Best cocktails in Colorado Springs

Craft cocktail lovers from near and far will find solace in Colorado Springs’ endless offering of artisanal cocktails!

Made from fresh ingredients, homemade tinctures, and small-batch bitters, craft cocktails are where alcohol and art collide.

In the last decade, Colorado Springs has become a hotspot for bars and speakeasies boasting unique, artisanal cocktail offerings.

Here at Rocky Mountain Food Tours, we’re all about helping you find the best this city has to offer, which is why we’re telling you exactly where to find the finest craft cocktails in Colorado Springs!

DISTRICT ELLEVEN

218 N Tejon St., Suite 120, Colorado Springs, CO 80903

It may be one of the new kids on the block, but District Elleven has already made its way into our hearts as one of the best places to find cocktails in Colorado Springs. Walk through Mood Tapas Bar, past an original bank vault door, and into the darkly lit, art-lined walls of District Elleven. Or, if you want more traditional speakeasy experience, enter through their discreet back alley entrance.

You’ll find classic recipes and unique craft cocktails like “The Lord of Bones,” made from bone marrow washed miskey, sugar, and barbeque bitters, or “My Father’s House,” a refreshing and floral blend of Colorado vodka, honey, lavender, and lemon.

Ready to visit District Elleven? Check them out on our Springs Signature Cocktail Tour!

SHAME & REGRET

15 East Bijou Street, Colorado Springs, CO 80903

Named “downtown’s favorite guilty pleasure,” this back-alley haunt has more than 150 types of whiskey and scotch and a lengthy menu of craft cocktails. Shame & Regret’s theme is a playful twist on a Catholic confessional — sit back in a gothic-styled leather booth as you sip on one of their craft cocktails, like the “Prenup,” “Swipe Right,” or “It’s Not Me It’s You.”

While you’re there, nosh on a few prohibition classic nibbles including a Scotch Egg with arugula, citrus herb aioli, and cranberry white balsamic reduction.

PRINCIPAL’S OFFICE

1604 South Cascade Avenue, Colorado Springs, CO, 80905

Located in Colorado Springs’ popular Ivywild School, Principal’s Office offers craft coffee drinks in the morning and an artisanal cocktail menu in the evening.

Their seasonal cocktail menu uses fresh ingredients, homemade tinctures, syrups, and more, and is creatively organized into three helpful categories of “detention, suspension, and expulsion,” to differentiate their easy-to-sip cocktails from their stronger, more booze-forward drinks. We recommend trying their “Smoked Beez Kneez” featuring gin, lemon, honey, blended scotch, and grapefruit bitters.

THE ARCHIVES

15 South Tejon Street, Colorado Springs, CO 80903

Hidden underground beneath Colorado Craft in downtown, The Archives is another can’t-miss spot for cocktails in Colorado Springs. This unique spot is focused on preserving the best of history and art of cocktails while highlighting today’s evolutions of craft bartending. Enjoy a classic cocktail, like a Negroni or Old Fashioned, or sip on something their seasonal drink menus.

AXE AND THE OAK

1604 South Cascade Avenue, Colorado Springs, CO 80905

Also located in Ivywild School, just below Principal’s Office, sits Axe and the Oak Whiskey House. This tasting room makes craft cocktails exclusively using Axe and the Oak Distillery spirits, known for high-quality, Colorado whiskey that “doesn’t cost you an arm and a leg.” Enjoy their award-winning whiskey near or paired with fresh-squeezed juices, house-made infusions, and hand-carved ice. Our favorites include “The Pledge” and the “Noble Experiment.”

ALLUSION BAR

323 North Tejon Street, Colorado Springs, CO 80903

Allusion Bar is likely the city’s most unique spot. Not only is this speakeasy-style bar inconspicuously located at the back Rooster’s House of Ramen, but its appearance and menu change every few months as it takes on an entirely new theme.

With past concepts including Game of Thrones and Star Wars, each theme takes on a piece of nostalgia or pop culture and delivers some of the best craft drinks in town. You may come for the concept, but you’ll stay for the cocktails.

Because this bar only accommodates a small number of people at a time, reservations are encouraged and recommended!

Ready to visit Allusion Bar? Check them out on our Springs Signature Cocktail Tour!

Bonus: CHIBA BAR

19 E Kiowa St. Colorado Springs, Colorado 80903

Chiba Bar is mostly known for fresh, Japanese-inspired plates, but their cocktail menu shouldn’t be overlooked. Their aesthetic is “cyberpunk/neo-Tokyo” meets Colorado chill, and if you’re not sure what that means, you’ll just need to go see (and taste) for yourself.

Chow down on some Pork & Chicken Gyoza and end the night with one of their craft cocktails. We recommend the “Lychee Buck”or the “Tequila Suze Sour.”. 

So what are you sipping on tonight? Be sure to tag Rocky Mountain Food Tours on social media to tell us!

Cheers! Your Rocky Mountain Food Tours Team

(So, what’s a food tour, anyway…?)

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