So, call us slack.  We just did not go out to one of the many fabulous remaining bars/restaurants for a drink this past week.  We had a lot going on and wanted to hang out with our friends, Matt, Sarah, and their kid – who is quite frankly not old enough to go into a bar (and Alison and I always complain when there are babies in BARS.)

We had delicious meal with them at their home – they fancy themselves amateur chefs and I tend to agree with them.  Matt can certainly grill a pork tenderloin and Sarah makes the best damn desserts ever.  They sound just like a fabulous 1950′s couple…(but really, Sarah wears the pants.)  I digress.

Matt told me he had made this tequila concoction and we were dying to taste it.  I have named the drink “Mr. Baby“  in honor of their precious little boy whose name I just don’t feel like revealing because he is underage I guess. (Yet, he is obviously in my arms in this photo.)  Mr. Baby consists of a nice tequila, fresh squeezed lime (usually one whole lime per drink,) Agave Nectar, and Lemon Thyme simple syrup. Matt and Sarah have a wonderful amount of this lemon thyme herb in their garden and it added great flavor to this drink.  Oh, I forgot, that fresh blueberries can be smashed a bit and then placed in your glass for an extra pop.  YUM.

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

Presentation: 3.5 olives.  I think in real life, you could order this either on the rocks or up.  Ours was a combination…probably would like to see it less “rocky” in a martini glass next time, but I was not rude to say this to Matt’s face (just to the world here.)  The added color of the blueberries was wonderful.

Taste: 3.5 olives.  Again, before Abattoir, I would have given this a 4 olive rating.  I will tell you though that the more lemon thyme simple syrup that goes in, the better it is – and again, the blueberries tasted fantastic after sitting in the tequila for a while…

Creativity: 4 olives.  Easy yet nicely different.

Overall: 3.7 olives   Both Alison and I really loved the drink.  We certainly plan on making it at home and we will just have to borrow the lemon thyme from Matt and Sarah’s garden.   Of course, they will be invited too!

We have been meaning to get back to Leon’s in Decatur.  We went like the second week it was open and were not that impressed of the sister restaurant of the famous Brickstore.  Alas, we decided to finally give it another shot and loved loved loved it – especially the cheese plate.  Yummy.  Actually, all our food was just perfection – and not terribly expensive.  The pork chop was divine as well.

But on to the most important part of our meal – the cocktails of course.  We sat at the bar this past Sunday afternoon at like 4:30pm.  (We had not eaten since breakfast and were starving.) Chris and Juliet (pictured) greeted us and were both wonderful bartenders who shook cocktail shakers with such force, we thought their arms would fall off.  Seriously.  The specialty cocktails are concoctions of the famous Miles Macquarrie.

Chris told us to get the Bitter and Stoned and the Eagle and Wolf  – great names.   I ordered the Bitter and Stoned and Alison got the Eagle and Wolf.  We both thought these drinks were good Fall drinks.

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

The Bitter and Stoned consisted of  beefeater gin, Leon’s apricot ginger liqueur, cynar, fresh lemon, and house grapefruit bitters. Cynar is a bitter Italian aperitif with 13 herbs and plants (including the artichoke!)

Presentation: 4 olives – The color was gorgeous – served up – with a beautiful perfect small apricot lined across the glass on a small wooden stick.

Taste: 3 olives – After last week’s amazing drinks, we are having to up the anty on this thing.  I would have normally given this drink a 3.5 or 4 – but I just can’t now.  I really liked this drink.  At the end of a sip, the grapefruit bitters came out full force  – but I eventually liked that more than I thought I would.  It was a great tasting drink.

Creativity: 3.5 olives -I loved the apricot ginger liqueur and even though I could not taste artichoke in the Cynar, I liked the thought that my drink had 13 special herbs and plants including that artichoke.

Overall: 3.5 olives- Excellent drink that you should certainly try at Leon’s Full Service.  Watching them shake it made it even more fun.

Like I said, Alison got the Eagle and Wolf which consisted of rittenhouse bonded rye whiskey, carpano antica formula (huh?), plymouth sloe gin,  Regan’s orange bitters, and fernet branca (which was in a drink last week)  Lots of stuff in this drink, I tell ya.

