Drink: This Weekend's Best Craft Cocktails

Yearn for some “serious” drinks? Hate barroom brawls? For this weekend watering installment, let’s get you to some strait-laced cocktail dens.

Hand of Buddha

At the Grant Grill, U.S. Grant Hotel, 326 Broadway, downtown (619) 744-2077 or grantgrill.com.

Uncluttered, the masculine décor at this august hotel-restaurant/ bar whispers “high roller” and “hardwood lover…” Grant Grill was just named Best Hotel Bar in the nation by Nightclub and Bar (beating up on some Chicago contenders)! So we had to give its booze another go-round in our cocktail series. This time, we suggest something floral, citrusy, spicy, refreshing, and, for those who care, alcoholic. The adventure starts when mixologist Jeff Josenhans infuses Myers' Rum with Buddha’s Hand – a tendriled yellow citron fruit. He teams that with Meyer lemons from the U.S. Grant’s rooftop garden, and a sexy-new cinnamon liqueur called Hiver Amer. “I love this drink because it is extremely seasonal,” Josenhans says. In other words, grab your Hand of Buddha fast, it’s a limited edition. (pictured)

Love Potion No. 9

At Eddie V’s Prime Seafood. 1270 Prospect St., La Jolla. (858) 459-5500; eddiev.com.

A Valentine’s-appropriate cocktail at the V. Its chief component, Absolut Mango, was introduced to the world in more romantic, pre-recession times: 2007. And there’s no added sugar, the Absolut company website says. So the V-bartenders add pounds of strawberries and pineapples into a Cambro container filled with this vodka - and natural sugary fruit flavors seep out for a week. Strained, poured into martini glasses, given lime wheels, these $12 potions are labor-intensive love aids, for sure. Pair them with the North Atlantic Scallops.

Coral Lemon Drop

At Bertrand at Mister A’s 2550 Fifth Ave. Bankers Hill. (619) 239-1377 or bertrandatmisteras.com

The spring drinks have bloomed already! And head bartender Shawn Barker’s new cocktail menu refines one of the most abused liqueurs, finally making Blue Curacao respectable. (You might recognize its Caribbean-island blue color from such cocktails as the Jolly Rancher and the Porn Star.) Joining it with Absolut Citron and fresh-squeezed lemon wasn’t enough. Barker upscaled BC even further by putting everything in a champagne glass, and prissing up the rim with a coral-colored fizzy sugar! Flashy enough to distract other diners from Mister A’s perfect rooftop vista, but not trashy.

Read more of Keli Dailey's stories on utsandiego.com