Salt Lake Cocktails 

• Vgorbash

Word has it that younger drinkers have been gravitating toward oldschool drinks. And if they are, it makes sense—a strong drink like a martini certainly offers bang for the strapped Gen Z buck—or for anyone's buck, really.

After nearly a decade of "craft cocktail" rule, it's refreshing to lean into simple, three-ingredient drinks. But fear not, the craft scene remains alive and well in its own right. Whether your taste buds are drawn to predictable old standards—shaken, stirred, over or neat—or something creative and brand-spankin' new, read on for classic cocktail tips as well as the latest experiments in the tippling scene.

Always In Style
Why do we love classic cocktails? One reason is that most are made with only a few ingredients. And once you find your one true drink, you can easily learn to make it at home.

One of the most celebrated cocktails is, of course, the Old Fashioned, made with 2 ounces of bourbon, a quarter ounce-ish of simple syrup, three dashes of bitters (typically angostura) and an orange-peel garnish.

Pro tip: The orange peel should include a little of the white pith. Once you've sliced the peel, flex it so the outer skin expresses its oils onto the surface of your drink (you'll be able to see the oil specks), then run the expressed outer skin around the inner rim of your glass. Drop it in. This is how you get that wonderful orange scent on this drink, and the same trick can be used for any other cocktail that wants a citrusy scent, which adds to the flavor.

Also along the Old Fashioned vein is the Manhattan, which uses rye whiskey instead of bourbon, sweet vermouth instead of simple syrup and cherry instead of orange peel. Or try a whiskey sour, which uses bourbon, simple syrup, lemon juice and, often, a frothy, shaken egg white.

Then, there is the more complex, bitter Negroni, the off-red drink that people call a "one-and-done" because of its three-part doozy of gin, sweet vermouth and the aperitif Campari. Its cousin, the Boulevardier, swaps gin for whiskey.

With gin, cocktails become even simpler. A gin and tonic instantly refreshes; use local Caribbean tonic by Van Kwartel to make it more tropical. A gimlet and a Tom Collins both add citrus to gin—lime and lemon, respectively—the latter tops it with soda.

The varying Vesper can include either gin or vodka for a martini-like creation that includes Lillet Blanc (a crisp, botanical French aperitif wine used in cocktails the same way vermouth is) and a lemon twist.

Then there's the Martinez, which falls between the Manhattan and the martini—it's Old Tom gin, sweet vermouth, maraschino liqueur and angostura bitters.

Not ready to make it yourself? You can ask for any of these classic cocktails at Salt Lake cocktail bars and any finer dining establishment in the area.

With a Twist
So who is bucking tradition and re-imagining what a cocktail can be? Speaking again of the martini, perhaps because of its simplicity, it is ripe for experimentation.

At the newly opened bar and restaurant The Pearl (917 S. 200 West, SLC), Vietnamese flavor is the order of the day. Their Matsuura martini features Suntory Haku Vodka, Roku Gin and Cocchi Americano (an aperitif wine flavored with quinine, which is the distinctive ingredient of tonic water). Not only is the cocktail a successful experiment, but it's the kind of martini you want to order three of.

Another Pearl cocktail, the Plum Job, finds Japanese Suntory Toki Whisky combined with lemon, honey and a float of some of Shades Brewing's Plum Sour Ale—a whiskey sour, essentially. For fans of Kahlua cocktails, there's the Ca Phe, a spiked Vietnamese coffee drink made with the caramelly Amaro Averna, Robusta coffee and chicory.

Though it opened as a waiting room with booze for Takashi next door, Post Office Place (16 W. Market St., SLC) has become a go-to for quaffable and inventive beverages. Their cocktails understandably highlight top-drawer Japanese booze brands.

The Natsu Gin Tonic includes Roku Japanese Gin, Hakutsuru Plum Wine, tonic, ginger, sansho pepper and grapefruit peel. Their menu features a Peruvian influence—on the food and booze side—notably with the Square Watermelon Pisco Sour, which includes Pisco Logia, watermelon shrub, Hakutsuru Plum Wine, lime, egg white and pickled watermelon rind.

