“We are red-blooded Americans serving authentic modern Mexican food with a twist. We are a handmade taco, small-batch craft beer and tequila restaurant in an environment best described as a re-imagined mid-century Baja surf lodge.”

This is the concept for Gringo, newly opened in the Central West End, as described on its website. So how does a place called Gringo approach Mexican drinks?

“I wanted to be true to origin and true to flavor. Those were my biggest drivers,” said Coby Arzola, Gringo senior general manager, who developed the drink menu.

It’s not a Mexican joint without a margarita – Gringo has this queen of Mexican cocktails available on tap but more interesting are the freshly made shaken ones. For a burst of bright color, get the Rosa Mexicana (pictured, above), which holds hibiscus-infused blanco tequila. The vibrant pink drink is accentuated by a gorgeous rim of dried hibiscus flower and sugar. When it comes to pure flavor, we’re all over the Tamarindo. Get past the murky, yellowish-brown hue, and enjoy what tamarind purée can do to a margarita: It lends a unique sweet-sour element and a thickened texture you don’t encounter often in a marg. Tajín, a seasoning made of ground chile peppers, salt and dehydrated lime juice that Mexican street vendors shake atop fruit cocktails, adds a nice touch to the salt rim.

Gringo keeps the cerveza culture alive with eight (mainly local) craft beers on tap and another half dozen south of the border brews in cans and bottles. If you want to go native, make it a michelada (pictured, above), a Mexican-style beer cocktail (and purported hangover cure). You’ll get a can of Tecate, a shot of house-made tomato sangrita (think V8 juice with a touch of fruit and chile heat) and a lime wedge. Pour the beer into a frosty mug, top it with the sangrita and then squeeze in the lime. Need more alcohol in that beer bloody mary? For an up-charge, you can float a shot of tequila or smoky mezcal on top.

Teetotalers and tots aren’t omitted from beverage fun. Gringo offers agua fresca, a traditional Mexican thirst quencher made with water and sugar and brightened with the flavor of fruits and flowers. The hibiscus-flavored Jamaica (pictured, below right) was reminiscent of lemon and berry iced tea, while the Pineapple-Chile agua fresca (pictured, below left), a seasonal offering, is a delicious balance of not-too-sweet and mild heat.

“People come to Mexican restaurants to celebrate. We wanted the drinks to be the same,” said Arzola, who also stocked the bar with a formidable line-up of tequilas and bottled Mexican sodas. Pair any sip with a basket of house-made tortillas and a bowl of fresh salsa, and the gringo fiesta has begun.

{Moll’s Cup No. 3}

The bar top at Little Country Gentleman looks like a veritable apothecary, with bottles of house-made tinctures, infusions, syrups, shrubs and liqueurs, each labeled with a piece of masking tape and a Sharpie. “I like to keep as many things in the bar as proprietary as possible,” LCG bar manager Jeffrey Moll told me during a recent visit to the Clayton restaurant. Tonight, Moll debuts his latest DIY project: a line of bottled cocktails inspired by the Pimm’s Cup – a refreshing, warm-weather sipper that combines Pimm’s liqueur, club soda or ginger ale, and plenty of fresh fruit.

British in origin, Pimm’s No. 1 is a gin-based aperitif flavored with a secret recipe of fruit liqueurs and herbs. A succession of other Pimm’s have come and gone – No. 2 was made with scotch, No. 3 was brandy-based, No. 4 used rum, No. 5 rye whiskey and No. 6 was a vodka version. Though No. 1 is the only bottle you’ll find on liquor store shelves these days, Moll wanted to honor Pimm’s long history with his own line of liqueurs aptly titled – you guessed it – Moll’s.

He started with a tequila base for Moll’s Cup No. 1 and turned to Barbancourt Rhum for No. 2. For Moll’s Cup No. 3 – the first to hit the LCG menu tonight – bourbon was his bedrock. To it, he added Dubonnet (a French wine fortified with quinine), a cinnamon stick, fresh orange wedges and bitter orange peel, and let everything marry for a good 72 hours.

