Bruno Johnson of Palm Tavern and The Sugar Maple

Milwaukeeans who enjoy drinking the finest libations have probably spent a lot of time and hard-earned dollars at a bar owned by Bruno Johnson and his wife, Adrienne Pierluissi. First at Palm Tavern, a favorite watering hole for area booze snobs located on Kinnickinnic Avenue in Bay View, and now The Sugar Maple, situated just a couple of miles north down the road, Johnson and Pierluissi serve up some of the best beer and liquor the city has to offer. So naturally, when Decider wanted some new drink suggestions, we figured Johnson was a good person to ask.

BEER
Bruno Johnson: A lot of beer geeks want the weirdest, hardest-to-find, craziest beer. Those things are great when you find them, but really the best thing is to drink really well made beer. That’s the first thing I look for, something that tastes good every time I have it. If you’re talking about Wisconsin breweries, there’s Central Waters and New Glarus. And Furthermore. Wisconsin has quite a few up-and-coming breweries where every time you see the beer you know you’ve got something that’s pretty good.
Decider: What’s your favorite beer?
BJ: My tastes change all the time. Sometimes I like really hoppy beers like Bell’s Two Hearted Ale, or Surly Furious. But other times you’re looking for something a little lighter, like Lakefront Klisch. I think that’s a good pilsner-style lager. But my favorite beer of all time, that I would always drink? I’m really partial to Anchor Steam from San Francisco. I think it’s a really well made beer. I was up at Comet the other day for dinner and had one. It was wonderful.

LIQUOR
BJ: I drink a lot of bourbon. I like American whiskey, I like scotch, I like tequila, I like rum, I like gin in the summer. There’s nothing better than drinking a gin and tonic and sitting out in the sun.
D: What is your go-to liquor drink?
BJ: I drink my whiskey straight, maybe with an ice cube in it if it’s a little warm. For a cocktail, I occasionally have a Manhattan or a Gibson. But I mostly drink my whiskey straight. I’m really partial to this Rittenhouse 100-proof rye these days—it’s really excellent, it’s not particularly expensive, and while it’s hard to find in Wisconsin for some weird reason, you can hunt it down. I order it by the case from the distributor, so once a year it shows up. There’s a distillery called Van Winkle that makes great bourbons and ryes—they’re really hard to find so when I see those I drink them. I think Buffalo Trace is great. There’s quite a few brands I like. Whiskey is a good thing.