A password isn’t necessarily required to get into the new upstairs speakeasy at the St. Petersburg Distillery,but you may have to sign up on an analog list and wait before being escorted upstairs to the prohibition era-style bar called 31 South.
The distillery is a production facility and tasting room and, as of last month, home to a new bar.The tasting room itself has a menu of cocktails to tide guests over while they wait to go upstairs, like the creamy, intensely coconutty frozen pina colada and a velvety espresso martini capped with coconut cold foam (each $11).
When we checked it out on a recent busy Thursday, there was about a 45-minute wait to get into the speakeasy, but once inside the drinks came out quickly.
Cocktails in the speakeasy are served on silver trays resting atop white doilies, and most come with a side-car of a small sweet treat.
The ubiquitous rhythmic rattle of cubes inside cocktail shakers was absent on our visit, as chilled coupe and Nick and Nora glasses were filled efficiently from batches then garnished appropriately.
Part of the show at 31 South is the finish of the cocktail: a dusting of cocoa across a layer of Tippler’s Orange cold foam; a Stroopwafel speared and laid across a Maple Old Fashioned.
Drinks include a Hibiscus Gimlet topped with strawberry cold foam and served with a rose Turkish delight; a Key Lime Pie Daiquiri layered with coconut rum foam and accompanied by a coconut almond truffle; and a Mai Tai with two housemade spirits capped with coconut rum foam.
Cocktails are $13 and are all made using house spirits and syrups like the distillery’s Old St. Pete Tropical Gin and orgeat.
St. Petersburg Distillery was founded in 2014 and produces small-batch grain-to-glass spirits on site like Tippler’s Orange Liqueur, Old St. Pete Sunset Gin and Banyan Reserve Vodka.
The educational, story-like cocktail menu reminds drinkers that “rum was Florida’s spirit well before prohibition,” and “hibiscus was brought into Florida through Caribbean and Cuban trade well before it appeared in cocktails.”
The drink menu leans toward the dessert side with cold foams, syrups and petit fours, with a savory two-bite pop-up food menu available, crafted by executive chef Jonathan Rodriguez.
The menu offers seven different bites you can order from a server, including: Beet-Infused Truffle Deviled Egg with bacon and chives ($14); A5 Wagyu Crostini with truffle aioli and shallot jam ($24); and Crispy Short Rib Polenta with roasted shallot glaze and pecorino ($18).
The speakeasy is located inside of a renovated space overlooking the distillery. It is set with dark wood paneling, plush chairs and couches, and a large bar with a stunning light fixture made out of empty liquor bottles suspended above.
It’s dark, but not too dark, with music set to a socializing level. It holds about 50 people.
800 31st St. S., St. Petersburg. 727-726-3795. stpetersburgdistillery.com.
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