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1. Teardrop Lounge
1015 NW Everett St., 503-445-8109, teardroplounge.com. 4-10 pm Wednesday-Saturday.
Teardrop Lounge is a pioneer not just in craft cocktails—the tempest Tempest and Nightwing are both whiskey originals you can find only there—but also in COVID precautions. Spearheading a local coalition, Teardrop and a number of other local bars won’t admit anyone without proof of vaccination for the foreseeable future. Will it all make customers comfortable enough to drink inside again? Hard to say—but the cocktails remain mighty enticing.
2. The Old Gold
2105 N Killingsworth St., 503-894-8937, drinkinoregon.com. 3-10 pm Monday-Friday, noon-10 pm Saturday-Sunday.
The flagship of ex-Mercury staffer Ezra Ace Caraeff’s ever-expanding bar empire, the focus of the Old Gold rests squarely on the immense library of international whiskeys behind the bar, but even if it were serving nothing but swill, Old Gold’s handsome patio would still be getting a ton of use throughout the warm months. Caraeff is taking full advantage of the outdoor seating, while also expanding into the neighboring lot. He also rigged a mobile ordering system where patrons use their phones to request a finger of Buffalo Trace or a Tillamook grilled cheese.
3. Deadshot
2133 SE 11th Ave., 503-504-9448, deadshotpdx.com. 4-10 pm Wednesday-Thursday, Sunday, 4 pm-midnight Friday-Saturday.
This craft cocktail bar has been hyped to the high heavens: The reason is clear after just one visit. The space is genuinely modern, and the cocktails are creative and meticulously executed. Yes, you’ll pay a premium, but Deadshot is that rare place where a $14 cocktail is worth it. Give the House Old Fashioned a try and you’re likely to agree.
4. Hey Love
920 E Burnside St., 503-206-6223, heylovepdx.com. 3 pm-1 am Monday-Friday, 10 am-1 am Saturday-Sunday.
This cocktail lounge, located in the Jupiter Next Hotel, is a timeless tropical bar so lush and cozy it feels like a secret botanical garden. Drinkwise, you’ll want to start with the Belafonte, which tempers the syrupy sweetness of añejo rum with a housemade ginger tamarind sarsaparilla and Amari. It’s dangerously drinkable, and you’re likely to hear a track by Harry Belafonte himself booming from the stereo while you gulp it down.
5. Rum Club
720 SE Sandy Blvd., 503-265-8807, rumclubpdx.com. 3 pm-midnight Thursday-Monday.
The now-classic Rum Club welcomes first-daters, out-of-towners, patio smokers and especially cocktail aficionados. Rum Club is known for some of the best bartenders in town working from one of the best shelves in town—ask about the house rum blends. The bar will make you a mind-bending daiquiri or fruit cocktail such as the Peach Blended—an umbrella drink made with blended rum, fresh peaches, lime and sugar—that is as good as blended drinks get. But don’t overlook the mainstay Pedro Martínez, which mixes aged rum with maraschino, Torino vermouth and bitters, and is possibly perfect.