The Listening Lounge is a curated collection of albums and cocktail recipes. The featured albums tell the story of Texas music from the seventies through today, with an emphasis on the country-rock music from the Armadillo’s heyday and the sultry blues that found a home in Antone’s smoky nightclub.

The recipes are for classic and inventive cocktails. The directions and techniques are culled from the minds of the world’s best mixologists and battle-tested at our home bar. Cocktails carry a history as rich as the music, reflecting the tastes, times, and politics of their origins. These stories are explored in parallel to the music, with each recipe precisely selected to complement a characteristic of the album.

The concept is inspired by the Japanese Kissa rooms that were part of Tokyo’s nightlife during the golden age of jazz. These were dedicated sanctuaries where people gathered for the intentional listening of music. The underground dens featured high-quality stereos, dim lighting, and a menu of stiff cocktails, but the focus was the album spinning on the turntable.

We invite you to create a Kissa room experience in front of your home stereo. We hope you learn something interesting and (re)discover a favorite album along the way. Use the link above to view the featured albums, or follow the links in the cocktail menu to explore by recipe.

Albums are continuously added, so keep checking in to listen to the story grow!