If cocktails are a part of your Valentine’s Day celebration, check out this list of vibrant red and pink-hued potions that are easy to fall in love with. Whether you spend the moment with your significant other or friends, treat yourself with one of these liquid lovelies.
Negroni Sbagliato
Your relationship shouldn’t be bitter, but your drink can be. Bar Americano beverage manager Julian Goglia uses Martini Reserva Speciale Bitter, a product new to the Atlanta market, for what he calls a “wrong Negroni.” “Sbagliato” translates to mistaken, and refers to replacing gin with bubbles. Goglia's combination of bitter red liqueur, sweet vermouth and prosecco is compelling, with "real" complexity — like what your Tinder date was going for with the Game of Thrones profile photo.
Bar Americano. 56 E. Andrews Drive NW, Atlanta. 678-515-0697, 10apart.com. Read more about Bar Americano here
Tomato King
Let’s not judge a cocktail by its color. This refreshing tipple is subtly sweet but with a nuanced savory and herbaceous overtones. It’s juicy and fresh with watermelon, tomato, gin and basil. Lime juice adds enough acid to balance the sweetness of agave syrup and round out the flavor. It only looks dainty and pink.
Bar Mercado. 99 Krog St., Atlanta. 404-480-4866, barmercadoatl.com. T ake a first look at Ber Mercado here
Bleeding Heart
Dantanna’s shakes up the classic tequila sunrise quite literally in this version with 100-percent blue agave tequila, fresh squeezed orange juice and black cherry syrup. Instead of layers of color, everything is shaken with ice and served with a black cherry on top.
Dantanna’s. 3400 Wooddale Dr NE #304, Atlanta. 404-760-8873, dantannas.com.
Amaro Daquiri
The House of Angostura’s Amaro di Angostura lies somewhere between the company's bar staple bitters and its rums that are infused with herbs and spices. Bar manager Adam Rowe uses Amaro di Angostura in a daiquiri twist that substitutes rum for the herbal liqueur and adds a hefty perk of bitters. The mixture of Amaro, blood orange, finger lime, cane syrup and bitters is big on personality and easy on the alcohol. Hopefully, your date is, too.
Leon’s Full Service. 131 E. Ponce de Leon Ave., Decatur. 404-667-0050, leonsfullservice.com.
Credit: angela hansberger
Credit: angela hansberger
Grounds for Divorce
When bartender Daniel Keith heard the Elbow lyric “I’ve been working on a cocktail called grounds for divorce,” he set to work on one himself. Gin, lime, ginger syrup, blood orange, ramazotti amaro and Spanish bitters mingle in a sultry slurry that' difficult to resist. His moniker is so spot on, you may push your go-to cocktail aside for a sip of this one.
The Pinewood. 254 W. Ponce de Leon Ave., Decatur. 404-373-5507, pinewoodtr.com.
Last Poem
"Lovers don't finally meet somewhere. They're in each other all along," wrote 13th century poet Rumi. This exotic sipper of smoky mezcal, lime, cinnamon, ginger liqueur, cardamom and pomegranate poetically evokes this kind of spicy sexiness in a glass.
Rumi’s Kitchen. 7105 Avalon Blvd., Alpharetta. 678-534-8855. rumiskitchen.com.
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