A Guide to Five Must-Have Drinking Experiences in the U.S
A Tommy's Margarita at its bar of origin, a shot of Angostura bitters on an island in Michigan and other travel-worthy drinking experiences around the States.
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The U.S is a massive country filled with all sorts of bizarre drinking traditions and cocktail history. I could be here all day writing about it, but alas I have a book to write instead, so apologies while I focus most of my attention there until the final manuscript is due in November (yes, I’m just slightly stressed haha).
What you do need to know is that there’s an awesome, information-filled book called The United States of Cocktails by Brian Bartels that I can’t recommend enough. It has information on every single U.S state, including the bucket list bar to visit, the oldest bar, popular spirits or cocktails in each place, and other fascinating tidbits that might just inspire you to plan your own real life American road trip. (Purchase it here on Amazon.)
While Brian’s book is significantly more robust than my list below, these are five drinking experiences in the States that I’ve either had myself and highly recommend, or are on my bucket list as well (most of which fall into the latter). It’s obviously not an extensive list, but they’re a few which I think are pretty dope for one reason or another.
1. A shot of Angostura bitters at Nelsen’s Hall & Bitters Club (Washington Island, Michigan)
On Washington Island—a remote destination located off the tip of a tiny peninsula, surrounded by Lake Michigan in the northernmost part of Wisconsin—there’s a local bar called Nelsen’s Hall & Bitters Club.
At this remote bar, locals take shots of Angostura bitters, the ubiquitous, yellow-topped bottle with an oversized label that’s most commonly employed in Old Fashioned and Manhattan cocktails — both of which call for the popular bitters to season the cocktails. If you take a shot while attending the hall, you earn the privilege of adding your name to a fifty-year ledger and receive a card denoting club membership. According to the card you receive as an initiated member of the “Bitters Club,” that shot means you are “now considered a full-fledged islander and are entitled to mingle, dance, etc. with all the other islanders.”
I can’t say that I’ve ever had the pleasure of visiting the bar yet, but if you’re keen for a drink-related expedition with a hefty dose of cocktail history, this drinking experience is definitely one for the bucket list. And while you’re there, try the Wisconsin Brandy Old Fashioned, too (read my story about it in Wine Enthusiast). It’s just as peculiar as the shot of Ango.
2. Having a cocktail in Hudson, NY where the definition of the word “cocktail” first appeared in print in 1806
I lived in Hudson before the pandemic, and a large part of the reason why Hudson was calling me was because of its rich cocktail history. Not only is it the place where the definition of the word cocktail first appeared in print in 1806, it’s also where the late Sasha Petraske, a bar industry legend who pioneered the contemporary cocktail renaissance, consulted on his last bar project (Wm. Farmer & Sons).
If you find cocktail history as romantic as I do, then a trip up to Hudson where there’s plenty of quaint shops, art galleries, century-old architecture and exceptional bars and restaurants is a trip to consider. Popping by Wm. Farmer & Sons for a Petraske-grade cocktail is requisite — it’s something I do every time I go back to visit — but also pay a visit to my friends at Lawrence Park where I used to work and run the cocktail program. You might just fall in love with the city as much as I did.
3. Drink a Tommy’s Margarita at Tommy’s Mexican Restaurant (San Francisco, California)
At most cocktail bars, the Tommy’s Margarita remains the modern house standard; and if it’s not, you can call the drink by name and almost any bartender at any cocktail bar around the world will know what you’re talking about. The Tommy’s style, which was developed by Julio Bermejo in the late 1980s, is a balance of blanco tequila, fresh lime juice and agave syrup shaken and served on the rocks, whereas the classic Margarita is made with tequila, lime and orange liqueur or curaçao and served up.
Thanks to bartending legend Bermejo who stepped in to revamp the beverage program at his family restaurant, dedicating his efforts to stocking unadulterated premium tequila and fresh ingredients at a time when sour mix was the norm and cocktails weren’t given much thought or effort, we’re all able to enjoy a superior Margarita that wouldn’t be possible without his influence.
For tequila and Margarita lovers, a trip to Tommy’s Mexican Restaurant where the beloved modern classic was born is an essential pilgrimage. To learn about the cocktail’s full origin story, read about how Tommy’s Margarita became a modern classic in Punch.
4. Have a Mojito or Daiquiri at Café La Trova in Little Havana (Miami, Florida)
Cuba has one of the richest cocktail histories in the world, and at the center of it is the cantinero—a rigorously trained breed of Cuban bartender. They’ve dedicated their lives to championing pre-Prohibition and Prohibition-era Cuban cocktails, memorizing over 200 traditional recipes, learning a range of techniques and committing to the lifestyle required to be a cantinero.
There are just over 1,200 cantineros remaining, and about 100 of them work in the U.S. To see some of these exceptional bartenders work in real life, head to Miami's Little Havana neighborhood and have a Daiquiri or Mojito at the award-winning Café La Trova (currently #21 on the World’s 50 Best Bars list).
There, Cuban-born cantinero Julio Cabrera pays homage to his home country by way of a full-service café with a ventanita window, live Cuban music, quintessential Cuban bar snacks like empanadas and croquetas, and a traditional cantinero bartending school led by Cabrera himself. It’s a rare microcosm of Cuban cocktail culture in America (and offers some of the best mojitos in the country). I still haven’t been, but it’s at the top of my list for bars to visit whenever I make it back to the States.
5. A Mint Julep at the Kentucky Derby
Each year, almost 120,000 Mint Juleps are served over the two-day period of Kentucky Oaks and Kentucky Derby weekend at Churchill Downs Racetrack. That’s a feat that requires more than 10,000 bottles of Old Forester Mint Julep Ready-to-Serve Cocktail, 1,000 pounds of freshly harvested mint and 60,000 pounds of ice. It’s a full-on situation and arguably one of the greatest displays of modern American drinking that there is.
I’ve still not been to a Kentucky Derby, but I have visited the grounds while hanging out with the Woodford Reserve team in 2018 and it left me with aspirations of coming back one day for the sophisticated occasion. Having a Mint Julep there is one of those drinking experiences that you’re guaranteed to remember for a lifetime, putting it on my American drinking wish list. And it should be on yours, too.
Thank you for giving me more inspiration to keep on living, and get traveling again to enjoy these great suggestions !