Bars & Breweries

The Spot: The Lodge 4422 North 75th Street, Scottsdale 480-945-0828 www.lodgescottsdale.com The Hours: Happy Hour is offered every day from 3 until 7 p.m…

Beer: Grapefruit Sculpin Brewery: Ballast Point Brewing Co. Style: IPA ABV: 7 percent There are generally two schools of thought when it comes to beers brewed with fruit: Hooray! and How Dare You? Given the number of examples on shelves crafted to be sickeningly sweet or brewed with more artificial…

Brazil has some noteworthy exports. There are those who consider its soccer team one of the finest things to come out of Brazil. Others will argue for the tendency of comely Brazilian women to use something resembling a length of unwaxed dental floss as swimwear. However, since this is the…

Who would’ve guessed that the top two drinks of Tuesday night’s USBG Most Imaginative Bartender Competition at the W Hotel, by significant margins, would both prominently feature turmeric? However, taking the sponsored spirit into account — Bombay Sapphire — the spice trade botanical definitely makes sense historically. Plus, it gave…

The Spot: Phoenix Public Market Cafe 14 E Pierce St, Phoenix, AZ 85004 The Hours: Happy hour is available everyday from 3 p.m. to close. See also: Phoenix Public Market Cafe: Happy Hour Report Card…

These are pumpkins. Seem a little out of place, don’t they? Know why that is? Because it’s f-ing August. The term “seasonal creep” has long been used to describe the way Christmas ornaments seem to start tinkling onto store shelves before the Fourth of July fireworks even get cold, but…

Some of my cocktailian brethren and I were recently bemoaning the lack of authenticity in some cocktails. Take the Manhattan, for example. Long ago, it was a 50/50 mix of rye whiskey and sweet vermouth, with a couple of dashes of orange bitters. Over time, the cocktail has evolved (or…

San Diegans are probably sick of the sight of us “Zonies,” as they refer to us. During summer months, it’s pretty much guaranteed that many Phoenicians will head to the city to escape and when we do it seems every time there’s a bevy of new food and drink spots…

The Spot: Bink’s Midtown 2320 E Osborn Rd, Phoenix www.binksmidtown.com The Hours: Happy Hour is offered everyday from 2:30 to 6 p.m…

Beer: Ristretto Cosmic Black Lager Brewery: Green Flash Brewing Co. Style: Schwarzbier ABV: 8.2 percent This column is normally directed at beer aficionados, but coffee connoisseurs may also want to pay close attention — this week’s brew is packed with enough espresso flavor that it earned the name Ristretto. For…

It is often said that rules are made to be broken. Some rules seem more breakable than others. For example, I’m pretty sure that the speed limit on the Scottsdale leg of Loop 101 is but a mere suggestion. And I have an inkling that not all of the, ahem,…

It’s been a great year thus far for craft cocktails in Phoenix, making it pretty difficult to pin down just 10 drinks to mention. While original tiki drinks have made their way back into the scene in a big way, simplicity, with a focus on high-quality craft spirits, seems to…

The Spot: Delux 3146 East Camelback Road, Phoenix 602-522-2288 www.deluxburger.com The Hours: Happy Hour is offered Monday – Friday from 4 until 7 p.m. and 10 p.m. until 2 a.m. daily, though the sushi kitchen closes at midnight Sunday – Thursday…

Beer: RuinTen IPA Brewery: Stone Brewing Co. Style: Imperial IPA ABV: 10.8 percent When I was in college, I spent seven weeks studying German language and culture in the city of Regensburg, located in southern Bavaria. The experience, as those who’ve studied abroad are required to call such things, was…

It amuses me to no end to watch local news outlets treat summer in Phoenix like a newsworthy event. The Sonoran Desert gets hot in July? The hell you say! Give me something else to think about besides an oppressive climate. Give me a tropical cocktail by a pool surrounded…

Last night, 18 of Phoenix and Tucson’s best bartenders took to the stage at Sandbar in Chandler to compete in the Mai Tai Competition. The two winning drinks were chosen, along with their bartenders, to go to Kona, Hawaii to represent Arizona in the national Don’s Mai Tai Competition, named…

The Spot: Barrio Queen 7114 E Stetson Dr Scottsdale BarrioQueen.com…

Beer: Open Road Brewery: Mother Road Brewing Co. Style: English Summer Ale ABV: 5.8 percent Critiquing a beer’s appearance, aroma and flavor can tell you much about that particular brew, but little else. No, to truly know a beer, one must travel to the place it was brewed, see the…

I’ve long been amused by people’s culinary prejudices. Earlier this week, I had a discussion of the finer points of using raw egg in cocktails. As it so often happens, the people who hadn’t experienced egg-inclusive cocktails met the idea with a revulsed shudder. As anyone who has experienced a…

If you’re stuck in the no man’s land between being completely sick of shots of Fernet Branca and going for the gusto and switching to shots of bitters, you aren’t alone. Luckily, the wide world of digestifs, aperitifs, and whatever else you want to classify them as have something bitter,…

The Spot: Hula’s Modern Tiki 7213 E. 1st Ave., Scottsdale, AZ 85251 (480) 970-4852 www.hulasmoderntiki.com…

Beers: Belo Ipe & Belo Sao Francisco Brewery: Cervejaria Wals Style: Quadrupel & Dubbel ABV: 11 percent & 7.5 percent I’d like to kick this week’s review off with a few contrasting images of Brazilians. The first is brought to you by the 7-1 blitzkrieg the German national squad delivered…