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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.
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