LTB at Three Seventy Common, Our Drink of the Week!

Dave Lieberman

Question: How do you drink hard cider without looking like an Birmingham ASBO boy or a girl at her 21st birthday party? It's not exactly a reputation-making drink, though the cider made with our local apples stands up well against anything to come out of Washington, Michigan, or New York.

Answer: You order an LTB at Three Seventy Common, a beer cocktail made with Old Rasputin stout, Julian hard cider, and Jameson Irish whiskey, just before you tuck into their Sunday Social prix-fixe, family-style supper.

The folks at Three Seventy Common are big into barrel aging cocktails and making things that taste vaguely whiskey-like, and this drink is no exception. The fruitiness, carbonation, and acid of the cider cut through the heavy breadiness of the beer, and the Jameson lends it a hint of barrel flavor and just enough Mexican street cred (what, you didn't know Irish whiskey is huge in Mexico?) to make it acceptable in Orange County.

It's a wonder drink--great when it's cold out, and refreshing on those few days when it's punishingly hot in Laguna Beach.