First Call: Rosebud's Great if You're a High Roller

Rosebud's two-month bartending newbie, Travis

Barkeep: Travis, a two-month newbie to the bartending life. Previously, he worked an office desk job before changing career paths. With an urge to "make money and meet people," Travis still looks like he's dressed to work on Wall Street.

Fancy a $10 neon drink?

The Booze: Blue Pacific. It's a martini that hasn't officially garnered a spot on the menu. Made with Coconut Pearl Vodka, lemon juice, simple syrup, pineapple, and Blue Curacao, this drink makes one wish they were on a inflatable armchair in the middle of a pool. Although the color resembles blue Gatorade that seems to glow in the dark, it's delicious.

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First Call: Just the Basics at Twilight Exit

The Watering Hole: Twilight Exit. An alleyway-entranced, easy-to-miss, neighborhood bar in Madrona.

The Atmosphere: Gogol Bordello on the speakers. Galaga on the tabletop. A 1970s-basement-den melange of tropical sunset wallpaper, mood lighting and old baseball trophies lining the walls. Leroy the Labradoodle (owner's dog) hunting for dropped tater tots. Little miniature flags instead of numbers for your food orders. In short: The coolest Model U.N. Conference you've ever been to, only with hipsters and $1.50 PBR.

The Barkeep: Shira. Who we owe an immediate apology to because of that picture. Jesus. Raise your hand if you're too dumb to operate a point-and-shoot. Sorry, Shira. In no way does our crappy attempt at photography convey the wit or warmth with which you helped get us tipsy. Let's just call it avante-garde and move on, shall we?

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First Call: The Copper Gate and the Opposite of Phallic

Watering Hole: The Copper Gate (6301 24th Ave NW Seattle). A well known north end bistro cum cocktail lounge, the Copper Gate is a brick and mortar tribute to Ballard's town fathers, who were Scandinavian and apparently randy as all hell.

Barkeep: Perryn Wright, admitted hospitality industry lifer.

The Booze: The Negroni. A classic, it's equal parts Compari, gin and sweet vermouth. Sweet on the uptake. Bitter on the finish. And aromatic all the way down. According to Wright, it's one of the "most widely screwed up cocktails in existence."

Full Disclosure: Long before our trusty food editor ambled over to my desk to talk First Calls, nature designated me for this assignment. When sperm penetrated egg, when the long strands of my DNA code were written, that was the moment. Sure, he gave me a choice of locales. But as I'm writing this I can't for the life of me remember what the other options were. I'd like to think that I considered them, but then the heavy-browed men of the family Coleman have always been a bit self-deluding.

In truth, there was no choice. I was always going to the Copper Gate. Actually, that's only half-true. I was always going to see the Pussy Room.

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First Call: Lost In Belltown Trying to Find Bathtub Gin

For a cocktail like this, why would you complain about silly, pretentious trends?

First there's the phone call from a friend: "Hi, I'm at the corner of Second and Blanchard. Come find me and tell me how to get to this place."

But you can't help because you've stopped someone in an apartment stairwell. "Where's Bathtub Gin?" you ask. They roll their eyes, clearly getting this question a lot. Around the corner and down the alley, they explain.

So you take the next alley, but that's actually just a little courtyard. You ask the restaurant hostess, who also hears this query more than she'd like. She explains the alley is farther down the block. Finally, picking your way past green plastic bags of garbage, you come upon a gold sign "Bathtub Gin & Co."

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First Call: Changes' Bartender Says AMF to Bellingham

Watering hole: Changes, 2103 N. 45th St., 545-8363, WALLINGFORD

Bartender: Kyle Santler

Getting Seattleites drunk since: 2008 (He's only 23.)

Kyle, hit me with your favorite drink. It's an AMF (Adios, Mother Fucker). It's similar to a Long Island ... white rum, vodka, silver tequila, gin... but it's topped off with Blue Curacao and 7-Up instead of Coke.

AMFs are killer. Why the hell do you like 'em so much? [Laughs.] Well, they get the night started off pretty quickly.

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First Call: Fort St. George and the Universal Language of Single-Malt Scotch

Watering Hole: Fort St. George, 601 S King St. An unassuming little cafe located in the heart of the International District, Fort St. George has the look of a place that stopped evolving, atmosphere-wise, sometime around the end of the Clinton administration.

