Florida folks- I am flying into Miami and driving down to the Keys for a week. Looking to stock up on good locals and hoping for some suggestions. Any good shops on the way from Miami airport to Islamorada? Do they sell Cigar City down in Miami? What other good local craft should I look out for? Thanks!!
Any Publix will have Jai Alai and Florida Cracker... maybe even hotter than helles. Tocobaga can be found consistently at Stop and Shop on Le Juene. The Ponce de Leon Stop and Shop location will have Cucumber Saison and Jose Marti... maduro cans.... In Key Largo Tradewinds Liquors had Jai Alai, cracker and helles, Publix has cracker. Martinis and Green Turtle in Islamorada have Jai Alai too. Any further south and i can't really help you.
I haven't seen any Publix with Jai Alai in Miami in months, but everything else is accurate. edit: Publix, Whole Foods, Total Wine and various liquor stores. All with no Jai Alai. Its like we have officially become Cuba and they have embargoed us.
I was there last Thursday and saw jai alai everywhere. There's a Hess gas station near downtown on 17th (el carajo I think is the name) that had them 1 week old. It's kind of out of the way from the airport though.
Also if you're taking the turnpike from the airport you can hit up cork and bottle in Kendall. They usually get a bunch of the special stuff. I've gotten humidor double black, home front ipa, Cubano espresso, and ghost stories there. They just opened a new total wine around he corner from there too.
Thanks for the responses guys! I had no idea Publix would carry Cigar City, sort of like New Glarus in Wisconsin where you can buy it at any grocery store but they wont ship it just 50miles south to Chicago... Besides Cigar City, any other local favorites I should look for? Again flying into Miami airport and renting a car driving down to Islamorada. I have kids with me so can't go to far out of the way looking for a bottle shop.
If you said you could roam, I'd say Funky Buddha. If you can get a few miles off track, Miami Brewing Company at the Shnebley Winery does local growlers. There's an awesome fruit stand that does killer smoothies on the way called Robert is Here. You know, for the kids.
Sunset corners is awesome but a little out of the way unless you're willing to drive us 1 the majority of the trip. If you do it right you can hit stop and shop on the corner of le Juene and us 1 then stop and shop on ponce. Get back over to us 1 and then turn right onto 72nd. It will take you to sunset corners on 87th. The nice thing about this is that 87th leads nearly directly to the back side of total wine in pinecrest. After that the market thins out quite a bit for anything ultra unique. I live and work in Islamorada and I'm always trying to find good beer stores. There are actually a lot of them provided you're willing to move around.
Is this an alternate universe? I feel that the streets are awash in Jai-Alai. Agree on Cork & Bottle - you can probably *still* get Ghost Stories there.
You can stop at LoKal in Coconut Grove, they have plenty of cigar city, 2 funky buddha taps, and plenty of other taps of small breweries from South Florida, ask for the secret reserve list if you want to get some special aged bottles
I bought a few 6 packs at the Publix in Hollywood a few weeks ago. My dad brought a few up here as well from Whole Foods in Coral Springs. They should still be around in South Florida.
