7/13/11 - Downtown (Los Angeles) Punch Crawl

Whatcha doing this Wednesday night? Oh, yes? Fascinating. Well, do this instead:

The Thrillist/Genever Bols Downtown Punch Crawl 2011

$25 gets you a punchcard to collect & consume 6 libations from various downtown bars (full, more tantalizing details below).
The official event runs from 6p-11p, but we’re most likely starting off around 7:30-8pm. Get your tickets & organize any meet-ups here in this thread (if you are so inclined).

Better introduction (from the event site):
Fuel up with this damn refreshing Thrillist Reward: for a mere $25, you’ll pull a pass to Thrillist’s July 13th Downtown Punch Crawl, hooking it up at 6 fine Downtown establishments from 6-11p. You'll round up at either Cole’s or Bar & Kitchen for a 5hr walking marathon stringing together a sextet of unique bartender-created elixirs, each made with ... Holland’s Bols Genever.

Your punchcard (!) will command the following excellence at these drinkeries:

• Varnish: The Dutch Pugilist, perhaps the tastiest application of the sweet science since Holyfield-ear lollipops
• Cana Rum Bar: Panamanian Detective, with guava, Averna & the freshest of limes
• Drago Centro: Pompeii Punch, also the world-ender Ivan used to level Rocky
• Cole’s: Peach Cobbler, w/ sliced peaches, cinnamon simple syrup & angostura bitters
• The Falls Lounge: Flowing Bols, a fruity pour w/ pineapple slices, citruses & Maraschino
• Bar & Kitchen: Vondlepark Punch, which unlike “park, fondle, punch” is not just a re-creation of the last date you brought to Mulholland

I’ve put together a map to show you how close together all the bars are (not that this is the order in which we’ll visit the bars): http://bit.ly/nRbouf

Details & Tickets here: http://rewards.thrillist.com/deal/1862/thrillists-bols-genever-punch-crawl

Permission to come aboard Captain?

Looks like I'll be joining you. :)

Haha. Permission granted! You've got a permanent pass. Look forward to roaming the streets with you!

As it gets closer to Wednesday night, we'll work out details for meeting up.

Cheers!

This sounds very intriguing. I think I might like to join in.

I'm in !!

I'm in!

This looks to good to pass up COUNT ME IN

Excellent!

In case you didn't see the instructions on the site, we'll need to bring the print out of the Thrillist receipt to one of two bars, depending on your last name to receive an official Thrillist Downtown Punch Crawl map & pass:

Last Names A-M: Cole’s Bar
Last Names N-Z: Bar & Kitchen

Naturally, these are on opposite ends of the map in order to divide what might be a large number of people attending this event.

Bora Boris, Trader Tom, Jobu (if I'm not mistaken), Miss Mish & I will all be picking up our passes at Cole's.
John-O will be picking his up at Bar & Kitchen.

If John-O & I travel together, maybe we'll swing by Bar & Kitchen first to get his pass... then we all meet up at Cole's at 7:30?

It sounds like a plan to me. Cole's. 7:30 PM.

[ Edited by: Capt. R.H. Falernum 2011-07-13 07:59 ]

Aye Aye, 7:30 at Coles!!

Punch Crawl !! Tiki Central represent. :)

Left to Right at Coles - JOHN-O, Bora Boris, Misha, Capt. Falernum, and new Tikiphiles (and brothers) Benvolio and Joey Turbo…

Walking the mean streets of Downtown LA…

Left to Right - Benvolio, Trader Tom, Jobu, Joey Turbo…

Group shot at Drago…

Another group shot…

And look who we ran into. It's TikiGeeki…

You walking the mean streets without muscle?

Huh ?? Didn't you see Bora Boris taking point ??

Okay...here's some more pics:

Cole's Peach Cobbler Punch

Cole's Peach Cobbler Punch Bowl

The Varnish Dutch Pugilist Punch

The Varnish Mai Tai

The Varnish Bar Top with supplies laid out.

The Flowing Bols Punch at The Falls Lounge.

Pompeii Punch at Drago Centro.

Vondelpark Punch at Bar & Kitchen at O Hotel.

Punch at Cana Rum Bar.

Me sipping on 28 Days Later (Zombie Variant) at Cana.

Boris & John-O at Cana.

[ Edited by: Trader Tom 2011-07-14 03:51 ]

So how were the drinks? on the "John-O rating system".

Benvolio and Joey Turbo are great guys. Sorry I didn't make it I was kinda busy

I had a great time meeting everybody!

Benvolio, that appears to be a beer in your hand. You've got some 'splainin' to do.

On 2011-07-14 10:23, Chuck Tatum is Tiki wrote:
So how were the drinks? on the "John-O rating system".

The best drinks of the evening (that I either ordered or sampled) were:

1. Manhattan at Coles
2. Old Fashioned at Coles
3. Manhattan at Varnish
4. Sazerac at the Association

Everything else (i.e. the Punches) between 1-3 and 4 were a blur.

And if a real Tikiphile is supposed to prefer rum over all other spirits, then I guess I'm not a real Tikiphile (and don't care to be).

Edit: ( Heh :D ).

Great evening !! Thanks Capt. Falernum for taking point in coordinating this. :)

Maybe we should have a New Cocktailian TC meetup in Downtown LA on a monthly basis. It's amazing how much the place is blowing up. Every bar we visited was hoppin' !!

[ Edited by: JOHN-O 2011-07-14 16:25 ]

On 2011-07-14 03:49, Trader Tom wrote:

The Varnish Mai Tai

[

You didn't take that photo for the Mai Tai.

