Earlier this month, five restaurants in Colorado were awarded one of the highest honors in the culinary world: a Michelin Star.

While the Michelin Guide and the restaurants it recommends are known for food, the guide also hands out awards for the best libations in a region.

Here’s a look at which drinks in Colorado are worthwhile, according to the Michelin Guide:

Bee’s Knees – Hop Alley

Located at 35th and Larimer (3500 Larimer St, Denver, CO 80205) Hop Alley is a modern Chinese restaurant featuring modern shared plates, plus craft beer, cider and clever cocktails. Traditionally, the Bee’s Knees is a Prohibition-era cocktail featuring gin, lemon juice and honey. Hop Alley adds a unique twist with chili infused honey.

“Their cocktail program is very interesting with their twists on classics, like the Bee’s Knees done with chili crisp-infused honey,” the Michelin Guide says.

Spring Pea Collins – Brutø

Located near Union Station, Brutø (1801 Blake St, Denver, CO 80202) offers a range of Latin American and Mexican inspired flavors in its food and drink.

“What I think is most exciting about a cocktail like that, meant to go with a non-alcoholic pairing, is that you can really lean into ingredients that are of the moment,” Caroline Clark, Michelin Guide Colorado 2023 Exceptional Cocktails Winner told the Denver Gazette. “It’s super transportive for the seasonality. We’re doing a lot of house fermentation that adds a layer of complexity to that drink.”

The Spring Pea Collins takes queues from a traditional Collins drink but leaves out the alcohol. The Brutø team makes an non-alcoholic (N/A) “spirit” with malted Sonoran wheat berry alongside galangal (a botanical) and epazote (another herb also know as “Mexican tea”), then adds pea trim and greens with yuzu and lemon. 

“I was thoroughly impressed by the non-alcoholic beverage pairing. Each creation was lovely, however the Spring Pea Collins made from a NA heirloom wheatberry “spirit” with pea shoots and yuzu was stunning,” one anonymous Michelin Guide inspector said.

The Paper Crane – The Ginger Pig

The Ginger Pig (4262 Lowell Blvd, Denver, CO 80211) serves up “award winning Asian street food style restaurant serving creative Asian Fusion cuisine and traditional Chinese specials taught to me by Nalu, my Chinese ‘Mom’,” explains head chef Natascha Hess.

Sweet, sour, bitter, salty and umami are the five tastes detectable by the human palette and this drink hits them all. The forward notes are fruity, tangy and a little astringent to provide a refreshing balance to the rich dishes on their food menu. 

“The Paper Crane with hibiscus, Sichuan peppercorn, toki whiskey, amaro nonino, aperol, yuzu liquer, and clarified lemon is a play on the new classic “paper plane” cocktail,” says the Michelin Guide.