Private Cocktail Class and Cold Blood Play on Saturday
Saturday brought showers and humidity to Boston before the temperatures plummeted overnight such that we woke up to a crisp 50 degrees on Sunday. However, despite the unpleasant weather on Saturday, Dan and I dodged the raindrops to have some fun in Boston.
We started things off with our private cocktail class at №9 Park, a Barbara Lynch-owned restaurant located next to the State House and across from Boston Common. During Barbara Lynch’s annual Oyster Invitational this past April, I bid on a private cocktail class hosted by №9 Park and was pleasantly surprised to learn that I had the winning bid! After coordinating with the restaurant to settle upon a mutually agreeable date, we arrived at 3:00pm on June 2nd before the restaurant opened to the public to enjoy the class hosted by Jared Conklin, №9 Park’s Bar Manager.
Dan and I settled on a theme of Classic vs. Modern and sent Jared six classic cocktails that we wanted to get his modern spin on: French 75, Daiquiri, Aviation, Sidecar, Whiskey Sour, and Sazerac (New Orleans style w/ equal parts cognac and rye). Jared put a lot of thought into his Modern interpretations, some of which were already on the №9 Park menu. Half portion cocktails were prepared of both the Classic and Modern cocktails, which Dan and I shared while also having some small eats, consisting of a a salad, cheese, and charcuterie.
We started with the French 75 vs. the St. Germain 75. The Classic French 75, consisting of gin, lemon, and champagne, was invented in 1927 during Prohibition and is named after a French field gun used in World War I. The Modern St. Germain 75 mixed things up by adding St. Germain, raspberry, and Cava, in addition to lemon and gin. The St. Germain 75 had a nice tartness to it from the raspberry and it was my favorite Modern cocktail of the afternoon.
Next, we put the Classic Daiquiri (Jared’s favorite drink) head-to-head with the Modern Ancho Daiquiri. The Classic Daiquiri is made with rum, lime, and sugar (in syrup form), and is considered a “Daisy”, meaning its ingredients are measured in three equal parts. This cocktail was named after a beach in Cuba and was originally made in a punch format to serve large crowds. The Modern Ancho Daiquiri kept the rum and lime, but also used ancho reyes liqueur, pineapple, and Thai bird chili. This was probably my least favorite Modern cocktail, as I’m not a big fan of spicy drinks, though this drink’s spice came on the finish and wasn’t as strong as I’ve had in other cocktails. At Jared’s suggestion, you can use a banana-flavored rum to make the Modern cocktail version of the Classic Daiquiri.
For the third round, we had the Classic Aviation made from gin, maraschino liqueur, violette, and lemon vs. the Modern Mezcal in Flight made from mezcal, maraschino liqueur, violette, grapefruit, and lime. The Classic Aviation is a pre-prohibition cocktail with a recipe first published in 1916 that saw a resurgence in the 1960’s. This is my favorite Classic cocktail and I love how simple and light it is. The Modern Mezcal in Flight was good and Jared suggested not using Luxardo when making it.
Next, we had a head-to-head battle between the Classic Sidecar and the Creole Sidecar. The Classic Sidecar is made with cognac, orange liqueur, and lemon, with a half sugar rim. This Classic cocktail is credited with having been invented in Harry’s Bar in Paris, though it is believed sailors created this drink the in 1800’s to fight scurvy. I love the Classic Sidecar, which surprised me because years ago I would have told you it was too strong for my tastes. The Modern Creole Sidecar is made with agricole rhum, creole shrubb, and lemon, and like the Classic, it is simple and served with a half sugar rim. Another spin on this Modern cocktail is to use Japanese whiskey which can give you more of an orange flavor at the finish. I liked the Modern interpretation of the Side car.
Our second-to-last pairing was the Classic Whiskey Sour, made from bourbon, lemon, and sugar, vs. the Modern Flip the Room, made with bourbon, moscatel sherry, mole bitters, lemon, and a whole egg. The Classic Whiskey Sour was another cocktail that was originally served in a large format at parties and later evolved into a single serving cocktail over time. When making the Modern Flip the Room, Jared used a wet shake, which means he first mixed the ingredients in the cocktail shaker without ice, and then added the egg and ice for another round of shaking. This made the frothy egg on top of the drink smaller than you would get with a dry shake (explained below). I really liked both of these drinks, and prefer the many Whiskey Sour flips I’ve had recently to the Classic Whiskey Sour, though the Classic is still good.
