In terms of becoming familiar with a new city, we all know that there’s one thing that beats Yelp, TripAdvisor, and your type-A friend’s alphabetized Google doc of recommendations every time, and that thing is boozing with the locals. Now, thanks to the creativity of small-batch craft distillers in practically every city around the country, many a humble backbar is ripe with local roots and street cred. So, to really get your bearings, skip the Instagrammable mural and saddle up at happy hour: you might find a whiskey in Seattle made from heirloom Washington State malts, a Hawaiian rum distilled from single-estate Oahu sugarcane, or an Atlanta brandy made from North Georgia apples. Some might call this “overindulging on vacation,” but we prefer the term “exploring the nuances of a region through learning about its terroir.” And you know we're going to follow it up by pre-paying that $25 checked baggage fee to make way for a suitcase full of liquid souvenirs.
In this, er, spirit, we asked eight bartenders around the country for the juice that sums up their hometowns. Here’s what they told us.
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