2017 New York Kitchen Notebook
An in-depth look at some of our favorite cocktails from our time on the ground in New York.
The Walter Gibson Martini
“When you’re in a new city, there’s something special about drinking a martini at your hotel bar,” says Bartender Pietro Collina of New York's NoMad hotel. Named for the son of NoMad’s wine director, the Gibson-esque drink is built to mimic the director’s favorite expression of chenin blanc. Each ingredient plays up a characteristic of the grape: pineapple, apple brandy, Dolin blanc and dry vermouths, two gins, vodka, and the 1994 Moulin Touchais itself. He batches the drink in a beeswax-lined bottle that’s corked and freezer-chilled for two hours. The wax imparts an opulent (late-harvest/bottle-aged) texture, and guests can skewer and stir from a sidecar of pickles.
IPA-MAZING
Bartender Nick Bennett has devised the king of beer cocktails for his menu at Porchlight, Union Square Hospitality’s far west side bar. “I took all the flavors of a bitter IPA, and turned them into a drink that is both built on and topped with beer,” he says. For the drink, Bennet combines London dry gin, grapefruit, Suze, salt, and passion fruit. He incorporates beer in two forms: an Other Half IPA syrup with xanthan gum for body and a siphoned swirl of heady foam that tops the cocktail. The drink, dubbed the IPA-mazing, looks like a beer (in a Collins glass), tastes like a Chinook- or Cascade-hopped IPA, and has the essence and mouthfeel of a cocktail.
OPEN SESAME
PDT Bar Manager A-K Hada mixes a wild hot toddy variation inspired by the staple of take-out Thai menus everywhere, tom kha. In her Soup to Coconuts, Hada blends Suntory Toki Japanese whiskey, coconut water-honey-tahini (yes, tahini!) syrup, and an infusion of lime, brown sugar, and ginger. She batches the thick, nutty concoction in 750-milliliter bottles, holding them in a 168ºF water bath (the ideal toddy temp, just lower than the point at which alcohol evaporates). The immersion circulator is a practical touch behind her tiny bar—she can warm the drink and the ceramic mugs in one spot, without messy burners and kettles. Hada finishes the drink with a floral makrut lime leaf, an essential ingredient from her soupy inspiration and a minimalist visual stunner.
Ghost of Eucalyptus Trees Past
The Ghost Coast is the liquid representation of a childhood memory. “My dad had a eucalyptus tree around which he built a tree house, and I climbed it every day,” says Jesse Harris, a principal bartender at Julie Reiner’s Leyenda. For the drink he blends two tequilas (Tromba reposado and Tapatio blanco 110 Proof), crème de banane, eucalyptus tincture, honey-maple syrup, and Angostura bitters. For the tincture, Harris rests eucalyptus leaves in 192-proof Spirytus Rektyfikowany. Its bright menthol character balances the sweeter elements of the drink, while the high-proof tequilas bring the ABV to dizzying, adult-tree house heights.
