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. 

No – we didn’t get sauced, we just went to Sauced – the restaurant.  Come on people -despite the cocktail tasting theme, we are not getting trashed for the cause.  [tag]Sauced[/tag] is the hip new place to be on our side of town – Inman Park on the edge of Cabbagetown.  Brought to you by [tag]Ria of Ria’s Bluebird Cafe[/tag], this cool little hipster joint has some nifty cocktails, yummy food, and a cozy kitschy vibe.  We had some guest tasters this week – Lea and Ed – Hipsters.  Tar Heels.  Sex Symbols.

Sauced has an excellent selection of premium liquors and beers and all juices are fresh-squeezed.  There are about 5 signature cocktails – and we tried 3 of them.  Lea went with the Delirium Tremons on draft – beer with the potency of a cocktail – that counts?

Ed had the Dixie Cup – 4 rose bourbon, red rock ginger ale, sugar cane syrup, and a lime twist.

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

Ed’s ratings on the Dixie Cup:

Presentation:  2.5 of 5 olives – it did have a garnish

Taste: 4 of 5 olives – smoooooth

Creativity: 4 of 5 olives

Overall: 3.5 of 5 olives. Ed’s joy is pictured below.

Ashley had the La Rosa – Gran Centenario hibiscus tequila, orange bitters, clementine, agave nectar, pink Himalayan salt rim – served up with the extra on the side in an ice-filled glass.

Ashley’s ratings on the La Rosa:

Presentation:  5 of 5 olives – up, fancy slated rim, orange slice

Taste: 3 of 5 olives- Ashley is not a fan of bitters and could taste the bitters more than the wonderful tequila

Creativity: 5 of 5 olives

Overall: 3.5 of 5 olives

I had the Derby Crash – old tom gin, dolin blanc vermouth, orange bitters, spearmint leaves – also served up with extra on the side.

Alison’s ratings on the Derby Crash:

Presentation:  5 of 5 olives

Taste: 5 of 5 olives – tasty, tasty, tasty.  Refreshing and crisp.  Everyone’s favorite at the table.

Creativity: 4 of 5 olives

Overall: 5 of 5 olives. My favorite cocktail to date. WOW.

Again, we could go on and on about how fabulous the food was…and we will at another date, but to stick with our theme of 52 Weeks of Drinks, we will stop here.  Oh, by the way, we loved our cute waitress, Mel.   She is pictured with us as we enjoy our drinks!

This week we stayed close to home and wandered down to [tag]Mezcalto’s Cantina in Oakhurst[/tag] Square for our weekly cocktail.  A meal at Mezcalito’s is already a weekly (sometimes bi-weekly) ritual for us.  Ok – we once at two meals in one day there – it is a problem.  We were not always fans of the margaritas at Mezcalito’s – probably because the house margaritas  – the Santa Fe Silver Coin and High Octane Gold – are made daily in big batches and stored in giant plastic vats.

But once you get over the presentation, you learn to appreciate the unique taste of a Mezcalito’s house margarita – not too sweet and not too tart.  None of that store bought, pre-made, day-glow-green sour mix in these babies.   We prefer the Silver Coin - it is not as sweet as the Gold and goes well with the mole’ special.

But the exact taste of these house margaritas depends on which member of the Mezcalito’s staff made them that day and where you are in the vat.  When you get down to the bottom the tequila seems to settle and wow – get ready for a kick.  Jane made a well-balanced batch of margaritas by our unscientific analysis, but Neil mixes a pretty good batch as well.  Maybe some of the other regulars addicted to this place can weigh in on this debate – Vladi’s Margaritas? (I think Vlad makes them the sweetest which is unfortunate.) Do they let Marco or Bere make these?

I mixed it up just for this post and ordered the [tag]Pomerita[/tag] this week.  As you know, I do not like real sweet margaritas and I usually think pomegranate drinks get way too sweet way too fast.  But this one is well-balanced and has a good flavor.  I wouldn’t want a pitcher, but it was a nice change of pace. It includes pom juice, silver tequila, a hint of lime, and a splash of triple sec and we saw Neil put in a bit of La Croix to it tonight…  Nicely done.

Ashley stuck with the usual Silver Coin Margarita and enjoyed it as usual.  She is slightly addicted to a couple of these along with her chips and salsa.

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

Our ratings on the Pomerita:

Presentation:  2 of 5 olives – it should at least have a lime wedge….

Taste: 3 of 5 olives

Creativity: 3 of 5 olives

Overall: 3 of 5 olives.  It is a good drink but we don’t need more than one.

We can’t really do a rating for the Silver Coin Margarita because quite frankly we drink it too often and if we thought it sucked we would not have it once a week.

Well, we decided to head to a new restaurant in town – one we had been told has yummy cocktails and one were we have not been before.  (So a post on the actual food etc… of the restaurant will come next…)  Alas, we are posting about the new [tag]Miller Union[/tag] restaurant on the west side of town.   Our friends, Neal and Carolyn helped open this restaurant and indeed, the cocktails are delicious. We chose the two that Neal suggested: [tag]Miller Thyme and the Manzanilla Sour.[/tag]

I’ll start with the Manzanilla Sour.   I ordered this one and as usual, I liked Alison’s better.  This chamomile infused pisco is served up with lemon juice and egg whites. The whites make it nice and frothy and adds a cool texture to it. It was a perfect mixture of all these ingredients and the chamomile certainly made this drink pop.  Neither of us found it truly “sour” as the name suggests, but that is good since I hate sour things.

