Corn ‘N Oil Geer St. Garden Central Park District, Durham $8 This unique cocktail was recommended to me by the lovely @nutellaisevil after she tried Geer St. Garden for the first time on the same day that I was about to do the same. It’s a simple mix of blackstrap rum, falernum syrup, and fresh
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The Floridita Cuban Revolution American Tobacco District, Durham This cocktail, an alluring deep brown, was made with Bacardi Select dark rum, sweet vermouth, lime juice, and crème de cacao. If you’re thinking that’s an odd mix of ingredients, you’re right! But it’s a combination that works pretty well. The rum absolutely dominates the drink, and
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Pineapple Express Martini Rockfish Seafood and Grill Southpoint This translucent cocktail was a mix of pineapple Skyy vodka, white cranberry juice, and triple sec. A lemon twist was advertised as a garnish, but as is often the case with garnishes, it was left off the drink (stop doing this bartenders!). Somehow, the mix of cranberry
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Mole-Mole bu·ku, Downtown Raleigh This thick cocktail should be listed as a dessert. With both chocolate vodka and crème de cacao in the ingredient list, it’s awfully close to drinking a Mexican hot chocolate in cold cocktail form. The Navan, which is a vanilla cognac as I just learned, is very subtle in the mixture.
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Point Break The Pinhook, Downtown Durham $8 The Pinhook has a new list of specialty drinks out, which means it was time to head out for a show! Not only did Aye Nako! and Dangerous Ponies give great shows—with impressively sparkly outfits to match—but the Point Break cocktail provided a smooth drink to relax my
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I headed out of the restaurant after dinner on my first night in Minneapolis, only to find myself in the middle of a finish line! There were no signs of a race at all when we went inside, I swear! It was hilarious to suddenly have the whole street transformed. After a few minutes of
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Vinos Finos y Picadas 8450 Honeycutt Road Lafayette Village, North Raleigh Website Bites: $3–$8 Cheese & Meat Plates: $10–$30 Vinos Finos y Picadas is a South American wine bar in the new Lafayette Village shopping plaza that’s designed to look like a European village in the tradition of Epcot and Las Vegas before it.

Raspberry Veranda Parizade, Durham $6.50 Website The Raspberry Veranda is a welcome addition to cocktails using sweet tea vodka—this is no simple twist on an Arnold Palmer! Instead, this cocktail uses the sweet tea vodka, sour mix, triple sec, lime juice, and Chambord. It combines very nicely into a sweet drink that, not shockingly, resembles
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Saketini Shiki Sushi Southwest Durham Website $8 This is a very simple martini, consisting of vodka and Gekkeikan nigori sake, which is the creamy type for those of you not up on your sake terminology. Frankly, there’s no need to have a martini this simple; you might as well drink vodka or sake on their
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Tingletini @ Rockfish Southpoint, Durham Website The tingletini is made with passion fruit vodka, simple syrup, lime juice, and jalapeno peppers. Guess you know the tingle comes from that last ingredient, huh? The presentation for this cocktail is beautiful. I especially like how the crossed straws mimic the crossed jalapeno slivers. It’s almost clear, but
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