A few days ago I met Eat Drink Boulder’s co-founder Paul for Happy Hour. I suggested meeting at 5:00 PM at the new License Number One pub which recently replaced the Catacombs bar under the Boulderado.
Arriving at 4:55, Paul checked it out and was waiting outside when I arrived five minutes later. “It doesn’t open until 5:00 PM”, he explained. “It looks good but it is totally dead. Shall we go somewhere else?”
I sheepishly pulled out my Boulder Passport and said “I have to admit I suggested this place in part because I have a two-for-one coupon for House Bourbon Cocktails,” I replied. We decided to try it (the pub) and them (the cocktails).
Both were good choices and this is the beauty of the Boulder Passport, even for a local. Ultimately, my friends and I tend to frequent the same places downtown and, in this case, we would have ended up at one of our favorites. But because we had the Boulder Passport, we end up at a new establishment with drinks I never would have tried.
The Boulder Passport offers 40 two-for-one coupons (or, more accurately, “passport pages” waiting to be stamped) for drinks in 40 different Boulder establishments. The neat thing about it is each coupon is good for a specific drink: the Jax Mule at Jax Fish House, House-Infused Martinis at The Leaf, or the House Bourbon Cocktail we tried at License Number One. Some are more flexible, such as “Any Specialty Cocktail, Wines by the Glass, or Beer Featured on Our Beverage List” at Volta. So you end up trying new drinks at new places.
The Passport is available for $40 $20 (Sorry – we had the wrong dollar amount), normally online (now sold out) but also at Cured. It has partner versions in Fort Collins and Denver. Coupons can only be used from Memorial Day through Labor Day.
At License Number One, we had a choice of three House Bourbon Cocktails and chose two of them to try. Mine was delicious – I didn’t write down all the ingredients but it had fresh grapefruit juice and honey. The bartenders were super friendly and it didn’t matter we were first in the pub. We made a good choice for that happy hour, thanks to the Boulder Passport, and will be trying more new places soon.
Editor’s Note: We received a Boulder Passport for free from the publishers. We swear this had no effect on the article … except for getting us into the pub to use it.
The Boulder Passport is available for $20, not $40.
Thank you, Megan! The $40 price is for a three-pack of all three locations.
Hope your readers will try their passports at License #1 on Wednesday & Thursday nights when they have great little jazz combos playing (no cover). Not many places to catch jazz in town so it is an extra little plus:)