The Craft Lounge in Nampa is a recent venture with co-owner/mixologist Nick Boban and co-owner Dustan Bristol, chef/owner of the wildly popular Brick29. Located in the old 1919 Masonic Building in Downtown Nampa, Craft Lounge is hidden away on the bottom floor of the building while Brick29 takes the upper floor. I was invited to speak with Nick, learn the story of Craft Lounge and taste some representative cocktails at this comfortable speakeasy/bar. As at any true speakeasy, it is hidden in the recesses of the building but well worth seeking out as a great place to enjoy a drink (Hint: Look for the janitor’s closet!). 
Walking inside, the interior is dim yet inviting, with dark woods, a comfortable bar and chairs with deep tufted leather. As Nick explained, “We wanted to give a ‘retreat’ in Nampa, a spot that someone can come and actually explore the spirits industry, as opposed to going to a bar to just ‘get drunk’. It’s one of the reasons that we didn’t put TV’s in the space—we really wanted to promote the social atmosphere. We find that a lot of our guests actually come more for the people in the bar rather than the cocktails themselves, although you have to have a really good median to draw in a crowd”.
Nick told me that “I want people, when they come, to feel invited, to feel welcome. We try as far as we can to make it a safe spot. We know that over-consumption is a major problem around this area, so by limiting guest’s consumption I feel we can actually enhance their experience. We usually don’t let people get that far. I want them to leave here with—when I was first getting into wine it was “Wine—cool!”. Wine is one of those products where the more you know, the more you know you don’t know about things. Spirits is that on steroids, so I want people to come here and say, “Holy cow! There’s a lot of stuff that I’ve never tried”. It’s more than just drinking—we’re trying to build a camaraderie, to build a community of people that just want to have a good time”.
Craft Lounge in Nampa is really about the craft of making fine cocktails. Nick talked about their drinks, saying “We really pride ourselves in trying to make everything from scratch here with our bar program, everything down to our tonic and our ice. We actually make our own ice for the cocktails—it’s one of the things I’m most proud of. Cocktail wise, recently we’ve been getting into Amaros really heavily, so we do plenty with Amaros and are actually bringing it back into our low ABV cocktails also. There are some bigger trends nationally that haven’t made it here yet, so it’s a way that guests can come and have multiple drinks without having to ‘walk out’ to go home. Amaros are an Italian made liqueur, they’re typically bitter and under 40 percent alcohol by volume. It’s like a fortified wine, grain-neutral spirit and a blend of botanicals”.
“My favorite cocktail on our menu now is called the Bitters and Smoke. It features Fernet-Branca Amaro. I’m a big Fernet fan, so any time I can put some of that in a drink and have it balanced—it’s a digestif, very herbal and minty and usually super-overpowering, but the Bitters and Smoke is a blend of Cynar, Vida Mezcal, Espalon Reposado and the Fernet so it’s great after dinner”. As Nick made this cocktail, the fragrant aroma filled the lounge. Sipping it, the smoke was just enough, turning the cocktail into not only something to taste with the tongue but also savor with the nose.
Smoking is certainly something the Craft Lounge in Nampa does well, even smoking their own salt. Nick explained, “One of the things that we just started to do recently was cold-smoking cocktails. That’s actually what the jars on the counter there are. We’ll actually smoke the ice in the glass from the cocktail and then put the liquid in it. The smoke adheres better to water than it does to alcohol. Our second base over there was given to us by a guest because we taught the guest here how to use the gun and he went home and bought all the stuff and does it himself. He was so appreciative that he went and bought us another chamber as a thank you”.
Craft Lounge in Nampa is very unlike other restaurant or standalone bars. There, you can pick a drink from a drink menu, or maybe ask someone and they might give you a suggestion. At the Craft Lounge in Nampa however, one of the keys to the whole experience is the interaction when you order your drinks. Nick explained, “I have in the past written down and put out a 64 cocktail menu and I found that guests would sit sometimes for almost an hour sometimes and read the whole thing before they decided; and they still couldn’t decide after that. We would rather talk to them”.
“Pretty much what happens with the interaction is that they’ll come in, look at the menu and go “Oh! What’s good here?”. I’ll answer that “It’s all good, but I want to figure out what YOU like to drink”. I’ll typically ask them that when they go out, what are they looking for? Typically, I usually get something hyper-sweet or else a vodka and soda.Typically, on of the things say the most is “I don’t like gin. I hate gin!”. And my answer is “Cool. I’m going to make you a gin cocktail!”. I usually don’t tell them that, I just do it and give it to them. They’ll ask what it is and I’ll just ask them to taste it, try it and then we’ll talk about it. They’ll taste it and react with a ‘Oh my God this is amazing!’ and I’ll tell them ‘It’s gin—now let’s talk about this for a second’. I find that a lot of people have a preconceived notion, they had a really harsh spirit in college or in high school is typically what I’ll find”.
