Ten bartenders poured their emotions—inspired by their favorite songs—into a glass. Some a coupe, others a rocks glass, all with the intent of bringing music to life in a creative cocktail. Cue up our playlist and enjoy these mixologists’ ideas for song-inspired sips.
Music-inspired cocktails setlist
Julia Wolff
Indaco, wine lead
Song: “Midnight Sun” by Zara Larsson
1 oz tequila
0.75 oz limoncello
0.5 oz St-Germain
1 oz grapefruit juice
Combine all ingredients in a glass and top with soda water and prosecco.
“I chose ‘Midnight Sun’ because it’s the perfect girly bop that makes me want to be outside with my friends all summer long. This refreshing spritz should have you feeling like it’s golden hour all the time.”
Fernando Perez
The Bradbury Bistro, bar manager
Song: “El Muelle de San Blas” by Maná
2 oz Diplomático White Rum
0.75 oz simple syrup
1.5 oz guava juice
0.5 oz lime juice
0.75 oz mango juice
Shake all ingredients together, then top with 8 dashes of Angostura Bitters.
“The song ‘El Muelle de San Blas’ is about Rebecca Mendes’s unwavering love as a woman who waited for 65 years, day and night, at the beach, hoping for her beloved to return. This cocktail represents those sunsets at the beach [and the time] she spent looking into the horizon for him. It’s a heart-warming cocktail with a juicy finish, a perfect sunset sipper that is well worth the wait.”
Noah Marshall
The Rabbit Hole, bar lead
Song: “Cherry Wine” by Hozier
2 oz Rabbit Hole Heigold Rye.75 oz Amaro di Angostura.5 oz Maurin Quina cherry liqueur.25 oz red wine syrup (2:1 red wine and sugar)
Stir ingredients in a shaker filled with ice and strain into a coupe glass. Garnish with a cherry.
“The cocktail I’m submitting is based on my favorite artist, Hozier, an Irish artist known for poetic lyrics and folk influence. I think [the fitting drink] would be an earthy, stout, dark-fruit cocktail.”
Mills Higgins
The Anchorage, beverage director
Song: “Driftin’ & Driftin” by John Lee Hooker (the live version)
0.5 oz The Funk Rum
0.5 oz Monymusk Overproof Rum
0.5 oz Pierre Ferrand Dry Curacao
0.5 oz Bombay London Dry Gin
0.5 oz Laird’s Bottled in Bond Apple Brandy
0.5 oz House orgeat (almond syrup)
0.75 oz lemon juice
Herbstura, Abbott’s Bitters, fresh mint, orange peel and nutmeg for garnishing
Combine ingredients and serve in a tall glass over crushed ice. Swizzle. Garnish with Herbstura, Abbott’s Bitters, fresh mint, orange peel, and nutmeg.
“This cocktail and song are close to my heart for a lot of reasons and was reproduced and modified with the permission of Devin Dorman.
Tropical drinks have always been special to me and are the foundation of where I started bartending independently . . . Devin and I put this variation of a Fog Cutter on [the menu] when we helped open Bar Margaret. At this point in our lives, we both felt like we were drifting between ports, lovers, and potential visions of what we could produce for this market. COVID was in full swing, nothing made sense, and so we just decided to pour ourselves into whatever beauty we could find at the bottom of a pretty glass.
We both would hang out often at Bar Margaret on our days off in case something picked up. And this drink specifically kept getting passed back and forth across the bar between us as we tweaked things, played with ingredients, and let the wind take us to wherever it would.
What came out was a pretty beautiful representation of Bar Margaret in its early independent days. Boozy, smooth, easy to overindulge, and somehow, it always seemed to help us weather whatever storm was brewing in the outside world.”
Madison Russell
Hone, general manager/bar director
Song: “A Long Walk” by Jill Scott
0.75 oz dry gin, Beefeater recommended
0.75 oz Faccia Brutto Centerbe
0.75 oz Averell Damson Plum Liqueur
0.75 oz fresh lime juice
Shake for around 10 seconds, double strain into a Nick and Nora glass (a stemmed glass with a bell-shaped bowl), and serve with a dried lime wheel.
“This is a variation on a Last Word (a classic cocktail with gin, Green Chartreuse, and lime). Besides the fun alliterative element to Long Walk/Last Word, the song is such a bright, joyful, and lighthearted story of companionship. [Scott] sings about the joy of being in the presence of this love, just as happy to do the mundane parts of the day as she is to do the enriching, inspiring, and responsible. In simpler terms—a classic, complex, bright cocktail paired with classic, complex, bright love.”
