an old way of referring to water from a creek that branches from a larger river. Therein lies a more important truth—sometimes the best thing to mix with bourbon is just a very small amount of water. (Just ask any master distiller.) Water opens up bourbon, releasing more flavors. Try it: Pour an ounce of bourbon in a rocks glass. Give it a good sniff and a sip. Now, use an eye dropper to add a drop or two of water and test those senses again. Experiment concluded, pour more for proper sipping.
Ingredients
-
2 oz. bourbon
¼ tsp. good-quality still water, or a single ice cube
Preparation
Combine. Sip slowly and savor.
The Louisiana legislature may have declared the venerable Sazerac as New Orleans’ official cocktail, but given the chance, some mixologists may have voted for the Vieux Carré. The Hotel Monteleone, opened in 1886 in the French Quarter, is still owned by the Monteleone family today. Back in 1938, bartender Walter Bergeron invented the Vieux Carré (French for “old square,” the original name for the Quarter), and it became the signature drink when the hotel added its revolving Carousel Bar in 1949. Too many drinks while the Carousel Bar slowly spins can make you feel a little unbalanced, but balance is the beauty of the Vieux Carré. It has a little in common with a Manhattan (rye, sweet vermouth, Angostura bitters) and a little in common with a Sazerac (rye, Peychaud’s bitters, sugar, lemon peel). Give it a whirl.
Ingredients
-
¾ oz. rye whiskey
¾ oz. cognac
¾ oz. sweet vermouth
2 dashes Peychaud’s bitters
2 dashes Angostura bitters
½ oz. Benedictine
Lemon twist
Preparation
Fill a rocks glass with ice. Add all the liquid ingredients, stir briefly, and garnish with a lemon twist.
From Austin Doiron, Hotel Monteleone. Doiron prefers Sazerac rye and Pierre Ferrand 1840 Original Formula cognac.
Some drinks have history, and some have smart marketing. In 1973, Baltimore caterer Harry Stevens wanted a signature tipple to serve at Pimlico Race Course during the Preakness Stakes, the second race in the Triple Crown. It needed to be pretty, it needed to match the garland of the state flower draped over the winning horse, and for sure it needed to pair well with crab cakes. Fruity and boozy, the Black-Eyed Susan was a dark horse that instantly hit the money. And it’s been a Preakness staple ever since—attendees knock back 140,000 of them with and without crab cakes.
Ingredients
-
2 oz. sour mix (see separate ingredients)
1 oz. bourbon
1 oz. vodka
1 oz. peach schnapps
2 oz. fresh orange juice
½ orange slice, for garnish
1 cherry, for garnish
FOR THE SOUR MIX
1 cup water
1 cup sugar
1 cup fresh lemon juice
¾ cup fresh lime juice
Preparation
To make sour mix, bring water and sugar to a simmer over medium heat in a small saucepan, stirring, until sugar dissolves. Remove from heat, cool, and stir in lemon juice and lime juice. Put in a jar, cover, and refrigerate.
To mix drink, add all ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake and strain over crushed or cracked ice into a tall glass. Garnish with orange slice and cherry.
Mississippi Punch has a history as long and winding as its namesake river. First printed in the 1862 cocktail guide How to Mix Drinks, or the Bon Vivant’s Companion, by Jerry Thomas, it’s stayed alive by evolving. Cocktail authority David Wondrich has called the drink “Mississippi history in a glass”: French cognac, American bourbon, Jamaican/British rum, Spanish lemons, and sugar. In Imbibe!, his book on Thomas’s guide, Wondrich admits it’s not known if the original recipe might have traveled downstream from St. Louis or upriver from New Orleans. But by the 1850s, individual cocktails were beginning to supplant big-batch punches, and the ingredients migrated into a large bar glass and were shaken with ice. With its reliance on dark liquors, this is a punch for people who want to taste the alcohol in their drink.
Ingredients
-
2 oz. cognac
1 oz. bourbon
1 oz. dark rum
½ oz. freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 tsp. superfine sugar
Preparation
Fill a cocktail shaker with ice. Add all ingredients, shake, and strain into a tall glass over ice. Serve with a straw.
Adapted by David Wondrich from Jerry Thomas’s 1862 version.
A state with two styles of barbecue is big enough for two versions of one drink. In Raleigh, Cherry Bounce is the official cocktail of the state capital. The story goes that the common colonial recipe of cherries and sugar steeped in brandy was a favorite of commissioners charged with finding land for a new capitol building in 1792. They conferred at two taverns known for serving potent cherry bounces, and may have purchased land from the tavern owner who most overserved them. In the mountains, though, Cherry Bounce was moonshine-based. In his book Tar Heel Lightnin’, historian Daniel Pierce tells of Amos Owens, a moonshiner whose reputation derived from his Cherry Bounce—unaged corn liquor, sourwood honey, and cherry juice from his own orchard. Despite repeated prison terms, Owens held an annual Cherry Bounce Festival that became known as a violent bacchanalia. Modern versions usually replace brandy or moonshine with vodka.
Ingredients
-
1½ oz. cherry vodka
2 oz. cranberry juice
½ oz. fresh lime juice
Club soda
1 cherry, for garnish
Preparation
Fill a shaker with ice. Add vodka, cranberry juice, and lime juice. Shake and strain into a tall glass filled with ice. Top with club soda and garnish with cherry.
Recipe from Dave Rose, owner of the now-closed Deep South the Bar. Reprinted by permission from WALTER magazine.
It sounds like a bar mishap—a shot of amaretto dropped into a frosted mug of Coors Light and orange juice. And indeed, Tammy Lucas, who inherited the funky neighborhood Edna’s Club & Restaurant in Oklahoma City from her mother, Edna Scott, says the creation may have been unintentional. Scott was probably making a Boilermaker and added orange juice by mistake. However it happened, the Lunchbox has become a phenomenon—a clicker on the Edna’s website passed two million served more than a year ago. Edna’s has added variations, including the Great Balls of Fire Box, made with Fireball cinnamon whiskey. The inspiration: For years, Edna would dance atop the bar when anyone played “Great Balls of Fire” on the jukebox.
Ingredients
-
5–6 oz. Coors Light, chilled
About 6 oz. orange juice
1 oz. amaretto
Preparation
Chill a beer mug and a shot glass in the freezer before starting. Fill mug with beer and orange juice not quite to top. Fill chilled shot glass with amaretto and drop in mug. In true Edna’s tradition, chug it.
