The Bourbon & Branch empire now includes Tupper & Reed.
It’s opening tonight in Berkeley.
No need to sell you on that being of interest, right? Onward to the three kinds of nights you could have here.
1. Downstairs, at the more casual bar.
You’re in a massive old building that housed a music shop starting in 1925, so they’ve taken that history and did what they do to history. They made it beautiful through a bourbon-y haze. Lots of brick, squirrels on the wallpaper and some playable records lying around.
Anyway, you order at the counter—something not too complicated, like the Revolver, with bourbon, Tia Maria and orange bitters. Then find a place to sit. Easy enough.
2. Upstairs, where you’ll need a reservation.
This is where you come to sit down in a long booth and receive a deep, deep drink menu that looks like a program at the symphony. It’s like you can hear “Ode to Joy” as your Ichbein Cocktail approaches, a swell of cognac, port, Cointreau and nutmeg with a whole egg in it.
3. The Polly Armstrong Listening Room.
Book it for eight people. There’s good drinks, a quieter vibe, wind-up phonographs and more than 1,000 records.
At some point, they do kindly ask that you leave.
It’s opening tonight in Berkeley.
No need to sell you on that being of interest, right? Onward to the three kinds of nights you could have here.
1. Downstairs, at the more casual bar.
You’re in a massive old building that housed a music shop starting in 1925, so they’ve taken that history and did what they do to history. They made it beautiful through a bourbon-y haze. Lots of brick, squirrels on the wallpaper and some playable records lying around.
Anyway, you order at the counter—something not too complicated, like the Revolver, with bourbon, Tia Maria and orange bitters. Then find a place to sit. Easy enough.
2. Upstairs, where you’ll need a reservation.
This is where you come to sit down in a long booth and receive a deep, deep drink menu that looks like a program at the symphony. It’s like you can hear “Ode to Joy” as your Ichbein Cocktail approaches, a swell of cognac, port, Cointreau and nutmeg with a whole egg in it.
3. The Polly Armstrong Listening Room.
Book it for eight people. There’s good drinks, a quieter vibe, wind-up phonographs and more than 1,000 records.
At some point, they do kindly ask that you leave.
