A look at the best warm-weather drinking options around town

BRACE YOURSELF: The Grappa Sour at a.bar is brightened with saffron honey and lemon juice.
Neal Santos

Sande Friedman of Tria considers herself a seasonal drinker. “I change my drinking habits with the solstice each season,” says Friedman. “And I actually throw all of last season’s bottles out of the window.” That’s a joke, of course, but when it comes to warm-weather drinking, there’s a sea change that happens with Friedman’s tastes as well as on the menus at all three Tria locations. 

“You tend to eat lighter in the summer. You want something that’s light and refreshing and that’s not going to weigh you down. The same thing with beverages,” she explains over a glass of Anassa, a floral Greek blend at Tria Taproom (2005 Walnut St.). Along with bringing in Tria’s first draft rose (Sabine, a provencal pour from Bieler Père et Fils), Tria is also devoting one of its draft lines to Gose, an ancient German style of beer that’s brewed with salt. “I like that they’re salty. If you can’t get a margarita because there’s a line everywhere, you can drink a Gose and you get the same effect.” 

At Oyster House (1516 Sansom St.), head bartender Lindsey Krueger has recently revamped the menu to reflect the season. Crafting a spring and summer cocktail menu is a breeze, given seafood’s natural affinity for lighter botanical and citrus flavors. With Oyster House’s history (and top-notch, 20-plus bottle-gin selection) a few of the cocktails have a permanent place on the menu — including a house martini and the Philadelphia classic Clover Club. Still, Krueger has plenty of room to experiment with lighter, more juice-forward cocktails. “It gets people in the mood for warm weather,” Krueger says, mixing up a Bonita en Rosa, an this equal-parts blend of bitter Campari, St. Germain and reposado tequila is finished with a squeeze of lime and tastes like a fruitier take on a classic Negroni. 

Jesse Cornell, who mans the bar at Sbraga (440 S. Broad St.),  doesn’t really consider himself much of a seasonal drinker. “I don’t mind drinking dark spirits or dark beer in the summertime. My drinking habits don’t really change all that much.” Cornell’s go-to, an ice-cold High Life, is certainly warm-weather friendly and he’s introduced several new cocktails that are equally refreshing.   

For A Certain Shade of Green, Cornell takes advantage of some of Sbraga’s techie kitchen equipment, using a Cryovac to infuse tequila with fresh cucumbers for a riff on a Corpse Reviver. Once the tequila is infused, he shakes it with Cocchi Americano, Cointreau, lemon juice and a pinch of salt, a finishing touch that brings out the vegetal nature of the cucumber-infused tequila. 

The bar crew at a.bar (135 S. 18th St.) in Rittenhouse takes seasonality to a whole new level, completely overhauling their already impressive menu four times a year. Bartenders Allison Hangen and Matthew Polzin work collaboratively with other members of the a.bar staff. 

“With every season, we make 16 new cocktails and do a 2.0 every season — where we switch out things that haven’t sold recently, ending up with 100 cocktails a year,” Polzin says. 

This collaborative way of cocktail-making results in an ever-evolving list that keeps things exciting. “A fun part of making the menu is that we all tend to like boozier, more bitter drinks and when spring comes along, you have the opportunity to make things that are brighter and more sweet,” says Hangen. “It’s fun to make things that wouldn’t necessarily be our first choice, but then make them work.”

The Reluctant Bulldog, named for a canine resident of the AKA hotel upstairs, is based on a house-spiced rum steeped with lemongrass, star anise, cardamom, ginger and grains of paradise and shaken with an almost tropical trio of Curacao, lime and cucumber.  

Around the corner at a.kitchen, head bartender Mariko Honda works collaboratively in a different way — menu plotting with the kitchen. For her Rhubarb Sidecar, she uses the rhubarb poaching liquid that’s left over from the kitchen. Honda’s goal is to blend what’s going on in the kitchen and the bar. “I like to incorporate more food as far as cocktails go. I want people to be able to drink cocktails throughout their meal as well.”

At newly opened Townsend (1623 E. Passyunk Ave.), sommelier Lauren Harris and head bartender Keith Raimondi have had plenty of time to sit down with chef Townsend Wentz and talk about beverage pairings leading up to their opening. While the menu leans heavily on spring produce, Raimondi opted to keep his cocktail menu light without leaning too heavily on fruits and herbs. “The menu is pretty spring-and- summer focused to begin with, a lot of aperitif wines and cocktails that are less boozy than people are used to. When it’s hot out, you want a drink to be quenching.” 

“I like fresh fruit and herbs, but I want to make sure that you have the same drink every time,’ he explains, noting that ingredients like local strawberries vary widely in sweetness, especially in the beginning of the season. Instead, he’s employing spirits to do the work. Riffing on an Old Fashioned, the King Cole brings Fernet Branca together with Old Gran-Dad bonded bourbon and Demerara, incorporating the menthol top note of the amaro to lighten the classic. 

“Seasonal drinking for me is lighter spirits, nicely layered flavors. Thinking about what you’d like to drink while you’re sitting outside,” Raimondi says, segueing into Harris’ concise list of by-the-glass and by-the-bottle offerings. 

“The wines cross over with the menu, everything is sort of bright and quaffable and easy. Even the reds we want to be somewhat quenching.” For Harris, Jacquère, an intriguing white from Savoy, is the ultimate springtime wine: “It’s a little floral and a little funky. Kind of mineral.”

Over at Petruce et al (1121 Walnut St.), bar manger George Costa isn’t all that concerned about strict definitions of seasonality. “I don’t stress out about seasonality stuff. Whatever they can get, you know. A lot of things that people cook with in the spring don’t really translate to drinks. Like herbs. I fucking hate herbs in drinks for the most part. There’s very few of them that I like. Mint? Of course. Tarragon? You can kind of get away with that. A few years ago one of my reps was showing me a basil-flavored vodka and I looked at her and said, ‘Do you want me to garnish this with tomatoes and mozzarella and make a Caprese martini?’”

The cocktails at the 2-month-old Petruce are constantly evolving, as is Costa’s stance on herbs. While crafting a magenta take on a summer-staple Tom Collins, Costa gave it a quick taste before heading back into the kitchen to grab a sprig of lovage to muddle into the Old Tom Gin with beet syrup, lemon juice and a dash of absinthe. “I’m about to take back what I said about herbs,” noted Costa, adding that the leaves gave the drink a necessary boost of brightness.