Many region-specific punches, all the rage among thirsty, revelry-prone state militias of the antebellum era, have been lost to time (and, no doubt, modern military decorum). Not so the recipe for Light Dragoons Punch, which was fortuitously found by a friend of superstar Southern chef Sean Brock in a 1783 book housed at the Preservation Society of Charleston. Of course, old recipes are notoriously lacking in exactitude, so Rod Weaver, bartender at Brock’s Husk restaurant, has adapted it a bit for contemporary mixologists. Regardless, with more than 10 cups of booze, it still will knock out a platoon or two.
Ingredients
-
12 lemons
2 cups raw sugar
8 cups black tea
8 cups brandy
2 cups rum, preferably Bermuda or Barbados
½ cup peach brandy
3 cups club soda or preferred unflavored sparkling water
Preparation
Peel strips of zest from 3 lemons and slice into slivers. Juice all lemons to produce 1½ cups juice.
Combine lemon juice, sliced lemon peel, raw sugar, tea, brandy, rum, and peach brandy in a large glass container. Stir until sugar is dissolved. Refrigerate at least 1 hour.
To serve as a punch, place a large block of ice in a punch bowl, pour in mixture and top with club soda. To serve individually, pour mixture over ice in a glass and top with 1 oz. club soda. Yield: 20 servings.
Ironically and vexingly, Jack Daniel’s is distilled in a dry county in Tennessee. Perhaps that’s why it took a lounge owner in Huntsville, Alabama, to stumble upon one of the favorite applications of the Volunteer State nectar. The story goes that Tony Mason, also a musician, was looking for something to soothe his sore throat one night in 1980, and threw together the soon-to-be-famous formula. (He even renamed his house band Tony Mason and the Lynchburg Revue.) Not too long after, Jack Daniel’s started promoting the concoction without compensating Mason. He sued in 1983, seeking $13 million, but the judge awarded him only one dollar. The case was retried in 1983 and parent company Brown-Foreman won again, this time arguing that the recipe wasn’t even a trade secret. Maybe not, but it is fizzy and refreshing.
Ingredients
-
1½ oz. Jack Daniel’s
1½ oz. sweet and sour mix
1½ oz. triple sec
¾ cup lemon-lime soda, such as Sprite or 7UP
Preparation
Fill a tall glass with ice. Add whiskey, sweet and sour mix, and triple sec, and mix with a tall spoon. Top with chilled soda.
Paloma is Spanish for “dove,” and this dove has flown right over the border and into the hearts of Texas drinkers in search of something tart and refreshing. Believed to have been invented in the 1950s, possibly at Don Javier Delgado Corona’s restaurant La Capilla in Tequila, Mexico, it’s a simple formula of tequila, lime juice, and grapefruit soda. But as is the case with many regional victuals, it’s endlessly debated: Which grapefruit soda—Squirt, Jarritos, Ting? Which tequila—blanco or reposada? Salted rim or plain? With new interest in Latin American distilling and mixology, some bartenders are opting to supplement the soda with fresh fruit juices, the result of which is sometimes called a Cantarito. Ivy Mix, the owner of Latin-leaning cocktail bar Leyenda in Brooklyn, includes a great version in her new book, Spirits of Latin America.
Ingredients
-
2 oz. tequila
¾ oz. lime juice
¾ oz. grapefruit juice
¾ oz. simple syrup
1 oz. club soda
Lime wheel, grapefruit wheel, salt for garnish
Preparation
Fill a cocktail shaker with ice. Add tequila, lime juice, grapefruit juice, and simple syrup, and shake. Wet the rim of a collins glass with lime wheel and roll in salt. Add ice to glass. Strain drink over ice. Top with club soda. Garnish with lime and grapefruit wheels.
Back when America was mostly farms, America ran on apples. They were easy to grow, easy to keep through the winter, and—the last not being least—easy to ferment into hard apple cider. If you liked your tipple a bit stronger, you could let your cider freeze in winter to concentrate the alcohol and transform it into apple brandy, aka applejack, which was often consumed at breakfast. Applejack mostly disappeared around the time bourbon was capturing our collective attention, but New Jersey–based Laird & Co., which harvests and distills its apples near Charlottesville, Virginia, makes a wonderful example. Luckily, there are still some delicious cocktails with the applejack touch, too. The Applejack Rabbit is no young bunny—the first recipe for it dates to the 1920s.
Ingredients
-
2 oz. apple brandy, such as Laird’s Bottled in Bond
¾ oz. freshly squeezed lemon juice
¾ oz. freshly squeezed orange juice
½ oz. maple syrup, preferably Grade B
Preparation
Fill a cocktail shaker halfway with ice. Add all ingredients and shake until well-chilled. Strain into a cocktail glass.
Pawpaws are an almost mystical fruit in parts of the South. Sightings are rare, but if you get lucky enough to score a few fresh ones in late summer, the flavor is ethereal, a custardy combo of mango and banana. West Virginia is a prime hunting ground, as leggy pawpaw trees prefer moist, shady conditions common to the Mountain State. (As John Denver has assured us, West Virginia is almost heaven, but if you’re not worthy, you can order pawpaw pulp online.) Mark Lynn Ferguson, author of The Revivalist, a blog on Appalachia, came up with a good salute to West Virginia when a pal showed up at his house one day with pawpaws and a basketful of cocktail makings. The result was the Appalachian Martini, just the thing to sip while you prop your feet up on the porch and contemplate the heavenly views.
Ingredients
-
3 oz. citrus-flavored vodka
½ oz. St. Germain
2 tbsp. pawpaw puree
Preparation
Combine all ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake. Strain into a chilled martini glass.
Yes, there is an actual Rickey behind the Rickey—nineteenth-century lobbyist Colonel Joe Rickey. During a heat wave in the 1880s, Rickey stopped at Shoemaker’s Saloon on Capitol Hill for his usual refresher, bourbon and soda over ice. Bartender George Williamson also squeezed in a half of a lime and that was it. About a decade later, bourbon was switched for more summery gin and the drink became a hit in D.C., where summer can be (pardon the expression) swampy. In D.C., July is officially Gin Rickey Month, and bartenders go crazy switching up the basic recipe. But Hollis Silverman, the D.C. restaurateur who is opening The Wells, a small club devoted to gin, prefers to honor traditions while using top-flight ingredients, as in the recipe below. “There’s enough club soda in there that I think you can have a couple of them,” she says. “It’s something you can sip on for a while.”