Presentation: 3 olives   – Looked yummy

Creativity: 3.5 olives -  Nice mix of ingredients.  I was hoping this blend would cut the strong whiskey taste and lead to something more balanced…alas

Taste: 2.5 olives -  yeah – not balanced enough.  Our pal Frank can mix some excellent bourbon and whiskey cocktails that use ingredients to cut the taste and make them taste nice and smooth.  This particular mixture was too heavy on the whiskey flavor for me.  More of a fall/winter cocktail.

Overall: 3 olives -  I feel bad, but after last week, this is the best I can do.

Regardless, we shall be back to try more cocktails at Leon’s!

The bar has been raised this week.   Ashley and I joined the rest of the cool kids looking for the latest place to be seen on the Westside for this week’s drinks.  The word about town was that the place to be was [tag]Ormsby’s – a pub in the White Provisions building[/tag].  After a quick walk-through, we decided that we would save Ormsby’s for another Random Atlanta quest – maybe best beer list? best use of in-door games involving sand? bar with the most patrons wearing white Polos with the collars popped?

Instead, we went upstairs to the bar at [tag]Abattoir[/tag].  As soon as we walked through the door, we knew we had made the right decision for this week’s drinks.  This space is amazing – understated and classy, yet comfortable.  The menu features a small and ever-changing list of hand-crafted cocktails featuring house-infused liquors, homemade mixers, and wonderfully diverse flavors.

We had trouble deciding what to order because our bartender – and the artist behind the yummy goodness we soon consumed – is also mesmerizingly handsome.  But we should not objectify our bartenders/mixologists/makers-of-goodness, and you should know our bar-setting high ratings this week are not because we were hypnotized by Brian’s blue eyes.  They are because these drinks justify the entire 52 Week adventure.

We both ordered gin drinks, but you would never know it because they were completely different,yet equally delicious.  We paced ourselves and savored every sip.

I opted for the Westside.  Why not, when in the  Westside?  This cocktail featured house-made grapefruit soda, a dry London Gin, and Fernet Branca.  I suppose we should not be blogging about drinks if we have never heard of Fernat Branca, but I went to the website and still can’t tell you exactly what it is.  “Orange bitters” is just too much of an over-simplification.

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

The Westside:

Presentation: 5 olives.  Served on the rocks with a nice orange rind and a wooden stirrer.  No straw.  It would be a sad waste of this cocktail to suck it through a plastic straw.

Taste: 5 olives.  Perfect summertime gin drink.  I do not even care for grapefruit, but the house-made grapefruit soda was not too tart and was carefully balanced with the other flavors.  I had to resist the urge to clap.  Brian was way too cool for clapping, and he would have kicked us out.

Creativity: 5 olives.  I love when a drink is perfectly balanced and utilizes ingredients I simply will never have at home.  I will never make grapefruit soda.  Never.

Overall: 5 olives. What else can I say?

Ashley had the equally divine Chimney Swift, or as she kept calling it, the “Chimney Sweep .”   The Chimney Swift consists of house-infused blueberry gin, Vya, fresh-squeezed lime juice, orange curacao and thyme.  Vya is apparently “America’s Aperitif” and is “recognized as the finest vermouth on the planet.”

Presentation: 5 olives.  Served up in a stemless cocktail glass with a dark liquor-infused cherry waiting for you at the bottom of the glass.

Taste: 5 olives.  Neither Ashley not I care for sugary-sweet cocktails, and we get worried about any blueberry-infused anything.  But again, the house-infused blueberry gin was not too sweet and was perfectly paired with the citrus flavors and “America’s Aperitif.”  I though Ashley was going to pass out. Plus, she was so excited to not have cocktail envy.  She loved my drink as well, but felt hers way the best one ever made, ever.

Creativity: 5 olives.  Excellent combination of ingredients.  Who knew? The thyme was a nice touch.

Overall: 5 olives.  Bliss.

Brian carefully measured and stirred each of our drinks using precision.  Brian is not a fan of shaking very many cocktails.  And I would not question Brian on these things.

We can’t break our rule of reviewing more than 2 drinks, but the house-made ginger beer in a unique twist on this year’s “it” drink – the Dark and Stormy – also was wonderful and had a lovely presentation – pictured below.  Overall, we think anything you ordered on this menu would be amazing.   We also think that had we started our adventure here, we would have been more stingy with the “5 olives” rating.  Others who follow will face an up-hill battle to top Abattior.