But concocting the liqueur was just the first stage. A Pimm’s Cup is properly served with a hefty garnish of fresh fruit (cucumber is good too, as are herbs). For his Moll’s Cup, Moll wanted to show the same care to the fruit as he had to the alcohol. Since drinkers aren’t willing to wait all day for a handcrafted cocktail and ornately presented fruit, he decided to bottle the drink in individual servings. That way, when an order came in, he’d have the elixir ready and could spend extra moments doing right by the fruit.

The final step: the bubbles. Since a Pimm’s Cup is traditionally topped with club soda or ginger ale, Moll decided to carbonate his concoction, adding ginger-infused water and a house-made anise-flavored aperitif to each bottle.

The result: a refreshing highball that can just as equally pass for a fancy fruit cocktail. Bring your dessert fork.

— photo by Michelle Volansky

When the Kentucky Derby takes place tomorrow, we’ll watch with rapt attention as a bunch of four-legged steeds hoof it around a racetrack for two minutes. Those may be the greatest two minutes in horse sports, but they are, after all, only two minutes. You and a few Derby Day drinkers could turn the afternoon into a mint julep marathon, but the people at Hendricks BBQ have organized a party that involves much more than just sipping out of silver-plated julep cups.

Tomorrow, May 4, from 12:30 to 5:30 p.m., the restaurant located at 1200 S. Main St., in historic St. Charles, is hosting its first annual Derby Day Celebration. The five-hour fete will include a handful of contests. Of course there will be the obligatory derby hat and derby suit competitions, but you can also head to four different mint julep stations manned by bartenders from around town. Taste each cocktail, and then cast your vote for your favorite. Thirsty for more competition? Step outside to watch Run for the Rosé, a foot race among employees from restaurants on Main Street who’ll be jogging with a wine-filled glass in hand.

The alcohol of the day, however, will be bourbon. The spirit of Kentucky will be poured in whiskey tastings; its storied past recounted in whiskey classes. Bourbon will also find its way into the all-you-can-eat passed appetizers and buffet items on a menu prepared by Hendricks BBQ’s exec chef Wil Pelly.

With all the fun, you’ll wonder where the day went when it’s finally time to grab a seat and watch the equine action live on a big screen.

All-inclusive tickets for the celebration are sold at Hendricks BBQ and its sister restaurants Sanctuaria, Café Ventana and Diablitos Cantina. There are no online ticket sales. More information about the event is available here. Get your ticket today and it’ll cost you $85. Get it tomorrow at the door for $90.

OR get two tickets for free by winning Sauce’s giveaway today! Entries start now and last until 3 p.m., then we’ll email the winner and announce he and she on our blog and our Facebook page. Enter to win by clicking here.

***Jessica Aubuchon, you are our winner! Watch for an email from the Sauce crew. Everyone else, thanks for playing! Tickets are still available (for purchase) for this Derby Day celebration!***

I’m willing to bet that I know what local wine connoisseurs are daydreaming about right now: those fabulous pours in store for tonight at the Centennial Wine Expo. This is the inaugural year for the event, which takes place this evening from 6 to 9 p.m. at Moulin event space at 2017 Chouteau Ave., but one that is anticipated to become an annual wine affair.

Get your oeno on because general admission ticketholders (Sorry, VIP tickets are sold out.) will have the opportunity to sample wines from around the world – nearly 150 wines in total – from 15 area wine distributors. Most of the wines are currently only available to restaurants or specialty wine shops. Grab that tasting sheet and keep track of your favorites, for you can order any of the wines in a mixed case format. Complimentary nibbles like cheese and crackers will be available, but if you need to fill your belly, just head to Vin de Set or PW Pizza, both located inside the building, before or after the event.

Scott Gaghan, Centennial Wine Expo founder and wine director for 1111 Mississippi and Vin de Set, explained the impetus for the event. “We decided to do it because we’ve had a good level of success with our beer festival that we do on an annual basis.” He continued, “We wanted to give an opportunity to have the St. Louis wine market get together. There is few and far between where the general public can do a tasting of this size for this price point.” The cost of admission, he pointed out, equated to what someone “can easily spend on a bottle of wine.” And, he added, “The general public has the opportunity to purchase [wine] at aggressive retail pricing.”

