Twelve years ago, this stylish, multi-windowed bar in the Sanctuary Resort & Spa was ground zero for the city’s nascent cocktail culture. Now, Christiaan Röllich, an accomplished mixologist and author of Bar Chef who ran the cocktail program at LA’s Lucques for a decade, breathes new life into this legendary watering hole. His beautiful, seasonal cocktails are made with premium spirits, local fruits and vegetables, and assertive ingredients such as turmeric and harissa. And the views of Paradise Valley — both indoors and out on the patio — are gorgeous.

For elegant Old-World wines and a taste of history, check out this classy bar, tucked away in Wrigley Mansion, a gracious Phoenix landmark built by chewing gum magnate William Wrigley 100 years ago. Paneled in mahogany and furnished with plush upholstered couches and crystal chandeliers, the room has the elegant look of a library. It’s the perfect backdrop for the Old-World wines offered here, including 25 wines by the glass and wine flights highlighting everything from Champagne and Riesling to Barbaresco and Madeira. Jamie’s also has access to the Wrigley’s impressive wine cellar, which houses 1800 different wine labels. Nowhere else in town offers such interesting and expensive wines by the glass.

Century Grand is a Disneyland for cocktail-lovers. The building houses three cocktail bars, each with its own immersive environment. Platform 18 replicates the Presidential Pullman train car, complete with the rumbling background noise of the tracks, and a snowy Colorado landscape whizzing by the windows. Here, the cocktails are based on gin and other clear spirits. Tiny Grey Hen RX, which is inspired by a New Orleans apothecary shop, specializes in whiskeys. It’s also a good place to get boozy classics such as the Sazerac or Vieux Carré. Meanwhile, moody UnderTow, which recalls a spice trader’s turn-of-the-century clipper ship, exudes a tiki vibe and concentrates on rum-based cocktails. Reservations for a 90-minute experience are required.

The secret glories of the Arizona beverage scene are on full display at the Tortoise, a friendly, beer-geek hub of local libations. They include a bevy of selections from Arizona’s world-class Superstition Meadery, as well as kegs from the rising small-batch, scientist-run cidery, Stoic Cider. Arizona-centric offerings extend to an expansive beer list (which also sources limited-release brews from the greater region and beyond). Owners Shay Gau and Justin Evans pour some of the best finds from the state’s best breweries, including Wren House, Arizona Wilderness, and Pueblo Vida. 

This retro bar opened in Phoenix’s Melrose District in early 2019, and draws its considerable fan base from the neighborhood and beyond. Linoleum floors, funky lamps, and wood-paneled walls conjure the 1970s, as do the jukebox and working cigarette machine. Bar tops feature wood salvaged from an abandoned bowling alley. Drinkers can sip RC Cola and throw back lowbrow snacks flown in from the Midwest. Classic well drinks are affordable and solid. The beer list features macros and micros, with a few local all-stars, like Mother Road’s Tower Station IPA. An open, grassy stretch and cornhole game out back make for a fun patio. 

David Tyda and Jourdain Blanchette opened this bi-level cocktail bar to celebrate Mexico’s famous agave-based spirits — namely, obscure heritage brands of tequila, mezcal, bacanora, raicilla and sotol (the only spirit on this list distilled from a plant called Desert Spoon). Their 40-page drink menu features somewhere around 200 labels, accompanied by tasting notes and explanations of origins and processes. For an even better education, consider one of a dozen flights, or book a group private tasting ($75 per person). Both the colorful upstairs cantina and moodier, dimly lit basement have different vibes and different cocktail menus, but some drinks are available in either setting. 

Housed in a bright white converted bungalow built in 1914, Garden Bar is a breath of fresh air — a beautiful space that feels more like a comfortable home than a place to drink. It’s light, bright, and tastefully decorated, featuring a few front porch tables and a small backyard patio. More importantly, the cocktails here are always balanced and delicious. Mixology heavy-hitter Kim Haasarud, the eight-time cocktail book author who currently serves as president of the US Bartenders Guild, owns the place.

In a peach-painted brick building that still bears the timeworn sign of its former tenant, a tax company, Gracie’s pours no-bullshit drinks for an eclectic crowd that draws from many Phoenix subcultures. Drinks are cheap. Food is simple and greasy (check out the onion rings and fried pickle spears). People nurse pitchers of beer and sangria on a patio where blooms of ivy creep up a white wall toward the pale desert sky. Inside, a wide-ranging jukebox oozes tunes into the heavy dimness. Fun fact: Grace Perry, owner, used to sing in a local metal band. Drink specials rotate, featuring the likes of mystery shots and a $5 tequila sunrise. 

In early 2019, Ross Simon teamed up with Aaron DeFeo of Tucson to open a small, urbane cocktail lounge right down the street from B&T. Located on the fourth floor of a downtown Marriott, with views overlooking Chase Field and the distant Superstition Mountains, the place is a sleek, swanky draw for the cocktail aficionados who demand sophistication and get it here. Little Rituals swings for the fences with its mainstay cocktails, including a curry daiquiri with Sichuan pepper oil, Amari blends topped with salty foam, and a creamy fig-infused bourbon number, heady with Olorosso sherry, Nocino, and a whole egg.

Owners Jeff and Jen Herbert like to say they’re “reintroducing the world’s oldest fermented beverage to mankind” — not an idle boast, given that in the past 10 years, they’ve created over 300 unique meads and hard ciders in a wide range of flavor profiles. The interior’s wood floors, high, industrial-style ceilings and upholstered aqua bar stools signal that this may be a brewery (honey-imbued mead is beer’s kissing cousin, after all), but it’s a classy one. The mead selection is big enough to require categorization (meads made with apples, meads made with herbs and spices, meads made with wine grapes), and the food menu is just as vast. If you’re road-tripping, check out the meadery’s original location in Prescott.

Housed in a 100-year-old Mission Revival-style warehouse in Tempe, Four Peaks is not only Arizona’s biggest brewery but one of its oldest, turning out 14 year-round beers — including its flagship Scottish Ale called Kilt Lifter — as well as popular seasonal brews like the excellent pumpkin porter. The brewery was bought by Anheuser Busch in 2015, but nothing much has changed. The brick-walled and cavernous place is still beloved by spring training fans and ASU students of drinking age who love the patio, massive bar and laidback vibe. There’s plenty of beer-friendly food too, including the requisite wings, nachos, burgers, and pizza as well as more creative offerings such as carne adovada, green chile mac and cheese, and a poke bowl. And if you need a beer before or after a flight (who doesn’t?), Four Peaks has opened an outpost in Terminal 4 at Sky Harbor Airport.