Now that winter is finally over, it’s time to wake up your tastebuds with a toast to the new season. Thanks to the creative bartenders across the country who have spent dozens of dark, cold, winter nights dreaming up new recipes for spring, you can skip the champagne and rose and go for something a little more exotic this year. From gunpowder and cucumber-infused gin to smoked black salt, the list of ingredients will stir up your senses. Cheers!
Drink: The Right and Wrong
Price: $12
Southern hospitality mixes with creativity at this historic Charleston speakeasy. The newest entry on the bar menu is an alcoholic yin-yang combining Hat Trick Gin, Cocchi Americano, honey-sage syrup, grapefruit bitters, and Jack Rudy tonic syrup. Bartenders Ryan, Jeremiah, and Matty get it right every time.
Andrew Cebulka
Drink: I Been Drankin
Price: $13
Get drunk on love with this combination of Midori, Laphroaig scotch, raspberry, and lime. Bartender Frank Jones’s newest spring creation is both a shout out to Beyoncé and a (Sasha) fierce shake-up for the senses.
Frank Jones
Drink: Chef’s Cup
Price: $12
It’s a meal in a glass, thanks to a healthy dose of fruit, vegetables, and Tapatio 110. In addition to the tequila, the “cup” features grilled grapefruit, cucumber, mint, thai chili jelly, lime, and habanero bitters and is rimmed with Szechuan Peppercorn and smoked black salt. “The pepper numbs the tongue, so you can enjoy the spicy flavor without the burn,” says bar manager, Bob King. “It’s smoky, spicy, cooling, and vegetal.”
Bob King
Drink: The Brazilian
Price: $11
Blame it on Rio after polishing off this combination of 84-proof Avua Cachaca Prata, sugarcane, Velvet Falernum liqueur, Mandarine Napoléon, and lime at this North Beach institution. “Tan lines may fade, but memories last forever,” promises 15 Romolo’s general manager, Ian Anderson.
Ian Anderson
Drink: & Yet & Yet
Price: $10
Oregon’s greenest “spring in a glass” is now on tap at Aviary—a combination of Hangar One Vodka, dill, lime, and Midori. It’s “super light, super bright, and super easy to drink” according to barkeep Ross Hunsinger, who says he’s “unapologetic” about his use of Midori. “It’s the perfect spot for it to be deployed; shrugging off the darkness of winter and welcoming in the light.”
Ross Hunsinger
Drink: Ma La Colada
Price: $13
A spring riff on the classic piña colada, the Ma La leaves no sense undisturbed. Bartender Tyler Fry blends Szechuan peppercorn-infused rum for “mouth tingling numbness,” Coco Lopez, ginger, lime, and a dash of ghost pepper. “People have a physically expressive reaction after the first sip,” says bar manager Patrick Smith.
Eden Laurin
Drink: Rocky & Bullwinkle
Price: $10
Mix Bullwheel gin with the Mile-High City that loves its baseball team and you have the Curtis Club’s springtime happy hour home run: cucumber-infused gin, Génépy des Alpes liqueur, lemon juice, honey syrup, and soda water. “It’s a perfect match for warm spring days and those first hints of summer,” says bar manager Michelle Nichols.
Michelle Nichols
Drink: Bali’s Brew
Price: $12
Crudo mixologist Micah Owen is on a tiki-drink kick lately, and his newest spring concoction blends a wake up call with last call: Monkey Shoulder Scotch, spiced rum, lemon, orange zest, jalapeño, Vieux Pontarlier Absinthe, and Mornin’ Moonshine Vanilla with Cocoa Nib Cold Press coffee.
Micah Olson
Drink: Gunsmoke
Price: $12
Locally sourced Vinland’s most popular drink features gunpowder, garnet (an original recipe "loosely inspired by Compari"), bitters, and smoke. Mystery additions include cranberries, rhubarb, peaches, and staghorn sumac. The smoke emanates from alcohol-soaked applewood and oak chips swimming in the concoction. “This is the drink people keep coming back for,” says bartender Alex Winthrop.
Alexander Winthrop
Drink: For The Birds
Price: $20
Bartender Andy Nelson freezes water balloons and drains the water to create a frozen egg that is then injected with Pot Still bourbon, Campari, and Carpano Antica vermouth. He smokes the glass and cracks the egg tableside for guests, allowing the liquid to dilute the ice to create a perfectly balanced cocktail. “People are more excited and surprised than I could have honestly imagined,” he says.
