Nerd alert: If you love reading, science and booze, a recently opened bar in downtown's warehouse district has your name on it.
Academia comes to us from Russell Davis, a former Bar Rescue co-star and co-owner of bar consulting firm Unlimited Liabilities. As its name suggests, the bar is designed to be a tribute of sorts to higher learning, with high ceilings, brick walls and university-esque banners that give the cocktail lounge a library feel. Academia plans to enhance its ambiance through sensory strategy: custom lighting from a Cirque du Soleil lighting director that will evoke and influence emotions, carefully chosen scents and pheromones to heighten senses, a curated playlist that will sync with customers' hearts, and more science-driven technology. But what about a bar's most important quality—its drink list?
The initial cocktail menu is divided into three categories, including Undergraduate (classic cocktail), Graduate (new cocktails) and Electives (faculty signatures). Within the Undergraduate category, you'll find drinks like the fresh-pressed Cosmopolitan, with vodka, house-pressed cranberry, lime, Cointreau and orange oil, while the Graduate column includes the Trinidad Sour, made with Angostura Amaro, rye, oregat, lemon and Angostura bitters. Electives include out-there concoctions like the Fresh Dill, which uses Linie Aquavit, Dolin Blanc Vermouth, St. Germain, saline, dill and salmon roe.
Academia is currently in soft-opening mode, though it will host a grand opening at a later date. You can find the lounge at 208 W 4th St, open daily from 5pm to 2am.