Best Cocktails in Austin: Austinot Blogger Edition

There’s a coffee shop/bar in downtown Austin with this decadent drink waiting for you. Friends and strangers are there. Musicians, artists, actors, bankers and software nerds wander in and out.

Order the Chocolate Expresso Martini at Halcyon before you sign onto the Net or text your friend. It will make you question what reality is. Congratulations. Socrates said the unexamined life is not worth living. Now yours is.

Aristocrat Lounge: Mission Statement

Mission Statement at The Aristocrat Lounge

Edwin Ochoa

My favorite cocktail, the Mission Statement, can be found at The Aristocrat Lounge on Burnet. Mission Statement is their take on an Old Fashioned, made with Mission Fig infused bourbon, muddled lemon, demerara syrup and angostura bitters. This concoction is slightly sweeter than a traditional Old Fashioned. The fig sits nicely in the background, as does the angostura. It’s a tasty and balanced drink for the bourbon drinker or old geezer in you.

The Aristocrat opened its doors November 2014 in the space formerly occupied by Poodle Dog Lounge. You can still find painted poodle dogs throughout the bar and they have several pool tables and skeeball. The interior is a mix of dive bar and speakeasy with plenty of seating and sparse lighting. If cocktails aren’t your thing, the bar offers a small but respectable craft beer selection and wine. The frozen hot toddy is also a must try. It’s a neighborhood bar with wide appeal on the northern edge of Austin’s booming Burnet Road.

6507 Burnet Road

Dozen Street: Clover Club

Clover Club at Dozen Street

Kelli McDonald

I recently wrote about Dozen Street, the artsy eastside bar of my dreams, so I knew I wanted to feature a cocktail there. Since choosing an unequivocal favorite made my palms sweat, I went with a delicious classic with some interesting history: the Clover Club.

The recipe is fairly simple. It includes gin, lemon juice, raspberry syrup and an egg white. The egg white acts as an emulsifier, creating the foamy texture, and also adds to the beauty of this pink drink. The pink hue caused Esquire to dub the Clover Club a drink for “pansies” in 1934, and “something for the girls” in 1949. Yet, this drink was named after a historic men’s club in Philadelphia whose members met once a month from 1882 until the 1920’s at the Bellevue-Stratford hotel. They were known to joke around, eat and drink heavily and heckle their guest speakers.

This cocktail didn’t gain popularity outside of Philadelphia until 1910 in New York, where William Butler Yeats was said to have fallen in love with the drink. Esquire has since apologized for their stereotypical Clover Club classification because anyone that appreciates a strong, visually appealing and texturally interesting drink knows this classic is perfection.

1808 E 12th Street

Apis Restaurant and Apiary: The Apiary

The Apiary at Apis Restaurant and Apiary (Credit: Paul Brick)

Cris Mueller

A classically blended collection of simple and natural flavors creates the perfect sipper for any whiskey loving girl, like myself! Lemon, sarsaparilla, dry curacao and Texas bourbon infused with honeycomb from Apis’ onsite bee hives make up this namesake beverage at one of my new favorite concepts in town.

23526 Hwy 71, Spicewood, TX

CU29: Devil’s Honey

Devil’s Honey at CU29

Edgar Barguiarena

Craft beer fans don’t get much love when it comes to cocktails. Cu29 aims to change that with the Devil’s Honey craft cocktail, an inspired combination of Fox Barrel Pear Cider and Real Ale’s Devils Backbone, a potent Belgian-style Tripel with strong notes of honey.

To top it all off, Cu29 adds a honeycomb dipper with copious amounts of locally sourced honey. The end result is a sweet cocktail that is not quite cider or beer, but the best parts of both.

720 Brazos Street

Somersault: Broken Down Tibetan Mule

Broken Down Tibetan Mule at Somersault

Brittany Highland

All I have to do is mention the name of this craft cocktail, and you’re immediately interested. Served in a mason jar with a heaping spoon of fig jam, the Broken Down Tibetan Mule combines Grey Goose Le Citron, King’s Ginger and lime juice topped with ginger-lemon foam. It’s too photogenic to taste, but once you stir in that fig jam and lick off your spoon, there’s no going back.

The Domain’s speakeasy-style craft cocktail lounge serves up some of the most innovative drinks in the city, along with a rotating menu of upscale jello shots (referred to as “edible cocktails”). If you appreciate the work of a skilled mixologist, it’s more than worth the drive north to visit Somersault.

11601 Domain Drive

@theAustinot wants to know:

In your opinion, what is the best cocktail in Austin?