30MOCocktails Kelly

First Post!

30 Miles of Cocktails! is an online site about adventure, stories, bar and cocktail reviews, and of course… drinking. A Couple out for a couple drinks (… and then a couple more.)

Kelly and I will focus mainly on Denver, CO (since we live here), wandering around to our local haunts as well as new bars that we have not tried yet (New places! New drinks! New bartenders! Adventure!) However, as our work takes us out of town quite frequently (in fact, will be in Boston in about three weeks. Looking forward to the Hawthorne, Shays, Bukowski’s, Delux, The Sevens, and many other of our favorite bars in my old home.), so we will also be sampling and reviewing the cocktail and bar scene in other cities as well (San Francisco in October? New York City and Philadelphia in December? Maybe! Stay tuned!)

First… a couple of ground rules for the site – and drinking in general (which honestly should be followed by everyone in a cultured society.) Sure there are plenty of small drinking rules (like ‘Don’t order a complex drink at a busy bar’ or ‘Never tell a bartender he’s making a drink too strong’… all laid out by Modern Drunkard Magazine), but these three are our Golden Rules. The Rule of Three, so to say.

ONE: Whenever possible, always sit at the bar. The bar and bartender are the center of the establishment’s focus, energy, and revenue. So, that is the best place to get a good feel for vibe and action of the business. You can NEVER discover that if you are sitting at a table far from the center of things (and with a waitress who is serving a gaggle of tables and too busy to even ask if you’d like another drink.) Also if you can (if the bartender is not too busy), get to know your server. Not only will you possibly get great stories… but maybe free drinks as well.

TWO: Whenever possible, drink local – beers, boozes, and cocktails. This is a no brainer. With the rise of craft and local brewing, we no longer live in the dark times where your only options are Budweiser, Coors, and Jack Daniels (and honestly… why the hell would you want to go back to that?) That said, not everywhere is enlightened. Always have a back-up, a fall back drink that you know you can get if your options are limited. Not every bartender knows how to make an Old Fashioned.

THREE: Tip Generously. Honestly… these are the people making you drinks and lubricating your night on the town. If you can’t afford to tip… then you can’t afford to drink. Buy a bottle and head home.
And now, with those three basic rules in mind, please join us as we put them into practice on a regular basis and ask… “Whose turn is it to buy the next round?”