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Tonga Room & Hurricane Bar

Located on the Terrace Level of Fairmont San Francisco Hotel, the Tonga Room & Hurricane Bar has been around serving decadent libations and Polynesian-fusion cuisine since 1945. They had a 75-foot indoor pool, but they transformed it to a "lagoon" with a floating stage in the middle with a live band. Yes... a floating stage!

While you don't normally think of tikis and whiskey drinks, although not on their menu at the time this was written, they do exist. Ask the bartender and they'll be more than happy to hook you up with something to the likes of a:

London Sour with scotch, orange, lemon, orgeat and simple syrup Port Light with bourbon, lemon juice, passion fruit syrup and grenadine

Or many others.

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Three Dots and a Dash – Chicago

I love bourbon and I love a great tiki bar! With Three Dots and a Dash... I got both! Located back in an alley at 435 N Clark in Chicago, Three Dots and a Dash can be a little tricky to find. You'll have to look down the alley to see tiki torches lighting the way. Once you get past the door guy, you'll go down a dark stairwell into a "holding area" with a hostess. Once they find a seat, we got there early and sat at the bar, you're brough into a world of kitschy tiki wonder. Their drink menu is more rum focused as you would guess but it's awesome!

I had the Bourbon Special:

Bourbon Special

Bonded bourbon Jamaican pot still rum 151 proof demerara rum Madeire Lemon Ginger Honel Islay mist

Tiki bars are the first think you think of when you want a bourbon drink and Chicago may not be the first place that comes to mind when you think about tiki bars but hey... it works and it was an awesome time!

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The Whiskey Bar – Seattle

With over 490 Whisk(e)ys, 24 tap beers, over 50 bottles beers, and awesome specialty cocktails, the whiskey bar is a true whiskey bar. We stumbled across this bar on our way to another and I'm soooo glad we did! We stopped in late afternoon on a Friday, the vibe was laid back, the bartenders were very engaging wanting to make sure you got a great drink.

Being from the south, I love a good Sazerac! It's such a simple drink but so hard to make right. When I saw the Lavender Sazerac on the menu I had to try it and it was great. The lavender was very slight and calming, not over overbearing. The wall of booze is a little overwhelming at first and... if you look close... you'll start to notice the system.

We stopped by late Saturday night too and the vibe was a little different, a little more clubby and younger but the staff was still awesome!

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Peach Simple Syrup

Craving and Old Fashioned but wanting it to be a little more summery? Well... You're in luck! Peach Simple Syrup is here to help. If you're like me, simple syrup, although really easy, was something I shied away from for years. Once I really tried it I was like "Damn! What have I been missing out on and why haven't I tried this? Simple is in the damn name!" Once you start making it next step is to try other things. For this one, we're doing peach!

First, rinse and cut up 3-4 peaches, depending on how "Peachy" you want it. Put the peaches in a pot with 2 cups of water, 1 cup of brown sugar and 4-5 allspice berries. Bring it all to a boil and then let simmer for 15-25 minutes. When finished, mush the peaches up to get all of the juice out, strain and store in the fridge. It will last 2-3 weeks. I like to leave mine a little pulpy but that's a personal taste.

Now for the extra fun... Take the soft, sugary peaches and throw them over some ice cream t…

Peach Infused Bourbon Recipe

It's summertime and that mean's fresh peaches that this sentence means that I now have "Peaches" from the Presidents of the Unites States of America ringing inside my head. But I digress... Peaches means it's time to go down to the farmers market for a visit to the Peach Truck where a version of this recipe originally appeared.

Now that we have the delicious, yummy peaches it's time to slice them up and throw them into a jar with some other ingredient. I normally use 4-5 peaches per batch, it all just depends on how peachy you want it.

From there it's time for the sugar, I like to use brown sugar. Sure... you can use regular white sugar but it just doesn't blend as nicely in my opinion. then throw in a couple of star anise and 4-5 all spice berries. I then like to top it off with a little bit of honey.

next up... After trying several different versions, I like to use a nice a bottle of Buffalo Trace bourbon. Not too expensive so that you …

Chocolate Sazerac

I don't know which came first, falling in love with New Orleans or the Sazerac. Actually... I think it was at the same time. A Sazerac, to me, is a simple drink that is so easy to mess up but when it's right... Mmmmmm Mmmmm! When I thought about a chocolate one, well... why? Why mess with a perfect drink? Well, it's because we can and it worked out nicely. Don't worry, it's still bone forward, not a sweet martini. One large deviation I made from a traditional Sazerac recipe is that I didn't use the sugar cube, instead, the sweetness comes from switching out Rye Whiskey with Bourbon and Ballotin Chocolate Whiskey. I found that using the sugar cube made it too sweet. So... here's the recipe: Chill an Old-Fashioned or Coupe Cocktail Glass (Your choice depending on how fancy you want to feel) that has been rinsed with Absinthe or Herbsaint. You can also use a dropper at the end of the recipe if you like. In another glass full of ice, pour 2.5 ounces of bourbon and 1 ounce …

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Some of Our Favorites

Tonga Room & Hurricane Bar

Three Dots and a Dash – Chicago

The Whiskey Bar – Seattle

Latest Whiskey/Bourbon Stops

Beachbum Berry’s Latitude 29 – New Orleans

The Polar Bar at The Arctic Club Bar – Seattle

Copperworks Distilling Company – Seattle

The Whiskey Bar – Seattle

Navy Strength – Seattle

Westland Distillery – Seattle

Whiskey - Bourbon Reviews and Other Ramblings

Peach Simple Syrup

Peach Infused Bourbon Recipe

Chocolate Sazerac