Ella Fitzgerald

Birds and Bees opened in Downtown Los Angeles about two months ago. The sexy hidden bar has a mid-century modern feel and you almost expect Mad Men types to be wandering about. The drinks list is divided into two categories; seasonal and forgotten classics.

Under the seasonal category, I picked out the Ella Fitzgerald which is a very well balanced dirty martini with sherry. I love that it comes with plenty of edibles (not that kind of edible) including pickled okra and cornichon (itty bitty delicious French pickle). Plus the extra comes as a side car (the extra booze in the mini carafe) with the drink so it feels almost like 1.5 drinks.

Ella Fitzgerald – gin, dry vermouth, fino sherry, pickle juice

Smuggler’s Eye Opener

I’m a sucker for egg white drinks so the Smuggler’s Eye Opener was right up my wheelhouse. I loved the combination of genever, plum brandy and creamy sherry. Plus a generous shaving of nutmeg tied the drink together.

Smuggler’s Eye Opener – genever, plum brandy, cream sherry, pistachio cordial, egg white, lemon

Royal Hawaiian

There are a few surprising tiki drinks on the menu which isn’t all that surprising since I think about beach loving Gidget around the 60s (50s-60s, the golden age of tiki). And this is a nice “forgotten classic.”

Royal Hawaiian – gin, cognac, Spanish vanilla liqueur, orgeat, pineapple, lime

Desi Arnaz

I don’t know anyone over a certain age who didn’t love the I Love Lucy show. I was always rooting for the redhead plotting against her seemingly non-fun loving husband, Desi. Maybe he needed to drink a couple of rum drinks like this namesake drink. I like the zip the Chinese 5-spice cordial gives the drink.

Desi Arnaz – rum, creme de peche, Chinese 5-spice cordial, pineapple, lime

El Diablo

One of my favorite drinks from the menu is the El Diablo. It’s a nice take on a mezcal buck with the additional house made cassis. It’s perfect for spring.

El Diablo – mezcal, Birds and Bees house cassis, ginger, lime

Chocolate Soldier, Cloak & Dagger

I also loved both the Chocolate Soldier and Cloak and Dagger. The Chocolate Soldier is my favorite kind of drink; brown, bitter and stirred. The Cynar goes so well with the cognac and creme de cacao. Luckily it’s saved from being too sweet by the dry vermouth and bitters.

Then we have the very fun Cloak and Dagger served in a porcelain pineapple. Watch out though! It hides 3 types of rum.

Chocolate Soldier – cognac, Cynar, creme de cacao, dry vermouth, bitters

Cloak & Dagger – aged rum, blackstrap rum, overproof rum, falernum, lime

Birds and Bees would be a great starting or end point of a mini Broadway bar crawl. Then you can also hit up Bar Clacson and Mezcalero.

Birds & Bees

© The Minty 2017