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FeedGourmet Grocery Guide: Drinks
The best meat, produce and more inside the city’s top grocery stores
Local Libations
The Hills Market, 7860 Olentangy River Rd., Worthington
Wandering among the towering aisles inside The Hills Market’s liquor department, you get the feeling that if it isn’t sold here, it can’t be had anywhere. It’s the perfect place to shop local, with an entire display dedicated to Columbus-centric spirits, or to get more exotic as you explore the impressive selection of Italian aperitifs or French liqueurs. The smart, attentive staff is on hand to offer suggestions or help find something special, plus they’ve made picks throughout the store to guide your booze browsing. Don’t miss: The Hills is a local-foodie haven. For ease of shopping, anything made in Ohio is marked with a sign bearing the state’s image and the product’s hometown.
Sip and Shop
Giant Eagle Market District, Upper Arlington
We’re with you—grocery store crowds can be especially grating. Just why does that woman keep standing right in front of every item you try to reach? And that unattended child—could he please stop running so perilously close to your cart? Giant Eagle Market District is trying to help take the edge off by offering cans and bottles of beer and single-pour glasses of wine for quaffing as you grab your basics, because nothing goes better with grabbing a dozen eggs than a glass of Shiraz. Keep yourself together, though: The store does have consumption limits.
WHILE YOU'RE OUT...CLASSIER CHERRIES
Those candy-apple red maraschino cherries you plop half-heartedly on top of a sundae have no business anywhere near a good Manhattan. For your bar (and your ice cream, for that matter), upgrade to Luxardo maraschino cherries: Imported straight from Italy, these marasca cherries are stewed in a syrup with actual maraschino liqueur, not the Day-Glo brine that most grocery-store varieties come in. ($21, at The Barrel and Bottle in the North Market, 59 Spruce St., Downtown)
Home Bar Shopping Spree
Weiland’s Gourmet Market, 3600 Indianola Ave., Clintonville
Has some hard-to-find spirit suddenly appeared in your preferred liquor store? You can probably thank Adam Roelle for that. As the director of the liquor department at Weiland’s Gourmet Market, he’s lobbied to bring more varieties of booze through Ohio’s arcane liquor licensing system. He’s a cocktail aficionado, so we asked his advice on one of life’s more intimidating tasks: Putting together a home bar slightly nicer than the few generic bottles collecting dust in your liquor cabinet. He picked his favorite intoxicants for beginners and experts.
Beginners
Vodka: Middle West Spirits’ OYO Vodka. “We have great distilleries in Columbus, so you can get your vodka and gin needs met within the city limits. OYO has so much flavor.”
Gin: Watershed Distillery’s Four Peel Gin. “It’s an outstanding gin with a lot of citrus notes that’s great for gin and tonics.”
Tequila: Espolon Tequila Reposado or Blanco. “It’s a nice, quality tequila. You’ve gotta make sure you’re buying 100-percent agave—it’s a rule everyone should follow.”
Whiskey: Ezra Brooks Old Ezra 101 Proof 7-Year. “For just over $14, it’s rich and flavorful.”
Bitters: Any kind. Weiland’s lets you sample anything they sell. “When it comes to good cocktailing, they’re necessary to balance and boost flavors.”
Triple Sec: Fruit Lab Organic Orange Liqueur. “This is a nice example of an orange-based liqueur that’s low-proof, which means it isn’t controlled by the state.”
Experts
Applejack: Tom’s Foolery Apple Jack. “This is made up in Cleveland, and we always get a couple cases for the store in the fall. Having an apple brandy around is really nice for that time of year.”
Absinthe: Lucid Absinthe. “It is legal and has been for quite a few years. It’s called for in many great cocktails in small amounts.”
Next-Level Gin: Ransom Old Tom Gin. “It wasn’t available for a while. It’s basically a sweeter gin and it picks up its color from Pinot Noir barrels.”
Aperitif: Cocchi Americano. “It’s an aperitif, so it mixes well with gin and soda. It adds another layer of flavor.”
Amaro: Fernet Branca. “When you grow out of your chocolate martinis, you want more balance. A lot of classic cocktails call for very bitter ingredients like this.”
Flavored Spirit: Art in the Age Snap. “It’s a sugar-snap cookie spirit that’s not sweet. I put it in a nice rum-lime juice cocktail and it plays so well with it.”
Vino File
The Andersons, 7000 Bent Tree BLVD., Dublin; 5800 Alshire Rd., Reynoldsburg
Let this sink in for a moment: The Andersons carries 4,500 different bottles of wine. Yes, 4,500 bottles of wine mean six fully stocked aisles, a veritable United Nations of varietals, with choices at every price point. And lest you worry about getting overwhelmed, the store does tastings every Thursday and Saturday (a recent offering included reasonably priced wines from all over the world) and serves the hearty pours in actual wine glasses along with appropriate snacks.
Don’t miss: Andersons is a general store that just so happens to be attached to a great grocery, so check out its lush nursery and home improvement aisles as you sip your Pinot Noir.
Illustrations by Paige Vickers
