Drinking alcohol in this country is really enjoying an upswing.  Considering an often-sordid history (Prohibition, Vodka mixed with Red Bull), Angelenos and imbibers at large are beginning to recognize all that various spirits and their mixers have to offer.  Thinking back just five years ago, this movement of savory drinks, enomatic machines, and the mixologists that love them was but a seed in the ground.  Now, largely due to the creative alcoholics (er, mixology masters) at New York’s Milk and Honey bar, Los Angeles has let some very creative minds get behind the bar.  We’ve equipped them with a full bar, ice picks, shakers, and spirits and from this we’ve placed cocktails squarely in the limelight.   Here are LA’s haute 5 bars serving up the most delectable cocktails your taste buds have ever dreamed of.  This isn’t drinking to get drunk a la your college days.  This is drinking to enjoy the fruits of fermentation.

Copa D’Oro

If you’re going to try whiskey for the first time, you’ll  want to make sure it’s paired properly with, oh I don’t know, Elderflower Liqeur, Extra Dry Vermouth, and Amaro Averna a la the Smoke of Scotland from Santa Monica’s Copa D’Oro.  A very Westside outpost of cocktail culture, the bar at Copa D’Oro is run by Vincenzo Marianella who has some very particular ideas about what a cocktail is really made of.  According to Marianella, mixers should come from local producers and be at their very freshest when mixed with your spirit of choice. If you’re more of a gin drinker, the Freezing Jess has got to be on your list: Plymouth Gin, Elderflower, Absinthe, Mint, and Fresh Lemon and Lime Juice.  Cheers!

Copa D’Oro is located at 217 Broadway in Santa Monica 310. 576.3030