Then there's Curiosity (145 E. 900 South, SLC), a new, zero-roof cocktail and espresso bar that specializes in cocktails the same way all the other ingredient-crazy craft bars do, only sans the alcohol.

Whether they admit it or not, many who imbibe in cocktails do so more for the blend of flavors rather than the effects of alcohol. Curiosity riffs on that. While they offer some dupes, like their Livener Margarita—which goes for the warm, upper sensation that tequila provides by using the brand Three Spirit's brain-electrifying botanicals—they shine with their original creations.

The Nick and Nori is made with cold brew, yuzu, maple syrup, nori, bitters and salt, served up in a classy little glass. Another sober-alt bev worth mentioning is the Nuova Negroni, which features alcohol-free gin from Dhos (of the Ransom gin family), Dhos's rhubarb aperitif (rhubarb is the base of Campari), a housemade zero-proof vermouth and, in a traditional twist, orange and celery bitters.

Not only is it an excellent Negroni, it's one that won't make you feel like actual death the next day. Curiosity is making sober socializing freshly glam and delectable, and they're also expanding upon the cocktail genre in ways where flavor and fun are front and center.

When it comes down to it, isn't the flavor and the fun the point of any cocktail? We think so.

Complet List of Utah Distilleries

Lookin' at Your Liquor
A guide to spirits and how to use them.
By Erin Moore

Most everyone has a favorite drink—and probably one they hate. But everyone could use this reminder: Whatever was in the well at the bar where you last tried a cocktail that you hated is not always the best representation of what good gin, rum, tequila, whiskey or vodka can be.

Well liquor is usually cheaper than the stuff up on the shelves. It's made of lower-quality spirits that often hit the back of your throat and your system harsher and harder. So here's a quick primer on what's what and what's good.

What to know about gin
The common styles of gin are "dry" and "botanical." Both are known for their piney, aromatic juniper flavor, often combined with citrus. Botanical gins go on to use a variety of herbs, spices, roots and citrus to build their flavor out—they can also be a sweeter spirit because of the presence of licorice in the distillation (it doesn't taste like licorice, though).

How to drink gin
You've probably had dry gins in martinis or a stomach-settling, in-flight G&T. But gin is also at home in cocktails with a lot of citrus or sweetness—such as a gimlet (you can make many variations on the basic combination of gin, lime juice and simple syrup), a bittersweet Negroni, or the martini's father figure, the Martinez, and its sweet cherry liqueur.

Local gin to look for
Beehive Distilling's Jack Rabbit Gin, New World Distilling's Oomaw Gin, Ogden's Own Madam Pattirini Gin, Holystone Distillings' delicious varieties and—from the new kids on the block—Proverbial Spirits' No Rest for the Wicked Gin.

What to know about rum
Rum is the backbone of some of the funnest and tastiest drinks out there. Distilled from various forms of processed sugar cane, and then sometimes aged in oak barrels, it's also one of the most naturally sweet and approachable liquors. Among light and dark varieties there are sippers and mixers alike.

How to drink rum
If you like piña coladas ... you'll like everything else in the tiki drink genre. The tropical drinks pull from a variety of island flavors that offer a certain retro gleam, thanks to their mid-century popularity. Try a simple daiquiri (rum, lime juice, simple syrup) or more complex drinks like the mai tai (for an introduction to the magic of orgeat) or the jungle bird. Or perhaps mix a big batch of fruity punch for your next barbecue.

Local rum to look for
Outlaw Distillery crafts a Spiced Rum, Sugar House Distillery makes delectable Silver and Gold rums, and Proverbial Spirits offers Loose Lips Sink Ships Rum.

What to know about tequila
So much. Mexico has strict laws about what can and cannot be defined as "tequila," down to the percentages of blue agave spirit in the drink. The agave plant that tequila is made from can take years to cultivate, making the agave spirit precious. The more agave spirit that is in your tequila—as in a bottle labeled "100% Blue Agave"—the less sugars and congeners, the over-presence of which can contribute to a nasty hangover. Cheaper brands of tequila are more likely to contain lower quality mixes of spirits—ergo, hangover. If you've sworn off tequila because of the next-day effects, look for a bottle that's 100% blue agave, and give it another shot.

