booze

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Prepare to Get Buzzed With a Former Child Star at All-Wise Meadery

Odin would be proud (Photo: Daniel Maurer)

Odin would be proud (Photo: Daniel Maurer)

It used to be that throwback drinking meant quaffing Prohibition-era cocktails and Hemingway sippers. But these days, we’re seeing an emphasis on even older traditions, and a resurgence of traditional techniques that have long fallen out of use. Mead, the fermented honey drink that was made as early as 7000 BC in China and was drunk in North Europe during the Bronze Age, is making a comeback that started in the homebrew community and grew outward. And in just a few short months, Williamsburg will be home to one of the largest mead brewing operations in the country.

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You Can Slurp Booze Out of All of the Art at ‘Slow, Dimwitted Carnage’

(Photo courtesy of Coustof Waxman)

(Photo courtesy of Coustof Waxman)

Attending an art opening usually means agreeing to a trade-off: in exchange for free booze and the company of other humans, you won’t be seeing much, if any of the art work. But at “Slow, Dimwitted Carnage,” the second exhibition from newcomer gallery Coustof Waxman, guests can have their art and, um, drink it too.

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Can This New Bar Reduce the East Village’s ‘Douche Factor’?

(Photo: Nicole Disser)

(Photo: Nicole Disser)

When word first emerged that Abby Ehmann, an East Village party organizer and neighborhood chronicler who’s resided in the hood since 1989, would be opening a bar on Avenue B, not everyone was all about it. There were enough bars, people said– in fact, there are several of them located on the block between 10th and 11th streets already. And worst of all, weren’t the proliferation of bars (especially the fancy cocktail ones) part of the problem?

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Goldie’s Rollin’ Out Glittery Vibes, ‘Like an Old Las Vegas Casino Carpet’

(Photo: Nicole Disser)

A new Greenpoint bar, Goldie’s, opened over the weekend (Photo: Nicole Disser)

Ask anybody who’s not from the so-called flyover states to describe a Midwesterner and you’re absolutely going to hear some variation on the word “nice.” But try asking an actual Midwesterner to say something about their own and it’s likely to be along the lines of, “Well, they don’t take themselves too seriously.”

Thankfully, Frank Bevan and Eric Odness, a pair of super chill Minneapolis rock-n’-roll vets, fit the latter description, and likewise  their Greenpoint bar, Lake Street, is about as unpretentious as it gets. Just whatever you do, don’t call it a “Minneapolis-themed” bar.

“I can’t stand hearing that,” Frank said. “I don’t know what that means.”

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Don’t Get Caught Mezcalin’ Around, Giddy Up to Greenpoint for an Agave-Soaked BBQ

Esme, Greenpoint (Photo: Nicole Disser)

Esme, Greenpoint (Photo: Nicole Disser)

Any discerning boozehound knows that tequila is sooo 2006– the alcoholic drink du jour is tequila’s smokier, sexier cousin: mezcal. And while United Staters’ newfound taste for the spirit may be killing off the very plant that makes it (agave takes a long time to grow– one of the easier varieties reaches maturity after a decade and even then only yields approximately ten bottles), mezcal’s popularity only seems to be picking up. That means that, nowadays, any self-respecting bartender will have a mezcal cocktail or two up their sleeve, mezcal old fashioneds are pretty much standard, and a bar can’t be called complete without at least one bottle of the stuff on-shelf.

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Albert Trummer Is All Fired Up About Sanatorium, a Place For ‘Healing With Alcohol’

(Photo: Nicole Disser)

(Photo: Nicole Disser)

Albert Trummer of Apothéke has finally opened his new bar on Avenue C, having dropped the rather hilarious working title of Mixers & Elixirs in favor of Sanatorium, a name that’s true to both the bar’s Habsburgian decor (surgeon’s lamps, anatomy-driven artwork, even an X-Ray lightbox) and its Dionysian philosophy on wellness.

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Club Etiquette Zine Calls Out Dweebs and Creeps on the Scene

Club Etiquette Vol. 3

Club Etiquette Vol. 3

Whether it’s because of excessive boozing and very often drugging, lowered inhibitions or cover of night, maybe even social expectations or bro-on-bro insanity, the list goes on– people can act like total shitheads at shows, dance parties, clubs, and bars.

Anuradha Golder knows this. She’s been partying for “a while now,” she laughed. “And I always thought, how can I make this better? How can I make this experience more enjoyable for myself?” Her zine, Club Etiquette, aims to answer those questions. Issue No. 3, which dropped in October, looks specifically at sexual harassment. “I understood the zine was eventually going to comment on bigger issues, but it got there pretty quickly,” Anuradha explained.

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New LES Resto to Serve Fancy Burgers, Upstairs a Speakeasy Named For a Busted Banker

(Photo by Hannah Mattix, NYMag.com)

67 Clinton Street (Photo by Hannah Mattix, NYMag.com)

If you were a fan of longtime watering hole Barramundi and its upstairs speakeasy, 2nd Floor on Clinton, we’re afraid you missed last call. The pair of bars had their final hurrah last night, but the good news is the space won’t stay vacant for long if all goes as planned for Tim Gashi (Rocky Slims). The restauranteur plans to open a Criff Dog style hamburger joint/speakeasy combo that he’s hoping will help revitalize the LES block.

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Greenpoint’s Barge Bar Is Ready For Swashbuckling

Thar she blows (Photo: Nicole Disser)

Thar she blows (Photo: Nicole Disser)

If you’ve been awake for the past 48 hours or so, you’re probably well aware that it is, in fact, the month of July which means some of you, dearest readers, may be wondering, “Where the hell is that floating barge bar you promised me?” Rest assured, the Brooklyn Barge Bar is not lost at sea — rather she’s docked and nearly ready for seafaring (we jest, the barge itself will remain at the landing, historic boats and scuba excursions will do the launching). “It looks like it’s far from being finished, but it’s actually really close,” owner Will Drawbridge explained. “There’s some final bits of paperwork to do and then we’ll be done.”

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