A little R&D and brainstorming session at Citizen Public House’s hidden upstairs bar. Work can be tough.

Travis Nass (Rancho Pinot), Jason Asher (Magnum), Bill DeGroot (Consultant), Richie Moe (Citizen Public House), Ross Simon (Consultant), Micah Olsen (Jade Bar)… these are local names you should know.

Say hello to our kings of cocktails. These guys know their shit. Don’t order off the menu, a little trust goes a long way with these master mixologists. Ask them to surprise you with something new and you’re guaranteed a fantastic drink… sometimes classic, sometimes original.  Expect perfection.

If you stalk me on Foursquare, Facebook or Twitter you’ve seen my extensive research, chronicling the surge of true cocktail culture hidden throughout the Valley. I thought I’d share some pics and comments here on the blog.

Dear Brand X Custom T-Shrits, I need an “Official Cocktail Taste Tester” t-shirt, size medium.

Looking for choco-tinis, mundane mojitos or Red Bull vodkas? Stick to the ridiculous champagne bars, trashy/trendy dance clubs or Applebee’s happy hours.

The purpose of these visits will be revealed soon. (once I figure that out myself). Til then, just enjoy some boozy pics. Salud.

What’s the sexiest thing in this picture? (taken at Modern Steak)

A perfect Pendennis Club at Jade Bar, a new (old) favorite drink.

Pisco Sour at Citizen Public House.

Fireside imbibe at Camelback Inn.

The legendary Yuzu Beet Gimlet at Jade Bar.

No boring margs at Jade Bar.

This pea appears to be sunning itself poolside.

Winding down at The Vig.

PS --- Craft beer culture is hot too, but that’s another story. (Taste of Tops)

–Moment of honestly, I work with Citizen Public House. They rock. Now you know.

See, I told you I was NOT drunk when I tweeted this story...

After a limited 5 days in the city, I’m woefully under qualified to declare a “Best Bar”… but I’m gonna do it anyway. So there.

Don’t expect detailed descriptions… after all, I was drinking like a champ.

Death + Company

Took me three tries to get into this place! No rezzos, but if you show up and give them your number, they’ll buzz you when a spot is open. Worth the 1.5 wait? Yes. (Tip, go around the corner some badass brooklyn style pizza. Seriously, go.

The graphic design nerd in me fell in love with the playful menu. The alcoholic in me loved the drinks and service. Dark and mysterious.

http://www.deathandcompany.com/lounge

Angel Share

By far, this was the most-recommended bar by all tweeps and peeps. Walk up narrow stairs into a busy little Japanese restaurant. Make a sharp left turn and pull open the unmarked wooden door…. bingo. One of my favorite drinks of the entire trip was a cinnamon and fuji apple laced take on a classic. A soft shell crab salad was a perfect light nibble, ordered from the restaurant next door.

No Website

PDT

I can’t say much about this place. Seriously. (Stands for Please Don’t Tell). Think hotdogs + phone booths. Secret spot hidden in the most unlikely of places.

Order a bacon infused Old Fashioned with your hotdog. Don’t expect big blowup of  bacon flavor in your mouth or a stick of bacon bobbing in the drink. This a beautifully balanced and boozy drink.

http://www.pdtnyc.com

Pegu Club

Drumroll…. THE WINNER. By far, the cocktail king of this trip was Pegu Club. In fact, I went a second night because it was just that good. Every single vessel was victorious and drew dramatic sighs of bliss from our group.

Best cocktail of the trip: The Earl Grey MarTEAni. The body shutters with each sip of this sexy love potion. This may have been the best drink of my life. Shout-out to Kenta behind the bar. You are a god among men.

http://www.peguclub.com

má pêche

Although it’s not a bar, honorable mention goes out to má pêche of the momofuku restaurant clan. Our prix fixe lunch was terrific, but the cocktails left us buzzing. (literally). My traveling companion made it a point to seek out the bartender and give thanks for the splendid sippers.

http://www.momofuku.com/ma-peche

-JxP

Taking a cue from our server at Tinderbox Kitchen in Flagstaff, @azhotdish @petitefromageAZ @DoesntTweetAZ @thewildlavender and I braved the icy 40-degree weather and walked to a new cocktail joint in downtown Flag.

The cutting winds nearly froze me to the concrete. For a moment, I didn’t think I could go on. Luckily, Joel (@azhotdish) picked me up and carried my shivering body to the bar.

He was like my bar mule, and I was thankful.

I hitched my mule outside our destination; The Piano Room. You enter this “speakeasy” through a narrow doorway in the alley, walk up a few steps and your in a small bar surrounded by large brick walls and warm lighting. Think ski lodge rather than speakeasy. Cute and cozy with intimate tables, a handsome bar and even a VIP nook big enough to accommodate all 5 of us (including my mule).

The server was very kind and enthusiastically bragged on the Italy-trained chefs turned bar owners that infuse their own vodka in the basement below. Very cool! Clearly the place to be in Flagstaff.

The actual menus were a neat idea, but a little rough looking… Printed and pasted inside old books from the Flagstaff library. Laura suggested a little glu-stick on the menus might make them more presentable. The pages with actual menu items were randomly placed throughout the books, making it tricky to navigate.

At $8 bucks a pop, we all found interesting cocktails that were also easy on the pocket book.

And then it happened.

Yep. Those are frozen water balloons in the drinks.

