Price: $13.75

When: November 4, 2017, 5 PM

Reservations: n/a

Verdict? Not recommended

It’s 5 o’ clock, and we’ve ducked in to the Napa Rose Lounge for cocktails, snacks, and something sweet. We get seated. Each of us picks up a menu and starts flipping through the pages.

First order of business: the cocktail. Napa Rose Lounge has a lot of specialty beverages, and their bartenders know what they’re doing.

Midway down the front page of the menu, under “Signature Cocktails,” I spot my prize: “The Bitter Storm.”

As an aside, one of my favorite things about Napa Rose Lounge is that they give every drink some kind of story. In this case: “This savory and alluring Tiki-style cocktail will surprise and please any palate with a sense of adventure.”

I just envision some bartender in the back, office strewn full of crumpled-up paper, staring at a blank sheet, twirling a pen in her hand, trying to come up with the right turn of phrase to describe all these things.

Anyhow. I order.

The drink arrives promptly. It’s served on the rocks, and appears surprisingly cloudy. It’s got a nifty bit of orange peel on top, and a couple of straws.

I pick up the beverage, and take a pull.

This is decent, but not great. There is a very pronounced citrus flavor going on, with a robust bitters undercurrent (and, given the name of the drink, I count the latter as Truth In Advertising™.) That said, there’s no transcendent moment here, nothing that makes you lean back in your chair with a contented “aaahhhh” (or, for that matter, that makes you insist that your companions give your drink a try).

It’s just … a cold, alcoholic beverage with a nifty bit of orange peel.

You can do better than this at Napa Rose Lounge.

Not recommended.