Ingredients
-
2 oz. dry gin, such as Plymouth
¾–1 oz. fresh squeezed lime juice
Club soda or sparkling mineral water, such as Topo Chico
Preparation
Fill a collins glass with chunky crushed ice. Add gin and squeeze in half of a juicy lime. Top with club soda.
Courtesy: Ernest Hemingway Photograph Collection, John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, Boston
Joe Russell and Ernest Hemingway with a marlin in Havana circa 1932, with Joe Jr. at left.
Hemingway’s Josie Russell Cocktail
Why this drink: The author of The Old Man and the Sea knew a bit about fishing, and a lot about drinking.
The recipe for this drink came from Ernest Hemingway’s handwritten fishing log dated June 1933, its ingredients listed under the simple heading “Cocktail.” The name pays tribute to Joe “Josie Grunts” Russell, a Hemingway pal who ran liquor from Cuba to Florida during Prohibition and, immediately following its repeal, opened Key West mainstay watering hole Sloppy Joe’s. Hemingway was fishing on Russell’s boat when he recorded the recipe, a potent blend of rum, hard apple cider, lime, and sugar. Luckily, this was not a recipe that got away.
Read more about Hemingway’s Josie Russell Cocktail
Ingredients
-
4½ oz. rum
12 oz. hard apple cider
2 oz. fresh lime juice
2 tsp. sugar
Preparation
Fill a pitcher with ice, add all ingredients, and stir well. Serve on ice in collins or highball glasses, garnished with lime wedge or peel. Serves two to three.
Recipe from To Have and Have Another: A Hemingway Cocktail Companion
Andrew Hyslop
The Seelbach
Why this drink: Such a momentous event calls for bourbon and champagne!
Unless you’re a Bama fan, SEC championships are few and far between, and an incontestable excuse for popping corks. Then again, bourbon is the unofficially official liquor of all Southern football. So drink both—no foul! Like gridiron glory, the Seelbach’s history is ephemeral. Once claimed to predate Prohibition, it was actually concocted in the 1990s by a Louisville mixologist looking to give his classic-seeming creation, and bar, a bit of extra attention. Regardless, bourbon, bubbly, and orange liqueur is an inspired combo worthy of celebration. Tastes like…victory!
Ingredients
-
1 oz. Old Forester bourbon
½ oz. Cointreau liqueur
4 dashes Peychaud's bitters
3 dashes of Angostura bitters
Champagne or sparkling wine
Orange peel
Preparation
Stir together bourbon, Cointreau, and bitters in a chilled champagne glass. Top with cold champagne or sparkling wine, and garnish with a long twist of orange peel.
Brent Hofacker / Adobe
The Suffering Bastard
Who cares if your team played well all season and made it to Atlanta? Losing is still a mortal wound, especially since it means that your smug rival won. (Those cheating SOBs!) This sippable salve hails from a time when the stakes were even higher, specifically to WWII–era Cairo, Egypt, where a bartender at Shepheard’s Hotel concocted a double-liquored drink for Allied troops. The soldiers reportedly liked it so much that they telegraphed to have batches delivered to the front lines. Those chaps won the day, so maybe drinking one will confer future good luck upon your team. Can’t hurt.
Ingredients
-
1 oz. bourbon
1 oz. dry gin
½ oz. lime juice, freshly squeezed
2 dashes Angostura bitters
Ginger beer
Mint sprig
Preparation
Add bourbon, gin, lime juice, and bitters to a shaker with ice.
Shake until well-chilled, about 30 seconds.
Strain into a collins glass over fresh ice.
Top with ginger beer.
Garnish with mint sprig.
Peter Frank Edwards
The Michelada
Why this drink: Now’s the time to reward yourself with a beer that’s both cold and a little kicky.
Sometimes we’re just too dang hot to eat anything, but yes, please and thank you, we’d murder for a frosty beer. And if that beer could fortify our constitution while cooling our brow, we might even enjoy two. The Michelada, a Tex-Mex quencher unabashed about pouring beer and lime juice over ice, is just the thing. And once you’ve thus transgressed, why not add tomato juice, or even this zingy version with hot sauce, Worcestershire, and soy sauce? The result is unique, delicious, and just the thing when you realize that you still need to clip the #$%& hedges.
Ingredients
-
A couple of dashes Tabasco
A couple of dashes Worcestershire
Quick pour (¼ oz.) dark soy sauce
Generous pour (2–3 oz.) fresh lime juice (less if you like a meatier texture, more if you want a thinner drink)
4–6 twists fresh coarse-ground black pepper
1 bottle south-of-the-border beer
Preparation
Rim a 20-oz. glass (with straight sides) with coarse salt. Fill the glass halfway with ice cubes; the denser the cube the better (melts slower). Add all ingredients except beer over the ice, and garnish with a lime wheel. Serve with a stirring straw and beer on the side (add beer to glass per individual taste).
Recipe from Hotel San José (an approximation)
Margaret Houston
Cereal Killer
Why this drink: You might as well earn your exile by drinking something that feels wrong.
Not many people would make the leap between breakfast cereal and whiskey, but that’s just what inspired this riff on bourbon milk punch. “One morning when I was looking down at my Cheerios, I saw the whole grains label on the box,” says New Orleans mixologist Kim Patton-Bragg. “My next thought was, well, whiskey has whole grains, too, and from there the idea of combining milk, cereal, and bourbon all made perfect sense.” In subsequent tinkering, Honey Smacks beat out Captain Crunch as a complement to bourbon. Patton-Bragg makes a big batch a day ahead to let flavors meld before straining off the cereal.
Read more about the Cereal Killer
Ingredients
-
4 cups Honey Smacks cereal
1 gallon whole milk
2½ bottles Rebel Yell bourbon
2 oz. vanilla extract
1 quart simple syrup
Nutmeg, for garnish
Preparation
Stir cereal and milk together in a large pitcher, and refrigerate for 1 hour. Then, strain milk mixture, discarding solids, and add remaining ingredients, stirring to combine. Serve over ice in a collins glass, and garnish with grated fresh nutmeg and cereal, if desired.
Johnny autry | Food Styling by Charlotte Autry
Coffee Milk Punch
Why this drink: Rum and milk with a jolt of java is a real eye-opener.
