Culture of Booze: 3 Must-Hit Spots on the Ultimate NOLA Alcohol Crawl

[KamaAina]

https://www.yahoo.com/travel/culture-of-booze-3-must-hit-spots-on-the-ultimate-200857162.html

New Orleans is a drinking city. From the oldest bar in America, to legally being able to take your drink outside in a “go cup,” to drive-through daiquiris, and the invention of the Sazerac cocktail, NOLA is all about booze culture. But where to go? The city is packed with bars, so on my recent visit with my dog Karl, I checked out quite a few — and now present the top three spots.

Lafitte’s Blacksmith Shop
Lafitte’s Blacksmith Shop Bar is regarded as the oldest structure to be used as a bar in the United States, and is considered one of the oldest buildings in New Orleans. Legend has it that back in the day, the pirate Jean Lafitte used the shop as a front for his smuggling operation....

Go Cup Culture and Daiquiri Drive-Throughs
Booze outside of bars is 100% legal in New Orleans and involves something called the go cup (as in, “I’ll take it to go, please”) — which basically means no more not finishing a drink, ever). But, this city aims to satisfy your cravings whenever, wherever — which means, even if you’re in a car. Throughout the city, there are also drive-throughs where you can pick up sealed alcoholic daiquiris on the go. And yes, they are delicious!

Barrel Proof
New Orleans has no shortage of cool spots, and Barrel Proof is one of the coolest. It’s a sleek, dark wood-paneled space with an extensive menu of imported whiskeys and spirits — head cocktail maker Liam Deegan can make you any drink — but you should always start with a Sazerac, the unofficial cocktail of New Orleans. The Sazerac is associated with a Creole apothecary from Antoine Amedie Peychaud (of the so-named aromatic bitters).

[bluedigger]

1. Never heard of Barrel Proof.

Must be some trendy new club.

Lived a couple blocks from Lafitte's for two years.

If you're in town on a Tuesday, go to Bullit's for Kermit Ruffins and barbecue on the neutral ground.

If you're hungry late night (or anytime) in the French Quarter, grab a beer and a quick burger at Yo Mama's.

[KamaAina]

2. For those of you playing along at home,

"neutral ground" is New Orleanian for "median strip". It originated when the median of Canal Street became the boundary between the French/Spanish/Creole Vieux Carre (old quarter) and the new American section across the street (today's Central Business District).

[KamaAina]

18. Bullit's? What happened to Vaughan's?

[bluedigger]

25. I think Kermit is a partial owner of Vaughan's.

IIRC, he plays there on Thursdays. I'm probably way out of date, though. It's been a few years.

[DonCoquixote]

3. Garden District , which is part of the CBD

but absolutely NO stranger to people would read about the city or see Interview with the Vampire.

Here is another hint: Yes, everyone goes to Pat O Brien's, and yes, it is worth going to just because of the Piano Bar, which is in and of itself history, however, while it originated the Hurricane, the "Hurricanes" you get there are from a Mix, UNLIKE the one at Lafitte's which are juice.

Also, if you are going to drink a Sazerac, go to the Napoleon House.

and how, how , how does this list get made without mentioning New Orleans REAL: number one cocktail,. the Hand Grenade.

http://tropicalisle.com/

The recipe is secret, though the rumors say it is a mix of everclear and Midori Melon liquor. In any case, do NOT let the appearance fool you, it looks like a little toy, but as many a hard drinker found out, even two is sufficient to knock most people on their rear. They outright state you should NEVER have four. It is also unique in that thanks to their copyright, it is a drink that, unlike many, you will NEVER have outside of New Orleans. Yes, they have sued people who have tried. So, while you can have a Hurricane anywhere, only NOLA has the Hand Grenade.

[irisblue]

15. I loved Pat O Brien's. It was a fun night nt

[KamaAina]

19. At Napoleon House, you might want to try a Pimm's Cup

before moving on to Sazzys. Pimm's is an English liqueur.

[DonCoquixote]

20. noted

especially as a Pimm's cup is RARE outside of New Orleans.