Jhonny Hernandez
Patterson Kitchen + Bar, lead mixologist
Song: “Vivo Per Lei” by Andrea Bocelli
L’Essenza
1 oz Engine Gin
1 oz Campari infused with white chocolate (clarified)
1 oz 20-year Port wine
Cacao and orange bitters
A refined reinterpretation of the Negroni—silky, aromatic, and deeply expressive, this cocktail is presented on an artist’s palette, transforming the table into a canvas. Alongside the drink, three melted chocolates—white, red, and dark—are placed as “paint,” accompanied by a brush. Each color represents purity, passion, and depth. Guests are invited to paint, express, and release their creativity, becoming part of the artistic experience.
“Inspired by the voice of Andrea Bocelli and the emotion of ‘Vivo Per Lei,’ this cocktail is a personal expression of devotion. Just as Bocelli lives for music, I live for mixology—a craft that allows me to translate passion into sensory experiences. Through this creation, I invite you not only to taste, but to feel, to express, and to become part of the art itself.
Art is not observed . . . it is lived and created.”
Spirit & Bower (The Grand Bohemian), bar lead
Song: “Mellow Man” by the Roots
1.5 oz gin
0.5 oz Italicus liqueur
0.75 oz lemon juice
0.5 oz red bell pepper, raspberry, Mint Oleo Saccharum syrup
Dry double shake ingredients together.
“The combined flavors of the syrup and the spirits put me in a place where I just want to relax and chill in the park with friends. The track and the cocktail also bring back the memory of the chill and laid-back lifestyle of the late ’90s and early 2000s.”
Christina Blackley
Little Secret, owner/beverage director
Song: “There’s Always Someone Cooler Than You” by Ben Folds
1 oz of your favorite botanical gin
1 oz Chambéryzette Aperitif
0.25 oz Lemon Oleo Saccharum
0.25 oz lemon juice
Fresh basil leaves
Sparkling wine to finish
Muddle the Lemon Oleo Saccharum, lemon juice and 3 basil leaves in a glass. Add gin and aperitif to the glass, top with bubbles, add ice, and garnish with a basil sprig.
“I made this cocktail for the song ‘There’s Always Someone Cooler Than You’ because it’s both interesting and fun but not pretentious. This spritz is a drink you can bop to in the sun while feeling unbothered by onlookers.”
Robert Hall
Southside Smokehouse, general manager
Song: “Neon Moon” by Brooks & Dunn
1.5 oz strawberry-infused Larceny Barrel Proof Bourbon (fresh, local strawberries, chopped and rested in Larceny Barrel Proof for 48 hours)
0.5 oz Rhum Clément Créole Shrubb
0.5 oz Amaro Nonino
6 drops black lemon bitters
3 drops rhubarb bitters
Juice of 1/2 lemon
Combine all ingredients in a mixing glass. Stir until chilled and strain into glass. Add smoke, keeping exposure brief. Add large-format ice cube.
“It’s pretty much my all-time favorite song. Any time I drink, especially if my best friend (of 30 years) is around, we sing it as loud as possible . . . usually with some terrible slow dancing involved. I love being a professional, a business owner, a creative person, but that song feels like home for me. I love well-thought-out, complex cocktails. I love Michelin-starred dinners, but a joint with dim neon lights, cigarette smoke, cheap beer, and a pool table is my happy place.”
Devin Dorman
Escorpión, bartender
Song: “Smokestack Lightning” by Howlin’ Wolf
1 oz Volcan Reposado Tequila
1 oz El Acabo Raicilla
0.75 oz Giffard Banane du Brésil
1 oz pineapple shrub
0.75 oz Tres Agaves agave nectar
0.75 oz fresh-squeezed lime juice
2 dashes habanero bitters
1 dash lime bitters
Garnish: 1 cinnamon stick and a lime wheel
In a shaker tin with ice, add all ingredients listed and shake vigorously for 10–12 seconds to chill the cocktail. Using a strainer, strain the cocktail into a rocks glass and top with fresh pebble ice. The garnish for the Smokestack Lightning is a lime wheel and a cinnamon stick torched on one end, extinguished, and inserted smoldering side up.
“Usually, the name of the cocktail is the very last thing that comes up. I’m terrible with pun names so the go-to is always movies, books, TV, or song titles. In the case of this drink (really most of my drinks lately), the inspiration is El Acabo Raicilla [an agave spirit from Jalisco, Mexico] and how can I sneak it into everything. Based loosely on a Mai Tai, [this cocktail] was one of the rare times I got it right on the first try. Flaming the cinnamon stick gives off a great aroma, looks kind of cool, and grabs a bit of attention from the other patrons. As soon I saw the finished drink, my mind went immediately to that song. Over the years, it’s become a bit of a tic to sing the first verse and then the higher pitched ‘woooo oooo’ when I’m in the zone at work. I sound like an idiot every time, and that makes me giggle every time.”
