30 Days 30 Faves – 45 Waterside
Even though 45 waterside is a gem that most people don’t know about it is the place that granted us our very first social media award! The location is awesome it’s right on Lockwood Drive and the view of the harbor is just spectacular!
Mamie and her crew invited us out for their Social Media day last year and we were a recipient of the best drink cocktail photo award. You know that we were super excited!
The rooftop bar just opened for guests and we can’t to go back for a cocktail or 3! *wink wink* 45 waterside is in the Hilton Garden Inn hotel. Go check out their fabulous location and their amazing bartender!
Photography by C. Tan Photography.
30 Days 30 Faves – Southern Smoke Cigars
Southern Smoke Cigar is the ultimate smoking paradise on the go. Every since we first heard about Southern Smoke, they’ve invited us to have’s smokes, dinner, and an all-around good time! They’re awesome. When you step on this smoke mobile, it is a different world with plush couches, boss seats in the back, and super sexy decorations all around. They have an array of different cigars from the small, dainty cigars ladies like me enjoy to the big bold flavored cigars that the southern gentlemen tend to smoke.
Sometimes, they surprise their guests and bring on their own personal craft signature cocktails. You know that the bandits love love love cigar and cocktail pairings. Southern Smoke Cigars is owned by two couples: the Robertsons and the Bostwics and they are just a amazing! We can’t wait to have more cigars soon! We love them. Check them out online and book them for you next event and have a #southernsmoke for us!
www.southernsmokecigars.com
Photography by Mac Kilduff Photography.
Makeup by Stella Nova West Ashley
30 Days 30: The Orange Spot Coffee House
The Orange Spot Coffee House in Park Circle has to be one of our favorite favorite places in Charleston. Park Circle is a hidden gem, the Bandits are usually enjoying the downtown area, but this place is new and emerging… Also very family friendly.
The owners of the Orange Spot, Laura and Julie, are just some special ladies. Since the first time we walked into their establishment, we were greeted with smiles and orange brightness; not to mention amazing coffee and wonderful service. These gals tend to be modest about their beverage curating skills, but they are very creative baristas. Various spiced simple syrups as well as their sage lattes were the highlight of our morning. These ladies also made us some of the most delicious craft coffee cocktails that we’ve ever tasted. The group favorite had to be an Avion Expresso coffee cocktail that was spiced with hot peppers and garnished with chocolate shavings; it was sweet, and definitely had a kick at the end.
If you are a coffee lover, and want to try some delicious new creative coffee drinks, then you have to check these ladies out! You don’t know what you’re missing…
Also we want to thank the Orange Spot Coffee House for hosting us and showing us how diverse and AWESOME coffee can be!
Photography by Jay Wayne Productions.
30 Days of 30 – Upper King Swing
Prohibition has to be our FAVORITE “Period” bar here in Charleston.
They have cocktails that mirror the classics from the pre-prohibition period and their food is simply amazing! We have fond memories from this bar and have always remembered that they have supported us from the beginning.
Shaun Gordon has been on our page several times for his creative cocktails. We are thankful to have bartenders like him to support our movement. Shaun made 2 delicious cocktails.
Adair Thomas Photography
Nails by Jada Sanders
Cocktails by Shaun Gordon of Prohibition Charleston using Tequila Avion Reposado
Celebration of the Cowpea
The Celebration of the Cowpea was an event that celebrated “cowpeas” or “field peas” in a very creative and innovative way. The event took place took place at the Gatewood House, which is the house where Nat Fuller, the famous African American and restautanteur learned to cook in the 19th century. The pea which came from West Africa in the 16th century, has had a profound infulence on southern cuisine and chefs Benjamin Dennis and Kevin Mitchell cooked over 30 types of field peas for everyone to sample. The beans ranged from creamy, to rice peas and there were different types of rice to pair with them. Chef April McGreger made cornbread from several heirloom corn strands and the cornbread was the perfect southern touch to this amazing meal. The favorite pea of the evening was the Pink Eyes Purple Hawk pea grown by our favorite organic farmer Joseph Fields. The event was amazing, we even had the opportunity to meet Food and Bev legend, Natalie Dupree!! It was an awesome and educational event and we hope to attend next year!