Milk punch is often deployed as a morning-after remedy. But the first head-thumping morning-after of the year begs a boost to help get the job done. So why not inject that other all-purpose a.m. curative, coffee, into the frothy formula? And now that you have one eye propped open, use it to measure some bitters and Amaro liqueur to further balance the punch’s normal sweetness. Yum, you’ll survive. Best of all, this take makes it seem like you’re just sipping your morning cup, instead of mildly extending last night’s bender.
Read more about coffee milk punch
Ingredients
-
2 oz. whole milk
2 oz. half-and-half
1 oz. Amaro Montenegro
1 oz. rum
1–1½ oz. cold brew coffee
1 tbsp. powdered sugar
1–2 dashes bitters
Freshly ground nutmeg, for garnish
Preparation
Combine all ingredients except nutmeg in a cocktail shaker. Shake without ice for 1 minute to incorporate and emulsify the ingredients. Add ice and shake 1 minute more to chill. Strain into a double rocks or highball glass, over ice if desired. Dust with nutmeg.
Ramblin’ Man
Why this drink: It’s good for what(ever) ails you!
In the South, some of us are lucky enough to have had no-nonsense grandmas who, at the first sniffle or cough, would dose us with bourbon and honey. But if Grammy also had been a hipster mixologist, she might have helped the “medicine” go down even more smoothly by adding some root beer bitters to the formula, especially if symptoms showed on a summer day. Mmm, curatives don’t get much better crafted than this. And now that we mention it, we are feeling a little tickle in the back of our throat. Cheers, Grammy!
Read more about the Ramblin’ Man
Ingredients
-
2 oz. Charter 101 Bourbon
¼ oz. local honey syrup (recipe to follow)
2 dashes Peychaud's bitters
5 drops of root beer or other aromatic bitters
Preparation
Combine all ingredients except the root beer bitters over ice. Stir and then strain into a coupe glass. Top with aromatic or root beer bitters.
Honey syrup: Stir local honey with hot water in a 4:1 ratio until incorporated.
Johnny Autry
Sir Issac Newton
Why this drink: The perfect autumn libation elevates a simple pleasure to sublime.
It doesn’t matter if you commissioned an architect to construct a luxe backyard fire ring or just procured a used bowl off Craigslist. Get some flames crackling and embers glowing, and friends naturally gather around and begin to unwind. To further banish the chill, and enhance the conviviality, provide your fellow pyros with this oh-so-autumnal, and subtly sophisticated, cocktail that balances the warmth of brandy and cinnamon with the acidic zing of apple cider and lemon juice. Just be forewarned that your own toasty reverie will be interrupted, because you’ll definitely be sent off to mix up another round.
Read more about the Sir Issac Newton
Ingredients
-
1 oz. apple-cinnamon syrup*
½ oz. lemon juice
1½ oz. apple brandy
2 dashes Angostura bitters
1 very thin slice of apple, for garnish
Preparation
Combine the syrup, lemon juice, brandy, and bitters in a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake vigorously, then strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Float the apple slice on the drink for a garnish, and serve.
*To make the apple cider-cinnamon syrup, bring 4 cups of good-quality apple cider to a boil over medium heat. Reduce the heat to medium-low, add a cinnamon stick, and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, for about 25 minutes, or until the cider has reduced to the consistency of syrup. Bring to room temperature, then refrigerate in a tightly covered container. The yield is about 4 ounces.
Johnny Autry
Bay of Lubek
Why this drink: Like you, “Jäger” is ready to show its reputable side.
Jägermeister is a German liqueur invented in 1934, made with fifty-six herbs and spices, and cask aged for a year. But if you attended frat parties or tailgates of a certain era, all you might recall is that it tasted like cough syrup and was compulsory as a chilled shot. (Rumors that it contained opiates and deer’s blood somehow added to the allure.) Surprisingly, “Jäger” is making a comeback in establishments where the word mixology isn’t used ironically. So if old classmates recoil when you whip out a bottle, mix this thoroughly respectable cocktail and they’ll know you’ve both come a long way.
Read more about the Bay of Lubek
Ingredients
-
¾ oz. Jägermeister
¾ oz. Wray & Nephew overproof rum
½ oz. Suze liqueur
½ oz. ginger syrup
¾ oz. lime juice
Tonic water
Lime wheel, fresh sage (for garnish)
Preparation
Shake all ingredients except tonic and garnishes in an ice-filled shaker until well chilled. Strain into a collins glass over fresh ice, top with tonic water, and stir. Garnish with a lime wheel and a sprig of sage.
Johnny autry | Food Styling by Charlotte Autry
Potlikker Martini
Why this drink: Nothing could point the urbane martini in a more southerly direction than a dose of collards.
When the kitchen of Benne on Eagle in Asheville had extra potlikker—the humble-but-delicious liquid left over after stewing collard greens—it was passed on to the bar. Mixologist Tye Harrison tried mixing it with whiskey, then took inspiration from the so-called dirty martini, swapping olive brine for the potlikker, further spiked with honey and hot sauce. Regulars considered it a lark, a novelty—and then kept ordering them. Heck, even the adaptation’s olive gets the farm-to-table treatment, being stuffed with smoked turkey. No need for home mixologists to go to such lengths, but definitely reserve your next batch of potlikker.
Read more about the Potlikker Martini
Ingredients
-
2½ oz. gin (or vodka)
1 oz. potlikker braising sauce (recipe follows)
Olives and smoked turkey, for garnish
potlikker braising sauce
1 lb. greens such as collards
1 large yellow onion, split
1 quart poultry or vegetable stock
½ cup apple cider vinegar
¼ cup brown sugar
2 tsp. black pepper
1 tsp. red pepper flakes
1 smoked turkey neck
2 tsp. kosher salt
3 tsp. honey
1½ tsp. hot sauce
Preparation
For the cocktail:
Stir first 2 ingredients with ice until chilled. Strain into a martini glass. Garnish with olives stuffed with smoked turkey from the potlikker.
For the potlikker braising sauce:
In a stockpot, combine all but last 2 ingredients, ensuring 1 inch of liquid covers the greens (add water if needed). Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to simmer for 1 hour. Drain off and reserve potlikker, and let cool. Making enough braising sauce for 2 drinks makes it easier to divide: Strain 2 oz. of potlikker through a fine-mesh sieve, then mix with honey and hot sauce. Bigger sauce batches will keep in the fridge for a few days.
Margaret Houston
Nighttripper
Why this drink: It’s better to grab a drink than the nearest blunt object.
