Absente Minded Posta Tuscan Grille, Raleigh Website $12 The Absente Minded cocktail, which I tried at the Triangle Foodie Tweetup held last week at Posta Tuscan Grille, was a delightful, satisfying, smooth cocktail. I enjoyed it so much that night that I came back the next one for another before heading to the Adam Lambert
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Basil Smash Foundation Downtown Raleigh http://www.foundationnc.com/ The Basil Smash was a mix of Old Charter No. 8 bourbon, lemon juice, and basil syrup.  The basil was spicy, which means it was probably locally sourced as both my homegrown carrots and basil plants are extra spicy in NC. The basil gave way to sugar and mellow
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Yadkin Valley Summer Sangria Foundation Downtown Raleigh Website As I’ve had my heat on for three weeks now, I’m sure Foundation no longer has this on their drink list, but figured I’d go ahead and post it anyway to give you a taste of what they mix up. This riff on white sangria was made
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If you have both a sweet and spicy tooth, as I do, this cocktail is fantastic. It is made with passion fruit vodka, muddled jalapenos, honey, cilantro and something else I didn’t write down. The spiciness makes your throat tingle but the sweetness makes you forget all about it.

The Bee Line The Hive Website Downtown Raleigh The Bee Line is a fruity drink made with Cruzan Light, muddled strawberries, rhubarb bitters, brown sugar syrup, and honey.    Served up in a hurricane glass, it was quite tasty at first but gets watery by the halfway mark.  The level of sweetness was kept under control. 
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Bee’s Knees The Hive Downtown Raleigh Website I love a good bourbon cocktail so this drink called my name.  It’s comprised of bourbon, muddled pineapple, honey, soda water and rosemary.    Sadly, the alluring components did little to jazz up the bourbon; it would have been better merely served on the rocks.  The pineapple was diluted
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Hendrick’s in the Garden The Raleigh Times Bar http://www.raleightimesbar.com/ This cocktail was a mix of cucumber chunks, lavender syrup, gin, and club soda on the rocks.  The strong, yet bland gin quickly took control from the cucumber and sweet lavender.  It’s rare that I want the gin in a drink to be more flavorful but
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Pear Melon Daisy The Big Easy Raleigh, NC I ordered this drink merely because I hadn’t had Midori in a long time. It was delightful—the reason I hadn’t had Midori is because it’s often overpowering but here, the pear vodka mellowed it out nicely. Sweet and lovely.

Jibarra Margarita Jibarra Raleigh, NC This margarita is Jibarra’s signature drink, with 100% agave tequila. There’s no margarita mix here; all the juice is freshly squeezed on site. Crowned with a hibiscus flower, this margarita is smooth, simple, and flawless.

Margarita de Jamaica Jibarra Raleigh, NC For the same price as Jibarra’s standard margarita, you can get this version, simmered with sugar cane. The addition of hibiscus nectar makes the drink an appealing lavender and more sweet than sour.