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

Our ratings on the Manzanilla Sour:

Presentation:  3 of 5 olives

Taste: 4 of 5 olives

Creativity: 4 of 5 olives

Overall: 4 of 5 olives…it really was a nice drink and it was not too sweet or sour – you could easily have two and not feel overwhelmed.

Our second drink was another drink served “up.”  This one, I might add, I liked more than the other – but I think it is only because I am over egg whites in drinks.  I have had a lot of those lately.  Anyway, the Miller Thyme was a delicious blend of Millers Gin with housemade thyme simple syrup.  Yum, Yum, Yum.  Now, I am not much of a gin drinker, but I loved this drink.  Millers Gin is excellent anyway, but the thyme almost made me swoon.  Okay, not really, but it was good.  I made Alison drink most of my Manzanilla Sour and I drank her Miller Thyme.  Oops!

Our ratings for the Miller Thyme:

Presentation: 3 out of 5 olives…I accidently sipped the entire piece of thyme down my throat.

Taste: 5 out of 5 olives.

Creativity: 4 out of 5 olives – Only two real ingredients, but supurb.

Overall: 4.5 out of 5 olives.  Loved it!

Wisteria did not disappoint as a first destination for [tag]52 Weeks of Drinks[/tag].  This is one of our favorite restaurants – we love the snotty southern cuisine, the atmosphere and the people who work here including Jason (the chef/owner), Katie (manager/hot hostess), Vivianne (our former waitress turned nurse), and Patricia (multipurpose player).

Hadi (bartender & more) was serving up the cocktails and wine for an invitation only party of regulars and friends this Saturday night. Katie joined us at the bar in her PJs (it was her day off and she was on the way out when we made her join us in the fun) and helped us to select our contest cocktails.

I branched out and went with a bourbon drink – the “Old Wives’ Tale.”  This tasty concoction is a nice mix of Woodford Reserve Bourbon, Clover honey simple syrup, and ginger beer. I am not much of a bourbon drinker, but the mixture of flavors in this drink made it a real comfort drink on a cold night.  It was not too strong, not too sweet, and the ginger beer and honey cut the bite of the bourbon to make it smooth and tasty.  It was served over ice in a high ball glass.

Katie claimed creation rights on this one and came up with the name to convey the feeling of this drink – “I have a cold and need some bourbon before bed because my mommy said that may make me feel better.”   Maybe she can post a comment to clarify if I have that story right.  We decided the back-story and creativity of both our drinks warranted a rating for “creativity”  – so we will use that instead of potency from now on.

Our ratings scale is between 1 and 5 Olives.  One Olive = waste of my blogging time;  5 Olives = oh my goodness/yummmmm

My ratings for the [tag]Old Wives Tale[/tag]:

Presentation – 2 of 5 Olives (but hey – this drink is a bourbon drink – it shouldn’t look all fancy and cool so I wouldn’t change a thing)

Taste – 4 of 5 Olives

Creativity -  3 of 5 Olives (not too complicated, but a great balance of ingredients with a good name)

Overall – 3 of 5 Olives

Ashley had the [tag]“Patrice”[/tag] – a twist on a margarita named for the customer who requested that Hadi make her something with tequila but without the tartness of sour mix.  The Patrice is a perfect answer to that request  – Corazon Blanco tequila, St. Germaine, homemade sour mix, and champagne.  Yum Yum Yum.

Ashley’ Ratings for the Patrice:

Presentation – 2 of 5 Olives (served in a high ball glass over ice)

Taste – 5 of 5 Olives (Ashley really wanted to give it a 4, but I twisted her arm b/c I loved this one)

Creativity – 4 of 5 Olives

Overall – 4 of 5 Olives

Cheers to Week 1 of 52 Weeks of Drinks!  Join us for a drink soon and send us some recommendations.

*Picture crap because Ashley forgot her camera of course and had to use the phone…sorry. *

After watching Julie and Julia over Christmas, we decided [tag]Random Atlanta[/tag] needed a mission for 2010.  But not something as ambitious as cooking 524 French cuisine recipes in one year – we have day jobs and waistlines to preserve.   We decided to pick a mission that required less effort and had an Atlanta connection.

[tag]So – starting this week – we will be consuming a new cocktail concoction each week from Atlanta restaurants and rating them for our readers.[/tag]  We hope you will chime in too and send us recommendations for restaurants with creative cocktails to try.  But note that our ratings will reflect our views on a good cocktail – we tend to like vodka drinks, creative uses of good tequila, and good gin.  If you are looking to find the best Appletini in Atlanta – this is not the URL for you.

We will rate the restaurants for over-all cocktail selection and then we will rate each drink we order and consume on presentation, taste, and potency.  By the end of the 52 weeks, we hope to come up with a few awards as well – including “Best Sounding/Worst-Tasting.”  Stay tuned.

Let the [tag]52 Weeks of Drinks[/tag] Begin!  Tonight we will kick it off at our home away from home – [tag]Wisteria[/tag].   Cheers!