Cancun Cocktail Bandido’s Mexican Café Woodcroft, Durham http://www.bandidoscafe.com The Cancun Cocktail, served in a hurricane glass, is the color of a salmon fillet.  Unappetizing description aside, it’s a great drink with dark rum, peach schnapps; orange, pineapple and papaya juices.  Peach schnapps would overpower a lighter base but it serves to mellow out the dark
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Fiesta Bandido’s Mexican Cafe 4711 Hope Valley Road Woodcroft Shopping Center, Durham www.bandidoscafe.com The Fiesta is a tropical cocktail made with Malibu rum, crème de banane, and pineapple juice.  The noxiously yellow drink came in a hurricane glass with plenty of ice.  The banana is apparent on first sip but is overpowered by the pineapple
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Mandarin Crush Thai Cafe 2501 University Drive Durham http://www.thaicafenc.com The Mandarin Crush is a cherry brandy cocktail served in a martini glass with two cherries at the bottom.  It resembles a golden and pink-tinged sunset, which certainly set me up to enjoy its flavors. And enjoy it I did.  The cocktail is mildly sweet with
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Flirtini West 94th Street Pub Woodcroft Shopping Center Durham This cocktail came with an unappealing pink film on top, but that is often the case for drinks made with crème de anything.  This one was crème de banane and its compatriots in the martini glass were watermelon pucker and vodka.  I tend to stay away
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Caipirinha Mez Research Triangle Park Durham My Mez review Caipirinha is a great cocktail that a friend introduced me to a few years back.  It consists of limes muddled with sugar and cachaça, a rum-like Brazilian alcohol.  Mez’s caipirinha has all these things but the proportions were a bit off to me.  I’d have liked
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Shiki Sushi 207 W Highway 54 Homestead Market, Durham http://www.shikisushionline.com/ I am an unabashed fan of Shiki Sushi.  Their intriguing deluxe rolls, relaxing atmosphere, and fantastic selection of non-sushi items never fail to leave me well-fed and happy.  But there is the occasionally squeaky wheel and at last night’s dinner, it was the Shiki Tini.

My review of the unusually bitter espresso martini at Pop’s in Durham.  It’s an:

Sidecar Rockwood Filling Station *CLOSED* Durham, NC I was delighted to see sidecars on the drink list for Rockwood Filling Station as I feel it’s an often overlooked cocktail. The drink itself did not live up to my expectations. It was served in a sugar-rimmed martini glass. I thought the sugar was a good touch
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Sangriatini Four Square Durham, NC This drink was an interesting idea but did not come across well in the execution. A sweeter red wine as the base would have been better as well as premixing the ingredients to allow the flavors to mix.

The Alex Martini George’s Garage *CLOSED* Durham, NC This drink proves that apple martinis don’t have to hit you over the head with sugar. It came garnished with an orange slice and topped with foam, which I love. It was the color of sparkling cider but a bit murky so that I wondered if it
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