What to Know
- May 3 and 4
- DTLA
- $13
Sometimes, you just don't want to place your kale and your yogurt and your avocado and your berries on separate dishes, so you get a little nutty and you throw a bunch of disparate foodstuffs into the blender, hit "chomp," and happily sip the final concoction.
And yet?
We don't do this with other eats and liquids we enjoy, the whole creative combining-into-one-thing thing.
Exhibit A? Our margarita should be in a glass, full stop.
The crunchy tortilla chips should be to one side of the glass, preferably about five inches away, but still within reach.
And rare, if totally unlikely, is the strange day when we'd dare mash up the two.
The Scene
Want to find new things to do in Los Angeles? The Scene's lifestyle stories have you covered. Here's your go-to source on where the fun is across SoCal and for the weekend.
But Birds & Bees, that imaginative port o' cocktail-makery in DTLA, clearly thought melding the whole chips-tequila concept, into a sippable adult beverage, would be pretty snazzy and Cinco-riffic.
Meet the fanciful Flor de Nopal, a pop-up cocktail now available at the bar through Saturday, May 4.
We're putting this in flashing neon right here, because it feels right: Birds & Bees will shutter on Sunday, May 5, so do not, repeat, do not attempt to visit on Cinco de Mayo proper, should you want to try this unusual drink.
As for what makes it more offbeat than most margaritas?
Look to the rim, where chunks of Fritos cling to the small edge, and look to the "tortilla chip-washed tequila" within the glass, which, yes, has met with the salty snackables, even before it met with the shaker.
Jake Larowe, the bar manager at Birds & Bees, wanted to infuse a classic margarita with "California cactus flair."
That cactus flair is further enhanced by nopal syrup, as well as lime juice and orange.
Indeed, nopal is cactus, making it the third whimsical addition to this limited-time libation.
It's $13, and the chance to try the Flor de Nopal will end as quickly as a cactus flower must, after its short bloom cycle. Be sure to try it before the bar closes its own petals for the night on May 4, 2019.