A Day with Matt Lee and Truveè Wines
Drinking wine with Matt Lee was an absolute treat! For those that don’t know who he is, Matt Lee is one half of the Lee Brothers. The Lee Bros are two brothers from Charleston, who are very involved with spreading awareness of delicious southern cuisine around the U.S. They have a mail order catalog for southern pantry staples called The Lee Bros. Boiled Peanuts catalog and people can order signature southern things like boiled peanuts. The great guys are also authors of cook books like Southern Cookbook, and Charleston Kitchen, have won several James Beard awards, and Finally, they invited us to Atlanta Food and Wine festival to be talent for their workshop! (It was soooo fun!)
Now that I’ve introduced you all to Matt Lee, let’s get to this awesome wine that he decided to share with an awesome story to match!
Truvee Wines has a powerful story and an amazing taste. It was created from the McBride sisters, who are two beautiful African American sisters who were separated when they were extremely young but interesting enough, BOTH grew up on Vinyards thousands of miles apart. They found each other later in life and decided to create their own delicious wine called Truveè – which is from the French word “to find.”
We tried the chardonnay first, it was light and delicious with notes of pear, citrus, and apples. It was a very crisp and has a clean finish. There was no harsh after taste. After, we tried the Red Blend. It was full of body and had notes of berries and caramel and has a robust finish. Both brands were a perfect blend of New World and Old World practices which can be tasted in the wine.
The McBride Sisters are the FIRST African American sisters to found a wine company and to launch in a digital platform. We are thankful to Matt Lee for exposing us to women who are doing amazing things for the wine world.
To learn more about Matt Lee and the Lee Bros, visit www.mattleeandtedlee.com.
To learn more about Truveè Wines and the McBride Sisters, visit www.truveewines.com
Skirt! is legal!!
We had an amazing time at The Restoration on King for Skirt! Magazine’s 21st birthday! That’s right, Skirt has been bringing women amazing and empowering stories about women for many awesome years and they showed their love and appreciation last night with unlimited champagne, delicious desserts from Bad Bitches Charleston, and amazing music by DJ Natty Heavy on the rooftop of the Restoration. It’s always so inspiring to see such fabulous women celebrating together. Happy Birthday Skirt!!! Here’s to many many more years of celebrating us women!
Charleston Mixology Tour
The Charleston Culinary Tours has started a wonderful Mixology Tour right here downtown. The Cocktail Bandits were able to experience 3 craft cocktail bars in the Market area. There, we were able to talk with the mixologists and taste one of their fine creations.
The Charleston Brews Cruise
FLIGHT NIGHTS
FLIGHT NIGHT!!! For all those who don’t know…. This is called a flight. A flight consist of three .75 oz glasses of speciality tequila for sampling. This is a Herradura flight that has the blanco, reposado, and añejo tequilas In the Herradura’s line. Blanco, or white, means there was no aging to the tequila. Reposado, or rested, means the tequila rests in oak barrels for 2-11 months, giving the tequila that light brown color. Anejo, meaning aged, means that the tequila had been aged in old bourbon or whiskey oak barrels for 1-3 years giving the tequila a dark brown color and a smoothness that only comes with the aging process. There is a new age group, extra añejo and these tequilas can be aged for 5-11 years… sometimes LONGER!! The most popular in Mexico is the reposado tequila, and blanco is the most popular in the US… Just thought I’d drop some tequila knowledge on this Tuesday!!#cocktailbandit #tequilatuesday #tequilagirls #tequilatequila#tequilaspecialist #flights #flightnight #mex1 #herradura #charleston
