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Drink like a cowboy: H-Town's world-recognized whiskey bar breaks out a special Rodeo drink

BBQ, funnel cake, whiskey . . . it’s Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo time!

Throw back some whiskey with Bottoms Up! at Reserve 101 Bar & Signature Cocktail Lounge and learn how to make a rodeo-suited cocktail sure to knock your boots off.

Reserve 101 is the brainchild of co-owner Mike Raymond. Raymond noticed a lack of bars in town with whiskey as the star (Reserve 101 features more than 280 whiskeys). He and his childhood friend Steve Long decided to rectify that, opening their own place in 2008.

Now celebrating its five-year anniversary, success didn't come easy at first.

Located downtown on the corner of Caroline and Dallas, the bar's front area was formerly occupied by a sushi restaurant and the lounge area used to be part of the beloved Josephine's Ristorante. The interior has been remodeled and an outdoor patio has been added.

Inside, you'll find a long wooden bar that runs almost the entire length of the front room — and big, cozy leather couches in the out-of-sight back cocktail lounge. Mosey on up to the bar or make yourself comfortable on a sofa and feel instantly at home in the unpretentious and no-frills atmosphere.

Now celebrating its five-year anniversary, success didn't come easy at first. With a downturn in the economy, business started off slow, but picked up after the opening of several venues in the adjacent Pavilions. Notes Raymond, “It was tough, but we made it through . . .

"I got to work with some great chefs and restaurateurs, [as well as] spend time with the people making the whiskey.”

Long gone are the days of struggling. Reserve 101 has come to be regarded by many top distillers as one of the premier whiskey bars in the state. This recognition extends internationally as Reserve 101 was named one of the "Great Whisky Bars of the World" by Whisky Magazine last year.

We went behind the bar with co-owner and whiskey connoisseur, Raymond, to make the Thunder Road cocktail. Thunder Road (the name is a nod to the Bruce Springsteen song) is similar to an Old Fashioned in that it’s made with bitters, whiskey and citrus. However, Raymond adds his own twist by using bacon flavored simple syrup instead of sugar.

This drink has an orange hue and the taste is a mix of sweet from the wildflower honey and figs in the whiskey, and salty (yet savory) from the bacon simple syrup.

See the recipe below. Cheers and Bottoms Up! from CultureMap and Reserve 101 Bar & Signature Cocktail Lounge.

Thunder Road
1.5 oz. Balcones Baby Blue whiskey
0.5 oz. bacon syrup by Torani
Two cherries
One small orange
Two dashes of bitters
Splash of club soda

Muddle cherries and orange, and add bitters. Shake and double strain over ice. Top off with club soda and garnish with cherry and orange slice.

This is a drink a true cowboy would appreciate.

Bottom's Up, Reserve 101, February 2013, cocktail, drink

Photo by Joel Luks

This is a drink a true cowboy would appreciate.

Rodeo ticket surprise

George Strait isn't as hot as expected: Alamodome, New Orleans tickets in higher demand

Emotions ran wild in Reliant Stadium on Sunday night as George Strait worked his way through three decades of hits during his 21st Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo performance — one that was also his last.

Though 60 and not quite as light on his feet as he once was, Strait maintains the smooth voice and the charismatic stage presence that has earned him the title of the King of Country, and the record-setting rodeo audience of 80,020 appreciated it all up until the last minute of "Cowboy Rides Away."

The monetary value of the floor seating collapsed as the date drew near.

Although ticket prices to see Strait with the Randy Rogers Band and Martina McBride were initially astronomical, the monetary value of the floor seating collapsed as the date drew near.

"The seats on the 50 yard line that were once $700 each could be had for $300 each in the days before the show," said Pat Ryan, co-owner of The Ticket Experience, a local secondary market ticket broker with years of experience.

Ryan explained that people wanting to spend big to see King George instead sprung for tickets to the final stops of Strait's farewell tour, in New Orleans on April 13 or at the Alamodome in San Antonio on June 1.

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