Drinks

Greenville, South Carolina’s Fresh Take on a Speakeasy

The Press Room keeps it on the down-low and serves up classics like this Corpse Reviver #2

Photo: Max DiNatale Digital Marketing / Lindsay Curgan Photography


Visitors to the AC Hotel on Main Street in Greenville, South Carolina, might ride the elevator up the eight floors to the rooftop bar and restaurant, Juniper. And the observant guest might also notice lettering several levels before that reads: The Press Room.

That’s the only marking for the speakeasy lounge that opened last spring, taking its newspaper theme from the building’s previous occupant, the Greenville News, which published the local paper there for seventy-five years.

“It’s a discreet, low-key, word-of-mouth kind of place,” says Baileigh Wilson, a Press Room mixologist. Even if you know where it is, you can’t just walk in—you’ll need to make a reservation on Resy so the team can text you a keypad code to enter. Otherwise, a step off the elevator will land you in the editor’s office—complete with a typewriter and old newspapers tacked to the walls—but no further.

Once inside, drinks come in glasses shaped like birds or pipes, and jazz music plays. “It’s Greenville’s first true speakeasy,” Wilson says. “And we wanted people to have a unique experience.” Below, she shares the recipe for the Corpse Reviver #2, a classic pre-Prohibition cocktail starring gin and citrus. “It’s tart, it’s refreshing, and it’s strong,” Wilson says. “It’s meant to improve your morning, wake you up, cure your hangover; literally, revive your corpse.” When making it at home, Wilson sometimes swaps out the Lillet for Cocchi Americano, which is actually closer to how Lillet was once made. “Be careful not to over shake, and on the absinthe rinse, pour it all out of the glass—you just want a hint of anise.”

To discover the bar’s other concoctions, of which some are classic and others are invented by the bar team, you’ll have to make it through the editor’s office and find out for yourself.

photo: Max DiNatale Digital Marketing / Lindsay Curgan Photography

Ingredients

    • Splash of absinthe

    • ¾ oz. gin (Wilson uses Tanqueray No. Ten)

    • ¾ oz. Lillet Blanc

    • ¾ oz. Cointreau

    • ¾ oz. lemon juice


Preparation

  1. Rinse a Nick and Nora glass or a coupe with absinthe and set aside.

  2. Shake the rest of the ingredients with ice, strain into the glass, and garnish with a lemon twist.

     


Lindsey Liles joined Garden & Gun in 2020 after completing a master’s in literature in Scotland and a Fulbright grant in Brazil. The Arkansas native is G&G’s digital reporter, covering all aspects of the South, and she especially enjoys putting her biology background to use by writing about wildlife and conservation. She lives on Johns Island, South Carolina, with her husband, Giedrius, and their cat, Oyster.


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