Way back in October, I was lucky enough to get to go to a fantastic conference in Rochester, New York. I won’t bore you with the details of the conference (although, it is my idea of a good time), but I will share one way I got out and explored Rochester. One of my favorite ways to explore a city is a food tour. As I was researching options, I was excited to learn that Portage Tours was offering a special Flights ‘N Bites tour just for conference attendees. I signed up immediately.

After two and a half informative, but mentally exhausting days of conferencing, I was thrilled to sit back and relax on the comfortable Portage tours bus. From the moment I climbed on board, I was impressed by the attention to detail. The abundant snacks and bottled water were a nice touch. I would imagine even more so on some of the longer wine tours that did not include as much food.

The Flights n’ Bites tour was a chance to visit local craft breweries and distilleries, enjoy some delicious snacks, all while getting an overview of the history of Rochester. That was one thing I especially appreciated about Portage Tours - it was not about getting drunk, it was truly about better understanding Rochester through its local flavors.

The tour included three stops. The first was Swiftwater Brewing. Most of the beer is made from barley grown on the owner’s family farm and is crafted with locally sourced ingredients. At each stop, including this one, I got to customize a flight. Here my choices were the kolsch, a strawberry milkshake IPA, a passion fruit sour, and a delicious porter. The flight was served alongside a gourmet cheese board and sriracha hummus plate. I’ll admit, I’m not much of a beer drinker and I actually enjoyed the food more. Even so, I was impressed.

From there we headed to the very cool Black Button Distilling. This spot has a unique backstory that is worth reading. Even better, they had delicious cocktails. After a tasting of my choice of three spirits (try the bourbon cream; just do it), I ordered a hot chocolate on steroids. It was made with Black Button’s vodka and bourbon cream. It was just perfect for warming up on a cool, New York, fall night.

The final stop of the evening was Muller’s Cider House. Cider is much more my thing than beer and it was a difficult choice to narrow down my options. The bartender asked each of us our flavor preferences and made personalized recommendations for which ciders from their extensive list to try. Yet again, the food - this time fresh kettle corn and a pretzel with cider cheese - were probably my favorite part. Which is saying a lot because the ciders were excellent.

I really enjoyed my evening with Portage Tours. I learned a bit about Rochester, ate some delicious and carby snacks, and tried some sips of unique libations. The chocolate chip cookie from a local bakery to end the evening was a nice touch. I was too full to eat it that evening, but it did make the perfect sweet snack on the flight home the following day.

Now for the bad news. As I was working on this post, I tried to locate the Portage Tours website. You know, because I would highly recommend them to anyone visiting the Rochester area. Sadly, it seems they are not currently in business. I can only hope it is temporary. If I return to Rochester, I would want to be able to go on another tour with Portage. Regardless, Rochester was a great city to visit and I can definitely encourage you to check out any of the spots I visited on the Flights ‘N Bites tour.