A bottle of Edmond's Honor bourbon beside a New York Sour cocktail at the Upper Room bar

Honor Society · AJC Feature

The Upper Room: An Atlanta New York Sour, In Honor

The AJC named it one of Atlanta's twelve essential cocktail bars. Inside Ponce City Market, a room built on community pours Edmond's Honor into a New York Sour worth the trip.

Chapter III·Ponce City Market·July 2026

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution called it one of the twelve essential cocktail bars in the city. We could have told them.

Tucked into Ponce City Market — past the food hall, under a canopy of moss and warm pendant light — the Upper Room does not perform. It gathers. Coffee in the morning. Wine at dusk. Cocktails when the room starts to hum. And on any given evening, an Edmond’s Honor New York Sour arriving at the bar as if it has always been part of the house.

What separates the Upper Room isn’t a gimmick or a hidden door. It’s a philosophy. The bar program is intentionally curated around Black-owned spirits, wines, and beers — a choice that reads on the menu and in the room. Cocktails carry names with stories. The Dyl, built on Bayab gin with passionfruit and dill, is named for the owner’s daughter. Coffees, lattes, refreshers, and teas draw from the Black diaspora. Nothing here is decorative.

“Next time you’re at the Upper Room, order a New York Sour.”— The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

The owners of the Upper Room standing beneath the venue's signature sign

No. 01 — The House

Built on community, not a speakeasy trick

Rather than lean into the speakeasy trend, the Upper Room offers something rarer in a modern cocktail room: accessibility. Quality drinks. A relaxed, welcoming atmosphere. A bar you can bring a first date to, or a mentor, or your mother.

Monthly floral arrangement workshops. Cocktail classes. A calendar that treats guests like neighbors. It’s a bar program that trusts hospitality more than mystique.

“Quality drinks. A welcoming room. That's the whole trick.”

The Upper Room bar inside Ponce City Market

No. 02 — The Pour

A New York Sour, in Honor

The classic gets a Southern rewrite here. Edmond’s Honor Madagascar Vanilla Bourbon — finished in Cognac casks, warm on vanilla, long on stone fruit — carries the base. Lemon. Simple. A dry red float that bleeds through the glass like stained velvet.

It’s the drink the AJC pointed to, and it’s the one the room orders back.

Parking is the honest test of any Ponce address. The Ponce City Market lot next to Pancake Social is your best bet. Once you’re in, the rest of the block opens up — and if you’re building the night out, 12 Cocktail Bar in the PCM tower keeps the story going with rooftop views.

Coffee at open.

Wine at golden hour.

Edmond’s Honor when the room turns.

Next time you’re at the Upper Room, order the New York Sour. Tell them Honor sent you.

Edmond's Honor New York Sour at the Upper Room

The House Pour

The New York
Sour, In Honor

A Southern rewrite of the classic. Vanilla and Cognac-cask warmth underneath, lemon on top, a red-wine float across the finish.

2 ozEdmond's Honor Madagascar Vanilla Bourbon
¾ ozFresh lemon juice
¾ ozSimple syrup
½ ozDry red wine (float)

Shake bourbon, lemon, and simple over ice.
Strain over one clear cube. Float red wine over the back of a spoon.

Visit The Upper Room

The Address

The Upper Room

675 Ponce De Leon Ave. NE, Atlanta

770-376-7518 · upperroomatl.com

In Closing

Atlanta, Order The Sour