Swansea's drinking scene splits roughly in three. Wind Street is the loud, late, weekend strip — chain pubs, vodka bars and queues for nightclubs. The Uplands has a quieter, more student- and local-feeling cluster of pubs along Uplands Crescent, with live music and quiz nights. Mumbles, out along the bay, has the most relaxed scene — seafront pubs and gastropubs facing the water.
For coffee, the city has been catching up with the rest of the UK over the past few years. The historic Kardomah Cafe is a Swansea institution. The Uplands has several good independents along Uplands Crescent. Mumbles has a long line of cafes facing the sea; come on a sunny morning with a paper.
Try Brains Welsh ale on draught, and look for whisky from the Penderyn distillery up in the Brecon Beacons. The local craft brewery, Tomos Watkin, makes a good pint of Cwrw Haf.