How to drink tequila
Obviously, margaritas are really, really fun—they're salty, sweet and sour. If you're into smoky flavors, try swapping the traditional tequila for mezcal (which comes from agave roasted with wood and charcoal) and mixing some grapefruit juice in with the traditional lime. Or just use your imagination—there are tons of margarita riffs out there to gain inspiration from. Speaking of grapefruit, try a paloma.

Local tequila to look for
Locally owned but produced in Mexico, Vida Tequila is a mainstay at local bars. And look for New World Distillery's Blanco Agave Spirit, which they legally can't call tequila because of restrictions on the term.

What to know about whiskey
What you need to know about whiskey is that it's sometimes also spelled "whisky," and it doesn't really matter besides indicating the country of origin. Both are made from grains like corn, barley malt, rye and wheat, which are fermented, distilled and then aged in barrels of various types of wood, giving the spirit its toasty, warm flavors. Barrel aging also produces those previously mentioned congeners, which can explain why whiskey hangovers tend to be more painful than those from other spirits. There are two popular whiskey categories to know about: the sweeter bourbon—which uses corn as a major ingredient, and the tangy rye—which uses rye as a major ingredient.

How to drink whiskey
Whiskey is one of America's most popular liquors for a reason. Feeling sick? Make a sweet, spicy, citrus-spiked hot toddy. Feeling all too well? Well enough for a boozy one? Try a Boulevardier, which includes bourbon, sweet vermouth, Campari and an orange twist. Or try a whiskey sour, but sub the egg for aquafaba (juice from a can o' beans) to make it vegan-friendly. And we already know you probably love Old Fashioneds.

Local whiskey to look for
Name dropping Sugar House Distilling again here because they make some of the best local whiskey around, truly. There's also High West's popular products, but if you've already sampled them, try another Park City-based distillery, Alpine Distilling, or the Robbers Roost line from West Valley's Waterpocket Distillery.

What to know about vodka
The most important thing about vodka is that it is, indeed, the catch-all, go-anywhere spirit. While craft vodkas are out there and can seem all flowery and different, vodka is distilled to disappear in your mouth, to go down smooth, to be an effortless and intangible imbibe. Unless you're drinking bottom-shelf, throat-burning stuff, vodka is designed to be a straightforward ride. It can be made from potatoes, grains, corn, rice and sometimes sugar-beet molasses or fruit—but it will always taste like whatever ingredients you decide to mix it with.

How to drink vodka
In anything! There's a reason it's the ultimate spiking agent.

Local vodka to look for
Most distilleries make vodka, because it's the easiest and cheapest to make, and because people really like vodka. But specific vodka makers include Salt City Vodka, and the most popular local vodka is likely Five Wives Vodka by Ogden's Own. Dented Brick also makes a vodka that is the standard in wells across area bars.

Complet List of Utah Distilleries

• Courtesy Photo
• Niedzwetzkyana, served at the Scion Cider Bar, comes in strong at 8.1% alcohol-by-volume.

Hammered Time
How to order a stiff drink in the Beehive State.
By Erin Moore

While Utah liquor laws are different from other states' rules, you can still get a stiff drink in Utah, if you know what (and how) to order.

This is true of any place—even though the influx of new folks in the Beehive State aren't shy about expressing their dismay at Utah's quirky laws to local bartenders. And a respectably strong drink doesn't have to be something garish that you'd order at a party bar, like an AMF ("Adios Motherf—ker"), though that selection will more than do the job. There are far more delicious and classy options out there, and, below, we'll list some of them, plus hot tips on other stout beverages and where to get them.

First and foremost, it's true that a cocktail in a Utah bar can only contain 1.5 ounces of a "base" spirit—or primary liquor—which is just a little more than a typical shot (shots in Utah can also never be "doubles" and can only be 1 ounce). However, this doesn't stop local bartenders from making strong drinks.

Cocktails are allowed an additional ounce of any other spirit or liqueur, the latter being labeled as "flavoring" on bar shelves. This means that a cocktail can get up to around the 2 ½ ounce liquor level if your bartender uses their ingredients correctly, and especially if they make use of boozy additions like beer, wine or vermouth, which fall outside the legal category of "flavoring"—meaning they don't have to be as strictly measured.