It’s a terrible paradox: You’ve never been more in need of a stiff drink, and never less able to indulge in one. After all, you promised your spouse to be on your best behavior, no matter how many times your in-laws nose into your finances or—grrrr—hint that your house needs work. Luckily, just because you’re sneaking out to the garage for a nip doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy a full-on, proper cocktail that tastes just as good from a flask as at a swanky bistro bar. Just remember to mix in advance…and keep smiling.
Read more about the Nighttripper flask cocktail
Ingredients
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3½ oz. bourbon
4 dashes Peychaud's bitters
1½ oz. Amaro
½ oz. Strega
Preparation
Combine in a flask.
Note: This recipe makes enough for a standard 6 oz. flask. If using a larger flask, adjust ratios accordingly.
Recipe by Chris Hannah as printed in New Orleans Cocktails
That’s My Jam
Why this drink: A good cry deserves a great cocktail.
“Pink is my signature color,” says vivacious, tragically doomed Shelby Eatenton-Latcherie in the classic 1989 weeper about the bonds between a sassy, multi-generational squad of Southern women. So in her honor, pair your umpteenth screening with a light, refreshing cocktail that positively glows “blush and bashful” with rosé aperitif and strawberry jam. You already know the exact plot turn when you’re going to want to press pause and mix one up. Optional ingredient? Free-flowing teardrops.
Ingredients
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3 oz. Lillet Rosé
1 oz. gin
1 oz. strawberry jam (recipe follows)
Edible dried rosebuds, for garnish
Strawberry Jam
3 cups strawberries, hulled and roughly chopped
1 cup sugar
1 tbsp. orange zest
½ cup lemon juice
Preparation
Add all the ingredients to a shaker and fill with ice. Shake, and strain into a chilled coupe glass. Garnish with edible dried rosebuds.
For the strawberry jam: Place all ingredients into a saucepan and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, until the strawberries have mostly fallen apart (about 4 hours). Store in the refrigerator.
Chris Granger
Flora-Bama Rum Punch
Why this drink: If you’re going to publicly fling a dead fish, it helps to be a little drunk.
Besides its location on a strip of gorgeous white sand bridging the Florida-Alabama state line, the sprawling, honky-tonkish Flora-Bama Lounge is famous for a couple of things. First is its annual Mullet Toss, in which hopefuls compete to see who can heave a dead mullet farthest across said state line. And that brings us to the second thing, the house rum punch, an oh-so-sluggable combo of rums and fruit juices. Because, frankly, you don’t order something dainty and/or sophisticated when it’s nearly your turn to lob a fish under a glaring sun and the scrutiny of thousands of rowdy onlookers.
Read more about Flora-Bama Rum Punch
Ingredients
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½ oz. Bacardi light rum
½ oz. Captain Morgan Original Spiced Rum
¼ oz. Malibu rum
Splash of orange juice
Splash of pineapple juice
Splash of grenadine
Maraschino cherry
Orange slice
Preparation
Combine all rums, the juices, and grenadine in a tall glass (or plastic cup). Add ice, stir to combine, and garnish with the maraschino cherry and orange slice.
From chef Donald Link’s Down South: Bourbon, Pork, Gulf Shrimp & Second Helpings of Everything
Courtesy of Rizzoli
Banana Daiquiri
Why this drink: What, we need some big excuse? We said it was hot, didn’t we?
Frozen daiquiris dispensed from machines and tasting mostly like spiked Slurpees deserve their vulgar rep. But when you’re feeling that craving amid the summer swelter, you can enjoy a frozen libation and your self-respect simply by elevating the ingredients a bit with real fruit and good, flavorful rum. Actual banana makes for an actual delicious daiquiri, and as a bonus, potassium helps fight heat sensitivity. For real!
Read more about the banana daiquiri
Ingredients
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Juice of 1 Persian lime or 3 key limes
1 tbsp. brown sugar
2–3 bananas
“Generous amount of golden rum, and then some more.”
Preparation
Fill a blender with ice. Add all ingredients. Blend until the ice is crushed. Begin playing Connect 4 (optional).
Recipe from An Entertaining Story by India Hicks
Jacqueline Stofsick
The Obituary
Why this drink: About the only thing your departed pooch couldn’t do was mix a drink.
Social norms don’t allow for formal wakes when a dog passes. Still, your relations and neighbors will show up, sit with you on the porch, and nod to mournfully reverent anecdotes about the exploits of the deceased. Those people who ask when you’re going to get a new dog also will stay the shortest time. Those that truly comprehend your grief will remain, and might even pull out a bottle or two to mix up a stiff drink. So go ahead, get it all out, and keep making toasts to lost companions, especially of the four-legged variety.
Ingredients
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2 oz. gin
¾ oz. dry vermouth
1 barspoon absinthe
1 barspoon Herbsaint (or Pernod)
Preparation
Stir ingredients in a mixing glass with ice until chilled. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass.
Johnny Autry. Food Styling: Charlotte Autry
Champagne Punch
Why this drink: Rich folk celebrate everything with champagne, don’t they?
Just because you purchased the winning ticket in a convenience store doesn’t mean you should reach for the nearest six-pack to celebrate. No, now is the moment for extravagance, even if you don’t recognize most of the distant relatives suddenly showing up on your doorstep. Before you hire a personal bodyguard to bounce them to the curb, treat them to a glimpse of your swanky new life with a punch that practically overflows with luxurious ingredients. (Champagne and brandy—whoa!) Then change the locks.
Read more about champagne punch
Ingredients
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16 lemons, plus more for garnish
6 cups brandy
2 cups Jamaican rum (Appleton Estate or Smith & Cross works well)
½ cup curaçao
4 cups green tea (weak)
4 cups sugar
16 cups sparkling wine
8 cups seltzer or club soda
1 pineapple, sliced, for garnish
Preparation
Peel 6 lemons and steep rinds in brandy for 12 hours. Juice all lemons and mix juice with infused brandy (strain out peels), rum, curaçao, tea, and sugar until sugar is dissolved. Add sparkling wine, seltzer, and ice before serving. Garnish with lemon wheels and sliced pineapple.
Steve Russell
Category Three
Why this drink: Southerners don’t stock up just on batteries and toilet paper.
So, you’ve chosen not to evacuate because of that “little storm” raging off the coast? Well, between boarding up windows and piling furniture above the water line, be sure to hoard ingredients for a tropical fortifier that isn’t just booze and sugar. “What’s nice about this one,” says mixologist Micah LeMon of The Alley Light in Charlottesville, Virginia, “is that it’s rummy and fruity and an approachable tiki cocktail, but also has a bit of depth.” After all, you want to toast the howling wind in style, and when it all finally blows over, you don’t want to greet the sun with a cheap-drink hangover.