Finally, we ended the class with the Classic Sazerac against the Modern Latin Quarter. The Classic Sazerac is a strong cocktail made from equal parts rye bourbon and cognac, peychaud’s bitters, absinthe, and sugar. This was the world’s first cocktail, created by an apothecary to cure ailments in 1838 with cocnac. In 1873, the cocktail was changed to include American rye bourbon and an absinthe rinse was added to the glass. It is your personal preference if you want an equal parts mix of cognac and rye bourbon (which is what I prefer) versus having it made with only cognac. The Modern Latin Quarter was made from rum blend, peychaud’s, mole, angostura, absinthe, and demerara sugar. Jared prefers to use Privateer Silver rum and has made this cocktail in the past with equal parts rum, cognac, and rye bourbon. The Latin Quarter could be considered another “classic” cocktail, as it has been a popular for many years.
For a bonus cocktail, we made a Gin Fizz, that is made with club soda, gin, lemon, simple syrup, and egg whites. For this cocktail, Jared used a dry shake, which means he added the ingredients over ice in the cocktail shaker, shook them together, strained them, put all of the ingredients back into the cocktail shaker and shook them again but this time without ice. By not including ice in the second shake, it made the egg whites very frothy and you can see how thick they when served in a tall glass. I love this cocktail and think it is so light and airy — a perfect Summer drink on an outdoor patio.
As you can see from my extensive notes, I learned a lot about both the Classic and Modern cocktails, and the big takeaway is that you can never go wrong ordering a cocktail that you like no matter what you are pairing it with. Another takeaway is that many bartenders create new drinks that are based on classics, because classic cocktails have survived the ages by being perfectly balanced.
Following №9 Park, Dan and I went to Yvonne’s to grab more food before heading to a play later that evening. I ordered a Penicillin (blended scotch whisky, lemon, ginger, and honey), the first cocktail besides a lemon drop martini that I first had at Marliave years ago. We also ordered the Crispy Tater Cubes with joppisaus, farm house gouda, and beet pickled egg. The Crispy Tater Cubes are basically a foodie version of tater tots and are my favorite thing on their menu. We planned to order more food, but after being told it would be ten minutes for a spot at the bar and twenty minutes later no one looked ready to leave, we decided to move on.
We ended up at RUKA down the street (same owners as Yvonne’s) and were easily able to snag two seats at the bar. There, I ordered the Maracuya cocktail made with pisco, vodka, lime, mango, passion fruit, and soda. It was very good and I like that it was served over crushed ice. For food, we had the Chicken Fried Rice, made with char siu chicken, garlic sauce, and egg. Dan dreams about this dish, as he fell in love with it the first time we ate at RUKA last year. It is very tasty and the proportion of chicken to rice is very generous. We also had the Baby Street Corn (garlic rancho, Parmesan, lime, chili oil, and cilantro) and the Japanese Fried Chicken (quinoa, Andean fritter mayo, brown butter honey, togarashi, and bonito). The corn is always good and has a fresh, light flavor that pairs nicely with heavier dishes. The fried chicken was definitely a heavier dish, and it was perfectly cooked and light for being fried. While Manoa (the Poke restaurant in Somerville) has the best fried chicken I’ve ever had, this is definitely a close second and I will definitely order it again.
We ended our evening attending Cold Blood at Arts Emerson. I’ve been to a lot of theatre over the past five years, and I have to say this was one of the strangest shows I’ve ever watched. The play didn’t have human characters, and instead there were small set pieces on the stage with cameras that broadcast live a close up of the “actors” hands on a large screen above the stage. The “actors” hands served as the characters for the story and there was pre-recorded dialog and music that accompanied the action of stage. I tried taking a few pictures of the performance so you can see what I’m talking about, as it is a very unique way to tell a story.
We had a great Saturday and I would highly recommend that anyone into cocktails take a class at №9 Park. While we had a private class with just the two of us, they do offer regular classes open to the public for up to six people with different themes. It was a perfect way to learn more about classic cocktails and how bartenders are always experimenting while using the bare bones of the classics.
(Saturday, June 2, 2018 @julieschultz79 #mycrazylifeblog)
