No. 101 January/February 2023

Last night, while visiting a city I hadn’t seen since early 2020, I sat at a new favorite bar, sipping a new favorite cocktail, and chatting with friends and colleagues I’d known for years. As we step into 2023 and share our annual Imbibe 75 list of people and places who are helping to shape the way we’ll drink in the months ahead, this mix of fresh balanced with familiar seems to be a theme for a new year.

Relative newcomers like Slug Bar in Oakland, California, Benny Boy Brewing in Los Angeles, and Sousòl in Portland, Oregon, are among the fresh places we’ll find ourselves gathering in this year, sipping natural wine, alcohol-free cocktails, or California cider, respectively. We’ve found new favorite bars like Church in Baltimore, and cafés like Persimmon Coffee in Philadelphia, worth visiting with friends for cocktails or coffee in 2023 and beyond. And we’re introducing you to personalities like whiskey educator Jack Beguedou, winemaker Alice Anderson, and mead maker Eric Depradine, who we’re predicting will all have an influence on what winds up in our glasses in the months ahead.

But among the newcomers, there are also familiar places and faces that are rebooting and resurfacing post-pandemic, and enjoying the opportunity for a fresh start. Bar Agricole in San Francisco, Eastern Standard in Boston, and Milady’s in New York City are all longtime favorites, but each has undergone a recent transformation, and we’re excited to see how their futures unfold.

In 2015, Derek Brown was our Imbibe 75 Bartender of the Year, and eight years later he’s back on the list, with a new perspective and career based on mindful drinking. Seattle rum bar Rumba is another longtime favorite that recently celebrated its 10th anniversary, right around the time they welcomed a new bar manager, Josh Ibañez, to help take them into their second decade.

And there are plenty more people and places to discover in the coming year. Join us in celebrating this year’s Imbibe 75, and be sure to visit imbibemagazine.com and tune in to our Radio Imbibe podcast throughout January and February to discover more of these stories.

Happy New Year,