We have decided to start going to real bars around the city.  We tend to go to restaurants for this drinking task – but only because we love food so much too.  This past weekend, though, we fancied it up a bit and got all dolled up and headed to the [tag]W Downtown[/tag] for the [tag]Drinkshop[/tag] experience.  Our good friends, Sierra and Ryan got all classy as well (not that they aren’t already classy) and joined us.

And what an experience it was! A Real Bar!  There is nothing better than watching a drink made with no soda guns, no pre-made nothing.  Everything is fresh – the fruit, the vegetable extractions, the 300 pound block of ice…it is all fabulous.  We were lucky to have Mitchell make drinks for us.  He explained every detail of the drink and made them with such precision…Alison and I could not figure out how they work in haste when the bar is actually full.  (We of course got there at 7pm.)

Mitchell made a few drinks – but we are rating only two:  The Devil’s Daisy (his own very unique concoction) and the Honey Paloma Fizz.  We will start with the Devil’s Daisy which included a number of items: (I hope I got them all) fresh lime juice, simple syrup, American Absinthe (St. George), mint, egg white, and Cointreau. Wow.

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

Alison rated the Devil’s Daisy pictured below:

Presentation: 5 olives.  The egg whites created a gorgeous frothy top and the bitters Mitchell spread on top of the egg whites made a delightful little drawing that looked kinda sorta like flowers.

Taste: 4 olives.  This is a difficult one.  The drink was very different and any kind of Absinthe in a drink can really mess with one’s head. But, the Absinthe was not over powering and the lime juice and cointreau helped make it receive 4 olives on the voting scale.

Creativity: 5 olives:  Mitchell deserves an award for this one.  Excellent and well planned concoction.

Overall: 4.5 olives.  Not a drink I would order every day (or every month for that matter) but it was worth a taste and it was fun watching precious Mitchell (as Ashley called him) prepare it for us.

Sierra had the honor of rating her drink.  The Honey Paloma Fizz consisted of lavender infused tequila, honey, ginger, grapefruit, lime, soda and was served tall.  Her post follows:

“The whatever it was called was a refreshing twist on the classic margarita. This is the sort of margarita that Nancy Reagan, an American icon of class, elegance and Republicanism, would drink in between séance communications with Ronnie. She, nor I, would dare “just say no” to this drink.

Presentation: 3 olives.  I suppose a simple presentation is in order for a simple drink. The highlight was the enormous ice-phallus.

Creativity:  3 olives. The drink consisted of an artful combination of flavors. I like the use of lavender – a beautiful flower in name, appearance and essence. I am rating it a 3 because I feel that the bartender/mixologist community is getting too high on themselves and their infused liquors, and I want to do my part to keep their egos in check.

Taste: 4 olives. Drinking this was like drinking a margarita flavored soda. It was the kind of drink that could get you into trouble. I prefer a little kick on the end of a cocktail – a little something to remember it by, like a twenty dollar bill on the dresser – and this was sadly absent.

Overall: 3.5 – Because Ashley’s was better.”

We certainly shall be back to Drinkshop.  Maybe we will come a little later in the evening when it becomes the real hip and sexy joint it is known for.

*This week, we were at yet another destination wedding, so our friends, Sarah and Phillip, were kind enough to post for us.  Their post follows.  Enjoy! 

When Ashley asked if we would guest blog for [tag]52 Weeks of Drinks[/tag] this week, initially I was really excited. Who needs to be asked twice to take yourself out for a great dinner and cocktails? But then I realized that neither one of us knows jack about cocktails. Of the two of us, Phillip is less of a cocktail drinker than I am. However, he’s lately been on the search for a sweet, yet manly, cocktail. So, at the very least, this would be a great learning experience for us!

We decided to head to [tag]JCT Kitchen[/tag] on the Westside. We love the atmosphere and super tasty comfort food on the menu. Nearly every dish has pork belly, so how can you go wrong?

Phillip has a major sweet tooth so he ordered the Strawberry Alarm Clock which includes fresh strawberries, lime, chachaca, brown sugar and balsamic sugar on the rocks. It is very pink, served in a high ball glass with a lime garnish – but very manly as you can tell in the photo…

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

Here are Phillip’s ratings:

Presentation – 3 olives
Creativity – 3 olives
Taste – 3 olives
Overall – 3 olives   – He’s a middle of the road kind of guy and says that the taste started off well with the strawberry, but ended up with too strong of a liquor taste. Overall, it was a decent, but mediocre and uninspired cocktail.

