The Inside Scoop on Juicy Cocktail Bar

Late last year, the team behind Tropical Smokehouse and Tropical BBQ Market threw their proverbial hats into the drink ring with the opening of Juicy Cocktail Bar in downtown West Palm Beach. The intimate space pays homage to South Florida through a cocktail menu rich with exotic and tropical fruits.

“We want the bar to have a sense of place,” says owner Jason Lakow, who operates all three spots with his business partner, Rick Mace. “I grew up here in South Florida and never realized how much actually grows here. It just so happens that our growing season falls perfectly in line with our busy season. We get strawberries, citrus, and tomatoes throughout winter, [and] tons of exotic fruits that are always fun to play with.”

The Juicy team sources fruit from across the region, including from My Exotic Fruits in Homestead. Lakow also points to Loxahatchee’s Rainy Seasons Nursery and its owner, Ben Feistmann, as a great resource. For example, Rainy Seasons recently provided Lakow with jaboticaba (the edible fruit of the Brazilian grapetree), with which he fermented “Jabo-Wine.”

Perhaps equally important to the Juicy experience is ice. The bar staff utilizes several types, including pebble, cylinder, cubed, crescent, and shaved. “We currently have two shaved ice cocktails [that] are inspired by kakigori, the Japanese technique for shaved ice,” says Lakow. “Shaved ice cocktails are considered transformative, meaning that your first and last sip will not be the same. The goal is to make drinks that improve as you drink them, but they still need the first-sip moment of ‘aha.’”

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