A perfect example of a drink that can be as strong in Utah as it is anywhere else is a Negroni—equal parts gin, Campari and sweet vermouth—which comes out to 3 ounces of alcohol. And if you don't like bitter drinks, you can ask your bartender for recommendations for sweeter bevs that make full use of liquor-law loopholes.

Speaking of using beer as an ingredient in a cocktail, if you haven't tried a beer cocktail yet, you should. Bars like Proper Brewing (857 S. Main, SLC) and its sister bar in Sugar House, Craft (1053 E. 2100 South, SLC), make exciting use of beer, hard seltzers and wine, often using them as a float like you would champagne in other cocktail recipes.

One of Craft's cocktails features High West Double Rye, lemon juice, Cointreau and a red wine float, which sounds like a boozy drink to me!

Cider, too, is becoming an ally in the strong drink game. Typically of a higher alcohol-by-volume (ABV) ratio than Utah beer's 5% tap limit, hard cider is still ironically allowed to be poured on tap in Utah, up to 18.5 ounces worth.

At Scion Cider Bar in the Central 9th neighborhood (916 Jefferson St., SLC), they not only offer a wide variety of ciders, but they mix them into cocktails, too. Their Oaxacan Haze cocktail features Wahaka Mezcal, St. Germain liqueur, lime juice and Original Sin Pineapple Haze Cider, which clocks in at a healthy 6% ABV.

These aren't all the ways you can finagle your way into an extra-strong drink at a Utah bar, but it may get you thinking along the right lines. Ask your bartender—he or she definitely has more ideas.

Complet List of Utah Distilleries

• Erin Moore
• Take your cocktail game to the next level with a well-stocked bar cart.

Stocking Up
How to better your summer bar cart.
By Erin Moore

A cocktail is much more than just booze in a glass. As such, your bar cart should reflect that idea and hold more drink staples and accoutrements than just booze.

Your fridge can and should be home to ingredients that are essential for many drinks, such as simple syrup. Simple syrup is just one-to-one parts sugar and water, boiled to thick cohesion. You can easily (as in, 15 minutes) make interesting syrups by steeping the mixture with items such as flowers, herbs and spices.

If you want fruity bevs, whip out your citrus squeezer and gather your lemons, limes, oranges, grapefruits—whatever! Fresh juice makes for truly great cocktails, but if you don't want a citrusy, acidic zing, look into shrubs. Use sugar, high-quality vinegar—like a good apple cider vinegar—and any fruit, veggies, flowers or herbs of choice to make a bright, acidic syrup additive that's as at home in a cocktail as it is mixed with soda water.

Don't wanna make it yourself? Look for locals Drupefruit Shrubs at Central 9th Market (161 W. 900 South, SLC), Animalia (280 E. 900 South, SLC), Boozetique (315 E. 300 South, SLC) and Curiosity (145 E. 900 South, SLC).

At room temp, your bar cart can host a bevy of mixers and ingredients, namely vermouth and liqueurs. Vermouth can live unopened on your bar cart, but once opened, it needs to migrate to the fridge door. As for liqueurs, there are really too many to list here, but many cocktails employ them.

Orange-flavored liqueurs like Cointreau, Grand Marnier and Curaçao are essential to many drinks, and you've definitely had them in margaritas. There are also botanicals like St. Germain, which tastes like elderflower, and sweet, strong absinthe, which tastes like licorice (look for the brand Absente on State Liquor Store shelves).

There is also the amaro family, which are herbal liqueurs. Often aromatic and bitter, they can be used as stomach-calmers before or after meals, and they're delicious in drinks like Aperol Spritz, or minty Fernet-Branca cocktails like a Hanky Panky.

Another must-have on your bar cart should be bitters. If you're an Old Fashioned fan, you likely already know about the magic of the most basic and essential of bitters, angostura, which is also the most called-for in cocktail recipes. Bitters help to bring out the best in a drink's other elements, plus offer a punch of flavor essence.

Imagine with your mind's tongue what celery or spiced orange bitters would do for a drink. There are so many experimental craft bitters companies out there these days, and some of the best selections can be found locally at Caputo's (multiple locations, SLC), Boozetique and Liberty Heights Fresh (1290 S. 1100 East, SLC). Look for Scrappy's Bitters, Workhorse Rye and Bitters Lab (a local).