I tend to like a really fresh and light cocktail, so I ordered the Leaves of Grass, mostly for the ode to Walt Whitman. The cocktail included bison grass vodka, dolin blanc, lemongrass syrup and fresh tarragon, served up. It came in a martini glass, with little garnish. It wasn’t a particularly creative cocktail, but it was really tasty. On a hot afternoon, these went down way too easily!

My ratings are as follows:

Presentation – 3 olives
Creativity – 2 olives
Taste – 5 olives
Overall – 4 olives

Generally, we had a really great dinner experience. We highly recommend the Angry Mussels! I’m not sure I would order cocktails with dinner again, but definitely would sip either of these fine libations on their upper patio after work or a long day (where you can also order the mussels or other snacks). While we didn’t find Phillip’s ultimate cocktail combination, we eliminated a possibility, so hopefully we’re one step closer to the ideal. The search continues…

This week we used the fabulous [tag]Scoutmob[/tag] to try and get a deal and find a good place for cocktails.  We tried [tag]Amuse![/tag] but much to our dismay – no cocktail menu at all – just a “full bar.”  Not amusing.

The next day, we headed to the mountains of Highland, NC for the wedding of our our lovely friends Kim and Chip.  With little time to spare in Week 19, we decided to head to one of the bars at our swanky lodging, [tag]The Old Edwards Inn[/tag] for this week’s review.  When we entered the “library” bar – known as The Hummingbird Lounge, little did we know we were stepping into the Twilight Zone (insert creepy music here.) It is a beautiful place – no doubt.  Although there was no cocktail menu here either, the entire experience was worth a write-up.

It seems that this is THE place to be in Highlands, NC on a weekend night if you are a local.  “Local” seems to be people above the age of 55 who reside in the greater Atlanta area, but also own a second home in the Highlands  that may or may not have also been owned by their parents’ parents.  They also all seem to be connected to Julia Sugarbaker by 6 degrees of separation.  And by “home,” in the Highlands, we do not mean a rustic mountain cabin, we mean an estately manor with an interior designed by one of Atlanta’s finest designer’s who specializes in “mountain chic.”

Anyway, stereotypes aside,  all the locals stop by the Hummingbird Lounge for a cocktail before heading to their dinner reservations, or swing by for a night cap and smooth guitar playing after their 5:30 dinner is done. The piano fills the room from 5pm until 8, and then the guitar starts.  And does it start.  Ashley and I did not know any of the songs being played by the once famous Atlanta guitarist from the 1970′s.  Just to give you a taste of what we listened to, I have actually posted a short video from the evening.  Be sure to turn the sound up and also look for the old man with his bright green apple martini behind Alison.  

This week, we are rating Ashley’s classic dirty martini with Kettle One and three olives and my classic gin and tonic with Hendricks gin and a lime wedge.

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

Presentation: 5 olives.  Come on – we are in what was called the Hummingbird Lounge – people!  Our waiter, Jason, was precious and greeted us with a knowing look that said, “prepare yourselves, ladies.”

Creativity: 1 olive.  These were not creative drinks – but they were indeed spot on in a place like the Hummingbird Lounge.

Taste: 5 olives.  We could not have asked for tastier drinks. I am sure Jason makes a heck of a lot of dirty martinis and gin and tonics and they were spot on.  The dirty martini was perfect in its dirtiness and the gin and tonic was classic.

Overall:  4.5 olives.  Our evening was not what we expected and yet, it was memorable and wonderful – I know we shall be back!

We actually made it to an actual bar!  Bravo for us.  We went to [tag]East Atlanta’s Graveyard Tavern[/tag] for a very good “cause” on Saturday evening.  There, the Pinups for Pitbulls were doing a fundraiser for Atlanta Bully Rescue – a local fabulous non-profit dedicated to helping the pit bulls and bully breeds around our city.

If you know one thing about me and Alison – it should be known that we rescue pit bull mixes – because there are so many that have been abandoned and neglected in Atlanta.  Makes me sick.  Anyway, I will not get on that kick right now except to say that we went to the Graveyard for a fundraiser for bully breeds- and we had a great time!

