Q. Please tell us about Scott & Co:

A. Scott & Co. is a very tiny, dimly lit bar dedicated to cocktails and the folks who drink them. We want our guests to have fun and thus we get to have fun with the drinks. I read a quote that stated mediocrity is the fear of taking chances, we like to take chances. There are a growing number of bars where one can get a well made classic, but few bars really try to push the ballot. Yes, we can make you a great Old Fashioned, but we also enjoy coaxing our guests into taking chances without falling into pretension.

 

Q. What drink is the best way to start the night at Scott & Co?

A. Something light and clean with a hint of spice. The Nazca Lines comes to mind. That’s Cocchi Americano aperitif wine with a robust pisco, the tartness of fresh lime, the brightness of pineapple syrup and a touch of allspice.

Q. What’s your "desert island drink" - the one drink you never tire of making for yourself? And why does it keep you coming back?

A. Without a doubt in my mind, I would have to say the Daiquiri. The perfect balance in libation form, I could never get tired of it, especially on a desert island. Had you said ‘favorite,’ I would have gone with the Sazerac, but I don’t know if I could drink so many on a desert island.

Liquors | 5 Spirits Worth Trying

Maybe not new, but not known to the layman:

1) Pisco

Bold, robust, and at the same time, as delicate as a flower. A source of contention amongst Peruvians and Chileans, ‘nuff said.

2) Apple Brandy

I'm not talking about Calvados. As old as America, and still cheap as dirt: Laird's Bonded Apple Brandy. It’s more like Apple Whiskey if you ask me.

3) White Whiskeys

My favorites being High West Silver and Death's Door. More akin to a grain Grappa than the Georgia Moonshine associated with most young whiskeys. Nuances of banana, plum, butterscotch and popcorn.

4) Aquavit

A close cousin of gin and vodka, but with a quick kick of carraway. Loved by the Danes and known all over Northern Europe, when mixed it adds the clean crispness of good vodka, but as if you had just bitten a chunk out of a loaf of marbled rye bread.

5) Rum

For the last one it’s a toss up between two rums: Wray & Nephew and Smith & Cross. Imbued with extreme ‘hogo,’ the funkiness in rum, these two rums of the Jamaican style are the embodiment of pirate juice.

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FIND | Unusual Cocktail Ingredients

Creosote Bush / Chapparal

The smell of the desert after a heavy rain, this is nostalgia to anybody that has ever lived near the border. A native medicinal plant of the desert that makes and amazing aromatic in bitters and sprays.

Fenugreek Seeds

Sounds scary, smells like maple syrup.

Horchata

What can I say, I am from the Sonoran Desert after all.

Vinegars

Any vinegar really, a time tested ingredient going back to the age of punch.

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FIND | Resources

FORUMS | Egullet Spirits & Cocktails

I learned more inane, nerdy, cool trivia from this site than anywhere else. While it seems nowadays the forums are simply a tool of dispute amongst drink nerds, check out the archives for the best tips or tricks passed through the community.

BLOGS | Cooking Issues

The only blog I still take seriously, Dave Arnold's Cooking Issues. Yes, it's a blog about cooking, but Dave pays quite a bit of attention to the liquids and without him the cocktail world would be a lot more boring.

BOOKS | Imbibe

By Dave Wondrich -- when I train a new bartender I make them read this no matter what. I discover something new every time, something that reminds me why I love this job.

Eat | Tucson Restaurants

[This section answered by Travis Reese & Nicole Flowers- co-owners of 47 Scott and Scott & Co.]

Tucson Local | Feast

The menu rotates monthly, but a few fan favorites usually stick around. Chef Doug Levy is a master at creating unique combinations of flavors, and incorporating them into some of our favorite classic or comfort food dishes. And the wine selection is also fantastic. What we would order right now: the Fried Oyster B.L.T. or the Roasted Bricked Chicken.

Classic Southwestern Meal | Poco And Mom’s

It’s New Mexico-style Mexican food and it’s delicious.  Their location is a little out of the way and kind of a dive, but once you’ve had their chile sauces (red or green) you’re never going anywhere else again when you get a craving for your favorite Mexican dish, whatever it may be, smothered in sauce. 

Mexican | Café Poca Cosa

It might not be classic Southwestern, but no other Mexican food restaurant in Tucson has received more press and accolades, and there’s a reason for it. Suzana Davila has been putting her signature style on Sonoran classics for years, in a space that is both up-scale and still Tucson casual. It’s a great dining experience! The menu changes all the time and it’s presented at the table on a chalkboard, but we almost always go for the Plato Poca Cosa, which is the chef’s choice of three of their offerings that day. 

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Drink | Tucson Cocktail Bars

Where To Take A Visiting Bartender | The Red Room at The Grill

It's where I drink. Best liquor selection and best bottled beer selection by far, these guys care and it's my kind of scene, though it can get a little loud at times. Take your pick; I drink whatever I fancy because they have pretty much everything.

Prettiest Bar | Cushing Street

It’s the prettiest bar in the city and exactly what I think of as the ideal Tucson Bar. Sadly the drink selection isn't great.

Off The Beaten Track In Tucson | Shelter

A cult classic bar that takes you back to a Lynchesque 1960s.

Off The Beaten Track - Take a Drive | Keeylocko Cowtown

One of the only functioning ranch bars left, as real as it gets.

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Drink | Tucson Dive Bars

Classic Tucson Experience | Walk Along 4th Avenue

In all honesty, if you want to see Tucson walk south down Fourth Avenue and turn right on congress after the underpass. Tucson is known for its dive bars for a reason, with Che's Lounge, The Buffet, and the District on Congress, you don't have to go far to see the heart of Tucson.

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Drink | Cocktail Bars Around The Country

Brooklyn, NY | Dram Bar

Dram Bar in Brooklyn, one of my favorite newcomers to the scene.

Brooklyn, NY | Maison Premiere

Right around the corner from Dram Bar, run by my very best friend, Maxwell Britten.

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New Orleans, LA | Cure

Another bar that isn't afraid to take chances.

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Houston, TX | Anvil

I've never set foot inside the bar, but every time I look at the menu I see something I like.

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Drink | Bartenders Around The Country

Kirk Estopinal | Cure (New Orleans, LA)

Head barman at Cure, the craft bar in Uptown New Orleans. Without Kirk and Maksym Pazuniak's book, “Rogue Cocktails,” taking chances would have taken me a lot longer.

David Shenaut | Rum Club & Kask (Portland, OR) 

Man about town in Portland, Oregon. He has worked at just about every noteworthy cocktail bar in the city, most recently Rum Club and the newly opened Kask.

Al Sotack & Colin Shearn | Franklin Mortgage & Investment Co. (Philadelphia, PA)

Without Al and Colin, Philly just wouldn't be the drinking city it is today. Al resides at the Franklin Mortgage & Investment Co. in Philadelphia.

Nicholas Jarrett | Dram Bar (Brooklyn, NY)

Mad vagabond on a constant vision quest. Also a Franklin Alumni, Nic Jarrett is the kind of bartender every bar across America wishes they had. He slings drinks across Brooklyn, my favorite being Dram Bar in Williamsburg.

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City Guide

- Download the F.E.D. Tucson City Guide

Recommendations

Details of Ciaran Wiese’s recommendations for liquors to use and where to drink in Tucson, Brooklyn, Houston, New Orleans, Philadelphia and Portland.

Cocktail Recipes

- A Handful Of Gimme

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