Best Bar in Miami is Lilt Lounge at Epic Hotel – Scrumptious Innovation
Photographs by the incredible Miami Food Pug
You know what’s freaking delicious? Palate breaking innovation. Modern mixology has blurred the boundaries between cuisine and libations. Lilt Lounge is taking that notion to the stratospheric next level. The word “bar” barely captures the essence of Lilt, it is more like a delectable interactive liquor laboratory. That it is why it’s the Best Bar Miami. This lab at the Kimpton Epic hotel in downtown Miami is the brilliant brainchild of Spencer Taliaferro.
Spencer is a passionate man, albeit a professor. A trip to Lilt includes fascinating talks from him about his drinks, inspirations and the future of bar-tending. Spencer is mad scientist and the drinks he’s concocted are mind boggling. Visiting Lilt will take you on an enthralling, interactive and satisfying journey across new mixology realms. Here is but a brief glimpse of the journey at the best bar Miami.
Remember those choose your own adventure books? Well let’s play it at Lilt… Either start with
A) Delicious
B) Interactive
C) Let Spencer decide
I’d suggest diving into the interactive portion of the menu’s Barkeep’s Originals with his take on classic cocktails with whimsical twists. The First Class is LILT’s deconstructed version of the Old Fashioned, featuring a Bourbon smoked glass with a clarified block, bottled Maker’s Mark Bourbon, Aperol, Amaro & lemon juice, served in a custom wood block with assembly instructions. This drink is straight up fun. It will stimulate multiple senses and let you play with fire. I adored the scent of the charred wood. This drink also comes with insights into Spencer’s view of the future of bartending.
Time to get tasty. Ask Spencer to show you his cubes. This is not a new dirty thing, it’s a treasure troves of multi colored, chef caliber ice cubes that would put any stellar smoothie shop to shame. His creativity and experimentation have led him to develop unique and unexpected programs such as the unique, “In Ice We Trust.” We are talking about:
- Fresh Juiced Cucumber infused with jalapeño ice block
- Mescal infused mango ice block
- Peychaud and Absinthe infused ice block
- Pink Lemonade Ice Block – proceeds go to Alex’s Lemonade stand foundation
- Pina Colada booze infused ice block
- Pineapple and cilantro infused ice block
These cubes will captivate thee. The pineapple cilantro is the building cube of the phenomenal Pineapple Express – a pineapple and cilantro ice block floating in a sea of Herradura tequila, agave, lime and habanero syrup, among others.
The flavors are sublime and that’s just the tip of the ice cube. This cubes transform your drinks through reverse dilution. As the cubes melt into your drink it becomes more flavorful! Every second your drink is literally changing flavors.
If you really want to mesmerize your mouth ask him for the off menu libations with his new special double cubes. Local Mango infused with Yellow Chartreuse and the bullet inside is infused with Aperol Liqueur. This was one of the best drinks I’ve ever had!!!!
Next up let’s play with beakers the Illumination is a next generation pisco sour 2.0 that might give you high school lab flashbacks. It is served in an adorable beaker glass. The highlight of this easy the sweet IPA foam. I don’t like IPA’s at all. It I love this foam. It’s sweet, fluffy and comforting.
Other takes on classics include the Out of the Box – Taliaferro’s take on the daiquiri, served in a ceramic cube vessel, the American 75, a take on the French 75 featuring High West Rendez Vous Rye Whiskey, Taittinger-infused Champagne syrup, apple spice bitters, lemon juice and Fever Tree club soda.
Dedicated to the utmost sustainability and freshness, Taliaferro and his team pride themselves in using locally-sourced, seasonal ingredients of the highest quality. All juices, shrubs, tinctures, marmalades and syrups are made in-house. LILT is a proud supporter of small batch production, serving small-batch spirits and cordials, greatly improving the quality of every cocktails.
Live entertainment is the perfect complement to the LILT Lounge experience. Thursday through Saturday, the lounge offers an impressive DJ lineup. Starting at 8PM til 2AM, the lounge offers musical entertainment featuring genres such as Soulful House Thursdays, Classic Hip Hop Fridays and Deep House Saturday. Industry folks enjoy specially priced cocktails on Industry Night Wednesdays.
Lilt Lounge is not only the best bar Miami, but it’s menu is the best I’ve ever imbibed. You need to run to Lilt asap, because geniuses like this don’t stay in the same place for too long.
LILT Lounge (Best Bar Miami) is located at 270 Biscayne Boulevard Way. For more information, visit www.LILTlounge.com.
