Liberate Your Palate: Summer Cocktail Passbook

I stumbled across the Summer Cocktail Passport on instagram and was really interested in trying it so my friend Wendy agreed and we both bought passbooks and agreed to meet on Tuesdays for cocktails each week. The passbook included 16 spots and ran from Aug. 1 - Sept. 15. We picked a new location each week and tired a lot of great new drinks!

First up, was Dressler's for the Bee's Knees. This gin based drink was mixed with lemonade and was really dreamy with vanilla bean infused sugar rim and lavender simple syrup.

Next up, was Passion 8 for the Calypso, followed by a Southern Peach Martini and a really delish cheese plate. The Calypso had rum, kahula, strawberry shrub, roasted pineapple and muddy river. It was really interesting but I don't think I'd order it for the original price tag. Can I just say that Passion 8 was amazing - they had the best service and the cheese plate/bread was so good.

The Berry Basil Smash was the drink of choice at Block and Grinder. It had vodka, basil, lemon juice, blackberry, and ginger ale. It was a good drink but very sweet. I love this restaurant - it has amazing food and usually great service. The bartender here was very clear that he did not love this concept and even stated he cringed every time he made a Passport cocktail. Eh - we were the wrong audience for that comment.

Ahhhh - This drink at Bistro la Bon was hands down, my favorite drink of the whole tour and I would definitely order it again! It had tequila, watermelon basil and lime and was absolutely delicious!

We enjoyed dinner at Dogwood Southern Table and had the Salty Dog cocktail. It had vodka, grapefruit pellegrino, grapefruit bitters, and pink sea salt. It was refreshing and really enjoyable as well. 

Little Spoon is a breakfast spot in Myers Park and has had fave reviews. We shared thick slab bacon for an app and then had chicken biscuits/a breakfast sandwich for brunch. The Partly Cloudy cocktail included rum, tonic, lime, mint and soda water. It was a nice brunch cocktail but again, not sure I'd order it again.

We finished our tour at the Tiki Hideaway with the 1937 Classic Nui Nui. It had rum, OJ, lime juice, allspice + vanilla and cinnamon and was so good. I would definitely go here again and order this drink.

All in all, it was a great tour of some old favorites and new spots to try in Charlotte. I'm so glad we did this tour and really enjoyed it! Looking forward to the next passbook!