Finally, to make your cocktail into something more than just liquor in a glass, you need to dilute it with ice. That's where shaker tins, bar spoons for stirring, strainers and even that novelty pint glass you got from Oktoberfest come in. You can get everything but the commemorative glass at Boozetique.

Happy bar-cart building!

Complet List of Utah Distilleries

• Courtesy Photo
• The Side Bar features Ogden’s Own products in a sleek, comfortable setting.

By Your Side
A companion bar to Ogden´s Own Distillery is a ¨safe space¨ for cocktail drinkers.
By Thomas Crone

It doesn't take but a single question to get Mark Fine talking about the Side Bar (615 W. Stockman Way, Ogden) for a good 15 minutes or more. And that's no knock on the man or his enthusiasm for the new business that he operates in tandem with Ogden's Own Distillery.

Opened in late October 2021, Side Bar is not quite a year old, though business has been brisk—from an in-town audience, sure, but also from farther-flung regulars assembling from Salt Lake and Park City.

And on top of those customers are the scores of once-through clientele who were keenly felt over the winter months, when folks traveling to nearby ski slopes found their way into the craft cocktail bar that looks, literally, into the distillery that provides much of its backbar stock.

In many respects, Side Bar is "a showcase"—as Fine calls it—of products created onsite. A lot of those names are going to be familiar to local drinking culture fans, lables like: Five Wives and Five Husbands Vodka; Porter's Whiskeys; Madam Pattirini Gin; and Underground Herbal Spirit.

Currently on the menu are four silos of house cocktails broken down into categories: Spicy; Sweet and Fruity; Sour and Refreshing; and Spirit Forward. These designations, says Fine, allow for informed experimentation, "something that people can relate to."

Each of those four cocktail silos come with 10 drink options—thus, 40 house cocktails make up the spine of the Side Bar business, which also features a range of mocktails, some wines and a half-dozen-strong, Utah-brewed beer list.

And while the Ogden's Own brand is the one most-represented on the backbar—for all the obvious reasons—multiple brands from around the U.S. and the world are on hand.

The idea of the entire Side Bar operation is to create "a safe space where people can get really cool cocktails," Fine said. "They can also have a simple rum and Coke, then sit back and not be bothered. They can be on a date night, a girls night out, at a business meeting, be by themselves. Anything, really. And our staff is not pretentious."

In fact, let's start this round of "What's the Deal With the Side Bar?" by touching on the role of those staffers.

A Bartender by Any Other Name
Fine says that the bartenders at the Side Bar aren't bartenders ... at least not in title. And he eschews the popular phrase "mixologist," as well.

Instead, they're "liquid chefs." And they're also the floor staff, as there aren't servers or drink runners. If a customer has an empty glass at the table and the bar staff notice, they'll meander out, getting a bit of feedback. Based on that, they'll return to the bar area to work on another drink from scratch.

'From Scratch' Means From Scratch
At the Side Bar, juices are squeezed onsite and syrups and flavors have been created there, too.

Everyone's been to a bar and seen last month's bottle of orange juice come out of the cooler. It's an unsettling feeling. At Side Bar, the hour before open is largely spent in detailed prep work, with juicing and fruit presses ever in action.

"We make our own turmeric syrup," Fine says, "and our own horchata from rice milk. The fruit is all pressed for juice right here."

Wednesdays Are Wonder Full
Not "wonderful," but full of wonder. See, that's a night in which you might get a bit of circus-like flair, be it from burlesque or drag performers, a mime or musicians of all genres.

"We give them a space to work on their act," says Fine, "and expose people to their art, but who might not want to pay for the performance, for whatever reason. The night's full of great surprises and the music is low-key, so that the customers can come in and still be able to talk."

A Vessel, a Glass, a Tiny Bathtub
Cocktails at the Side Bar come to your table or bartop seat in any number of glassware styles and some of those are even, well, glasses.

One new drink, teased to a reporter but not yet on the menu, comes in a little bathtub. It's a gin-based beverage—harkening back to "bathtub gins"—and reportedly it comes with a sprig of blue cotton candy (which immediately melts upon impact) and a li'l rubber ducky.

