by Brandon Smith
Bathrobe-clad bartenders, a hole-in-one, rum punch, Caribbean jerk chicken, a race against time and brandied cherries. What do all these things have in common? You probably experienced at least one of these things if you attended a Sacramento Cocktail Week event.

As we previously mentioned, Sacramento Cocktail Week is a week-long celebration uniting local bartenders, fine spirits, fresh products and artisan cocktails. Restaurants, bars, bartenders and patrons from around the greater Sacramento area came together to create, celebrate and of course, drink cocktails.
I jumped at the chance to be a part of the action. I had been looking for an excuse to get out and experience more of the incredible bar and craft cocktail scene in Sacramento and cocktail week seemed like the perfect opportunity. I made it a goal to attend at least five Sacramento Cocktail Week events to make the most out of the experience.

Day 1: The Dude Imbibes at Bottle & Barlow
Cocktail week kicked off on Sunday with its first featured event, The Dude Imbibes. The event featured a number of cocktails and food inspired by the Coen Brothers cult classic, The Big Lebowski. White Russians and Sioux City Sarsaparillas (yeah…that’s a good one) were being poured up by two bartenders dressed as The Dude and Walter Sobchak. The Wandering Chef was serving up bowling alley themed classics like bacon burgers, specialty hot dogs and nachos with scratch made cheddar beer sauce. Everything was well thought out and played off the Lebowski theme. If you’ve never seem the film, you’ll just have to take my word for it, man.
Check out the full beverage menu below!

Day 2: Tavern on the Green at Hook & Ladder Manufacturing Co.
Hook & Ladder hosted the second featured event of the week, The Tavern on the Green. Fellow SacFoodie Harrison and I decided to check this one out after leaving the office Monday afternoon.

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