Cover Story: Soused in the South

From porch rockers to tailgate parties, fishing holes to watering holes, Southerners are always sipping on something, be it freshly brewed sweet tea or dry martinis. So CL tips its hat to the tipplers with a guide to where you can find traditional and not-so-traditional Southern drinks, from the time of Gone With the Wind to the times when you just want to get three sheets to the wind.

Sazerac
?The Sazerac is believed to be the world's first cocktail, invented in 1830s New Orleans by an apothecary. And much like New Orleans' stew of cultural influences, MidCity Cuisine (1545 Peachtree St., 404-888-8700, www.midcitycuisine.com) exists suspended between an American restaurant and a European brasserie. So it's fitting that the Sazerac's home in Atlanta is MidCity's swank, retro-modern space. The original drink recipe featured Sazerac du Forge el fils cognac, peach bitters, absinthe, sugar and a lemon twist. In today's recipe, brandy is replaced with whiskey, peach by citrus bitters, and the absinthe by the equally pungent anisette Pernod. The result is a smoky caramel, licorice-tinged drawl of a drink intended for savoring, not swilling.

Old-Fashioned Infusion
?Purportedly created at Pendennis Club in Louisville, Ky., the Old Fashioned is a drink that feels as venerable as the blues. So it's appropriate there's a blues band aplayin' Wednesday through Saturday in the bar at Two Urban Licks (820 Ralph McGill Blvd., 404-522-4622, www.twourbanlicks.com), which has concocted a new Old Fashioned. The classic whiskey cocktail is simply a cube of sugar dissolved in a little water and mixed with two dashes of bitters, a jigger of whiskey and a lemon peel. Over the last 100 years or so, the recipe has evolved into a bourbon spritzer, featuring muddled fruit and soda water. The take on the classic at Two Urban Licks features that fine Tennessee tradition, Jack Daniel's charcoal-mellowed Old No. 7, infused for two days with orange slices and maraschino cherries. A nail polish pinkish-red, this new Old Fashioned is like Kool-Aid without the sugar - the tart orange and syrupy cherry act as natural bitters, tempering the toasted oak edge of the Jack Daniel's. The soaring post-industrial setting may be far removed from a country club veranda, but with this drink in hand, you won't want to be removed anytime soon.

Spearmint Julep
?The Mint Julep is one of those drinks that at some point the inventor - most likely someone in Virginia in the early 1800s - must have wished he'd patented. Surely he would have made, well, a mint on this elixir that gained its popularity once it became associated with the Kentucky Derby. An impeccable version of the Julep is served at Floataway Cafe (1123 Zonolite Road, Suite 15, 404-892-1414, www.starprovisions.com/float), a warehouse conversion that is appropriately airy and lively. Within a frosted silver Julep cup of crushed ice, Basil Hayden 8-year-old small-batch bourbon is drizzled with a heady simple syrup infused with zippy mint organically grown on chef Anne Quatrano's Summerland Farm. Dessert-like, but not cloying, this aromatic indulgence will leave you feeling invigorated and mannered.

Pineapple Upside Down Cake Martini and Drunken Palmer
?South City Kitchen (1144 Crescent Ave., 404-873-7358, www.southcitykitchen.com) celebrates New Southern cuisine in its unhurried Midtown bungalow conversion, and no celebration of Southern hospitality would be complete without some sweets, even for those on a liquid diet. So South City Kitchen offers the Pineapple Upside Down Cake Martini, a frothy, flirty drink featuring Absolut Vanilla, Navan vanilla-infused cognac, Amaretto, pineapple juice and a touch of grenadine. If you want more hydration from your libation, there's the Drunken Palmer, a combination of sweet tea, fresh lemonade, Southern Comfort and Grey Goose Citron. Be warned, the Drunken Palmer is the kind of drink that creeps up on you - one minute you're having a lively conversation, and the next your head is spinning like hoop skirts at a cotillion.

Peachy keen cocktails
?Finishing a round up of Southern cocktails without mentioning some peach numbers would be like the South without college football. So here are a few options for people fixin' to sample Georgia's native flavor. Nikolai's Roof (255 Courtland St., atop the Hilton Atlanta, 404-221-6362, www.nikolaisroof.com) infuses its own vodka with peach and serves it up in a variety of drinks. The revolving Sun Dial Bar atop the Westin Peachtree Plaza (210 Peachtree St., 404-589-7506, www.sundialrestaurant.com) offers a refreshing peach daiquiri and a tourist-friendly view of the city. And the curvaceous, retro-rooted seafood outpost Oceanaire (1100 Peachtree St., 404-475-2277, www.theoceanaire.com) offers a tangy Georgia peach martini with a cranberry juice and sour mix base. So get out there and quaff something fuzzy and juicy.