Swede Mead

​ If a type of booze could be considered "high-brow," mead or "honey wine" would definitely be it.

Known as the drink of choice during the Middle Ages and having influence over many important literary and mythological texts, the ancient history behind this favorite fermented honey drink dates back to times way before even your great-great-grandmama was born.

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Zach Fowle

​Yes, those are paint cans, and yes, they're filled with booze. But we'll get to that later.

First, the announcement:

You may not have known it, but Citizen Public House has a second floor. Nestled near the back of the restaurant, up a shady staircase above the busy kitchen, sits a remodeled lounge that has until now sat dormant. But no longer! Citizen Public House announced Tuesday that the upstairs bar will be open to the public in mid-December.

Dubbed Citizen R+D ("research and development" or "research and drinking" depending on whom you ask), the second-story bar will act as a playground for mixologist Richie Moe, whose drinks are already so far outside the box they have to view the box through a telescope.

House-made tinctures, barrel-aged cocktails, on-the-spot cotton candy, hand-crafted gin with coriander, lemon zest and curry, and other tasty-sounding oddities will be the norm here, and from the shape of the glass to the temperature and clarity of the ice in the drink, even the most minute detail won't be overlooked. Think of the place as an experience in science, art and architecture - but with cocktails.

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The Honey Badger ($8) tops the specialty cocktails menu at the new Cocina 10.

​Every hour is happy hour for The Crazy Nastyass Honey Badger. So when we heard there was a drink named the Honey Badger at Cocina 10, the new restaurant attached to the Crescent Ballroom music venue (open last month in downtown Phoenix), we had to try it.

Made with American Honey Bourbon, Ginger Beer, lime, and Bitters, this drink bites back like the Honey Badger's cobra snack with a little bit of spritz, a little sweet, and a lot sour. Unless you're the Honey Badger - because he's crazy - it's probably not the drink you'll want at the beginning of the evening. But once you've prepped your palette for three bitter ingredients mixed with bourbon, it's a kicky, oddly refreshing, cocktail.

Honey Badger would pair his namesake drink with whatever animal walked by; check out the video after the jump.

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Zach Fowle

​On Thursday, Scottsdale's Citizen Public House held its first-ever Cocktail Pairing Dinner. This "nod to pernod" featured cocktails from three of the Valley's top tenders -- Richie Moe, chief mixologist and partner at Citizen; Kris Korf, Citizen's bartender; and Travis Nass of Rancho Pinot -- who gathered to craft a six-course menu of concoctions.

The drink menu was then turned over to Chef Bernie Kantak, who paired each course with his upscale pub grub. Kantak, who can usually bang out a wine-pairing dinner menu in half an hour, said the dishes he matched with each cocktail took him four days to figure out -- such was the complexity of these beverages.

Check out the menu and some jealousy-inducing food porn after the jump. 

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http://www.humspirits.com

​Cue squeaky German accent): "As you know, in fashion cocktail culture, one day you're in. And the next day, you're out."

So, if cocktail trends are like fashion trends, consider artificially flavored vodka beyond over, St. Germain so last season and botanical infused booze, such as Hum Botanical Spirit, totally hot right now.

Hum is a new 70 proof liqueur, made from Fair Trade hibiscus, organic ginger, kaffir lime and antioxidant spices like cardamom. Red in color and delicious in flavor, Hum is proving to be the new black, popping up on cocktail lists across the country.

Yes, as you can imagine, this hot little number is already big in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago, the city where it originated. But it turns out Phoenix is hip on Hum too.

Read on to find which local liquor elitists are carrying it, as well as a few cocktail concoction recommendations that will easily make you retire your boring "vodka soda" preference.  More >>

Hannah Hayes

Deliciously gooey fondue at FEZ

​If you're braving summer in Phoenix, you likely know that one of the best things to happen to bars since skinny margaritas is the reverse happy hour.

Sure, happy hour's always been our favorite part of the day, but here, the half-price hoopla doesn't start till after the sun goes down...way down. We ventured out after dark to find five great reverse happy hours around town. Here's the verdict:

1. T Cook's in Phoenix: From 10 p.m. to midnight Sunday through Thursday, order from a superb lounge menu where appetizers like mussels and fries and spicy seared tuna lettuce wraps served with squash, red pepper slaw and avocado aioli are half off (final price: around $7), wines by the glass are $6 and special drinks are featured.