Ingredients
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½ oz. white rum
½ oz. dark rum
1 oz. aged rum
1 oz. mango puree
1 oz. pineapple cordial (recipe follows)
¾ oz. lime juice
1 tsp. maraschino liqueur (such as Luxardo)
Orange slice, for garnish
Cherry, for garnish
FOR THE PINEAPPLE CORDIAL
Chopped skin and core from 1 pineapple
1 cup light brown sugar
1 cinnamon stick
5 cloves
6 cups water
Combine ingredients in a large jar or pitcher. Cover and leave overnight. Strain into a second pitcher.
Preparation
Add all ingredients to a tiki glass or other tall glass. Mix with a swizzle stick and fill with crushed ice. Garnish with orange slice, cherry, and, of course, a tiny umbrella.
Steve Russell
The Good Dog
You two have a lot of bonding ahead of you: Training. Field work. Picture-perfect points and flushed coveys. Blown shots and bag limits. But for now, it’s enough just to pause and toast this exceptional meeting of man and man’s new best friend, perhaps with a cocktail created especially for Garden & Gun by mixologist Micah LeMon of the Alley Light in Charlottesville, Virginia. The bourbon foreshadows many hunting trips to come, while the berry cordial and herbal fernet deliver an earthy complexity as rewarding as your new relationship. Heck, it’s almost as good as your actual dog!
Ingredients
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1 oz. Wild Turkey Rare Breed bourbon
1 oz. huckleberry cordial (recipe follows)
¾ oz. sweet vermouth
½ oz. fernet
Lemon peel twist, for garnish
For the huckleberry cordial
2 cups frozen huckleberries (or blueberries)
1 cup water
1 cup sugar
½ cup 100 proof vodka
Bring huckleberries, water, and sugar to a boil, and simmer for 20 minutes. Remove from heat and strain through a dish towel, squeezing solids to extract juice. Allow to cool and add vodka.
Preparation
Add one large or two medium ice cubes to a tumbler glass. Add all ingredients and stir. Garnish with lemon peel.
Margaret Houston
Old Cuban
Why this drink: Nobody ever got a boat so that they can spend more time at the office.
A boat is a major lifestyle upgrade, a buoyant symbol of freedom and adventure, and sure, you could celebrate its acquisition by shattering a bottle of bubbly over the bow. That is, if you don’t mind sweeping up broken glass, possibly damaging the boat, and wasting perfectly good booze. Instead, relish that champagne in a delicious cocktail that further hoists the sailing theme with rum and lime. Distribute a round from the galley as the sun sets and seal your reputation not just as captain of the ship, but commodore of cocktails.
Ingredients
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1½ oz. aged rum, like Flor de Caña
¾ oz. lime juice
¾ oz. simple syrup
4–5 fresh mint leaves, for garnish
2 dashes Angostura bitters
3 oz. champagne
Preparation
In a shaker, combine all ingredients except champagne. Add ice and shake vigorously. Strain into a champagne flute. Top with champagne and garnish with a fresh mint sprig.
Steve Russell
The Carpetbagger
Why this drink: If you keep a cool head, you just might get through this crisis.
First off, if you discover your liquor cabinet somehow bereft of bourbon, do not dial 911. No doubt this is a legit emergency, but there are other ways to meet the direness of the situation. Indeed, perhaps this is an opportune time to try that dusty bottle of bourbon’s northern relation, rye whiskey. And if so, why not showcase it in a full-on fancy cocktail with mint and bittersweet amaro, created by mixologist Micah LeMon of The Alley Light in Charlottesville, Virginia. You may never go back to—nope, sorry, we can’t even utter such heresy.
Ingredients
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2 oz. Old Overholt Rye
1 oz. pineapple cordial (recipe follows)
½ oz. lemon juice
¼ oz. Fernet-Branca
Pinch mint sprig, for garnish
Pineapple wedge, for garnish
For the pineapple cordial
Chopped skin and core from 1 pineapple
1 cup light brown sugar
1 cinnamon stick
5 cloves
6 cups water
Combine ingredients in a large jar or pitcher. Cover and leave overnight. Strain into a second pitcher.
Preparation
Add liquid ingredients to a shaker. Shake vigorously and pour into coupe glass. Garnish with pineapple wedge and mint sprig.
Charlotte, North Carolina, has been on the rise for the last decade, and the city’s craft cocktail scene is no exception. From locally sourced ingredients to unexpected flavors and sensory flourishes, Queen City mixologists are serving up surprises in every neighborhood. Start planning your evening out at charlottesgotalot.com.
