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DRAM Apothecary – Silver Plume, Colorado (Now Bread Bar)

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Last Updated on September 29, 2023 by Leah Hall

A fantastic small craft cocktail bar in a Colorado Ghost Town, Bread Bar Silver Plume (DRAM) is a fantastic place to visit!

Just a few hundred feet from thousands of cars and trucks speeding on their way along the Interstate is the quiet ghost town of Silver Plume, Colorado.  This historic mining town once was the home to the earliest and most successful silver mines in Colorado, a bustling and lively town full of saloons and shops and rowdy colorful characters.

 

Today the town is sleepy and quiet, but that bustling saloon feeling is kept alive in a quaint old bakery building that is now home to DRAM Apothecary. (As of 2017 this bar is now Bread, which we haven’t been to personally but have heard good things! We will be going soon, and hope you do too!) Bread Bar Silver Plume is a great place to have a drink!

 

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White building with bread written on side, blue side and mountain in background

What did DRAM or Bread Bar Look Like?

Sitting on its own corner down the street from a bunch of Victorian homes and 1880’s era shops, DRAM looks every bit the part of a saloon located in a mountain ghost town. It’s a small weathered wooden building that has served as a mining supply store and a bakery in its past life.

 

The whitewashed building looks like it was taken right out of the 1880s with its hand painted lettering, plate glass windows and wooden stoop set against a beautiful background of tall pine trees and mountain slopes that provide many of the ingredients used at DRAM. Inside, original fixtures, vintage wood floors and a beautiful wooden bar provide seating for fourteen or so patrons.

 

You can stay close-by in Georgetown, Colorado. May we recommend the Hotel Chateau Chamonix!

Inside of Bread Bar Silver Plume with gray walls and bottles. Bartender making a drink. We discovered DRAM or Bread Bar on Instagram (follow us on Instagram here) and the more we saw of their bitters and the tasting room, the more we wanted to visit DRAM the next time we were in Colorado. Being a small bit of a pair of cocktail nerds, seeing that DRAM makes all their bitters and syrups in house, and with ingredients that are foraged from the surrounding mountains was beyond cool and something that we wanted to experience.

Imagine our excitement when Leah’s parents rented a house in Silver Plume, Colorado for our annual family reunion and we would be staying just down a block down the street! Our only wrinkle was that we had to make sure we were there during the limited hours that the tasting room is open (select Friday, Saturday and Sundays, 4-9 pm).

White sign says Dram Apothecary White deer stuffed head, on dark gray wall with alcohol bottles behind barSilver Plume, Colorado

We arrived into Silver Plume on a Sunday morning and once we got settled in we left the kids with the grandparents and made our way down the gravel street to DRAM. Despite having opened 10 minutes before, we found the bar area full.

 

Lucky for us, DRAM has a nice patio out back that folks wanted to sit at so it wasn’t long until we were seated at one of the tables. Checking out their paper menu full of their house specialties and a chalkboard version with their specials of the day. After seeing what some of the other patrons had ordered, we made our decisions.

 

What did we Order to Drink?

Jay ordered off the house specialties, choosing the Alpine Manhattan which was a combo of Bulleit Bourbon, DRAM’s own pine syrup and Hair of the Dog Bitters. The Alpine Manhattan had that classic balance of booze and sweet that you look for in a Manhattan, but with a nice sweet piney finish that definitely brings a sense of the fresh piney woods of the mountains.

 

The house made Hair of the Dog bitters gives a nice complex warmth and hints of more wild foraged mountain botanicals.

Orange cocktail in coupe, water glass behindLeah ordered off the special menu,  the Switchel-Rita, a delightful summer version of a margarita made with house made ginger switchel, tequila and lime juice. Switchel is a a classic summer drink made form water, honey, ginger and vinegar that is a both sweet and sour.  Combined with the tequila and lime the Switchel-Rita was like a sweet and sour margarita, tart and refreshing with a clean ginger finish.

Yellow cocktail with ice in glass on top of Dram Apothecary menu on wooden table

What was DRAM (Bread Bar) like?

While we were enjoying our drinks we had a chance to look around the tasting room  and chat with some of the other patrons who were visiting.  DRAM attracts quite the mixed crowd, with cocktail nerds like us, some locals, a few campers  and some folks that drove up from Denver.

 

Despite the mixed crowd, DRAM had an authentic charm and atmosphere that put everyone into a great mood. Neighboring tables were chatting with each other, people were checking out the different drinks each other had ordered, and very quickly DRAM felt like a friendly neighborly place!

Brown cocktail in jar with ice and stainless steel straw on wooden table

We were really enjoying ourselves so decided that we had some time before we had to rescue the grandparents from the kids, so we ordered a second round of drinks. Leah decided on the Frontier Rootbeer – Bulleit Rye, ROOT Rootbeer Spirit, DRAM’s own pine syrup and Hair of the Dog bitters.  Tasting like a complex adult root beer, the pine syrup and bitters gave a nice clean woodsy flavor to the drink.

Red cocktail with ice in glass, meny next to glass on wooden table

Other Colorado Recommendations

 

Jay put his drinking fate in the the bartender Andy’s hands and played bartender’s choice, ending up with another house specialty, the Citrine.  The Citrine was a bright red drink whose color matched the spicy bite of the drink.  Tequila, citrus clove liqueur, DRAM’s Citrus Medica Bitters and wild chokeberry juice give this drink a spicy bite that is further enhanced by a float of cayenne pepper.

Bitters bottles lined up and on top of wooden box, with chalkboard sign saying bitters

DRAM is owned by Colorado native, Shae Whitney, who embraced the art of foraging for organic and wild herbs and plants, and using these botanical products in everyday life for health and digestion. In the tasting room they offer a retail spot where you can purchase all of the house made syrups, bitters, teas, and brandied cherries to take home with you to enjoy.

 

As a bonus, almost all of their packaging is recyclable or biodegradable and in some cases totally natural. We are always on the lookout for new ingredients to use in our drinks, so we of course we came home with a tasting pack of bitters, some tea and some syrups, which we plan to use in some of our upcoming drinks!

 

If you want to experience DRAM at your house, hit up their DRAM where you can order some of the products!  If you happen to be lucky enough to be in the Silver Plume area, make sure to stop in and see the folks at DRAM!

 

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Like this post? Check these out below, too!

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Interested in stocking your own home bar? Make sure to see our favorites at our Amazon Store!

 

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If you are going to Colorado, we recommend staying in Silver Plume, or in close by Georgetown! Or a cute VRBO like this Silver Plume Cabin or House!

 

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Linda at Mixed Kreations

Sunday 27th of September 2015

Sounds like a fun place to visit. I would love to go sometime. Thanks for sharing your trip to the DRAM Apothecary.

The 'Noms.

Monday 28th of September 2015

It was pretty neat! Thanks for stopping by!

Heather with WELLFITandFED

Saturday 26th of September 2015

My husband is going to FREAK when I show him this. Great post and I absolutely love the picture of the bartender. SO good!

The 'Noms.

Saturday 26th of September 2015

Thanks so much! It is such a cool place to visit! The people and atmosphere are amazing! Thanks for stopping by!

HayliDJ

Saturday 26th of September 2015

This looks like a fun place. Gosh I love Colorado! May have to check this out next time we go

The 'Noms.

Saturday 26th of September 2015

It is soooo cool! We encourage you to go, it was so fun!

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