At Last Bottle HQ, we drink a lot of wine. But when we all duck our heads out of the office and head home, we are no longer ruled by the vine. The wine experts in this Napa Valley office are drinking cocktails, beer, and more after clocking out. Here are out go-to cocktail recs:
The Paper Plane
Kaitlyn Russell, Director of Marketing
The Paper Plane first took flight in 2008 in a NYC cocktail bar by legendary bartender Sam Ross. Since its development, it has landed in the heart of Last Bottle Marketing Director, Kaitlyn Russell.
“Paper Planes are zippy, refreshing, flavorful… and the best part is they are comprised of equal parts, so they’re effortless to mix,” says Kiatlyn. The drink is equal parts Aperol, bourbon, Amaro Nonino, and lemon juice, shaken with ice until frosty.
Kaitlyn recommends pouring it into your cutest cocktail glass and garnishing with a citrus peel or mint leaf to make it pop, and pairs her Paper Plane with taste-tests of whatever she is cooking for dinner that night.
Oaxaca Old Fashioned
Chad La Tourette, Director of Growth
It’s the drink that helped fuel the United States mezcal craze. The Oaxaca Old Fashioned is smoky, sophisticated, and totally poundable.
This cocktail is named after the birthplace of mezcal, Oaxaca, Mexico. Take equal parts mezcal and reposado tequila, stir with a bar spoon of agave nectar and two dashes of Angostura bitters, garnish with an orange peel and there you have it!
Chad notes that this is a more approachable take on the old fashioned, and an excellent gateway drink to the trickier craft cocktail. “I actually was not an old fashioned fan until I had the Oaxaca old fashioned. It opened the door to whiskey for me,” says Chad.
Negroni
Ryan Anderson, Director of Purchasing
One of Italy’s classic (and always trending) cocktails! The aperitif is said to be born from Café Casoni in Florence in 1919. Legend has it that the drink came to be when Count Camillo Negroni ordered an Americano made with gin in place of the usual soda water. That same year, the Negroni Distillery was opened in Treviso, where they crafted a bottled version of the cocktail called Antico Negroni, which is still produced today.
Ryan Anderson is a Negroni purist. He says that the cocktail “can be made in one way, and one way only,” with equal parts gin, Campari, and sweet vermouth. He suggests Hendricks Gin, and Carpano Antica Formula for his vermouth. The sipper can be served on the rocks (Ryan’s preference) or straight up.
Soju and Yakult
Allison Cone, Junior Copywriter
In this cocktail, worlds collide. Equal parts Yakult, a popular childhood treat, Soju, Korea’s most popular adult bev, and Sprite are shaken to oblivion to craft this frothy, creamy, refreshing cocktail.
Soju is a small, but growing alcohol category in the United States, making up for about 0.2 percent of the liquor category in 2021. It isn’t widely known in the US, but it’s a main player in Korea, making up 32.88% of total alcohol sales that same year.
Soju is a clear, distilled rice wine with an ABV ranging from 12.9 to 53 percent, though most bottles of soju contain around 20% alcohol. Yakult is a Japanese sweetened probiotic drink, kind of a sippable yogurt, and together, they make magic.
“Jinro brand soju is my go to. It’s the most widely available here, and a reliable crowd pleaser,” says Allison. “I was put on to this combo at a UCLA library staff party, where some attendees were chasing their shots of soju with Yakult. I was skeptical at first, but they knew what was up.”
It is such a popular combination that some soju brands have released a yogurt flavor, which Allison recommends if you’re in a pinch.
Strawberry Margarita
Sarah Lundstrom, Director of Customer Service
A classic is a classic, who can argue against a perfect strawberry marg? The margarita hails from Tommy’s Place bar in Ciudad, Mexico back in 1942 by bartender Francisco “Panco” Morales. The strawberry marg, however, comes from a recipe in a 1953 issue of Esquire Magazine.
The drink needs 1 oz Triple Sec, 2 oz 100% agave tequila, 2 oz fresh squeezed lime juice, and a blended mix of strawberry and simple syrup. The mixture is shaken and poured over ice into a glass with a salted rim (although Sara prefers hers without the salt.)
