All in Paste Magazine
The buzzword surrounding Detroit is “rebuilding.” The city is still living in the shadow of its 2013 bankruptcy, but new high-rise condo buildings and public art spaces are attracting a population of young, creative talent downtown. One industry that has piggybacked off of this revitalization has been the bar scene; craft cocktails only entered the lexicon here about three years ago.
People in Denver seem to have that whole balance thing down. They’re equally known for their outdoorsy nature as they are for their love of craft beers. Here, you can stumble into a yoga class at a winery or join a running club at a brewery.
Atlanta is not only the most traveled-through city in the South, it is also home to the busiest airport on earth. Here, local culture and global ideas mesh on every level, most visibly in the city’s intertwined restaurant and bar scenes. Because the state of Georgia requires all bars to operate functioning kitchens, Atlanta’s cocktail style can’t help but be influenced by its culinary style.
Raleigh, the capital of North Carolina, is home to one of the most educated populations in America. And over the past few years they’ve proven they aren’t just hungry for book knowledge; they’re also thirsty for cocktail expertise.
Rhode Island, the smallest state in the country, has a long tradition of local pride and its bar scene is no exception. “We almost have a Napoleon Complex about it,” Providence barman Benjamin Terry says. “People go over-the-top to support local ingredients and local establishments.”
Seattleites prefer their cocktails like they prefer their coffee: brown and bitter. You’ll find lots of cocktails made with bourbon, rye and amaro, but surprisingly, not many made with coffee. For being the java capital of the United States—and the hometown of Starbucks and Seattle’s Best Coffee chains, in addition to many other small roasting companies—you’d expect an abundance of coffee cocktails on its bar menus.
New York City is the best cocktail city in the world. In addition to its rich drinking history—this is, after all, where the Manhattan, the Bloody Mary, the Tom Collins and the Carrie Bradshaw originated—New York is also home to the modern-day cocktail bars that set the standard and pace for the rest of the country. This is where cocktail culture is invented and reinvented, where trends unfold before they’re even trends and where bartenders become household names.
Many people think you can’t get a good drink in Park City, Utah. Sure, the state has some strict liquor laws that limit base spirits to 1½ ounces per glass. But just because you can’t order a double doesn’t mean all of the drinks are weak.
Speakeasies, rum-runners, bootleggers and Al Capone! Welcome to Chicago, where booze, politics and organized crime have proven themselves inseparable throughout history.
San Antonio is kind of like the Orlando of Texas. That’s all great, but this G-rated reputation often overshadows San Antonio’s sophisticated drinking, dining and nightlife scenes.
Many people associate cocktails in glitzy Miami with the kind of two-ingredient “mixed drinks” that propel you through a night of clubbing. (Red Bulls and vodkas, anyone?) Other people may think of the beachside strawberry slushies that offer temporary respite from the Florida sun. Others still cling to the old rum-and-muddled-mint standby, the mojito. While all of those drinks serve their purposes well, Miami has plenty more to offer on the craft cocktail front.
Going to Louisville and not sipping bourbon is like going to Russia and not getting sloshed on vodka. Why did you go at all?
Alcohol has been an integral part of life for Boston residents since Boston was founded in the 1600s. Back then, gritty New England settlers—including children!—drank distilled spirits instead of water, which was often contaminated with parasites. Today the water is cleaner and the legal drinking age is higher, but the rebellious drinking culture lives on through the city’s notorious Irish pubs and revolutionary cocktail bars.
The cocktail was born in New Orleans (Or so the myth goes.) Hundreds of years ago, apothecary owners here sold cure-all swills that included alcohol, bitters, water and sugar. The mixtures certainly cured sobriety, making the city a must-visit destination for luminaries such as Ernest Hemingway and non-luminaries such as bachelor-party attendees. The modern craft movement has boomed since Hurricane Katrina as demographics have shifted, but old-school classics and lowbrow frozen drinks are still New Orleans favorites for laisser le bon temps rouler.
Depending on your wherewithal, you could theoretically work your way through all of Birmingham’s cocktail destinations and four beer breweries in one weekend. Not that we'd recommend that.
Dallas is one of the rare cities that straddles a variety of American regions: the South, the Southwest and, of course, Texas, which counts as a region all its own. As cowboy as all that sounds, Dallas is actually surprisingly cosmopolitan. In this northeast pocket of the state you’ll spot more Teslas and Nieman Marcus shopping bags—the flagship, downtown store from 1914 is a historic landmark—than you will camo’ hats or belt buckles.
Aside from the diverse music, you may be surprised to find that Nashville’s eclectic food and cocktail bar scene—one of the best in the South—ranges from rustic and charming in that American-flag-on-the-wall way to experimental takes on what Southern cuisine even means. Here’s how to spend two great days in Nashvegas.
