The Bars to Watch in 2014: North America

Theme bars are rife across the States, taking in Mexico-Kentucky mashups, corner stores and Mad Men, reports Jenny Adams as she rounds up the North America Bars to Watch in 2014.

Live music plays a central role in North America’s thriving bar scene

The American love affair with cocktails was born the late 1800s when a New Orleans pharmacist named Antoine Peychaud first mixed brandy and bitters together. The Stateside cocktail scene has known rocky moments – Prohibition and the advent of the soda gun among them – but today, the classic cocktail is fully restored to a place of honour and the contemporary creations here are among the best available in the entire world.

With 2014 around the corner, we salute places both old and new that are worthy of attention and attendance in the year ahead.

From a basement enclave in Minnesota that will lower your drink’s proof on purpose, to Atlanta’s brand new dark den of gimlets and Champagne-topped Sazeracs, there are options aplenty.

Click through the following pages to discover the North America Bars to Watch 2014.

North America Bar to Watch: Multnomah Whiskey Library, Portland

The people of Portland cannot stop talking about Multnomah. You enter a space dominated floor to ceiling by bottles that exist as a true library for thousands of spirit labels, carefully curated and acquired to be part of the whole, definitive Multnomah experience.

While whisky takes centre stage, all manner of spirits are represented. “We have expanded across all spirit categories to find the best representations of spirits to include on our back bar,” explains head barman Tommy Klus. “In addition, we have curated a wine program complete with Sherry, madeira and vintage port as well as old world, old vintage wines.”

One of the most talked about aspects, beyond the 1500-strong booze menu, is Multnomah’s tableside cart service. Both neat pours and stirred drinks are made inches beyond your elbow thanks to rolling wooden carts that propel the bar around the tables. The sense of fun and whimsy continues with recycled TV trays given a new lease of life as rental lockers in case you don’t finish that esoteric bottle of Scotch.

“The single-most outstanding thing about our cocktail offerings is the fact that we have such a vast and diverse backbar,” admits Klus. “This enables us to get really creative and unique with our ingredients. Our approach stems from a place of classic, intentional simplicity and never strays too far from the base ingredient or spirit. We believe the process and techniques that we use are just as important as the ingredients, which is why we have been quite selective in sourcing each and every bar tool, accessory and accoutrement.”

They have big plans for helping guests learn in creative ways, as well. For example, you can sample from special barrels sourced from Kentucky inside the bar, but if you are lucky, they are hoping to take guests to the source on future barrel buying trips to distilleries.

Paper Plane, Atlanta

Paul Calvert is a well-known name on the Atlanta cocktail scene. He and his buddies opened Paper Plane in the city’s Decatur ‘hood six months ago, and it’s one of the best things to hit the South since the invention of BBQ. The décor is slightly Mad Men in nature – zinc tables, black library shelving for the booze, and dark booths – but it’s the menu you really will want to keep an eye on. The collaborative drinks list has changed four times in six months.

“We have a cool Gimlet list, and in late summer, we did some fairly aggressive Tiki drinks,” said Calvert. “It’s always changing. Right now, I’m focused on the elegant, clean and classic. Our hottest seller is called There’s a Light that Never Goes Out, which is a Champagne-topped Sazerac with Rittenhouse rye whiskey.”

The Wayland, New York City

Located in the East Village, this 1,000sqft den of awesome is consistently given nods from publications like Time Out NY and New York magazine for its signature Garden Variety Margarita – made with fresh kale juice, ginger, Tequila, lime and agave nectar – as well as the stiffer I Hear Banjos Encore. It’s stirred with homemade apple bitters made from upstate orchard apples, rye whiskey, apple-infused moonshine and smoke from a smoke gun.

Free live music is a cornerstone at The Wayland, and each Wednesday they cram in a seven-piece brass band. Recently, the bar was expanded to include a diminutive but delicious sandwich side-concept called Animals. Expect to see Animals in other cities in the coming year, particularly Charleston, South Carolina.

Holy Water, San Francisco

There wasn’t much in the way of craft cocktails in SF’s Bernal Heights neighbourhood prior to Holy Water’s recent debut. Now the area can boast one of the most discussed spots in America. Opened by the group behind Churchill and Bloodhound, the design is striking, with four chandeliers built from old decanters hanging over the bar, a faux worn look to the walls and a giant photo that dominates the design. “It’s a sepia-toned shot of a baptism in a river,” explains co-owner John Ottman. “It’s very Americana. A bit eerie and blurred.”

The drinks list, in contrast, is inviting and in-focus. “We have 10 cocktails at any time and they are simple and beautiful. We aren’t trying to get weird or impress you with esoteric mixology. It’s a neighborhood place where we want people to feel welcome.”

El Camino, Louisville

It’s a miracle they’ve crammed this much kitsch into one multi-roomed building and somehow avoided being tacky. Instead, the design at El Camino makes you want to head to a beach and learn to surf. You’d do it too, if the cocktails weren’t such a reason to stay in pastoral Kentucky.

Part open-air Oaxaca café with authentic Mexican food, and part surf bar, El Camino retains its roots in the American South with historic tipples like the Port Light with Buffalo Trace.

History is important in libations here, and there’s a perfect-every-time Daiquiri and Scorpion bowls aplenty. The Volcano bowls are on fire. The stereo is a record player. What more could you want?

Marvel Bar, Minneapolis, MN

Tucked in the basement of a historic warehouse, Marvel is a colourful place to drink and play. A scattering of random bright tiles mark the floors, while purple booths and plush leather couches invite you to sit and explore cocktails by head bartender Pip Hanson.

And he’s serving up something unexpected. Hyperdiluton is Hanson’s belief that adding water to his contemporary recipes brings out the subtleties of spirit by lowering the proof.

“Our bestseller is The Gatsby,” he says. “We have a nice Oban 14 Year Old and put in tiny dashes of salt, Benedictine and apricot liqueur. We then dilute it with two ounces of water.” The result is light and delicate, and served without ice so the aromas really come through.

Honeycut, Los Angeles, CA

Opened in mid-October, this spot is a double sided, part-cocktail den, part-discotheque, both with their own signature cocktail lists. The Disco is built for volume. Cocktails on draft comprise of four refreshing drinks and one Old Fashioned variation, as well as two “disco” shots.

The Cocktail Bar has more than 40 original drinks organised into amusing categories: the drink Snap Judgment lives under the category “Left of Center” in the stirred section.

Flashing lights alongside swift and serious stirred concoctions are bringing LA to the forefront in terms of great new spaces. It’s cheeky. It’s smart. It’s where you should drink if you are in town.

Grape & Grain, Jacksonville, FL

“We are a two-headed beast,” laughs owner Bob Smith. “The idea was to be a retail shop for craft spirits, craft beers and small production family run wines. We also wanted to have a bar so you could taste these while you shop.”

The result is Grape & Grain, where you can sample and buy from a stock of 200 spirits, 150 beers and 250 wines. A selection is also available on tap, and at night you can sneak through the back wall into their darker, sultrier speakeasy concept for pre-Prohibition tipples and live Jazz.