Her go-to spot for the perfect strawberry margarita is Frida’s Mexican Grill, here in Napa Valley. Sara will pair her marg with Enchilada Suiza and ample chips and salsa.
Dry Hopped Saison Beer
Haley O’Brien, Senior Sales Coordinator
Saison is a style of beer characterized by low alcohol content, high carbonation, and light body. This pastoral ale originates from Wallonia, Belgium, and is spicy, dry, and aromatic. Haley describes dry hopped saison as “lovely,” with “flavors of citrus fruits like lemon and orange, and a slightly spicy, floral, earthy fruity hop character.” If you gravitate toward the spice like Haley does, then you’ll have to give this a try.
Haley’s favorite places to sip a Saison are Napa’s Cadet wine and beer bar, and St. Clair Brown Winery and Brewery. Her favorite Saison pairing is a pepperoni pizza– there’s nothing better!
Manhattan (with Extra Luxardo Cherries)
Andie Laufer, Customer Service Representative
You may have emailed with Last Bottle customer service rep Andie Laufer before. (And if you have, the pleasure was all yours, she is a delight.) But after a day of slaying the customer support game, you can find her sipping a classic cocktail.
Andie recommends the Amaretto Sour, Classic Marg with no salt, the French 75, and (what we will be discussing today) an Manhattan with extra Luxardo cherries. The Luxardos are a supremely important distinction for Andie, she says, “I need the Luxardo cherries. If they’re maraschino cherries, then no.”
The Manhattan has tons of lore attached to its name, but the most agreed upon originator is Dr. Ian Marshall. It is said that he developed the cocktail in the early 1880s for a cocktail party thrown by Lady Randolph Churchill, mother of Winston Churchill at the Manhattan Club in New York City. The drink is two parts whiskey, one part sweet vermouth and a dash of bitters. Stirred, never shaken, and garnished with brandied cherries or a lemon twist. But if you’re ordering with Andie’s expertise, you’ll be having your Manhattan with a few Luxardo cherries.
Whiskey Lemonade
Krissy Lopez, Customer Service Representative
“Whiskey hits the soul with relaxation,” says Last Bottle customer service rep, Krissy Lopez, and we have to agree. If she’s not drinking her whisky neat (like a boss) she’s sipping on a whiskey lemonade.
Sometimes conflated with the Lynchburg Lemonade, named after the Jack Daniel’s Distillery location in Tennessee, the whiskey lemonade is as simple as its sounds. Just mix 1.5 oz of whiskey with a simple lemonade (lemon juice, sugar, and water). In the summertime, Krissy serves her with lavender simple syrup.
The whiskey lemonade is what you get when you strip a whiskey sour of all of its pretensions (and the egg whites.) It’s tangy, refreshing, soul-hitting deliciousness.
Chablis
Blake Van Treese, Last Bottle Wines President
Even after he has completed a full day in the industry, this guy is still drinking wine. What can we say? Our President keeps it on brand! And who can blame him when he’s sipping Chablis!?
Chablis is a crisp, dry, chardonnay varietal that hails from the Chablis region of France, located in Northern Burgundy, right by Champagne. It is a leaner style of chardonnay made with less oak, known for its light-bodied minerality and citrus fragrance.
“Chablis still offers some of the best value in the wine world despite continually rising prices. It’s versatile, complex, almost always thought provoking, but it can also double as a porch or poolside pounder if you are not in the mood to geek out,” says Blake.
To get the most out of your bottle, Blake recommends decanting your Chablis, stating, “more often than not, this will result in a better wine.”
You can catch Blake sipping Chablis at home, at the gym, in bed, and while walking his dog– and if you catch him with a classic vintage, he will have oysters and caviar alongside it.
Drink Like The Last Bottle Office
Now that you know how we drink outside of the office, it’s time you learned what we’re sipping on the nine-to-five. See what wine we are drinking today with our daily offer.
