We squeeze past the crush of people in the entryway and snag two seats at the end of the bar at Colita. This is how we usually eat there—take a drive on Penn Avenue, slow down at 54th Street, assess the regular chaos (is that a new crowd or the six o’clock crowd finishing up?) … [ Read more]
Change Agents: A series of fermentation projects at Colita is making old cocktails taste fresh and new
December 23, 2019 by
Time after Time: We drink The Lynhall’s new temporal cocktail menu
November 21, 2019 by
We didn’t know what to make of The Lynhall when it opened in 2017. At the time it seemed torn between minimalist coffee shop and shiplapped Insta-brunch hang (with a TV studio somehow in the mix?) The food was rote, but at least there was espresso and lots of room to spread out your laptop … [ Read more]
The Ultimate Home Bar in 20 Bottles
October 28, 2019 by
Whether you’re an aspiring bartender or just a novice looking to get their home collection up to snuff, we’ve got your guide to the must-have building blocks for any bar worth its salt. We asked members of the Minneapolis–St. Paul chapter of the U.S. Bartenders’ Guild to curate a list encompassing the three tiers of … [ Read more]
Distiller Profile: Ralf Loeffelholz and the opening of Dampfwerk Distillery’s cocktail room
October 28, 2019 by
There’s a simple reason that Dampfwerk Distillery didn’t open a cocktail room when it started production in August 2016. “I am not a mixologist,” head distiller Ralf Loeffelholz says. He is cheerfully unapologetic about this, and for good reason. His craft and calling is distilling, and his singular focus on creating true-to-tradition products has helped … [ Read more]
The Suburban Martini Spectrum
October 28, 2019 by
The Martini List, which would always be capitalized and contain a Cosmo and an appletini, is a relic of the early-2000s and dates with Carrie Bradshaw. However, you may be surprised to learn that there are still places that feature a Martini List, especially out in the suburbs. The Sunshine Factory is consistently named one … [ Read more]
When Craft Cocktails Come to Town
October 28, 2019 by
Like the glass of water starting to ripple in Jurassic Park portending the arrival of the T-Rex, many suburbs surrounding the Twin Cities have heard the clinking of shaker tins and felt the stomping of ironic combat boots coming towards them as cocktail bartenders quickly expand their reach outside of downtown. When 30-somethings move out … [ Read more]
Two Speakeasies Bringing Theatricality and Cocktail Culture to the Suburbs
October 28, 2019 by
Prohibition may seem like ancient history, but two suburban speakeasies are reviving the nostalgic romanticism of that era while giving timeless classic cocktails tasty new twists. Reminiscent of the original speakeasies, both the Mudd Room in Mendota and Volstead House Whiskey Bar and Speakeasy in Eagan are fittingly inconspicuous—Volstead House is accessed through a red … [ Read more]
New lounge cocktails at P.S. Steak: serious, fun, seriously fun
October 9, 2019 by
In the past decade, the lounge of the 510 Groveland building has been the site of some legendary drink-making. So how does P.S. Steak’s new bar manager Keith Mrotek step into this space? With confidence, but also reverence. “This space has been synonymous with Johnny Michaels,” he says, noting the former La Belle Vie barman … [ Read more]
Polishing the Apple: Elevating the cider cocktail beyond a simple bar drink
August 29, 2019 by
You’ll be forgiven if your conception of cider cocktails until this very moment consisted of snakebites on St. Patrick’s Day or the mulled stuff that Uncle Randy enjoys spiking just a little too much. Before Lars Olsen was tapped to create Minneapolis Cider Company’s new in-house cocktail program, his view of the genre was even … [ Read more]
Ticket Giveaway: Bittercube + Bar Brigade’s ‘Hemingway’ cocktail pop-up on July 8
July 5, 2019 by
If you’ve ever had a Bittercube-designed cocktail (and if you’re reading this, the odds are high that you have) you know that they’ve pretty much mastered things in the way of fun, citrusy rum drinks. A special pop-up on Monday, July 8, at Bar Brigade in St. Paul will put these skills on full display … [ Read more]
Better Camp Eats & Drinks: Nalgene Cocktails
May 28, 2019 by
This article is a part of The Growler’s Outdoor Guide. Find more tips for outdoor adventure and dining here. If you’re going camping, you can nip on a 1.75 of whatever whiskey you can find in a plastic handle and that’s a perfectly respectable way to get three sheets to the warming summer wind. But … [ Read more]
Spirits Close-Up: The Minnesconsin Old Fashioned – A “compromise” cocktail
April 29, 2019 by
Ask born-and-raised Minnesotans and they’ll give you an extensive list of differences between them and Wisconsinites or North and South Dakotans. Ask bartenders in the Twin Cities and they’ll tell you numerous confused-out-of-stater stories. Living in different states can feel like living in cultures as different as night and day, but for bartenders on the borders, … [ Read more]
Craft Cocktail: Morelos Sour at Popol Vuh
January 28, 2019 by
Bourbon sours are my fiancée’s favorite drink, so I’ve had plenty of practice making all their possible variations. The challenge with sours is they get too sweet in a hurry. Bourbon is a comparatively sweet whiskey, pre-made “sour” mix isn’t sour in the least, and a rich syrup can leave the drink feeling heavy. It … [ Read more]
Salt: The secret agent in cocktails
July 25, 2018 by
Bartenders often add salt to cocktails. Not just the stuff that lays dormant on the rim of your margaritas and bloody marys, salt is also stirred or shaken right into your drinks. Because salt has a very particular set of skills, in the right amount, it will lay low among all the other ingredients like … [ Read more]
Photos: How bartenders at Eat Street Social come up with new cocktails (and 4 to try now)
January 26, 2017 by Leave a Comment
If you’ve spent time in a restaurant kitchen, you look forward to the day when chefs test out new recipes. Dishes will make their way around the line, being tasted and critiqued by prep cooks and sous chefs, and whoever else is lucky enough to be around, before they’re brought to the executive chef for consideration. … [ Read more]
