This new cocktail challenge has Baltimore bars buzzing

The Little Italy bar Sisu has welcomed an influx of first-time customers in recent weeks — at least 50 or so, said co-owner Kate Hufton.

It’s all because of the Charm City Cocktail Club passport, a new challenge for fans of handcrafted drinks and Baltimore bar-hopping. Order a cocktail at one of the dozen participating city bars to earn a stamp. Collect all 12 stamps by July 13 and get an exclusive invite to a party later this summer.

It’s a word-of-mouth hit: The club has already printed and distributed 900 passports as of the weekend, said Heath Bebout, one of the club’s founders.

“It’s been super awesome,” Hufton said. “The most popular thing we hear is ‘You’ve been on our list for a really long time and now this made us come.’”

The navy passport — which looks a lot like a real passport — is the brainchild of a group of local spirits enthusiasts, including Bebout, Drug City Pharmacy and Liquors owner George Fotis, Meander Art Bar co-owner Matt Steinberg and Jeff and Erica Ewart.

The goal of the challenge is to push patrons to explore haunts outside of their usual hang-outs while celebrating Baltimore’s talented cocktail makers, according to Bebout.

“It’s hard to get the guys from Canton to go to Fells [Point] and from Fells to go up to Mount Vernon or go downtown,” said Bebout, a radar engineer who lives in Baltimore. “So this was to move people around a little bit and just really try to start getting some enthusiasm around the cocktail scene here.”

Those interested in accepting the challenge can ask a bartender for one, while supplies last, at any of the following 12 bars:

• Dutch Courage: 2229 N. Charles St., Old Goucher
• Pink Flamingo: 300 W. 30th St., Remington
• CookHouse: 1501 Bolton St., Bolton Hill
• The Capital Grille: 500 E. Pratt St., Inner Harbor
• Sisu: 313 S. High St., Little Italy
• Meander Art Bar: 1801 E. Lombard St., Upper Fells Point
• Copper Shark: 921 E. Fort Ave., Locust Point
• Barfly’s: 620 E. Fort Ave., Riverside
• Idle Hour: 201 E. Fort Ave., Riverside
• Motte: 1 N. Haven St., Highlandtown
• Old Line Spirits’ Ready Room Cocktail Bar: 200 S. Janney St., Highlandtown
• HappyJack Tavern: 2822 Hudson St., Canton

Bebout said the hardest part so far has been keeping the bars stocked with passports.

“We’re really flabbergasted by how many people have been participating in it,” he said. “We just didn’t expect this type of turnout.”

Sisu, a wine bar that doubles as a bottle shop, is used to wine dominating its sales, but even their regulars have been bit by the passport bug, Hufton said, turning to cocktails like its new Tuscany Sour, a gin drink made with Montepulciano nectar, lemon juice and simple syrup.

“I’m hearing a lot of determination” to finish the challenge, she said.

The club is thinking of more ways to build engagement and grow its community of imbibers. They’re kicking around ideas like cocktail classes and books with local bartenders’ recipes, along with the next passport challenge, which will feature a new mix of bars. They’re still figuring out whether to do the latter seasonally or semi-annually, Bebout said.

“It’s definitely going to happen again,” he said. “We just don’t have the timeline yet.”

The club couldn’t be more thrilled about the enthusiastic response.

“There’s some phenomenal cocktail places in Baltimore and we want people to get out and see some of those places,” Bebout said.

Check out other opportunities to drink and explore new places with The Banner’s festival guide.