It's Thursday night, and the crowd comes in waves. Most are diners there for Japanese takes on Western comfort food that has made Fort St. George somewhat of a destination. The rest are crowded into the smallish bar watching baseball highlights on the big screen while the stereo kicks out the Cure's greatest hits.

Occasionally, there will be an uptick in patronage as the party crowd drops in for a late-night fix of curried hamburger steak and booze. But for the most part, say the regulars, Fort St. George remains the ID's living room. And that's the way they like it.

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First Call: Dreaming of Gina at Contour

Locale: Contour, 807 First Ave., 447-7704 (DOWNTOWN). By day, Contour is a laid-back spot with a five-hour happy hour (it starts at 3 p.m.) with cheap food specials and music on low enough you can actually have a conversation. A few hours later, it transforms into a thumping dance club. This visit took place during the day.

Bartender: Gina Pritchard

Getting Seattleites drunk for: about four years. Pritchard is actually Contour's bar manager.

So, Gina. Will you make me your favorite drink? Sure. It's called a Razzerection.

Never heard of that one. Did you invent it yourself? Yes. I put it on special sometimes. I actually call it by a couple different names.

What are they?I Dream of Gina. I like that name better, actually. But that one's harder to write up on the board.

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First Call: A Vodka-Soda Courtesy of Flowers' Bookish Bartender

Locale: Flowers, 4247 University Way N.E., 633-1903., 728-5181. UNIVERSITY DISTRICT

Bartender: Mike Eisenloh

Getting Seattleites drunk since: 2003

Make me a drink, sir!
I usually drink vodka with soda. I like Crater Lake Vodka, but it doesn't really matter what kind you use. The drink is simple and there isn't much sugar involved . . . which means you get less of a hangover.

But you are drinking enough of them that you're getting a bit of a hangover?
Laughs. Let's just put it this way, I spend about $80-$100 when I go out.

On yourself?!?
Well, it's not all on drinks. I mean, there's usually cigarettes and a cab ride involved, too. And I'll buy a round for friends.

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First Call: Havana Social Club

Watering Hole: Havana, 1010 East Pike Street, a cavernous thing located in the heart of Capitol Hill. To know it is to have on some random evening peered through its steamy picture windows at the well-manicured folks carousing inside and lamented the decrease of your monthly disposable income. Or maybe that's just me.

Barkeep: Binh Nguyen, an amiable young guy in a Trilby hat, whose existence proves that being insufferable is not a requirement of wearing a Trilby hat.

Hangover Architect Since: "Since I started needing the extra money," he says, flatly.

The Clientele: Mostly non-existent save for the brother-journo bellied up to the bar four stools down. Happy-hour is winding down. But as Nguyen explains, the place will be packed in a few hours with the clubbers.

Preferred Form of Liquid Courage: "Whiskey, any whiskey," he says. "On a hot summer's day, you just can't beat it."

What We're Drinking Instead: Raspberry Lemonade Mojito. Like Mojito-classic, but made with raspberry infused vodka instead of rum. As muddling is involved, don't expect to get one once the crowd shows and the bartenders get busy.

So We're Drinking This Because...?: "You need to know what the people who drink here drink in case you ever come during your free time, and this is really popular with the ladies who come here," he explains, adding that there are lot of beautiful ladies who frequent Havana. Upon consideration, that's some pretty unassailable logic. The drink itself tastes like it looks, sweet. But that sweetness isn't excessive enough to be off-putting. And the finish is refreshing, just as should be with a mojito. The barkeep, grinning, seems bemused by my surprise.

Says Nguyen, "Told ya."

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First Call: Sunday School at Sinners and Saints

It's Sunday evening but that doesn't stop Nectar from blasting music loudly enough to be heard more than a block away. But here, a group of regulars are crowding around the bar to watch game highlights on a screen behind the bar and flirt — their hope vanquished by futility — with the woman keeping bar. Sinners and Saints 303 N. 36th St., is relatively new among the string of night spots dotting Fremont's main strip. The bar itself seems to be having a bit of an identity crisis. There's a gated shelf over the bar, which, given the Dia de Los Muertos decor should probably be filled with spendy tequilas, guards Malibu Rum and Stoli.

But bartender Lisa Raybell is having no such crisis of her own. She knows who she is and what she like to drink.

"I'm a simple girl," she explains. "I'm a gin-and-tonic girl."

Cue laughter from a couple of bros sitting two bar stools over. Raybell gives them a nod and continues. "Bombay Sapphire, can't go wrong, it's more of a flavorful gin than Tanqueray or McCormick," she explains. "And always with two limes. One doesn't ever seem to be enough."

