4 Simple Syrups That Will Change Your Bartending Game
One of my favorite drinks during the summer is a strawberry mojito. A little rum, a little simple syrup, lime, a mint sprig, and YUM—sunshine in a glass.
We love a cocktail in this house. We’ve got plans drafted for a wet bar and are currently YouTubing our way to understanding how to do the plumbing and electric for said project. TBD on an end date there. For now, we up our bar game by using homemade syrups. Whenever I purchase strawberries (which is frequently since they’re my favorite food), I save the tops to use in making a strawberry syrup.
The recipe for a perfect simple syrup? A one-to-one ratio of sugar to water reduced over heat with whatever accoutrement you have in mind for flavor.
Strawberry
Requires: 10 whole strawberries or 30 strawberry tops
Good for: berry whiskey sour, strawberry black iced tea, strawberry mojito (duh!)
Ginger
Requires: 2” piece of ginger, peeled
Good for: Hot Toddy, ginger lemon drop, Moscow (or Tennessee or Kentucky) Mule
Jalapeño
Requires: one fresh jalapeño, chopped with seeds
Good for: spicy margarita, zingy Gordon’s breakfast, jalapeño gimlet
Lavender
Requires: 10 stems dried lavender
Good for: herbal gin and tonics, lavender and ginger lemonade, floral French 75
3 Favorite East Nashville Happy Hours
My requirements for a quality happy hour:
Reasonable hours. None of this 5-6 pm nonsense, which is impossible to get to in time for most of us working folks.
Reasonable prices. If your happy hour drink is only $1 off regular prices or is north of $9, you’ve lost me.
Something for everyone. Jackson is dairy-free, I can only handle so much gluten, and plenty of our friends are vegan. We’ve gotta be able to meet up somewhere that has a decent number of options.
Bonus points: Food included.
Plane Jane
When: Daily from 5 - 7 pm; Tuesdays all day!
What: Beer $3, Wine $6, Cocktails $9
Specials: $8 shot + beer combo.
$10 specialty cocktail
Why we like it: Plane Jane was recently (another favorite of ours) by a Vandy grad (go ‘Dores) as his second enterprise after the success of Coneheads (right above Plane Jane!). We love this spot and it’s right near our house. Drinks are creative and on point, service is friendly and prompt, and the space is vibey without being over the top. While there isn’t food on site for happy hour, we just wander upstairs for delicious (and reasonably priced) chicken and truly the best damn grits I’ve yet tasted.
Up Down
When: Daily from 3 - 7 pm; Saturday from 11 am - 9 pm; Sunday all day!
What: Cocktails $7 (seven options to choose from)
Specials: Tuesday $1 off TN drafts.
Wednesday $1 off domestic tallboys.
Thursday 10-cent game tokens
Friday $2 pizza slices until 8 pm
Saturday 2-for-1 tokens
Sunday $30 six pack and a pound of tokens
Why we like it: With a rooftop patio (that is pet friendly!) and a ton of games inside, you’re set at Up Down whether it’s raining or sunny. Great entertainment for all ages and excellent drink deals. What’s not to love? The retro games provide a good space for larger groups to mill about and enjoy a corporate happy hour if you’re planning one of those.
Lockeland Table
When: “Community Hour” daily from 4 - 6 pm
What: Snacks to share $7, Cocktails $7
Specials: $7 glass or $30 pitcher of cocktail of the day. Food specials for kiddos!
Why we like it: While it’s a little on the early side, Lockeland Table’s Community Hour is true to its name in that way. The pizza is my personal go to, along with some grilled veggie of the day to round it out. Their cocktails are excellent and the pitcher is always a fun way to do a large format cocktail to share for 2-4 folks. The best part? A portion of the proceeds from Community Hour benefit the PTOs of schools in and around Nashville.
HONORABLE MENTION
Lyra
When: Daily from 5 - 6 pm
What: Cocktails $6, Beers $6, Wine $6 and discounted food
Why we like it: We love the food at Lyra. Their happy hour deals are great! This one gets an honorable mention because of the limited hours. We recommend getting a reservation for the patio at exactly 5 pm when they open and happy hour kicks off. Place your order and wait for the deliciousness to arrive. You’ll have time for a second round of HH drinks before the deals end and you’ll have plenty of food to make it dinner. When family is in town, we tend to go here and order one of everything off the menu. No joke.
Based On A Novel By Stephen King
You might be aware that spooky season is my favorite season. I was a late bloomer when it comes to horror movies, but I’ve now come to enjoy the genre and watch spooky movies even outside of spooky season. (! I know, right!)
Jackson and I throw an annual Halloween party where we pull out all the stops: the drinks are flowing and the food is plentiful. I absolutely love hosting and Halloween is a great excuse for us to invite our friends out for an evening of rowdy fun. While our dining room is still awaiting its construction projects, we were able to turn it into a buffet easily and we placed the bar outside on the porch.
The last few years, we’ve tried to select a different theme. This year, we went with Stephen King since I’ve lately been reading his novels. (The man is a master of the craft of writing for sure).
Naturally, we opted for a couple’s classic: Jack and Wendy Torrance from The Shining. Potato opted for a simple yet complementary costume: Georgie from It.
Make a balloon arch, light all your candles, and crank up the Haunted Hits playlist - it’s party time, y’all! Yes, we built a Pet Sematary in our backyard. Yes, the way to get into the party was to make your mark on the Overlook Hotel’s redrum door with an axe. Any more questions?
Drinks at White Limozeen
Sometimes you just need a fancy drink with your sissy. That is all.
xo
em
Goodbye, wallpaper. Hello, paint!
When wallpaper is too expensive but you still want a pop of color and pattern in a space, painting is the way to go.