We spent a cold and rainy Friday night dining at the bar at Serpas.  We were joined by two wonderful ladies who have been following our [tag]52 Weeks of Drinks[/tag] postings and wanted to join the fun – Doreen & Michele.  If you have never been to Serpas – you must geaux.  [tag]Serpas is in the Old Fourth Ward[/tag] and is part of  Studioplex.  The chef/owner has South Louisiana roots so you will see a nice selection of Abita beer, bar tenders sporting fleur de lis ties, and andouille sausage stuffed into things.  The space is open and vibrant and the food is yummy.

We also love the manager – Matt.  He is a handsome strapping lad with impeccable taste in clothing who will never steer you wrong on wine, food, or cocktails.  Look at him mixing it up behind the bar with Mike, our wonderful bartender!

The cocktail list is one of the most creative we have seen and changes seasonally.  Most of the original drinks are named after songs – see if you can guess the artists.   Two of the seasonal cocktails included fresh muddled apples and spice – one was served warm.

As comforting as those sounded on a rainy night, we went for drinks that helped us pretend it was a warm summer afternoon.  Ashley and Michele went with the Relax – a refreshing cocktail served up with Praire Organic Vodka, organic green tea, mint, fresh citrus, and lavender syrup.

Don’t forget our ratings scale is between 1 and 5 Olives.  One Olive = waste of my blogging time;  5 Olives = oh my goodness/yummmmm

Ashley’s rating on the Relax:

Presentation:  4 of 5 olives

Taste: 5 of 5 olives

Creativity: 4 of 5 olives

Overall: 4.5 of 5 olives – damn delicious!

I opted for the Debaser - served in a champagne flute with a burnt orange garnish - it includes Plymouth sloe gin, orange bitters, VeeV acai berry liquor, and cava (sparkling white wine).  This bubbly drink was very refreshing and had a unique taste.  Despite the fact that all of the ingredients were some form of alcohol – it did not taste like it had any – but in a good way.  (Mike even kindly explained to us the difference between sloe gin and regular gin.)

Alison’s ratings on the Debaser:

Presentation:  5 of 5 olives

Taste: 4 of 5 olives

Creativity: 5 of 5 olives

Overall: 4.5 of 5 olives – cheers!

I have not looked back to confirm, but I think this round may have been the best-scoring to date.  Creative and tasty!  Test your music skills – the cocktail list had songs by The Pixies, The Smiths, Frankie Goes to Hollywood and others - see if you can name the artists.