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Welcome to Libationland:
Seven Drinks to Check out this Summer
By Emily Burnham
Saturday, July 12th
2008 -Bangor Daily News
How to make a great bar: Take one part devoted
clientele, one part friendly bartender, and one part
comfortable, cool-looking digs. Shake well. Add
liberal dash of local flavor. Pour into glass;
garnish with good food, good music and maybe a pool
table or two. Enjoy.
It seems as simple as the syrup, and yet, a great
watering hole is a concoction that’s not always easy
to make. But we’ve made it easy for you: After weeks
of exhaustive research (toughest assignment ever!),
we’ve narrowed down eastern Maine’s pubs, taverns,
bars and lounges to a select seven. The best of the
best — where you don’t even necessarily have to have
a drink in your hand to have fun, because it’s such
a great place to hang out.
This summer, give one of these fine establishments a
whirl. Sometimes you want to go where everybody
knows your name. And sometimes they don’t have to
know your name — but they’re still glad you came.
Where: Passports Pub, Pentagoet Inn,
Castine
What’ll it be?
The Ambassador, a cocktail that combines Bombay
Sapphire gin, ginger lemonade, lime juice and mint
garnish
What’s so special about it?
Passports Pub bar staff Emily Slocum developed this
tasty summer drink, combining the oh-so-British
libation of gin with spicy homemade ginger lemonade.
Think of it as a nod to both Castine’s Colonial
heritage and to the Victorian-era Explorer’s Club
aesthetic in the pub
Why you’ll be having another:
Stepping into this cozy bar makes you feel like some
intrepid adventurer, fresh off a jaunt through the
Great Rift Valley, or the wilds of Borneo. You’re
surrounded by loads of travel memorabilia, amassed
by owners Jack Burke and Julie van de Graaf during
their journeys around the globe. Queen Victoria
presides over one corner, while a three-foot oil
painting of Vladimir Lenin looks on as you quaff
your cocktail, sitting in the Malaysian rattan
chairs. Who knew that a bar straight out of Indiana
Jones was in Castine, Maine?
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