Potent Potables

In Eat, June 2022 by Lindsey Hyde1 Comment

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Dram & Draught raises the bar (and tells you how tipsy you’ll be) by adding ABV to its menu.

We’ve all been there… mixed drinks, as delicious as they are, can catch up with us pretty quickly (here’s looking at you, hangovers). But what if we told you that you could choose the perfect cocktail based on your evening plans—be it casual drinks with your boss and colleagues or thirsty Thursday with your squad? 

Enter Dram & Draught. While Raleighites already know it for its selection of whiskeys, wines, handcrafted cocktails and draught beer, it’s now become the bar in town that also lists the ABV (alcohol by volume) of each drink on its menu (!). This means customers can better pace themselves throughout the evening (or, let’s be honest, have an idea of how quickly they’ll start feeling tipsy).  

“I spoke to a friend of mine about it before we did it… and she was like, ‘I would love to know that because sometimes I go out and have three drinks, and I’m fine, and sometimes I go out and have three drinks, and I can barely stand up. And I don’t know why,’” says Dram & Draught founder and co-owner Kevin Barrett.

As far as Barrett is aware, Dram & Draught is Raleigh’s only bar that includes ABVs on its menu. But it is starting to become a trend around the U.S. 

Barrett and co-owner Drew Schenck got the idea from Sother Teague’s podcast, The Speakeasy, where they learned Teague, who is also an author and the beverage director of New York’s Amor Y Amargo cocktail bars (as well as the founder of BATCH, a new app for spirits professionals and enthusiasts), includes drinks’ ABVs on his menus. 

“I know a good idea when I hear one,” says Barrett. “You can have an Old-Fashioned or a Manhattan or something boozy, then have a couple lower-alcohol drinks, then go back to the Manhattan… and that way you can just extend your night.” 

Oh, and for those of you looking for vegan-friendly drink options (since some cocktails include egg whites), you no longer have to question the bartender. Dram & Draught also started adding a (V) next to all vegan-friendly bevs on its menu—and let’s just say we’re very spirited about it.

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