According to the server, the owners/chefs decided that regular ice watered down the cocktails too much when melted.

1. You know that yummy latex taste when you blow up a balloon? Yeah, now make a drink with that.
2. It was like a birthday party with the colors of balloons served in our drinks. Blue, yellow…etc.
3. The balloons were so big and the glasses so small, the actual cocktail was probably only 1.5 oz or so. ($8 bucks)

The positive: The place has the bones of a winner. In fact, I really think it should be a winner. Lower the lights, fix the menus, and don’t ruin your handcrafted, house-infused drinks with rubber (or latex, or whatever balloons are made of these days).

Luckily, my fresh grapefruit juice cocktail was served tall, sans balloon. There were some interesting and good things happening with everyone ‘s cocktails too, but we just couldn’t get past the balloons.

Bottom line, I’d love another reason to visit Flagstaff regularly! Hoping to come back up soon and I will certainly stop by again.

Hell, I might even save on gas and ride my mule.

-Your cocktail pal JxP

The Piano Room – Flagstaff, Arizona
http://theflagstaffpianoroom.com
No number available

Am I the only one who enjoys eating the pith of an orange? It’s that white spongy layer between the outer skin and the juicy flesh of the fruit.

Looking online, I see folks include the pith in marmalades, but are there any other culinary uses for it? I’ve eaten candied peels. What else is there?

And yes, I eat the entire orange garnish, pith and all, in my beloved Negroni cocktails.

On the caloric chopping block: my beloved cocktails. (By the way… I’ve always wanted to write “my beloved cocktails”)

Does anyone have experience with cutting out the sugar while keeping the booze? How does Splenda work in a drink? Awful? Good?

Do you have a favorite low-cal cocktail?

C’mon. Let’s work together on my waistline and still support my alcoholism.

When life gives you shitty rainy weather… shake up a Dark ‘n Stormy, I say!

Looking outside tonight, my booze hoarding has prepared me for anything Mother Nature has to throw at us in these end of days. I’ve stocked the bar with assorted rum as if the Armageddon is just around the corner.

If you see a zonked out, asiany-looking guy floating down University Drive, please be kind.

Throw him a lime wedge.

Make a Dark n’ Stormy:

Shake 1.5oz Cruzan gold rum with .75oz  lime juice.
Strain into Collins glass.
Top with ginger beer and give a gentle stir.
(Reed’s is best, in my opinion)
Float .75 Cruzan Black Strap rum on top.

It’s no big news that folks are getting more savvy to monitoring their brands on social media. Even the little guys.

On a recent food-binge Sunday (Metro, The Mission, Caffe Boa, Classic Italian, Caffe Boa again,) we chose Classic Italian Pizza for dinner. As usual, I checked in via Brightkite (which updates both my Twitter and Facebook statuses.) I happily tweeted praises and photos of our perfect pies.

Halfway through the meal, a young waitress stops by our table and asks, “Which one of you is Ty?”

I sulk in my seat and slowly raise my hand.

She smiles and explains that the owner was monitoring my activity from home. He called and asked her to find out who I was. Yikes!

Another example: This past weekend, I was downtown at Hanny’s during another binge night (Hanny’s, The District, and St. Francis.) I checked in with Brightkite and ordered a classic Sidecar.

The drink earned my signature and dreaded “Cocktail Abortion” tweet (too much Cointreau turned it into a froo froo sweetsie drink.) It’s a nasty tweet, I know.

Disclaimer: Here’s where I speculate… but my observations were confirmed by my cocktailing friend.

A few minutes after the tweet, we saw the server and bar staff pointing our direction and talking. Sure enough, the server appears minutes later with two new cocktails for us.

His explanation was awkward as he nervously set down the glasses. He claimed that the bar mistakenly made extra drinks of our exact order. No charge.

We thanked him and he walked back to join the bar staff as they watched us drink the reattempted offerings.

Coincidence? Or maybe I was just over-sensitive from my recent “outing” at Classic Italian. I’ll never know because I didn’t ask. I was pretty freaked.

Regardless, I’ve prepared myself for future incidents resulting from my public eating & tweeting. I’ll be ready to stand by my comments. I’m sure as hell not a journalist, but it’s probably a good idea for me to establish ethics and rules of engagement with businesses, owners, etc.

I’ll be ready next time. Bring it on.

Do you have a similar story?

P.S. Jay W., I know you stalk me too.

This ain’t your sweetie cola, pink-dyed sugar, pre-made mixers bar. We’re talking the basic essentials of a solid at-home bar program. If you’re making crowd-pleasing froo froo cocktails on NYE, this might not be the post for you. (Although I love my froo froos too too!)

Using the right coupons and a little patience, you can save money and stock a handsome bar for under a hundred bucks at Total Wine.

The trick? Knowing which bottling companies own which products… that way you can use stack coupons. As you walk through the store, look for coupons attached to the bottles. Although the photos on the coupons only show 2-3 examples of sale brands, the fine print opens the sale to many others. You’re generally not interested in buying multiple bottles of Jim Beam, but you could spread those $30 savings to include their other products!

NOTE: The photo includes some extra items outside the budget that I happen to personally love. C’mon, budget smudget I need Campari in my life.

Once stocked, celebrate with an Gin Aviation!
(Recipe on Facebook page.)

Thanks for readying! Cheers!