Saunter into this basement bar (up an alley, next to a loading dock) and you enter a lost world of vintage drinks and modern cousins. The low-ceilinged, booth-centric spot somehow manages to feel both austere and lush, with more than five hundred spirits on offer. An elaborate, fun cocktail menu opens the door to unique offerings, unless your “usual” is a Chartreuse Milk Punch. alleycatsavannah.com
The unpretentious Alley Light—situated, unsurprisingly, in an alley, under a light—might be the last place you’d expect to find a cocktail made of gin infused with locally foraged spruce tips. Yet a farm-to-glass ethos informs this beguiling little lounge, which crafts its own tonic, ginger beer, and grenadine, among many other housemade syrups and infusions that add local color to a glass. alleylight.com
Since it opened a dozen years ago, Anvil has graduated from pioneer to stalwart in the craft cocktail world. The bartenders balance tried-and-true with up-and-coming, and are sure to mix something to match your palate. An evening spent with glass in hand amid the industrial-hip atmosphere offers a delightful tour of evolved tippling. anvilhouston.com
Dark wood. Prohibition-era vibe. Bottles lined up and filled with amber elixir. Yep, you’ve entered a whiskey bar. And a mighty fine one at that, as befits its host state. The talented bartenders serve up a graduate education in Kentucky bourbon—not to mention a memorable New York Sour, along with other quenching cocktails. bourbononrye.com
Havana meets, well, Little Havana at this vibrant, upbeat bar amid the bustle of Miami’s 8th Street (aka Calle Ocho). It’s staffed in part by vest-uniformed cantineros who received their formal bartender training in Cuba. Sip classics from the island, including a shaken daiquiri that defines the classic drink, while tapping your toes to live music that would be at home ninety miles south. cafelatrova.com
The Lobby Bar at the boutique hotel The Chloe carries the bohemian elegance of the grand St. Charles Avenue home it occupies. Expect unexpected ingredients (chamomile-infused scotch?), all perfectly balanced. In season, amble out back to the pool bar for the neo-tropical setting and a reminder of New Orleans’ claim to be the northernmost point of the Caribbean. thechloenola.com
The first thing you’ll notice at this downtown bar? The eclectic interior—a periodic table behind the bar, mod chandeliers, and midcentury tag-sale furniture. But your thoughts will soon turn to the drinks, arguably the best in Alabama. Borrow a board game, tell your bartender the sort of cocktail that strikes your fancy, and settle in for an evening of quiet delight. facebook.com/TheCollins
When Columbia Room opened a decade ago, it helped kick-start the capital’s craft cocktail scene. It has since relocated to a brighter venue, with a heated rooftop patio overlooking an alley with nice skyline views beyond. Luckily, the drinks remain outstanding—whether you prefer booze forward (Chartreuse cocktails!) or lighter spritzes. columbiaroomdc.com
You’re saying there’s a classy, classic cocktail bar in the middle of a college town known for its less-than-mature revelry? Actually, yes. The Crunkleton opened in 2008 and ever since has offered refuge to those in search of a precisely crafted drink amid a sedate, non-beer-bust setting. (Bonus: The Crunkleton opened a second branch in Charlotte in 2018.) thecrunkleton.com
Cure opened in 2009 and delivered some new twists to a city well steeped in cocktail tradition. Located in a former firehouse in the now-hopping Freret Street neighborhood uptown, Cure set a benchmark for the city’s cocktails, and took home a James Beard Award in the doing. It reliably still serves up some of the best tipples in the city. curenola.com
Enter the gin matrix. The bar’s innovative gin chart is a superb tool for exploring the spirit: Select a gin style that matches your palate, whether savory or floral, citrus-forward or juniper-heavy. (Curious about barrel-aged gin? Look no further.) Then settle into a space that has the feel of an illicit 1920s saloon, something of a feat considering it opened in 2017. cwginjoint.com
Forget that it’s tucked behind an unpromising strip mall; this members-only club (quickly become a member at the door) has the deco-ish demeanor of a Parisian club circa 1930. And its top-notch cocktails offer a sophistication to match the atmosphere. Need some kick in your step? Order the Barista’s Dream, with vodka, espresso liqueur, coffee-stout syrup, and Fernet Branca. dotdotdotcharlotte.com
Drink delivers on two vital counts. First, it has a swank, retro atmosphere with maximalist chandeliers and a moody setting of wood and leather. (Perfect for live jazz some nights.) Second, there’s the impressive offering of classic cocktails and their more modern, bohemian offshoots. Prefer wine? There’s a wonderful selection by the glass. drinkknoxville.com
The Elk Room is hidden in plain sight in Baltimore’s Harbor East neighborhood, and requires minor sleuthing to find. It’s worth it. The interior boasts Prohibition-inspired speakeasy sensibility, with drinks that elude easy categorization, including the Power Bomb, a serious bit of business concocted with three potent potions: Smith & Cross Rum, Chartreuse, and Underberg herbal digestif. theelkroom.com
The stamped-tin ceiling, lustrous wood, deep banquets, and art deco–inflected adornments telegraph “private.” And that club approach goes beyond decor—Fox Bar offers access to rare spirits if you’re a member, along with regular cocktail classes to expand your repertoire. The bartenders manage to convey the knowledge of serious cocktail culture, yet thankfully without snobby pretense. thefoxnashville.com
“D.C.’s Only Middle Eastern Cocktail Bar” is the claim, and who are we to dispute? The cocktail list features both tried-and-true (mai tai, Jungle Bird) along with more exotic variations further animated with Middle Eastern spices. It’s casual, irreverent, and doesn’t take itself too seriously—in many ways the exact opposite of the city in which it resides. thegreenzonedc.com
So close to Miami Beach, yet so far. This cocktail lounge located in downtown Miami is dim and dusky, and metaphorical miles from the neon glow across the way. But thanks to a spacious two-story interior, it never feels closed in. And thanks to the rum and mezcal drink specialties, it never feels too far from the beach. jaguarsunmia.com
“The Jasper is a bar, doing bar things,” says the Jasper’s forthright manager. Winking understatement aside, this handsome, downtown spot has the dim, dark-wood familiarity of a neighborhood pub of a century past, and is staffed by deft-of-hand bartenders who can lend the simplest drink a dash of flash and flair. facebook.com/JasperBarRVA
Named after a long-gone Crescent City bar where the Brandy Crusta was invented more than a century ago, this French Quarter instant classic maintains close links with the past. Housed in a venerable brick home with a lovely courtyard, Jewel specializes in riffs on New Orleans standards, and makes for an ideal spot to learn why the Crusta was once king. jewelnola.com
The Kimball House is famous both as a bar and a restaurant, with neither overshadowing the other. Housed in a nineteenth-century train depot, the setting is perfect for embarking on a journey to cocktail bliss. The list is broad and thoughtful, featuring creative riffs on ageless drinks. And would you like a platter of fresh oysters with your drink? Correct answer: Yes. kimball-house.com
This restaurant and bar somehow feels unshackled from the soulless modern office block where it resides. The innovative cocktail menu shifts with the seasons, sending you on road trips past familiar landmarks before veering off into unfamiliar tippling terrain with destinations like the Honey Cardamom Paloma, which takes a tequila standard then detours into the subtly exotic. thelawrenceatlanta.com