2.FEZ: the trendy and colorful eatery in Central Phoenix has daily specials, but from 10 p.m. to midnight Monday through Thursday (1 a.m. Friday/Saturday) their beer, well drinks and margaritas (order a fun flavor like apricot or honeydew) are half-price; they also offer tasty small plates like grilled andouille sausage and peppers with mustard sauce or the FEZ fondue with grilled baguettes and zucchini strips for $6.

Check out more after-dark deals after the jump...

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scorpionmezcal.com

If penis tequila isn't your thing, there's always scorpions.

​What do you call tequila made with three penises, scorpion poison and antlers if you're an alleged Mexican mafioso?

Breakfast.

Jorge Hank Rhon is a former mayor of Tijuana who ran for the governorship of Baja California in 2007. He lost. While on the campaign trail he gave an interview to an NPR reporter, and he offered her his special tequila mix, made with three animal penises -- taken from a lion, tiger, and dog -- deer horns, eight scorpions, bear bile, a lion bone, and three cobras.

Really.

Rhon was arrested over the weekend when Mexican military stormed his compound and seized 88 firearms and nearly 10,000 rounds of ammunition on a US intelligence tip, according to the Associated Press, and his rap sheet includes alleged complicity in the 1988 murder of a journalist.

Our research suggests "penis tequila" is rare and limited to bottles shaped like dongs -- but scorpion mezcal and cobra whiskey are very real for anyone interested in exotic liquid courage -- after the jump.

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Remember this?

Remember those fruity blue and red Sno-Cones you had as a kid? You know, the ones that were served at family carnivals -- or the faux ones you made at home in a little Snoopy dog house? Those babies are all grown up now.

Sushi Roku in Scottsdale is whipping up sake-infused snow cones for the kid in all of us. The flavors are a little more adult than kiddie faves like bubble gum or grape: Look for green tea, strawberry, ginger sake, pomegranate and watermelon.

The snow cones come as part of the restaurant's summer specials, which also include a three-course "Locals Only" menu for $25 per person and $16 sea bass, halibut and red snapper "Kōri" sashimi specials served over shaved ice (sadly, there's no sake in this frozen treat).

Sushi Roku

These snow cones aren't for the kiddies.

​Sake snow cones are available for $5 each now through September 5 at Sushi Roku.

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TheCulinaryGeek via Flickr

Say "Bloody Mary" three times at Local Bistro, and you'll get three more rounds.

​Lately, we've been hearing some buzz about the trend of bottomless cocktails. No, we're not talking about downing a cosmo in your leopard-print thong -- though that could happen after you indulge in one too many of these cocktail specials.

Bottomless cocktails are specialty drinks with unlimited refills that have become especially popular when folks are strapped for cash. Chicago, Atlanta and New York jumped on this trend in recent years, and Phoenix wasn't far behind.

Bottomless mimosas with brunch are perhaps the most common of these specials. Why? Well, it's a lot harder to get trashed on a fruity champagne cocktail than on shots of tequila. Trust us.

While restaurants that offer bottomless drinks will cut someone off as required by law, so far (*cross fingers*) that hasn't happened at Parc Central, where bottomless sangria is a summer special.

"As far as we can tell, people have been pretty responsible," says publicity rep Melissa Rein. "Most people report that they get a nice buzz from sangria but it's a little hard to get truly rip-roaring drunk unless you really try to."

Find out where else to get your drink on (and on, and on, and on) after the jump...  
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​It was bound to happen, right?

Cupcake this. Cupcake that. Cupcakes dressed up like people. People dressed up like cupcakes. As Chow Bella bloggers, Americans, we can't seem to get enough of this seemingly immortal sweet treat trend. When the universe asked what we would like, we demanded it give us more cupcakes. We shouted, "C'MON UNIVERSE, MAKE WITH MORE CUPCAKE STUFF!!! WE CAN'T STAND NOT HAVING CUPCAKE STUFF EVERY SECOND OF OUR LIVES!!!"

And so it did. It gave us Cupcake Vodka. And then it laughed.

It's true. Cupcake Vineyards wines, which claims to be "the U.S.'s fastest growing $8+ wine brand in 2010" is releasing Cupcake Vodka. And if you think it doesn't get worse than that, wait until you hear the flavors and the use of the word, "mouth-feel."

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