Published by Jeremy. Last Updated on September 2, 2026.
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Second Story Spirits is a spirits producer that opened its doors in Lawrenceville in September 2026.
Upon first glance, you may think Second Story Spirits is another distillery in Pittsburgh. We are happy to report, it is not.
This one is different in that they do not distill their base spirits in house, but rather engage in the art of infusion- that is, adding flavors to an already produced base spirit. Yes, there is no still here!
Where this could run in any number of ways, as we certainly have had our share of questionable infusions in the past, Second Story Spirits not only does this well, but their initial lineup is among the best in the game- distillery, infusion joint, or otherwise.
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Top-Tier Infusions at Second Story Spirits
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At the time of open, Second Story Spirits had two liqueurs available- Chilaca Chocolate and Nam Hom Coconut.
The Chilaca Chocolate is made with cocoa, cinnamon, chiles, bitter orange peel, and sweet buckwheat honey and, while chocolate dominant, has nice, subtle undertones of the chiles and orange to help elevate this one into a category of its own. (I'd love to try an invert of this that was strong on chiles and with undertones of chocolate!)
The Nam Hom Coconut features an abundance of coconut with galangal root and lemongrass. Normally, coconut is not my preferred flavor, but the addition of the galangal and lemongrass really helps balance this one nicely. Not only is it top-tier, like the chocolate, I could even go as far as saying its my favorite coconut-forward spirit I've ever tried- so much so that we left with a bottle to take home!
So, when visiting, be sure to try a sample of each and see which one you like best. But even better is that this one is also part cocktail bar, so after you try some samples, get a cocktail that prominently features one of the spirits!
Go for the Spirits, Stay for the Cocktails
At the time of opening, Second Story Spirits had a robust cocktail menu split into three sections- frozen, cocktails, and spiked pop. Each drink showcases their base liqueurs with options for both of the starting product lines.
Naturally, we tried several as many of the cocktails here came in at rather approachable price points, too!
Our first round began with the Pandan Express (featuring the Nam Hom Coconut, vodka, tamarind, lemongrass, and pandan) as well as the Oaxaca Flocka Flame (with tequila, mezcal, Chilaca Chocolate, panela, and orange bitters).
The Oaxaca Flocka Flame reminded us a lot of a Mezcal Old Fashioned but had a slightly different sweetness profile due to the panela. The cacao notes came out fairly strong on this one, which we enjoyed, but it did mask a little smokiness from the mezcal, so if you're indifferent to mezcal due to its normally intense flavor, this is a great cocktail to consider for something a bit smoother.
Pandan Express was perhaps our favorite cocktail of the night as the tamarind added a mild acidity to the cocktail, without extra lemon or lime added, and felt a bit like an acid-adjusted daiquiri that was perfectly balanced amongst all of the flavors, particularly with the pandan and coconut being stronger and the lemongrass and tamarind providing lovely undertones.
For our second round, we moved on to the Frozen Espresso Martini on recommendation of the owners (made with Chilaca Chocolate, vodka, Delanie's Cold Brew, brown sugar, and cream) and the Blindsided At The Down Show (showcasing the Chilaca Chocolate with infused spiced rum, rice milk, panela, and earl gray tea).
The Frozen Espresso Martini is a nod to a classic from New Orleans and solves a problem that we personally have with this particular cocktail- it is not entirely coffee dominant. The chocolate liqueur and cream really do wonders to balance this one out, and it drinks almost like a boozy frozen dairy drink from a popular fast food burger chain more than anything. We are here for it.
The Blindsided cocktail was also a creamy cocktail thanks to the edition of rice milk, and the earl gray notes provided some rather flavorful undertones reminiscent of a spiked milk tea all around.
We finished with a Rock & Roll Stories With Steve (made with strawberry-infused tequila, the Nam Hom Coconut, lime, and tajin). This was perhaps the brightest cocktail we had during our visit as the strawberry-infused tequila and tajin really had a nice flavor profile to balance out the coconut flavor of the Nam Hom liqueur.
Next time we are looking forward to trying some of the spiked pops and perhaps an NA cocktail as well (two cocktails and two spiked pops could be made NA at the start)!
Overall, we really like the approach Second Story Spirits is taking to liqueur production, and we're looking forward to seeing more products come out in the future. But for now, we're going to be dreaming of the Pandan Express and will be dutifully trying to re-create it at home with the coconut bottle we picked up to go.
Second Story Spirits is located at 3354 Penn Avenue in Lawrenceville.