Thirsty? General admission tickets are $38.66 and can be purchased here or at the door. But wait, why buy one ticket when you can get two for free? Head here, to enter to win two tickets to this event. Our giveaway will be running until 1 p.m. today. We will announce our winner here and on Facebook, and we’ll send you an email if you’re the lucky winner.

***This giveaway has ended. Kent Ritzel, you are our winner! Look out for an email from the Sauce crew. Everyone else, thanks for playing! Check in next Friday for another drinking-inspired giveaway!***

There are some pre-mixed, commercially sold cocktails that I wouldn’t drink if you paid me. Not so with a new line of barrel-aged, bottled mixed drinks called Fluid Dynamics that will land in area liquor stores by the end of April.

Fluid Dynamics is one of the latest projects by Craft Distillers, whose portfolio also includes Germain-Robin brandies, Low Gap whiskeys and Vya vermouths. The company is recognized for its hand-crafted spirits, including its artisanal approach to aging. For Fluid Dynamics drinks, the company takes similar care: blending the cocktails by using its own spirits and aging them in oak barrels before bottling them.

The four Fluid Dynamics drinks are The Brandy Manhattan, The St. Nick, The Saratoga and The 1850. The first is a combination of a Germain-Robin varietal brandy selected for its rich fruity taste, blended with California-made Vya sweet vermouth. The St. Nick holds Germain-Robin brandy blended with Clear Creek Distillery cranberry liqueur. The St. Nick is jolly good, but its deep, dark fruit flavors and pure purple hue are riper for winter; I hope to see it in my stocking come December 25. The Saratoga is a blend of brandy, Low Gap clear whiskey and Vya sweet vermouth. The 1850, my favorite of the foursome, is Craft Distillers’ version of a Sazerac.

While Craft Distillers has created four quality products, there are two things you can do to improve them, which is why I won’t call Fluid Dynamics “ready-made.” First, the drinks do not bitters, since those overpower the barrel, according to the company. The Brandy Manhattan, The Saratoga and The 1850 all beg for a dash or two of bitters, so grab that bottle of Angostura, Peychaud or orange bitters. Second, the drinks are not diluted. Knock the potency down a notch by pouring three ounces of the drink into a mixing glass, adding ice, stirring well and straining into a glass.

Fluid Dynamics drinks are sold in 1-liter and 200-ml bottles, the latter just right for gift-giving or a mini-cocktail party. You can find these bottles on the shelves at Parker’s Table beginning Tuesday, April 30.

Since you have 10 more days to wait for the bottles to arrive, in the meantime, whet your whistle by batching up a cocktail of your own. Click here for Day Boating, a cocktail recipe from Cielo’s Cory Cuff that tastes as refreshing as it looks.

The Big O ginger liqueur has found a happy home on bar shelves in St. Louis and around the country since hitting the marketplace less than two years ago. This weekend, The Big O will be poured big time as bartenders battle it out with Boston shakers at the Classic Couples Cocktail Competition.

St. Louisans Bill Foster and Kathy Kuper, makers of the ginger liqueur and sponsors of the competition, have challenged bartenders to create a drink worthy of becoming a signature cocktail for their sweet-yet-sprightly, rhizome-laden liqueur. To add playfulness to what is shaping up as an entertaining afternoon, the drink must be named after a classic couple, real or fictional.

The event takes place at Salt, located at 4356 Lindell Blvd., on Sunday at 3 p.m., and will showcase the talents of 10 finalists who hail not only from St. Louis, but also Kansas City, Mo., Chicago, and Grand Rapids, Mich. Local names (and their affiliations) include: Nicholas Crow (Mission Taco Joint and Milagro Modern Mexican), Nathan Doyle (Hendricks BBQ), Joe Duepner (Sanctuaria), Mandi Kowalski (Sanctuaria) Todd Levy (Demun Oyster Bar), Hilary Lewis (member, USBG-St. Louis chapter) and Layla Linehan (Brasserie). Driving the distance to compete are: Kenny Cohrs (Cafe Trio, Kansas City, Mo.), Carol Donovan (The Hearty Boys New Old Bar, Chicago) and Torrence O’Haire (SpeakEZ Lounge and The Starving Artist, Grand Rapids, Mich.). A panel of judges will determine the winning cocktail based on creativity, ability to replicate, drinkability, sustainability and marketability.