We plopped down at the bar looking hot as ever and met Tara, the bar manager.  She told us she had just the drink for us to taste- one she made up called the Skittle.  Are you ready?  Consisting of blueberry, cherry,vanilla, raspberry, citrus, orange, blackberry, strawberry, apple, and grape VODKAS... it also has a splash of sprite, cranberry juice and a top off (although not much room left in the pint size glass) of grenadine.  Notice the proud look in Tara’s eyes as she shows off her concoction.

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

Presentation: 2 olives – It was indeed a very large vodka drink and it was the color of a red skittle – but not much going for the presentation factor.

Creativity:  3 olives – Tara made this up for a vodka drinker who likes a serious stiff and pretty sweet drink (aka [tag]Michael Benoit[/tag])  She decided to put a crap ton of fruity vodkas together and see what she could come up with.   One drink and you are almost drunk.

Taste:  3.5 olives – Well, first, it indeed tastes like a Skittle – a cherry one at that.  It was a bit too sweet for my taste, but Alison did not think so.  She enjoyed the whole damn thing!

Overall: 3 – A great bar drink for sweet vodka lovers – and poured by Tara is even better!

Alison had another drink that consisted of rum and ginger beer.  I am not writing on it because I am too lazy, but here is hot Alison holding the bottle of the rum that came in it in this great photo!

We will be back to the Graveyard Tavern.  We loved the ambiance and the food was excellent.  If you do not like smoke, get there early.  If you don’t smoke and stay out late, take a shower when you get home!  I think we stayed out until almost midnight!

I love when old friends come into town – not old like old old, but friends who I have known since I was a wee child of 19 years of age.  Okay, maybe they are old.  Anyway, I digress.  Two of my best friends from college, Melanie and Martha, came into town for the weekend. On Friday, we decided to go to [tag]Dogwood Restaurant in Midtown [/tag]for a lovely meal before going to see the band, [tag]My Morning Jacket[/tag].  (Yes, we are that cool…)

Anyway, we met Alison at Dogwood and tried out their cocktails.  They have a nice list – but only a few of them are concoctions of their own.  We were told to try the Bourbon Apple Pie and the Orange Vanilla Mojito.  We got one of each and all tasted it – but we asked Melanie and Martha to do the ratings of each.  AND Alison and I agree completely with what Martha and Mel came up with. (Don’t judge us on the amount of drinks in the photo below…) 

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

We will start with the Bourbon Apple Pie.  This drink consisted of apple and cinnamon infused Makers Mark, apple cider, caramel sweet vermouth, bitters, with cherries as the garnish.  Talk about sounding sweet!  Here is Melanie’s review below.

“If you’re in the mood for a sweet start or a sweet finish and you’re not afraid of dark liquor, this is the drink for you! There’s not much artistic or literary license here. This is a drink that tastes like its name…and that’s a good thing.

Presentation: 4 olives – The rocks glass suggested a “gentleman’s drink” but I doubt that’s who’s ordering it.  Notice Ashley and me enjoying the cherries in the photo…

Creativity: 3 olives – Flavor combination isn’t exactly new or unique.

Taste: 4 olives – If you can get past the Makers Mark, you’re in for a sweet treat.

Overall: 4 olives – This is a “sip by the fire” kind of drink. You’d look a lot cooler in that matching dog sweater photo if you were holding one of these. ”

Martha ordered the Orange Vanilla Mojito – which we all thought sounded pretty good and different.  It consisted of house infused Bacardi rum (infused with what?), orange, lime, and mint. Martha’s rating follows:

“Thanks to Alison and Ashley for a fantastic weekend in Atlanta!  We had a great time and enjoyed experiencing their 52 weeks of drinks.  I am not one who needs an excuse to drink, but it is nice to have one that seems so professional and with purpose.

First, you should know that vodka and I are friends – good friends. Specifically, vodka, water and a squeeze of lemon.  I am not really a fan of the fancy drink, however, I can appreciate 1 and in the most exceptional of cases 2 of an interesting cocktail.

Around 10 years ago my friend, [tag]Chef Steven Perrone[/tag], made me my very first mojito and I was blown away.  The muddled mint and sugar balanced with lime, soda water and rum was simply perfection!  Sadly, many are trying to make this cocktail and are failing miserably…so maybe I am doomed to never find another mojito as magical.

