(I took real pictures, but I am an amateur hack of a food photographer and none of them are any good)

After reading Food Dude’s glowing writeup of the Teardrop Lounge, I had to scurry on down and try it for myself. Word is that the new Pearl District bar aims to distinguish itself with an emphasis on seasonal and unusual house made cocktail ingredients. I know we’ve all heard THAT line before, but there are items on this menu I haven’t seen anywhere else: fresh elderflower syrup, canary melon, pomegranate molasses, tamarind nectar.

I only got a chance to try two drinks: The "agave buck," with tequila, house ginger beer, and lemongrass bitters, was understated and excellent, but sort of fundamentally uninteresting compared to just about every other drink on the menu (those are probably the most mundane ingredients on the entire cocktail menu—I immediately regretted ordering it instead of say, the Lychees& Herb, with pisco and lychee/lavender honey). I also tried an all-too-tiny sip of my friend's cocktail, a daily drink special with some kind of clove/bourbon thing going on that was pretty much one of the best drinks I've ever tasted.

Ingredients like these, of course, translate to high drink prices—and obviously, not everyone is willing to pay $7-9 a cocktail. I am. In fact, I'm far more likely to shell out for expensive drinks than expensive food. There are a ton of ways to eat well for cheap in this town (including cooking, which is a freaking delight this time of year—East Bank Farmers Market today, 3:30-7:30, SE 20th & Salmon), but you generally get what you pay for when it comes to booze—and if you've never dropped $9 on a really well-crafted cocktail, I'd suggest swinging by the Teardrop to give it a go. Say what you will about the atmosphere, these bartenders know their shit.

Other drinks on the menu: Smoke & Mirrors, muddle canary melon, rum, hibiscus water, and lime; Corpse Reviver#2, gin, lillet blanc, cointrau, lemon, pernod; a Sazerac with cherry-vanilla bitters and herbsaint; Little Cloud, with elderberry syrup, aviation gime, lime.

When I go back it'll be by myself, and I'll sit at the bar with a book and watch the bartenders work. I probably wouldn't hang out there with friends—the atmosphere didn't exactly make me feel comfortable (well, it's in the Pearl District, therefore by definition I'm not the customer they're trying to impress). The decor is on the sleek, chilly side, and the room is dominated by the central teardrop-shaped bar. There are a few tables, too close together for my taste, with low slung chairs that force you to lean back in a way that's not very conducive to conversation. There is some outdoor seating, which is nice.

OH YES: And poor people should hit up happy hour, which is not bad at all: sake sangria (w/seasonal fruit, sake, pinot, brandy, and spices) for $4/glass, two $5 cocktail options, and $3 bottled beer, 4-7 daily

Teardrop Lounge, 1015 NW Everett, 4 pm-close Mon-Sat