Fine notes that the ducky will be a take-home item, but the bar's glasses—er, "vessels"—will remain in the bar. But even the most-honest person in the room could be tempted to abscond with the ceramic monkey (see recipe in photo caption); ditto for the old-school lunchboxes for another, PB&J-themed drink special.

And Yet ...
Even as he speaks fondly of his bar's glassware game, Fine notes that the place will ultimately be judged on how good the drinks are. Pretty simple on that count, and yet... "The whole thing here is that the drink has to taste good. A lot of bars make really good cocktails. Here, it's also about the vessels, the garnishes"

Those garnishes may include everything from a cucumber slice to a pineapple wedge to a Girl Scout cookie, though those, it must be said, are just about gone for the season.

Speaking of Seasons
Side Bar is ever on the hunt for new ingredients, and team members regularly suss out new and interesting vendors at local farmers markets.

That might mean investing in a seasonal fruit or vegetable. It might mean picking up a jar of jam and seeing what can be done with that. And cheese and meat boards are supplied from local farmers and cheesemakers. That said...

This Ain't a Restaurant
Fine says Side Bar plays a supporting role in the dining culture of Ogden. With limited hours (4-10 p.m., Wednesday-Saturday nights) they want to provide a place to have a sip before dinner, or another after.

But they're not looking to be a spot that offers multi-course meals or anything that distracts from "the many other great restaurants in the area," including those on Historic 25th Street, Fine said. "We purposefully close at 10 p.m. so that people visit other" options.

And Lastly, Value
Emphasizing that the highest-priced menu item is a $14 cocktail "with most running between $10-12," Fine says that the idea is to keep pricing in an approachable range, even in a period when craft cocktails in SLC are edging up to above the $20 mark at some establishments.

Fine says that visitors from around the country, in town for skiing and other recreation, frequently note that the price points are a plus.

Complet List of Utah Distilleries

• Thomas Crone
• Mike Abu pours a Great Salt Lake Salt Drink at Junior’s Tavern.

Needs More Salt
The Great Salt Lake Salt Drink, at Junior ´s Tavern, is a New Sunday staple.
By Thomas Crone

There's a bit of a mystery happening at Junior's Tavern (30 E. 300 South, SLC). It seems to come into clearest focus every Sunday afternoon around 5 p.m.

During the next hour or two, there are five or six gentlemen seated around the bar who find themselves there near-weekly. They provide the core of the day's business. And then there's a group of five-to-seven younger folks, who'll roll into the space, cranking up the volume by at least half.

Unlike the weekly regulars, chewing on their salted, in-the-shell peanuts, this new group is never made up of the same people (therein lies the mystery). They'll arrive weekly: a handful in number, a touch loud, maybe a drink or three into their afternoon rounds already. And every week, these two groups peaceably meet and mingle at Junior's.

Sometimes these new folks will strike up a conversation with those who're weekly assembled. At that point, the Great Salt Lake Salt Drink may come up in conversation.

It's a creation of bartender Mike Abu, a curly-haired, wise-cracking fellow who walks the mats at Junior's every Sunday from the opening shift until about 7 p.m. In this role, he caters to his peanut-chomping regulars, but he's also got The Bartender's Touch—the ability to make conversation with everyone who walks in the room.

Even as he continuously changes the music and engages regulars in long, thoughtful convos, he's serving drinks. Including the GSLSD. You may never come across a more specific, more simple, more regionally appropriate drink. Take note!

Start with a basic, state-approved pour of 1.5 ounces of rail vodka. This is topped by water, roughly in the same amount.

Added to this is a trio of salts: table salt, sea salt, kosher salt. At this point, your glass is guided across the bar in your general direction.

Note what doesn't happen during this drink assemblage—at no point is the GSLSD shaken or stirred. It's never placed in an icy tumbler. It's not strained from such. Thus, the li'l mound of salt at the base of the glass is unperturbed.

Instead, that salt mound sorta sits there, staring back at you, shaped into a sort of pyramidal form. Over time, that salt will slowly begin to become one with the vodka and water, but the sheer curiosity of this room-temp cocktail tempts most drinkers into tilting it back before that salination is achieved.