Tourists drink Hurricanes, adventurers drink Hand Grenadines and Pimm's cups

[mak3cats]

26. The Napoleon House had the BEST bathroom graffiti, too...

...very literate, and usually very clever. (Unfortunately, so many years later I can't remember any off the top of my head - I lived in NOLA from 1971 to 1986.) I briefly dated a reporter from the Times-Picayune and that's where we always went.

[Behind the Aegis]

4. Make sure it is the Blacksmith shop and not "Cafe Lafitte's In Exile".

That's a whole different type of bar! Personally, I like "in Exile" better, and it is across the street from the Clover Grill, a great greasy spoon!

[KamaAina]

7. This is true. "In Exile" claims to be the nation's oldest men's bar.

What you may not know is that Oakland's White Horse Inn does as well.

[pinboy3niner]

5. The only bar with a drink 'rep' I know is the Buena Vista Cafe in San Francisco

Next to Ghirardelli Square, near Fisherman's Wharf, and across from the cable car turnaround, the BV is famous worldwide for its Irish Coffee. Drinks made with Jameson and whipped cream made on the premises daily, it has a well-deserved reputation.



KamaAina, I suspect you know this one...

[yuiyoshida]

6. I know this place

I worked next door to it when I worked at an Art gallery there.

[KamaAina]

9. Ooooh! Another NOLA/SF person!

Sweet!

[yuiyoshida]

10. No, I worked next to the one in SF

at Fisherman's Wharf. I never worked in New Orleans. Visited once but only briefly.

[KamaAina]

11. D'oh!

[KamaAina]

8. I do indeed, though I've never been.

They take their Irish coffee seriously enough that they bought up the manufacturer's entire inventory of the glasses used for it and stashed them somewhere in the East Bay, so competitors can't get hold of them! The competitors are now working with another glassmaker on a knockoff.

[pinboy3niner]

12. I make a point of going to the BV every time I visit San Francisco

My first visit to the BV was in the early '70s.

With your own glasses you can almost duplicate the BV treat. It's just good coffee, Jameson, and turbinado sugar. Their real secret isn't the glasses, it's their chilled, fresh whipped cream, which sticks to the edge of the glass so every sip passes through it. That's what nobody seems able to duplicate.

[KamaAina]

13. SF being SF, I would expect people to try to innovate

with various premium coffees (available on every block in The City), and various Irish whiskys (Whiskey Thieves in the Tenderloin has an entire shelf of them!)

[pinboy3niner]

14. Various Irish whiskeys?

Sacrilege!

[KamaAina]

16. Will Pitt would agree.

[DonCoquixote]

22. if you are in NOLA for COFFEE

well, yeah it is touristy, but you have to do cafe du Monde. Chicory Cofee and Beginets.

However, the best is Antione's Annex. yes, Antiones, the venerable place, made a coffeehouse. It is every bit as good as it sounds. I wound up microwaving a bit of bread pudding I got from there three times, than got denied the chance to eat it thanks to brother in law keeping us on schedules, every time, even the third time I zapped it, the butter just scented the whole first floor of the hotel

[KamaAina]

23. I'm partial to Cafe Beignet on Royal around St. Louis

there is usually a cat wandering around. New Orleanians love their kittehs.

[mike dub]

17. All about the go cups

My wife's from down the bayou ---40 miles southwest of New Orleans-- and the drive thru daiquiris and go cups are It down there. Po boy stands too, but that's another thing.

[DonCoquixote]

21. in new orleans east

they used to take former fast foods stands and make combo seafood and daiquiri places. What was sad about Katrina is that New orleans east had the cooks and workers that really MADE Nola, and it showed when they would open these places miost tourists were scared of. Said scardycats missed out on the BEST seafood and drinks in the city, yes, BETTER than any in the French Quarter. I am still stunned that the seafood I paid an ungodly amount for at Commander's palace was nowhere near as good as this Crawfish Birogue that I literally had in a truck stop, that is honestly one of the 5 best meals I have ever had. They had daiquiris from hell

[KamaAina]

24. Not sure tourists were scared of NO East

as much as unable to get out there. It is about 5 miles from the Quarter, with iffy bus service.