SPIRITS
By Nanette Wiser
Artisan cocktails, summer shandys and tiki drinks are all the rage this summer. Seeing a Rays home game just got more delicious. New to the Tropicana Field line-up for 2021 are Beans & Barlour’s boozy desserts and milkshakes including cotton candy and caramel and peanut butter milkshakes. Local faves back at bat are Coppertail Brewing Company and Kahwa Coffee.
Upstairs at Dr. BBQ, Burnt Ends Tiki Bar is the newest tropical escape in the EDGE district. Beverage Director and tiki enthusiast Dean Hurst’s brilliant menu of lei’d back classics are delish. His home tiki bar and collection of tiki mugs are just the tip of his passion for craft rum distilleries. He ran the bar program at The Hukilau from 2014 – 2019. His favorite tikis come from a local artist who designs them (www.eekumbookum.com) as well as those collected on his travels.
Burnt Ends’ classic tiki cocktail menu is audacious, featuring Mai Tais with Jamaican rum, dry curacao, fresh lime juice and house-made orgeat or the Mr. Bali Hai offering big, bold rum flavors matched with coffee and pineapple notes. We loved the Three Dots and a Dash, an ode to the famed Chicago tiki bar, which stands out for its use of Rhum Agricole, Martinique and Demerara rums, pimento, falernum, orange and lime juices, honey mix and angostura. For non-rum libations, sample the Port Light made with bourbon or Saturn gin-based cocktail with delicious falernum, passionfruit and orgeat.
What’s brewing around town? Mad Beach Brewing is opening a second location in the former Melting Pot location on 4th St. N, called Sesh, later this year. New to Clearwater is Southern Lights Brewery, specializing in handcrafted small-batch ales and lagers especially the summery Aison/Saison (formerly Rise), a traditional farmhouse ale with floral and spice notes. 3 Daughters Brewing Raspberry Hard Selzer, Beach Blonde Ale and Florida Orange IPA are sensational summer sips and serves up live music Fri.-Sat. and trivia/games.
FATHER’S DAY DRINK
Cherry Smash
- 6 fresh or frozen dark sweet cherries, pitted and halved (1 1/2 ounce)
- 1 ½ ounces whiskey
- 1 teaspoon chocolate flavor syrup
- ½ teaspoon of vanilla extract
In a 10- to 12-ounce old-fashioned glass, muddle cherries, whiskey, syrup, and vanilla with a fork. Add ice.