Then comes a variation of the same consumer review, again and again: "It's salty."

What else needs to be said? It's salty. Real salty. It's characteristic of the lake of which it—and our fair city—are named. It's also cheap. And it's a conversation starter. (Or conversation killer.)

Is it a real drink? On this, we're not sure. Abu's got a prankster's deft touch, and he's the smartest guy in the room (no matter the room), so we'll just say that this is a civically themed shooter that may yet find a tiny, brine-shrimp size following.

Complet List of Utah Distilleries

• Thomas Crone
• Pour a pint— or get clever with a shot at The Spot.

Smurfin' Around
Going off menu and finding home at The Spot.
By Thomas Crone

In another lifetime—well, OK, less than 10 years ago—I co-owned and operated a bar in St. Louis called the Tick Tock Tavern. It had sat empty for 20 years between drinks being served, the dated bottles on the back bar coated in a nice, li'l sheath of dust, circa 1994-2014.

Already an old-school bar by look and feel, we rightly kept that vibe and over the next few years, people would come in with a host of descriptors. Used to the point of annoyance was a version of "it looks like my (uncle's, aunt's, grandfather's, grandmother's) basement bar." A compliment, even if heard too, too many times.

A better response came with nods to other cities. So when someone would refer to the place as reminding them of a "Pittsburgh bar" or a "Milwaukee bar," it meant that the authenticity of their hometown favorites were coming through. So, the highest compliment I can pay to The Spot (900 S. Main, SLC) is that it reminds me of a St. Louis bar.

That could be due to the AC/DC pouring out of the sound system, the half-shell booths, the clank of billiards, the affordable pricing or the low-key ambiance. It could be all of those things blended together. The Spot's a big-city, relaxed, even stylish place in its own inimitable way.

In a city that has sometimes (if not often) sacrificed a sense of history for The Next and The New, The Spot seems to live and breathe in another decade, in the best way possible. That includes the scrolling specials menu above the backbar, advertising shots like the Purple Nurple in bold, bright colors.

The bartender at The Spot on every one of our half-dozen visits since January has been Jumper, whose evocative, singular name we've never inquired about further despite a great, great wish to do so. Jumper's quick to recognize regulars, even those who log time only once every three weeks or so. If you're among that number, you get a nod, a smile, some friendly words and, if hungry, a series of paper boats of chex mix, which somehow just tastes better at The Spot.

Asked one evening if The Spot offered canned seltzers, Jumper immediately noted that they didn't, but that some soda water and any of the myriad schnapps bottles on the backbar could be combined for the seltzer of your dreams. And after finally sampling the Purple Nurple—after all those signage teases—it seemed time to order a Smurf shot.

Jumper called up some recipes for Smurf shots on her phone, noting that there are an abundance of variations: the Bloody Smurf, the Electric Smurf, the Papa Smurf and the Horny Smurf, among others.

Digging deep into my tired brain, I suggested a Smurf with vodka and the essential blue curacao, thinking that some triple sec might be good, too; this turned out to be a near-version of the Drunken Smurf. And Jumper helpfully suggested that some pineapple juice might be good, a nod to the more-popular, rum-based Smurfs. "Sure," we said, "add pineapple!"

Maybe some magic remains inside The Spot from back in the days when it was known as The Age of Aquarius. (You can still see some hippie bar design elements if you scan hard enough.) But our Random Smurfs tasted good, even if the first sip tasted a tad metallic, as if a quarter had sunk to the bottom of our blue-glowing shot glasses.

But as we decided to sip these, rather than shoot 'em, the alchemy of mixing alcohols began to work. The sweetness of the pineapple and triple sec started to amplify, the vodka's bite began to recede. This Collectively Agreed Upon Smurf was good, real good, even if served alongside a not-exactly-complementary Boddington's Pub Ale.

Hey, sometimes you just feel like going off-script. And at The Spot, Jumper's got a phone full of internet recipes and zero ego. If it's not on that scroller menu, she'll look up a drink, modify it, make it the exact thing you want. In the span of a single order, she might even become your favorite bartender in town.

Complet List of Utah Distilleries