Drink up: The 10 most Instagram-worthy cocktails in the Raleigh area
With the warm weather returning, it's time for some springtime adventures in the Raleigh area. Whether you're searching for the best rooftop bars with a view, the most beautiful flower trails in the Triangle or the craziest cocktails you can imagine – here's how to find the most Instagram-worthy hotspots in the Triangle.
What makes these cocktails so Instagram-worthy? These mixed drinks and cocktails are strikingly visual, gigantic and absolutely over-the-top. Some even have an entire meal attached!
ORO Restaurant & Lounge: Smoking dragons and unicorns in bubble baths
ORO Restaurant and Lounge in Raleigh has some of the most unique cocktails you'll ever see. They have a dragon that breathes smoke, a unicorn rubber ducky in a bubble bath, a rainbow hot air balloon with smoke floating up from beneath and even a magical fairy wonderland with a purple cocktail hidden inside.
They serve up an orange cocktail inside a specialty glass with a special sipping flute.
Most of their specialty cocktails are so unique they're almost impossible to describe. Take a look at ORO's Instagram to see them for yourself.
Mezcalito: Gigantic drinks with wild colors, fruits and flowers
If you're looking for some of the brightest colors and zestiest flavors, try Mezcalito. This restaurant and bar describes themselves as 'Mexican food with a Tex-Mex heart' and can be found all around the Triangle, including Durham, Apex and Clayton.
Their Instagram is a feast for the eyes, with cocktails decked out with deep red blood oranges, sliced mangoes drizzled with hot sauce, and even dragon fruit and roses floating atop colorful cocktails.
They even have a giant cocktail mixed in a 'cup' bigger than your head. It's covered with strawberries, pineapple slices and spices. Probably best to share this one!
One menu item features a cocktail glass with two beers sitting upside-down inside, along with a crispy and spicy snack and spices drizzled all along the rim.
Mezcalito's Instagram has even more incredible looking cocktails that couldn't fit in the story. Take a look!
The Merchant NC: Mixology meets culinary chemistry
The Merchant NC is a quiet speakeasy hidden behind a secret door made to look like a vintage soda machine. It sits within an antique 1922 structure and pays homage to the building as a "forgotten piece of Raleigh's rich history," which once held the North Carolina Merchant's Association.
Their Instagram is covered with hazy cocktails featuring smokey steam rolling over the sides of skull-shaped glasses. This particular image shows a gray cloud of cotton candy 'raining' a blended drink into the cocktail below. It's called the Black Sails, Blue Waters, and it includes unique additions like charcoal activated cotton candy to create the illusion of a raincloud.
Speaking of misty and visual, The Merchant NC also serves up this stunning 'smoke show' called Smoke & Daggers. This drink is layered with multiple colors and includes Woodinville Whisky, maple , lemon, egg white, red wine float and smoke.
The Merchant NC's Instagram page has all kinds of entertaining and interesting cocktail inventions. See for yourself!
Blind Pelican: Bloody Mary comes with an entire lobster, crab legs, sandwiches
Have you ever seen a cocktail with a fan of crab legs – or an entire lobster – as a garnish? Depending on how you order this monstrous-sized cocktail, you could have an entire meal attached to your drink, including filet minion and oysters on the side!
Some of their cocktails also come with bacon, pickles, and an entire grilled cheese sandwich for dunking in the tomato-based drink.
If you'd like a little surf and turf – and a truly Instagram-worthy cocktail experience – it's hard to beat the Blind Pelican's enormous display.
The Blind Pelican's Instagram is a feast for your eyes. Enjoy!
Corpse Reviver: A splash of springtime color
Corpse Reviver in Durham has the springtime aesthetic down with their soft pink, lavender and sky blue cocktails, decorated with sweet strawberries and zesty lemons.
Pictured above is their 30 Minutes of Wonderful cocktail, with rum, strawberry, basil orgeat and lemon. Next to it is the What's Your Dream cocktail – with the lavender fading into crystal white, it looks like a drink from a magical land.
Their baby blue cocktail, aptly named 'Baby's Got the Blues' is like a refreshing taste of spring, with Navy Strength gin, Blue Curaçao, Pandan, orange and Greek yogurt.
They also have a foamy orange drink called The Bronx, which has a unique mix of fresh orange juice, creamy orange foam with egg and gelatin, and some gin and vermouth.
The lovely Osaka Station uses a beautiful, color-changing gin that gives it a purple hue – an absolutely mystical experience on a sunny spring day.
The Corpse Reviver Instagram page is full of foamy, colorful and magical looking drinks. Take a look!
Did we miss any?
If you know any absolutely amazing Instagram-worthy cocktails in the Triangle, let us know, and send us a photo at hleah@wral.com.