This Five Points neighborhood bar takes cocktail history seriously—it’s named after a New York bar once run by illustrious nineteenth-century barman Harry Johnson. The drinks menu recently was revamped after a pandemic-long season of sampling and testing. (Yes, that beats however you spend your pandemic.) There’s no better excuse to pull up a seat and see what’s new and delicious. littlejumbobar.com
All of Rome is at the baths! Professionals unwinding after work, tourists fleeing the heat, and hipsters enjoying a moment of calm all mingle amid midcentury-styled elegance. The drinks are equally eclectic, ranging from bright and refreshing spritzes to a deep and dusky Negroni, aged in a clay amphora. thedewberrycharleston.com
The sophistication of Cuban bartending meets the retro-exoticism of tiki drinks at this college-town oasis, which celebrates the spirits of the tropics, especially rum. Head there for the early-starting happy hour. Stay late to watch the bartenders shake and swizzle and serve up delectable concoctions adorned with orchids and more. facebook.com/Madrinas352/
If you’re looking for Whiskey Trail mahogany and drams, there are plenty of other places in Louisville. Meta, set on a downtown side street, instead rides the right balance of swank and chill, and serves up edgily modern and historic drink variations as if it has a cocktail genealogist on staff. Designated driver? Check out the housemade sodas. facebook.com/metalouisville
Nickel City is the place for the cocktail lover who doesn’t much love other cocktail lovers—at least not those who regard cocktails as overly precious gems. This is a straight-ahead bar that serves up superb drinks amid a setting that’s more dive than diva. nickelcitybar.com
Whiskey’s natural habitat is more green hills than sandy coast, but this Pensacola bar is happy to play against type. Sip a dram from an array of bourbons and other grain-based global spirits. Whiskey or not, the bartenders craft top-flight drinks with exotica like Thai basil syrup, coffee-infused vermouth, and wasabi tincture. oldhickorywhiskeybar.com
The South Seas invade honky-tonk heaven at this modern Nashville classic. The vibrant, tropically inspired interior, which has the feel of a long-ago trip to a faraway place, will put you in a buoyant mood. The drinks won’t hurt, either. The place is best known for its steady hand with classics, like the mai tai and El Floradita. pearldivernashville.com
This King Street storefront bar has a chill vibe, lots of lustrous wood, and welcoming tunes. But you’ll return time and again for the well-crafted cocktails, which crow without preening. Proof’s extensive drinks list is populated with both familiar friends and eccentric Southern cousins—the latter including the Knuckleball, made with bourbon, spicy Coca-Cola reduction, and pickled boiled peanuts. charlestonproof.com
Proof is an innovative restaurant incubator that lets several chefs develop their concepts and menus in one modern-rustic space. And the whole thing is anchored by a cocktail bar coordinated by some of the city’s top bar pros. So while choosing between po’boys or pizza, start with the Real Thing, a riff on the old-fashioned made with vanilla-infused bourbon and a Coca-Cola reduction. proofincubator.com
Hurricane lamps, an eye-catching chandelier, and bold drapes give Queen’s Park an Edwardian ambience that somehow feels homey in the modern era. Named after a popular Prohibition-era rum swizzle served in Trinidad, the bar’s mixologists take classics seriously, with a cocktail list that cites ingredients and sources as scrupulously as a dissertation. Bonus: no thesis defense required. queensparkbham.com
The Roosevelt Room is long and narrow and has the retro-industrial vibe of a neo-Dickensian lair. Carefully curated spirits are the base of each drink—like the robust, Navy-strength Leopold Brothers gin featured in the house martini. The bartenders also know stagecraft—the Cigar Box mezcal cocktail is served on an ashtray with a smoldering cinnamon stick. therooseveltroomatx.com
This bar and restaurant is instantly welcoming thanks to the oil lamps flickering atop vintage cafe tables. The cocktail list is designed for those who seek comfort as well as a challenge, with offerings ranging from the very simple (“shot and a beer” is literally on the menu), to inspired mash-ups such as the Absinthe Colada. Yes, we want one now, too. saisonrva.com
Service Bar is an unfussy joint that hasn’t forgotten that drinking should be fun and not require homework. The bartenders are adept at crafting drinks that transport (one menu category is dubbed “Escapism”), and have a special fondness for rum and tequila. Presentations are elaborate and eye-catching—you won’t be sure whether to Instagram or drink. Pro tip: Do both. servicebardc.com
Bourbon, you say? Yes, please—Silver Dollar has been a destination bar for American whiskey fans predating the bourbon boom. It’s easy to post up at this old firehouse turned juke joint and sample through their private barrel selections. But don’t overlook the inviting cocktails. Even those that somehow fail to include whiskey are delectable. whiskeybythedrink.com
This riff on a bygone clubhouse for sporty adventurers sits in the back corner of the funky Krog Street Market, and styles itself as “a place of boisterous drinking.” Which is about right—the drinks are unfussy and fun, including slushy variants and bottled cocktails for two. Angle for the envied “captain’s chair” at the bar and pilot your evening into uncharted seas. ticonderogaclub.com
The mixologists at the Tipsy Alchemist take their liquids seriously. The menu reads like a lab manual (nitro mint? pepper reduction? lime-ginger foam?), but the overall sensibility is mad professor meets the Rat Pack. Rest assured, an evening spent here will not remind you of your time manning a Bunsen burner in high school. thetipsyalchemist.com
The breezy bonhomie of a beer hall? Sure. The creativity of a craft cocktail mecca? That, too. Retro patio furnishings outside and industrial chic inside provide a perfect backdrop for the local favorite, a circa-1930s Vieux Carré, and quirky house variants such as the Smoked Piña Colada. twoheadeddog2go.square.site
Pass through a coat closet beneath Preacher’s Son restaurant and enter this hidden, jazzy jewel of a spot serving up drinks as balanced as they are lovely. Cultured offerings include a Smoked Manhattan, and the aptly named Breakfast for Dinner, with sugar cane rum, amaro, sherry maple, bitters…and bacon! undercroftbar.com
Entry to this subterranean refuge comes with some rules: No standing at the bar. No Red Bull. And most gloriously, no cell phone use. If being off the grid for a couple of hours makes you anxious, soothe your jitters via a cocktail list that includes the standard and the flamboyant. Or if you can’t decide, pick two words from a short list of descriptors, perhaps “floral” and “fizzy,” and let the bartender create a “dealer’s choice” cocktail for you. vaultandvator.com
Written by Wayne Curtis
Recalling the story of how one writer learned to stop worrying and love the rum and Coke
A chef and cookbook author joins his two favorite drinks for this smoky cinnamon-ginger cocktail
Fixed with gin or vodka, the classic cocktail tethers a Nashville native to her loved ones
A pineapple rum inspires an exquisite daiquiri—and reflections on history
- Writers: Wayne Curtis, Kathleen Purvis, and Steve Russell
- Editors: Amanda Heckert and Steve Russell
- Developer: Robert Reese/Ink Plant
- Designer: Julia Knetzer
- Illustrator: Derik Hobbs
- Producer: Lindsey Liles
- Video producer: Miguel Buencamino/Holy City Handcraft
- Video mixologists: Miguel Buencamino and Megan Deschaine