Drink Up!
A vital part of a vacation (or any break from day-to-day) should be enjoying your time wherever you are, and for many, that can come with a momentary respite to enjoy the perfect beverage.
From craft beers to cocktails, creative presentation of the alcoholic beverage continues to have a moment far and wide – as recently as 30 or so years ago, no one asked where an American beer on tap was brewed and no one wanted to see the cocktail menu. After all, the beers were from Golden, CO, St. Louis or Milwaukee, and the cocktails were a scotch and soda, gin and tonic or another two-ingredient concoction.
And then ... similar forces that refocused culinary trends on fresh, crafted foods made their way into the culture of drink-making, and the rest, as they say, is history. Now, even small towns feature craft breweries – and often distilleries – and there are more creative drinks to sip than ever before. Some are dedicated recipes from long-lost classic cocktail books of yesteryear, and some are wholly new inventions by creative mixologists.
The winner in all this is the consumer, of course, who gets an almost endless variety of delights to imbibe on. And, in – or within just a few hops of – Southern California, residents can find bars, breweries and restaurants serving up that perfect pour.
DTLA: Life-Giving Cocktails at Death and Co.
An institution in craft cocktail culture since it opened on New Year’s Eve 2006 in Manhattan’s East Village, Death and Co. is a love letter to classic mixology. Now, after almost 20 years and countless accolades, the company has expanded to four locations (Denver and D.C. as well) and operates an experientially moody bar in the Arts District.
The dark, underground environs and tuckedaway booths offer noir vibes of a gumshoe Los Angeles, but the cocktails are anything but pulpy. Featured cocktails (which are compiled by their characteristics, like “Bright & Confident”) include the Killswitch, with Lalo Tequila Blanco, St. George Basil Eau de Vie, Grapefruit Curasao, Lime, Thai Bitters and Absinthe. Or try the Cry Wolf, with The Macallan 12-year Single Malt, Barley Shochu, Drambuie, Cantaloupe Aperitif and Angostura bitters, to name a few.
A concise food menu, with delights as light as a bread & butter plate and as hearty as a lamb burger with sumac pickles, tomato aioli and Manchego cheese, helps to soak up some of the strong libations.
And if you find yourself unable to choose, start a conversation with your bartender or server. They’ll take a couple broad taste preferences down and create a drink just for you – you can name it after yourself if you’d like.
Anaheim: More Beer, More Breweries, More Hangs
The Orange County city of Anaheim is famous for a truly specific reason … yes, that’s right, it’s because it boasts more breweries than any other city in the OC! As microbrewing continues to evolve, the city has taken full advantage of its numerous institutions, creating the La Palma Beer Trail.
Like a wine tour of the same name, the beer trail covers 11 breweries. Standouts include mainstay Brewery X, which has brewed many hoppy favorites since 2018; Radiant Beer Co., which features plenty of crisp classics perfect for its large patio; and Unsung Brewing, which twists a fun comic-book sensibility into amazing beers with names like Buzz Man and Propeller Head.
Seizing the moment, Visit Anaheim’s new Brew Pass allows beer fans to enjoy both special savings at these and many more breweries across the city. Best of all, it’s entirely free to sign up and easy to use – gather up enough points and you can even score a specialty beer mug. Head to visitanaheim.org to find out more.
Palm Springs: A Tall Glass of Wine in the Low Desert
Associating wine and California is very easy. The state is home to some of the best AVA’s in the nation, producing more wine – and better wine – than anywhere else in the country. What one might not consider is the breadth of these AVAs – from Temecula Valley to Lodi, there are vineyards growing any place there is terroir to be found.
Armed with this knowledge, it might not be as surprising that Palm Springs is a wine-tasting hotspot, featuring the best of the wines from all over California in its urbane environment. There are even some nearby wineries for those who like to be close to the action.
True wine aficionados should visit the city in November (a perfect time post any late-summer heat) to attend the Palm Springs Food & Wine Festival on Nov. 9 and 10; it’s a weekend of fun and perfect pours in the Coachella Valley. The fest features amazing tastes from great wineries, food vendors and celebrity chefs on hand, including Border Grill’s Susan Feniger.
On the trip there or back, take the long way through Idyllwild to visit Middle Ridge Winery, where owner Chris Johnston makes unique wine from California’s best grapes in his “Innovation Lab.” The tasting room also features beautiful indoor and outdoor spaces to appreciate the alpine surroundings of the mountain town.
Las Vegas: A Taste of Tiki at Rio
You’re not going all the way to Las Vegas and not indulging, right? In a city where everything seems new, here’s something really new – the Lapa Lounge, which opened in July at Rio Hotel & Casino. The property is under a top-to-bottom refitting to modernize it for the roaring 2020s.
Rio de Janeiro’s Lapa neighborhood is a hotbed of boho culture loaded with plenty of incredible bars and restaurants, so the Las Vegas namesake sought to inject that style of freewheeling fun into its ethos. The bar is off to a swinging start as it greets guests right off the lobby and beckons them in with a tiki-meets-toucan fusion that is both funky retro and elevated.
Sip on the Lapa Sunset Mai Tai, a classic made “only in Vegas” with Mount Gay Eclipse rum, Rémy Martin VSOP cognac, Chinola Passion Fruit Liqueur, grapefruit lime citrus and bitters. Or, dance the Tiki Tango: a lush cocktail featuring Rémy Martin VSOP Cognac, Chinola Passion Fruit Liqueur, Falernum, Guava and fresh grapefruit lime citrus. Best of all, it’s served in a unique keepsake tiki glass you can take home to fondly remember beverages past.
-Alan LaGuardia