The bartenders will make recommendations from the menu based on your tastes, or just mix up the drink of your choice. Photo / Instagram
The bartenders will make recommendations from the menu based on your tastes, or just mix up the drink of your choice. Photo / Instagram
1422 Larimer St, Denver, Colorado.
Name: Green Russell, named after 1850s gold miner William Green Russell.
The Address: Tucked away down a discreet staircase in Larimer Square, the most historic block in Denver.
The vibe: This speakeasy bar is accessed through a pie shop and is underground, so there wereno windows. It's very dimly lit and hung with almost ghostly green fairy lights. The seating is old fashioned – leather-bound armchairs and the like. There's a mixture of tools and ornately-framed mirrors hanging on the wall. The crowd is young to middle-aged. Most of the people I saw would have been somewhere in their 30s.
The chat: Our bartender was a young waistcoat-and-tie-wearing man named Drew. Each of our group decided to pick the bartender's choice from the drinks menu, asking Drew to make something special with our spirit of choice. He was happy to oblige and took care to ask us which flavours we liked.
The menu: We had just come from dinner so didn't have room for food, but there was an extensive list of "provisions", from a wild boar, apricot and elk jalapeno sausage plate to smoked bone marrow. If I'd had room I would have tried some of their famous pies. On the list was "turtle icecream pie". I have no idea what this is and expect it will remain a mystery.
The cocktails were intricate and beautifully presented. The names were fun – "Kylo's Revenge", "Let's Talk Dirty in Hawaiian", and "Uncle Ed's Secret Spice", among others. There were also flights of spirits available for sampling. One of our group received a cocktail with a flower in it, which he said made him feel like a botanist.
The expectation: I didn't know what to expect, we chose this bar purely for the fact that it was across the road from where we had dinner.
The reality: Sometimes the most haphazardly-laid plans are the best ones. The bar had a cool, relaxed vibe and the bartender was attentive and helpful – even helping one of our group with suggestions for cannabis dispensaries in the area for her bad back. A visit to Green Russell was a great way to finish off a slightly exhausting day.