What’s in it for you? Besides a front-row seat at the shake and stir show, you get to sample all 10 of the ginger-centric cocktails and cast a vote for the people’s choice winner. You’re going to get hungry, and Salt’s exec chef (and member of the Sauce Ones to Watch class of 2013) Bradley Hoffmann has you covered with hors d’oeuvres, which are included in the ticket price. And then there’s the do-gooder element: A portion of the proceeds will benefit local food bank Operation Food Search. Bring along a canned food item and you’ll not only give OFS a boost, but your name will be entered into a raffle for prizes that will get any boozehound excited. (How about a bottle of The Big O and a 1-liter cask to age it in?) More information is available on The Big O’s website.

Tickets can be purchased in advance for $15, here. Tickets will also be sold at the door for $20. Or even better, enter to win two tickets, here. Our ticket giveaway will end at 3:30 p.m., and then this afternoon, we will email you to let you know that your name has been put on the events guest list.

***This giveaway has ended. Allie Ammons, you are our winner! Thanks for playing! Look for an email from the Sauce crew!***

{Espresso Martini from The Fountain on Locust}

Plan A was to recommend that you hit the annual Maplewood Coffee Crawl tomorrow. If you’ve registered for the sorry-no-spaces-left event, well, lucky you, you’re in for a fun, caffeine-filled morning. Don’t have a spot? We’re partial to Plan B: Sleep late then take a self-guided coffee crawl of your own and get more than a caffeine fix. Here are three spots where you can stop in for a jolt of java – along with a jigger or two of alcohol.

The Fountain on Locust opens daily at 11 a.m. (noon on Sundays), so hit this esoteric ice cream parlor and restaurant first. If you just want a jazzed up hot coffee drink, go for the Magnum Opus (rum, hazelnut liqueur, Irish Cream liqueur and hot coffee topped with whipped cream). For a taste of The Fountain at its finest, order an ice cream martini. For one spiked with coffee flavor, pick the Espresso Martini, a rich combination of fresh brewed coffee, vanilla vodka, coffee liqueur and Irish Cream ice cream.

Next up, head to Foam on Cherokee Street where you can space out at this neighborhood coffeehouse and bar while sipping on a Kosmonaut, a white Russian that also holds an espresso shot of Northwest coffee. If you lounge around Foam long enough, you’ll be able to catch live entertainment, which starts at 9 p.m. On Saturday, this means tunes by singer-songwriter Lenny Mink. (There is a $5 cover.)

There’s no better place to cap off an intoxicating coffee excursion than Baileys’ Chocolate Bar. The Baileys’ Ice Cream Martini is a crowd-pleaser, but if you’ve got the fortitude for potency, go for Fragile Baby. The Frangelico and Baileys Irish Cream turns this into a kicker of a warm coffee martini.

Too caffeinated to sleep? Get comfy on the couch, and then consume classic mocha moments from Hollywood. Our flick picks: Coffee and Cigarettes or Glengarry Glen Ross, with Alex Baldwin’s admonition to, “Put that coffee down!”

You can find some great wines at Bin No. 51, but the shop, located at 200 S. Buchanan St., in Edwardsville, Ill., also has one of the best retail selections of whiskey in the area. Owner Brian Kuchta has decidedly thrown himself into the spirit of things with his newly launched liquor flights.

The first flights out of the Bin No. 51 crates are for bourbon and scotch. Flights, which change monthly, include four, 1.5-ounce pours plus a glass of ice-cold water, served on two-handled wooden tasting boards hand-crafted by Kuchta himself. A tasting booklet, that’s yours to keep, offers descriptions and ratings for each spirit. The current bourbon flight ($14) includes: 1792 Ridgemont Reserve, Johnny Drum Private Stock, Rock Hill Farms Single Barrel and Baker’s Small Batch Bourbon. The single malt Scotch whisky flight ($23) includes: Glen Grant 10-year, Dalmore 12-year, Caol Ila 12-year and Springbank 14-year.

If you like what you taste, any bottle in the flight can be yours at a discount of 10 percent. When you’re knocking 10 bucks off a $100 bottle of scotch, that’s not a bad deal at all.  Moreover, the flights are available any time that the shop is open; no need to sign up for a class. Catering to the drinker’s whim? This could be dangerous.