Agreed FUN TIMES last night

I stumbled upon this AWESOME beer last night at the Cana Rum Bar
Has anyone else herd or tried this beer before?

http://www.mauibrewingco.com/mbc/MBCHome.html

JOBU

bummed i had to miss this, thanks for gettin pics, will be hopin for the next one

Thanks to everyone that made it out for this pretty fantastic punch crawl/hike!
It was great to enjoy this event with some old familiar friends & some new additions to the tiki crowd.

Here's a rundown of some crappy photos I took of the various drinks:

The Night Begins

The Peach Cobbler @ Cole's (served with a side of peach cobbler). Very sweet, nicely balanced, and tasty.

The Dutch Pugilist @ The Varnish. Light/refreshing.

The Flowing Bols @ The Falls. Starting taste of the Genever. Boris said "best one so far." Boozy!

The Pompeii Punch @ Drago Centro. I assume it has no less than 74 ingredients. A ROBUST cocktail, well worth putting into your face.

The Vondelpark Punch @ Bar & Kitchen. GINGER and lots of it. Maybe too much.

The Panamanian Detective @ Caña. A solid drink. Although, I think that I've had too many punches to be of much use for critiquing the cocktails at this point. Not drunk, mind you; just too many flavors for one night. Punch crawl!

I did drink a beer at one point. I'm still learning the tiki ways :)

I took some pictures too!

I was pretty antsy to get this thing moving until after the 3rd stop and I drank this -

:up: The Maelstrom at Drago Centro (Dos Maderas 5+3 Rum, Ramazzotti, Housemade Blueberry Thyme Syrup, Fresh Meyer Lemon) after having that and some pizza I wasn't in such a rush and everything was fine. :)

My favorite interior of the night was The Falls.

The Punches!

Did anyone get a good shot of Bar & Kitchen's Bacon wrapped Dates? They were excellent!! My picture stinks. :cry:

I had a great time and as long as it's not a Tequila Crawl I'm in for the next one.

:up: This picture is 100% staged. I spent about 2 minutes getting it just right.
Based on the inner sleeve of The Jam's All Mod Cons and the inside spread of Complete Madness.
It looks cool. None of those bars had swizzles!! Can you believe that crap? :evil:

Thanks for the photos!
Looks like ya'll had a great time!

Of all the photos that documented our evening, I dare say that none captured the adventure, intrigue, romance and madness as well as Boris' last photo...

On 2011-07-14 20:57, Bora Boris wrote:

:up: This picture is 100% staged. I spent about 2 minutes getting it just right.
Based on the inner sleeve of The Jam's All Mod Cons and the inside spread of Complete Madness.
It looks cool. None of those bars had swizzles!! Can you believe that crap? :evil:

[ Edited by: Capt. R.H. Falernum 2011-07-16 15:49 ]

Under the direction of Coco Joe and his girlfriend Reign (and her friend that came up with the name), I'm changing my name to Benny Luau

Great pics! It was a pleasant surprise to see my fellow cocktail fanatics! I was at Bar & Kitchen for a Cocktail Nerd meet up with some of my drink and food blogging/Twitter friends. What a pleasant surprise!

I'm really glad others were able to experience the rum cocktails at Caña. They do some amazing work. I mentioned it that night, but I highly recommend attending the Rum Society, last Tuesday of each month, and sample three different rums in an informative tasting.

I kind of did the anti-crawl and ended my evening at The Varnish. Those three bars, Bar & Kitchen, Caña and The Varnish are my favorite DTLA hangouts. Love the cocktails and the bartenders!

I think this Emeril Lagasse recipe looks close to what we had at Bar & Kitchen the other night:

Bacon-Wrapped Dates Stuffed with Cream Cheese and Almonds

Ingredients
18 (1 by 1/4-inch) pieces cream cheese
18 pitted dates (preferably Medjool)
18 salted and roasted whole almonds
6 slices bacon cut crosswise into thirds
Special equipment: 18 wooden picks
Directions
Heat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Stuff 1 piece of cheese and 1 almond into each date, then wrap one piece of bacon around each date and secure bacon with a toothpick if desired. Arrange dates, bacon seam down and 1 inch apart in a shallow baking pan.

Bake 5 minutes, then turn dates over with tongs and bake until bacon is crisp, 5 to 6 minutes more. Drain on a paper towel or parchment. Serve immediately.

LINK HERE:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/bacon-wrapped-dates-stuffed-with-cream-cheese-and-almonds-recipe/index.html

I'd love to see more cocktail + food pairings in our drinking excursions. The realm of tiki celebrations tends to focus on the drinks at the expense of some potentially great food adventures. Admittedly, I'm far more interested in the cocktails & good company; but a push for some tiki cuisine would be welcome.

Ben: YES. Great name change. "Benny Luau" is the type of name I wish I could pull off. Reminds me of the days I used to be known as "Val Kano," but that's a story for another time.

TikiGeeki: A great surprise running into you at not one, but TWO, of our destinations. We all need to take better advantage of Caña; that place is freakin' amazing.

[ Edited by: Capt. R.H. Falernum 2011-07-18 10:39 ]

On 2011-07-18 10:38, Capt. R.H. Falernum wrote:

TikiGeeki: A great surprise running into you at not one, but TWO, of our destinations. We all need to take better advantage of Caña; that place is freakin' amazing.

That's what I'm talking about! You guys need to try to keep up with my happenings... you would already be friends with the general manager and get into some really kickass rum events. @tikigeeki on Twitter. :wink: