Paris Bars V: Mabel
Rum is having a moment in Paris, and Mabel is at the center of it. I’ll get into the review in a moment, but first I have to rant a little about rum.
Drinks
Paris Bars IV: Lulu White
The bar at Lulu White uses a pretty ring of old-timey Edison bulbs.
Lulu White is a really neat spot; they’re doing three things I’ve never seen from another cocktail bar.
French Beer Update
France is much better known for its wine than its beer. For good reason: the wine is delicious, and the beer is generally terrible.
La Cagole – La Cagole de Marseille
La Cagole de Marseille. Honestly one of the worst beers I have ever had
More Fruit Lambic: Tilquin Oude Murê
Paris Bars III: Le Syndicat
Le Syndicat is a bar making new cocktails from classic french ingredients. They are killing it; these drinks were the best so far.
They are serious about French ingredients
Lambic Off: Framboise
For you francaphobes out there, Framboise is french for ‘raspberry.’ We’ve been picnicking the last few nights to beat the heat (also we are cheap), and thought some fruity beer would be a nice accompaniment. We tried Cantillon’s framboise by the canal, and Girardin’s at the OÜI FM festival.
Cantillon Rose De Gambrinus. Sorry for the NSFW graphic. I don’t make the labels, I just drink the beers.
Paris Cocktails I: CopperBay
Vintage Beer (yes, that’s a thing)
In Stockholm we visited what is arguably the #1 beer bar in the world – Akkurat. There we drank this aged gem; Cantillon Vigneronne from 2003. This is a fruited lambic that was rested on muscat grapes:
Cantillon Vigneronne, 2003
Usually when I tell someone I drank a 12 year old beer, their first question is: “Why would you ever want to do that?”
A Good Start
Our flight was delayed departing Oakland and we hit some complications using our credit cards to get bus tickets from the airport to Stockholm, but this made it all worth it:
From Nystekt Strömmingvagnen in Sodermalm Square: herring with mashed potatoes, dill mustard, pickled cucumbers, and lingonberry jam