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Grab a cup of cheer with these holiday coffee drinks in Austin (Credit: Houndstooth Coffee)
Guest article by Angela Bowers
The holiday season is brimming with busyness in Austin. From hitting Trail of Lights, to shopping downtown, to decorating your home, the only way to make it through is by drinking LOTS of coffee.
I’ve set out to taste the best hot coffee drinks around town. Here are five of my favorites. Enjoy!
4th Tap Brewing Co-op in North Austin
I’d like to talk about beer.
Since Austin is really starving for microbreweries right now, it’s nice to finally see one open up. JOKING. It’s actually quite the opposite. Honestly, I can’t go a day at work without some craft beer snob gloating about this new hops-shop he/she “discovered.”
Bottom line, there’s no shortage of microbreweries around here, so it can be overwhelming to find one that will suit all your needs. That said, I totally want to tell you about this new microbrewery, 4th Tap Brewing Co-op, that I discov…uh…that just opened up in North Austin. #hypocrite [Read more…]
Cooler temperatures are finally here. If, like me, you’re not a fan of 100-degree temperatures and castigating sun rays, you’re probably celebrating.
What better way to celebrate the cold and welcome the holidays than to partake in a couple of wintry craft cocktails from some of Austin’s best locally-owned establishments? Here are eight to get you started. Cheers! [Read more…]
You can find almost any food or drink you want, crafted right here in the Austin area. As far as adult beverages go, we have locally-made beers, vodkas, gins and wines. But until recently, we didn’t have a distillery dedicated exclusively to producing a proud Texas rye whiskey.
Kooper Family Whiskey Co. is changing that.
For the first time ever, Austinites can enjoy a locally-aged rye whiskey for their shooting, slurping, sipping and cocktailing pleasure. This 100% rye combines the two essential ingredients you need to stand out in a market crowded with great spirit selections: a great story, backed by a great product. [Read more…]
Wall of beer barrels at Adelbert’s Brewery
Walking into the taproom at Adelbert’s Brewery is like stumbling upon a country chic party. Hip music fills the air. Dart boards, foosball and ping pong tables stand ready to be played. Racks full of barrels containing sleeping beer, some resting for weeks, others for years, serves as the back wall. An inviting combination of warm and cool.
In the ever-changing ocean of Texas beer, Adelbert’s has been brewing Belgian styles for years. And with a heart towards charity, innovation and quality, it remains a flagship brand in the expanding craft beer scene.
Founded in 2011, the Adelbert’s mission has never wavered: create authentic Belgian beer in Austin, Texas. Thanks to this focus, they became one of the first “widely [Read more…]
Entering Texas Keeper’s cidery in south Austin (Credit: Victor Parra)
Fall is the time for apple harvesting, and cideries are hard at work preparing batches of freshly-pressed apple juice for aging and fermenting. Nothing makes me crave a glass of cider quite like dropping temperatures, crackling fires and turning leaves. Luckily, Austin has a few locally-made ciders to oblige my craving.
There’s no doubt that a craft cider movement is brewing in Austin, and Texas Keeper is at the forefront with a new (and amazing) tasting room due to open its doors on Dec. 5, 2015. [Read more…]
Credit: Lisa Taylor
Ah, dive bars. Places with lights so dim, you can barely see the dirt on your pint glass. Where the beer-soaked wood creeks under your boot, between skips from the jukebox. Where you can’t tell whether the wall is holding up the dusted rows of decades-deep décor, or vice-versa. Where the hangover comes in smell-form. Where the only good Tinder dates ever happen.
I could go on, but you get the point. Roll up your sleeves, my fellow patrons. We’re about to go diving. But before I list a few of my local favorites, let’s clear something up. If a dive bar says it’s a dive bar, it isn’t a dive bar. Don’t get me wrong; there are plenty of quality, local watering holes around town. But not all dives are created equal, and that’s my point. A good bar is like a good guitar. The more history it has, the more authentic it becomes. [Read more…]
Editor’s Note: Chameleon was purchased by Nestle in November 2017.
Cold brew coffee is growing in popularity around the U.S. and in Austin specifically. But I’ll be the first to admit I used to have no clue what cold brew really meant.
As it turns out, cold brew is not taking hot coffee and pouring it over ice. So what is it? I decided to go to locally-crafted and consciously-brewed Chameleon Cold-Brew for the answer. After all, they proclaim to be “The very best coffee you will ever taste. Period.” [Read more…]
Inside Once Over Coffee Bar (Credit: Katie Spence)
It sits quietly and unassumingly. You’ve likely walked right past without stepping inside because it seamlessly blends with its surroundings.
Once Over Coffee Bar is a well-kept secret that proudly claims the “Tiniest Dog Park In Texas,” along with stellar coffee and beer. And it happens to be owned by a likable, down-to-earth couple who live within walking distance of their patch of caffeinated utopia. [Read more…]
Credit: Brewers Association
Every year just after Autumn makes its debut and white becomes taboo, a bearded band of Austin brewers makes its way to Denver, Colorado. Their mission? To serve beer at the Great American Beer Festival to an audience of over 60,000 craft beer aficionados from around the world, and compete against over 1,500 breweries from around the country. The Austin contingent of brewers totaled 15 this year, a full third of all breweries that hailed from the state of Texas.
If you tried three different beers a day at Great American Beer Festival, it would still take you almost three and a half years to get through every beer within the festival hall. I had three days. It was a daunting task, to be sure, but one accepted without hesitation. Somebody has to do it, right? [Read more…]