Tip Top Proper Cocktails has new additions to its line of ready-to-drink recipes. Along with their “Bee’s Knees,” daiquiri and other classics, they now offer the “Paper Plane,” “Penicillin” and “Naked & Famous.” Tip Top Proper Cocktails is an award-winning classic cocktail brand founded in 2018 by music industry veterans Neal Cohen and Yoni Reisman. After years producing large-scale events, they realized the market was missing conveniently accessible, high-quality, classic cocktails. Enlisting the help of award-winning bartender Miles Macquarrie to develop the recipes, the team has created 16 canned low-ball classic cocktail recipes now available throughout the New Orleans area and online. tiptopcocktails.com
Magic Hour
Costera has launched the “Magical Mystery Pour”, a wine experience for adventurous sippers. For $20 a glass, guests can enjoy a blind pour from a rotating selection of rare and limited wines that typically wouldn’t make it to the by-the-glass list. This special offering features higher-end bottles in small quantities, bringing a touch of the unexpected to your glass. They are also reintroducing happy hour from 4 to 6 p.m., Wednesday through Sunday, featuring a rotating selection of $10 classic cocktails, $6 Costera originals and an expanded menu of tapas favorites. The cocktail lineup includes a wider range of spirits, liqueurs, and aperitivi. Highlights include the Costera dirty martini; Hugo spritz with elderflower, mint, and cava; “Going Back to Kali” with Fernet Francisco, red wine syrup, lemon, and coca cola; “Hotel Nacional” with Planteray rum, pineapple, lime, apricot; and “Siesta” with Mi Campo Blanco, Campari, grapefruit, lime. 4938 Prytania St.,504-302-2332 costerarestaurant.com.
Cure’s Top 50
Cure Founder Neal Bodenheimer and the entire CureCo. team are celebrating their third consecutive appearance on North America’s 50 Best Bars list. Neal Bodenheimer notes, “This recognition speaks directly to the hard work and dedication of our entire team and the passion they have for creating exceptional cocktails. This achievement not only celebrates our past efforts, but also fuels our drive to raise the bar even higher, as we continue to evolve and build on the next 16+ years of Cure.” February 2024 marked the bar’s 16th anniversary, and during that time, Cure has become a New Orleans mainstay, championing classic cocktails and thoughtful riffs on tried-and-true standbys. 4905 Freret St., 504-302-2357, curenola.com.
Summer Fun
Patron Saint Wine offers plenty of ways to enjoy their space throughout each week. Craft Night, perfect for sewers, knitters, painters and bedazzlers, is the first Monday of every month and features plenty of space to spread out, outlets for glue guns and a shareable cache of scissors. Attendees can take advantage of no corkage on Mondays and $2 off all glasses. On Wednesdays, enjoy tarot card readings by Biba Islah (7 to 9 p.m.) and a “Mystery Wine,” where a wine of a single grape variety is featured by the glass. If a guest guesses the variety correctly, the glass is free. Thursdays, patrons can enjoy a flight of three wines based on a theme. Monthly “All Souls Wine Club” members receive wines chosen by the store that are meant to surprise and delight. Subscribers also receive an exclusive newsletter with producer notes, a free taste and 10% off glasses on the official pick-up day, as well as 15% off bottles featured in each month’s club and 10% off all ticketed events. 1152 Magazine St., 504-321-7771, patronsaintwine.com.
Summer Simplified
El Guapo has several new offerings for summer sipping. Their canned bitters are perfect pairings for poolside or at the beach. They can be a fizzy non-alcoholic alternative or a mixer for spirited libations, and are free of alcohol, sugar and caffeine. “Love Potion” features chamomile, hibiscus, orange blossom, rose, jasmine and lavender; “Cucumber Lavender” includes citrus and mint to complement English cucumber and French lavender. El Guapo is also featuring two products that highlight Louisiana strawberries: “Summer Berries Bitters” and “Cajun Grenadine” syrup. Both are Certified Cajun by the Louisiana Department of Agriculture for containing 100% Louisiana agricultural products. The grenadine adds a fresh, fruity twist to cocktails, bubbly, spiritless drinks, or atop ice cream or strawberry shortcake, syrup is produced seasonally, and once sold out, will not be available until the next year. The “Summer Berries Bitters” are created with strawberries, blackberries and blueberries, balanced with notes of clove, cinnamon and allspice. Use them to spice up margaritas, daiquiris or a Pimm’s Cup. elguapobitters.com.