The Orange Vanilla Mint Mojito was at best blah.  Not undrinkable, but certainly didn’t knock my socks off (as you can tell from the photo.)  In defense of the drink I was focused on the “orange” part of the concoction and dismissed the vanilla part when ordering it.  Oops, I don’t really like vanilla.  Still, I am “professional” enough to objectively analyze a cocktail even if there is a component that is less than desirable to me.

Where was the pizzazz?  I could see everything floating around in there, but the flavors got lost when mixed together.  Sorry, but it was just plain boring and clearly I don’t need much (remember my friend VW – that’s vodka water in case you forgot).

Please don’t get frustrated and talk to me through your computer urging me to try a mojito at restaurant x, y or z.   Maybe one day I will stumble upon another mojito as worthy as Steven’s.  Until then, my faithful friend vodka will keep me good company.

Presentation:  1 Olive

Creativity:  2 Olives

Taste:  2 Olives

Overall: 2 Olives”

Wow, no she did-ent.…well, we enjoyed the food at least!  Especially their grits.  Yum.

How will we ever make it 52 Weeks?  I mean, don’t get me wrong, we enjoy this, but at some point, I want to walk into a bar / restaurant and I want people to know who we are, give us drinks for free and swoon over what we write about them later.  Okay, maybe not.  But it is a pretty good fantasy: “Oh, you are Ashley and Alison of Random Atlanta and you guys came here for your 52 Weeks?  We are so delighted and will give you two drinks and dinner on us tonight!”   It may never happen, but man, I’d be so excited if it did.

For [tag]Week 16 of 52 Drinks[/tag], we did an impromptu double date with Erika and Jules.  We chose [tag]4th and Swift.[/tag]  Alison and I had been once when it first opened and had not ventured back.  We looked over the drink menu and found that it was certainly unique – in fact it was one of the most expansive and creative we have seen.  All the special drinks had infused this or that, fresh ingredients, house made bitters, etc…

We thought this was going to be the best yet…but it wasn’t.  Even though the waiter told us that the specialty drinks were all fabulous and he could not find one he did not like…we did.   I must say that we all think they were just too much of something or another.  Our favorite was the Bay of Angels which the bartender was nice enough to light at the table.  We aren’t writing about that one, but get it! (*photo description at bottom of post)

Jules got the Early Riser – a cocktail full of a lot of stuff: house infused early gray gin, sage, grapefruit juice, orange flower water, lemon, and sage syrup all served up.  Wow.  This better be damn good.  Well, Jules did not like it and made Erika drink it so here is Erika’s rating of the Early Riser.

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

“Presentation: 3.5 olives- The color was a beautiful sunset orange with a simple small floating leaf of sage perched atop tiny flakes of ice. the martini glass in which it came seemed bulky like it was the spawn of late night rendezvous between a beer mug and a wine glass.

Creativity: 4 olives- There were things in it that sounded crazy! Reading the 4th & Swift cocktail list definitely produced lots of table conversation and excitement over their unique ingredients and infusions.

Taste: 1 olive – It was one of those moments when you see the most beautiful scene from far away and then you get up close…good from far, but far from good basically. You know, I love mango Gatorade. That stuff is delicious, refreshing, and only a $1.00! I was doing yard work once and I got a little grass and dirt in my mango Gatorade. I drank it anyhow because it was really hot outside but I could taste the grass and dirt. My $10 cocktail tasted like that mango Gatorade with grass and dirt in it- total bummer. Skip this one, you can make it easily in a backyard accident.

Overall:  2.5 olives because to me taste is more important than the look of it.”

Alison ordered the Blood Meridian – a tequila concoction consisting of blanco tequila, reposado tequila, blood orange juice, house made blood orange bitters, ginger beer, and was served on the rocks.  Now, if you know us, you know we love tequila.  Alison’s rating follows:

“Like most of the drinks we order, this one sounded way better than it tasted.  It was still pretty good – don’t get me wrong.  But I just can’t support tequila in a champagne glass sipped through a straw.  Just wrong.  This is consistent with the “trying too hard” theme I got from all the drinks we ordered.  This drink would have been better served in a short fat glass without a straw.  But it tasted nice.

