Reds is full of new cocktails, new servers, and on the day we visited, about 200 times more people. It’s something to do with the Figueroa Mountain Brewing Co./Seven Bar & Kitchen triangle that Reds has become part of.
Dana Walters, one of the original Funk Zoners, was slinging drinks along with two other bartenders and could barely come up for air. Much like The Bourbon Room in Goleta, Reds is now offering daily cocktail specials. This particular day was the Lynchburg Lemonade. The history of the drink goes back to Alabama of the 1980s as a mix of Jack Daniels, triple sec, sour mix and lemon-lime soda. But time, geography and a few lawsuits back at the Jack Daniels distillery have made Ms. Walters change it up — namely, forgoing all that syrupy mix for a simple batch of homemade lemonade, and using Benchmark bourbon instead of Jack Daniels. (You can always request the original ingredient, of course.) We like this streamlined version of a modern favorite. It’s our Drink of the Week.
LYNCHBURG LEMONADE
4 ounces bourbon (preferably Benchmark)
6 ounces homemade lemonade (equal parts water and lemon juice, sweetened by agave nectar to taste)
Combine over ice. Shake and pour into 10-ounce pint glass. Garnish with cherry.
Yield: 1 drink
Reds Bar & Tapas
211 Helena Ave.
966-5906
www.redsbarandtapas.wordpress.com