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First Call: Rob Roy's Zane Harris Is Old Fashioned

Zane Harris and his Old Fashioned

Locale: Rob Roy, 2332 Second Ave, 956-8423.

Manning the bar: Zane Harris, Rob Roy's new co-owner, along with Anu Apte.

Slinging drinks since: Well, my parents have been in the restaurant business my whole life, but legally...since I was 21.

After I explain the rules of First Call, Zane says, "Well, it's not so important here what I drink. What we want to do here is make the right drink for you." Well, then. I guess I'll play your game, Zane...this time.

"Okay," I tell him, "I usually drink whiskey. And I don't like sweet, foofy drinks."

Harris returns a few minutes later from the far end of the bar — after doing something with bitters and an orange peel — with a translucent, orange-tinted beverage. "This," he says, "is a properly made Old Fashioned." It comes with a brandied cherry garnish, and the fruit looks nothing like the neon red cherries you find at the grocery store. These are smaller and look like actual, real cherries. Harris says he makes them himself with Kirschwasser brandy, sugar, and Cognac, and they are delicious. "The Old Fashioned," Harris says, "is one of the most misunderstood drinks ever."

Where did you learn all this? Maybe bartending school? "No," Harris says. "You can't learn this stuff in bartending school. I just read a lot of old cookbooks." He pulls a vintage out-of-print bartending tome out from behind the bar as proof.

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First Call: Branzino's Bartender Dispenses Irish Coffee and Pimps Out Her Coworkers

Locale: Branzino, 2429 Second Ave., 728-5181. BELLTOWN

Bartender: Shawn Reilly

Getting Seattleites drunk since: Oh god... forever. Probably before you were born.

I seriously doubt that. But let's make a cocktail, Shawn!
I actually just made an Irish coffee and it smelled really good. So I'm gonna say that's my favorite drink. I usually drink that or Maker's on the rocks, anyway.

Wow, this tastes like an Americano... except I feel like the booze is going to creep up on me in a few minutes.
Oh, it will. It's Irish whiskey, espresso, and fresh whipped cream. It's a latte for grown ups — great way to start the day!

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First Call: Redwood's Mini-Margarita

The Bar: Redwood, 514 E Howell

The Drink: Mini Margarita

The Bartender: Petra (Last name withheld by request)

Our story begins with shy young thing named Petra. She started bartending at Redwood three years ago to help pay for nursing school, and now works at a local hospital whose name she won't allow me to use for fear that her fellow scrub-wearers will find out that she spends two nights a week slinging booze on Capitol Hill.

I pop the question (Could you please, Ma'am, make me your favorite alcoholic beverage?), and she pours me a Hornitos margarita, a tiny one. "It's my go-to shot," says Petra. "Just the essence of the margarita without any of the filler." By filler I think she means ice.

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First Call: Jade on Aurora

The drink: Busch beer.

The bartender: A big guy with a bluetooth in his ear who only poured drinks because the real bartender wasn't on duty.

The tale: I have to admit, I walked into Jade, one of the most mysterious new establishments on North Seattle's most notorious/mysterious thoroughfare, hoping that they'd make a Singapore Sling that'd knock me on my ass. But the bartender wasn't working, so I was instructed to either order a shot or a beer. I opted for beer (Busch), but the guy next to me was downing SoCo shots like the world was going to end about 30 seconds after he finished the last one. This gentleman, from Alaska, remarked that SoCo was not just a shot to the head, but "a shot of home." I think I like Alaska.

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Topics: Boozamahol, Bottomfeeder, and First Call

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First Calling With Feedback

After a couple of years in Seattle, your constitution begins to weaken thanks to all the mild weather. So when the mercury breaks 80, it feels downright sweltering. Much as I love drinking outside, it was kind of a relief to walk into the Feedback Lounge's air-conditioned darkness. And wait! What's that? Eve 6!

Eve 6 is that band from the late 1990s with that song about blenders spinning around to beautiful oblivion. They never really went anywhere and objectively, they weren't that good, but I loved them anyway. Much to my drinking companion's chagrin, I still know all the words to that song.

Clearly, we needed something strong.

Drinking Establishment: Feedback Lounge, 6451 California Ave. SW, West Seattle

Drink Slinger: Todd Reneau

So whaddaya drink, Todd? "Seriously?"

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