Presentation: 1 olive -  too bad they went a step too far with a champagne looking glass and a big McDonald’s looking straw

Creativity: 4 olives – very creative but did I mention the fat straw?
Taste: 3 olives – a nice summer tequila drink -  worthy of consuming on vacation.  A balance of sweet and sour and not too much of either, but you better like blood orange.

Overall: 3 olives – Tasty. Refreshing.  Ask for it in short glass without the straw.”

Next time, we go, we may just get less interesting drinks.  Oh, get the cheese plate – it is the best I have had in the city I think.

(Photo: from bottom left to right: the Early Riser and the Blood Meridian. Top drinks are from left to right – the Pineapple Express and the Bay of Angels. )

Chef and Grateful Dead lover, [tag]Ron Eyester[/tag]created his own personal style restaurant last year.  Rosebud was once Food 101 Morningside, but now it is even a more superb restaurant named after Jerry Garcia’s guitar.  The restaurant is a beautiful, enjoyable, and relaxing space on North Highland that serves a lot of local and regional ingredients.  The food is fresh, lots of it is organic, and it is always pretty damn tasty.  Alison and I have gone there a few times and usually sit at the bar with Jeff the bartender and creator of all things magic - and eat and drink a cocktail or two.

We have of course tried some of their concoctions before – especially the Bathtub Gin – which literally tasted like a bath full of lavender.  (We could not drink it actually.) This past Saturday night, our friends, Scott and Jill joined us for our [tag]52 Weeks of Drinks.[/tag]  They are a very cute couple although I think Jill is a bit cuter than Scott but I am biased…Anyway, we went to Rosebud, because they are known for their housemade infusions in their booze (using those same organic and local ingredients.)

Scott got the Scent of a Mule which consisted of vodka, ginger beer, and fresh lime and his classic review is below:

Presentation: 2.5 Olives. A classic, no frills set up—it’s the Honda Civic of Rosebud’s drink menu.  If that were it, I’d slap two olives down and move on.  But this drink gets a bonus half-olive just for its name, Scent of a Mule, which adds the kind of equine mystery that I’ve come to expect from my beverages.

Taste: 3.5 Olives.  The combination of ginger beer and fresh lime makes for a refreshing beverage.

Creativity:  0 of 5 Olives.  I could be wrong, but I thought that the mission of this blog was to highlight, celebrate, and occasionally mock the original alcoholic concoctions served up at Atlanta restaurants.  Since that is the case, my drink does not qualify because it’s not an original creation.  I can only deduce that Rosebud—acutely aware of the arrival of a local celebrity blogger—changed the name of a Moscow Mule cocktail to ”Scent of a Mule.”  See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moscow_mule.  The booze jockeys at Rosebud were obviously trying to avoid the stinging criticism that Parish received about its lack of an inventive cocktail menu.

This scandalous revelation (which is true because it appears on the Internet) is going to have wide-ranging implications for this blog.  I suspect that Ashley and Alison are going to have to don disguises for their future bibulous adventures, just to keep the irreproachable integrity of [tag]Random Atlanta[/tag] intact.  (Helpful tip:  For those looking to change their look, I recommend a totally awesome beard.  In addition to being a great disguise, beards are a great topic of conversation at dinner.)

Overall:  ***DQ***  I would have given this drink a healthy rating of 3 of 5 Olives, but this isn’t ‘Nam.  There are rules here.

Jill, on the other hand, got what we all thought was the best drink of the table.  The Drunken Hearted Boy consisted of old grand dad whiskey, orange bitters, and fresh cranberry juice.  Her classy review is as follows:

Presentation: 3 olives.  Standard but nice. The Drunken Hearted Boy arrived in a low ball glass with not too much ice and an orange twist on top.

Taste: 4 olives. As a girl who enjoys her whiskey, I thought this drink was above the norm.  The orange bitters and cranberry juice made my tongue tingle (that’s what she said) and I appreciated that there was no syrupy aftertaste that you have to contend with after similar whiskey drinks.

Creativity: 4 olives.  Naming your drink after an Allman Brothers song?  That is a winner in my book.

Overall: 4 olives.  I’d order it again and you’d be well off to get you some on your next trip to Rosebud.

So, thanks to Jill and Scott for being our guest reviewers this week!  We enjoyed it!