After attending a Twin Peaks wedding outside of Seattle, I took a drive south, intent on visiting Portland for a few days. I’ve had good times in Portland previously, including one of the two ‘Best Beers I’ve Ever Had’*. but hadn’t been back in years. I decided to set up in the old downtown area, where most places are within easy walking distance. Walking is good, even better than public transport, as it puts no limit on the number of cocktails you can try on a given night. Well, no limits beyond the biological.
Having done some online research, I came up with a couple of places to try, Clyde Common and the Teardrop Cocktail Lounge. Strolling out of my hotel, I quickly found Clyde Common with aid of iPhone GPS. It is in the Ace Hotel, Portland edition, and looked crowded, so I walked on, intent on giving the Teardrop my first taste.
It being a Sunday night, business at the Teardrop was slow. Perusing the menu, I found something that sounded good, and here you will have to forgive me for a poor memory, as it was a year ago that I visited. After getting into my second drink, I started a conversation with the bartender, and got to chatting about cocktails. He expressed some frustration with the Portland bar scene, in that there is more a spirit of competition, rather than camaraderie, amongst the bars. There also are not that many bars. He mentioned Clyde Common, and suggested that Doug Fir Lounge, when I brought it up, is better for bands than drinks.
He also mentioned that he was doing a guest bartending stint at Heaven’s Dog in San Francisco, one of my favorite places to drink. For my second or third drink, I had something with absinthe, which was very tasty. Inquiring about it, the bartender poured me a taste of Marteau absinthe, which was the best I’ve ever tasted. He explained that Oregon is one of those states that does not allow the private import of alcohol, it is all purchased by the government. And as the local bars have a hard time convincing the state agency to purchase what they want, local distillers have stepped into the gap. Marteau is produced in Oregon. I have since picked up a bottle in San Francisco and use it for my home concoctions.
After three or four drinks, I was feeling pretty good so headed out to take another look at Clyde Common.
Clyde Common can be found in Portland's Ace Hotel.
The dinner crowd was long gone, so the bar was not crowded at all when I got there. As I had brought greetings from the Teardrop bartender, I quickly established good relations with the Clyde Common staff. After ordering a drink, we got to chatting about booze, and the bartender mentioned that they made their own tonic water. He pulled up an old-looking bottle and poured me some. It was a far cry from your typical Canada Dry tonic, much more flavorful.
* Best Beers I’ve Ever Had: Although the beer makes a difference, the two best beers also had a lot to do with the situation. For the Portland beer, I had been walking around town on a hot day in August, and finally stopped at Hamburger Mary’s. I had a wheat beer at a sidewalk table, which tasted like what angels probably perspire. The other notable beer came after a 26 hours of being awake, 14 of those hours spent in an airliner, and about 6 in the Frankfurt airport waiting for a train. I found a little beer bar in the depths of the airport and had a pilsner that left me feeling like I had spent the last year exercising and eating healthy, and had just woken up from a restful 36 hour nap.