This grown-up cocktail will make you feel like a kid at Christmas
8.2.0 — one of Charlotte’s newest bars and the latest brainchild of the owners of VBGB, “Charlotte’s adult playground”—is one of those places that makes you think New York City, not Queen City.
But imagine five distinct NYC-style hotspots under one roof in the Avidxchange Music Factory. (The 8.2.0 name comes from its address, 820 Hamilton St.)
You’ve got the upscale cocktail lounge, the arcade, the sound-proof karaoke room with backup singers and emcees, the pizza parlor with cauliflower-crust options. Even a secret library room with a record player and wall-to-wall built-in bookshelves.
We’ll soon take you on a deep dive of the space—and it’s energetic, bubbling-over-with-ideas owner Tom Taddeo and his wife (and pragmatic business partner), Kara.
But today, it’s all about one of 8.2.0’s most distinctive drinks: the boba cocktails.
The “Berry Blue Balls” boba cocktail
The neon cocktails are right at home in the dim light of the arcade room, filled with token-enabled games ranging from classic pinball to Ms. Pac Man, Skee-Ball to bubble air hockey, the room’s most popular attraction.
But the boba cocktails ($10 each) have an other-worldly feel—and are some of the most distinctive cocktails in the city. The boba pearls in the cocktails settle at the bottom of the glass, and with each sip—through a thick, wide straw—you catch a pearl or two. And as they burst in your mouth, they add a juice element to the drink.
Your four boba cocktail options are (from left):
The Long Island Green Tea, a classic LIT made with green tea; the Berry Blue Balls made with Baccardi dragonberry rum, Absolut grapefruit vodka, Blue Curacao and green tea; the Green Tea Boba-Rita, made with 1800 Reprosado, green tea and lime; and the Melon Boba-Rita, made with 1800 Silver, melon liqueur and green tea.
They’re the perfect drink to prime you for a night of whimsy and exploration—and when you’ve got a five-bars-in-one destination, that’s exactly what you need.
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This story was originally published December 15, 2016 at 6:25 AM with the headline "This grown-up cocktail will make you feel like a kid at Christmas."