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Best Bites Chicago

This week’s Best Bite: Alice Fay draft cocktail, Tippling Hall

This Best Bite is one of the 20 foods and 15 drinks I’ve set out to taste and document in 2015. View the full list to see my plan and progress.

Alice Fay draft cocktail, Tippling Hall
Alice Fay draft cocktail with Finlandia vodka, pecan-brown sugar syrup, lemon, and Old Style lager

Why it’s this week’s Best Bite: On my first visit to Tippling Hall, I was immediately intrigued by (and I’ll admit, skeptical of) a draft cocktail that featured Old Style beer, and it turned out to be so fun and memorable that I planned another group outing there partially so that I could order this drink again. The Old Style lager flavor is immediately detectable, but is then mellowed and complemented by lemon, vodka, and pecan-brown sugar syrup. It’s a strange sensation to describe, but this refined cocktail immediately transported me to the sun-drenched bleachers at a summer Cubs game. The salty rim and sticky-sweet pecan brittle garnish, which my friend described as the best brittle she’d ever had, not only enhanced the nutty notes from the syrup, but also further evoked the ballpark spirit.

The details: Tippling Hall, 646 N. Franklin St., Chicago.

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Categories
Best Bites Chicago

2014 Best Bite #19: Passionfruit beermosa, Dusek’s

For the third year in a row, I’m using each day in December to celebrate the rest of the best bites (and sips) that I didn’t get to blog about in 2014, posted in chronological order. Browse all of this year’s Best Bites, or look back at year-end Best Bites from 2012 and 2013.

Passionfruit beermosa, Dusek's
Passionfruit beermosa with hefeweisen, passion syrup, and Malört

Why it’s another 2014 Best Bite: Beer cocktails are a trend I can completely get behind – it’s a creative way of using other ingredients to get the most out of beer’s complex flavor profile. However, I didn’t expect to fall in love with one that featured Malört, Chicago’s notoriously bitter, oft-maligned spirit. So that’s why I’m impressed by this concoction at Dusek’s: when the Malört was combined with passionfruit syrup and banana-scented hefeweisen, it fell into balance for probably my favorite brunch beverage of the year.

The details: Dusek’s, 1227 W. 18th St., Chicago.

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