One of the things that the Craft Lounge in Nampa tries to do is open people’s minds to crafted spirits rather than heavily marketed ones. Nick said, “We really enjoy kind of a niche here for crafted spirits itself. We make our Old Fashioned with a bourbon called Ancient Age. Typically an Old Fashioned is mild, it’s kind of like your gateway drug into cocktails. Ancient Age itself is a product of Buffalo Trace Distillery. It has won quite a few global awards in the last several years”. Indeed, Nick made me an Old Fashioned to try and it was excellent—-smooth, well balanced and very drinkable. The orange-peel garnish added a nice touch and the beautiful glass made it a drink that you felt special enjoying.
Nick made me another drink that he liked and explained, “One of my favorite cocktails that I like—I like people who are new to this whole spirits industry to try this—it is our Lillet Cobbler. It uses Lillet Rose, which is a fortified rosé apéritif wine, as the base of the cocktail, crème de cassis and lemon. It is served over fresh ice with mint, blackberries and raspberries as garnish. It’s dusted with powdered sugar and really pretty, a bright pink—ladies love it. Men tend to shy away, although I find that they enjoy it even more than the women do most of the time. It’s kind of like one of those weird ones because nobody has heard of any of those products besides lemon juice I guess, and yet they love it! For us, it’s an icebreaker for people”. This was a very mild cocktail, perfect for sipping and would be excellent for someone who wants something light and refreshing without a lot of alcohol. The taste was cloying, one of those drinks that you really wanted another of to continue enjoying the taste.
Nick also talked about making guests who are not into spirits feel comfortable at the Craft Lounge in Nampa. They do have a selection of beer and wine available for those who want to enjoy that with their friends. He also made another interesting cocktail which he called the English Breakfast. This was a non-alcoholic cocktail, perfect for a designated driver or just someone who wants to enjoy without loading up. Looking at it, the drink had that classic cocktail look. The flavor was excellent, combining an Earl Grey tea base along with lemon and their own tonic syrup and demerara syrup.
Another cocktail that he created to try is the Boarding Pass. This one came with the story about the ingredients. As Nick said, “We make quite a few of our own bitters. Last winter, our most popular bitters was pecan. It was something that wasn’t on the market itself, which is why we wound up making it. We do a drink called the Boarding Pass, again with that Ancient Age Bourbon, pecan bitters, smoked salt and Lagavulin Scotch. The bitters was a total accident, it way my first recipe I tried and it turned out great. The flavor in it is a little sweet, so potent it comes right through. We also do hibiscus grapefruit bitters that I make, we do lavender, walnut, we do orange chili bitters. We’re going to be working on celery bitters next. We also make our own tonic and all of our own fruit syrups. Anything that goes in the drink, we try to make it”. Tasting the Boarding Pass at the Craft Lounge in Nampa, the aroma of the smoked salt hit first, with the flavor of the spirits working with it to create a very pleasant, sippable drink. Again, I not only enjoyed the drink itself, but enjoyed watching it be made, transfixed by the sight of a craftsman at work.
Nick talked about the food too at the Craft Lounge in Nampa, saying that “We do a bacon-salted popcorn that is complimentary for our guests, since I find that a lot of people need something while they’re drinking. The food itself comes super-small-plated and it’s really designed just to put a little sustenance down there”. Menu choices include soft pretzels, onion rings, French fries, clam steamers and of course Boise’s favorite, finger steaks. Calamari is available and even a Calamari Po’ Boy made with bread baked upstairs at Brick29.
Craft Lounge also has several Happy Hour options. Monday, all day is Happy Hour and 3-6pm the rest of the week. There is also a Reverse Happy Hour from 10pm to close Tuesday through Friday. For Happy Hour, drinks are on a buy one get one special. It is a good deal and a nice place to gather with friends to enjoy company and cocktails. The bottom line with Craft Lounge in Nampa is that it is not just a place to sit and order a drink. It is a place to have an experience and to learn about what you are drinking. It’s also a great place to have a few drinks, relax and enjoy a classic cocktail bar with a comfortable atmosphere.
Craft Lounge
320 11th Street S.
Nampa, ID 83651
(208) 468-0029