Visit Bin No. 51 today from 4 to 8 p.m., and you can also partake in a free tasting of some newly stocked spirits that include: Knickerbocker gin by New Holland Artisan Spirits in Michigan; IDÔL vodka, a French vodka made from pinot noir and chardonnay grapes from Burgundy, France; Willett Pot Still Reserve bourbon whiskey, Bruichladdich The Laddie Ten 10-year single malt Scotch whisky; and Venezuelan rum Diplomatico Reserva Exclusiva.

Attention supporters of funky experiments and cool-looking bottles: An Italian wine just arrived in St. Louis that will pique your curiosity both for the uncanny process in which it was aged and the eye-catching results.

Abissi Bisson is an Italian sparkling wine and the brainchild of Piero Lugano, a wine merchant from Chiavari in the Italian Riviera. Lugano, who has since founded his own winery, had wanted to make a sparkling wine but lacked the space for aging it. His bright idea: Send it to the bottom of the sea.

“The temperature is perfect, there’s no light, the water prevents even the slightest bit of air from getting in, and the constant counterpressure keeps the bubbles bubbly. Moreover, the underwater current acts like a crib, gently rocking the bottles and keeping the lees moving through the wine,” Lugano told a reporter for the New York Times back in 2011 after the second edition of Abissi (which means “depths” in Italian) had been pulled from the seabed of a national marine preserve, located off the coast of Portofino. The wine had spent 13 months resting in stainless-steel cages in the company of sea life.

While this wine has received thumbs up for its crisp acidity and mineral character (typical characteristics of Ligurian wines), in the case of Abissi, life at sea literally leaves a mark. Seashells, algae and barnacles cover the bottles, making each bottle a unique souvenir.

The 2010 vintage of this sunken treasure just became available in St. Louis. The Wine & Cheese Place (Clayton location) snagged 36 bottles, but only half remain. Plunk down $87, and one of these gems can be yours.

— photo courtesy of Abissi Bisson

Flying Saucer Draught Emporium has landed in St. Louis. If you’re headed downtown this Saturday for the annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade, you’ll be within radius of this recently opened watering hole, located at 900 Spruce St. Here are five reasons why beer-lovers are fast becoming regulars at this beer outpost:

1. Beer selection – The Flying Saucer mission is to provide the community “with the largest selection of quality hand-crafted beers from Missouri and around the world,” according to its drink menu, a four-pager dubbed The Fly Paper – St. Louis. There are 80 brews on tap and, at any given time, between 120 and 140 in bottles, representing more than 24 styles. (Pictured below, from left to right: Schlafly Kölsch, Left Hand Nitro Milk Stout, Spaten Franziskaner Hefeweizen and Chimay Cinq Cents.)

2. Beer flights – Take a trip while staying seated at the bar by opting for one of seven flights. Hop around the U.S., go to Germany or circle the globe for as little as $10. Each flight comes with five 5-ounce pours.

3. Specials – Every day is a beer celebration at Flying Saucer. On Sundays, all Missouri beers on draft are priced at $3 a pint; on Mondays, that same price applies to the majority of draft beers; and collectors of cool glassware should mark their calendars for Wednesdays, when the glasses from a featured brewery can be kept for a slight upcharge. Soon to commence on Thursdays will be the tapping of a rare keg.

4. Beer food – If you really love beer, you want it in your food, too. Flying Saucer dishes out beer in its Guinness stout au jus that accompanies its Saucer Dipster (pictured). The Dipster features roast beef and Swiss cheese with horseradish mayo on a hoagie bun that comes with a choice of fries, hot German potato salad (pictured) or a side salad. We also spotted Newcastle English Brown Ale in the spicy beer cheese soup, an IPA in the chili and a sweet lambic sauce pooled atop the Mud Island Torte.

5. The plates in the space – A true Flying Saucer beerknurd – a member of the beer bar’s drink sect known as the UFO Club – is less impressed by the flat screen TVs or the darts than by the brass plates hanging on Flying Saucer’s wall. Why? Because if a person is dedicated enough to drink 200 different beers, he or she deserves to be immortalized. Want your name in that Ring of Honor? Better get drinking.

— photos by Michelle Volansky