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www.cheersonline.com 24 | JULY/AUGUST 2014 Reel's Spiced Apple Pie cocktail mixes spiced rum and apple vodka with fresh apple juice and a splash of ginger ale; the drink comes with a graham cracker rim for thematic eye appeal and texture. e drinks are served in double glassware, the liquid in a glass nested inside a slightly larger bowl of crushed ice—which keeps the drink cold without diluting the flavor. All cocktails are priced at less than $10. For the popular Sunburnt Martini at D'Amato's and Goodnite Gracie, Flora blends three different flavors of rum—coconut, banana and pineapple—and enhances them with tart cranberry and pineapple juices. He pumps up the flavor of his Espresso Martini with freshly brewed espresso. "e coffee complements the Kahlua in the drink and the vanilla from the Stoli Vanil we use." All cocktails are priced about $10. Balance is important, agrees Rodgers: "Not too strong nor too sweet—those are turnoffs for people." e Mill's popular Huckleberry Lemonade cocktail starts with a 44 North small- batch huckleberry vodka from Idaho, enlivened with tart lemonade and muddled with fresh blueberries to enhance the berry flavor. House-made Bloody Mary mix melds the spiciness of Hanger One Chipotle vodka and Absolut Peppar vodka in his Bloody Chipotle cocktail. Drink prices at the Mill range from $6 to $8. RIFFING ON THE CLASSICS Liquor producers usually provide a few recipes for their products as a starting point, but most operators want to offer unique signature drinks. One approach to developing new cocktails with flavored spirits is to seek inspiration from traditional recipes. At D'Amato's and Goodnite Gracie, Flora one-ups the Boulevardier—which itself is a variation on the Negroni— by substituting flavored bourbon for the gin. His Cherry Boulevardier uses Jim Beam Red Stag. "e whiskey has a subtle black cherry flavor, which works well with the bitter orange in the Campari and the herbal qualities of the sweet vermouth without masking them and without too sweet of a cherry flavor," says Flora. His riff on the Low Enthusiasm For Infusions A fashionable way to imbue cocktails with more flavor is infusion, a method of soaking various ingredients in spirits to extract their essences. But the process is not right for every operation. "I love infusions, but they need to be managed," says Kate Malaniak, senior director of purchasing and beverage management for Quaker Steak & Lube. Otherwise, she notes, "they can start to ferment and bubble, or not extract enough flavor." Overall, the technique doesn't work for the Steak & Lube chain, she says, although some locations have experimented. It's hard for infusions to offer the breadth of variety that commercial products easily provide, Malaniak notes, plus after you've done all the work, "what if no one wants lemongrass-infused vodka?" Another problem is storing infusions, along with all the other bottles. "We have tried infusions, but space behind the bar was an issue," says Don Rodgers, general manager at The Mill at Spring Lake Heights in New Jersey. Rodgers also appreciates the consistency of commercial products vs. house infusions. "We are not so experimental here, but we can still provide variety" with different flavors. Infusing your own spirits takes time, plus fresh fruit costs money, "and there is waste because the discarded fruit grabs some of the liquor," says Matthew Flora, beverage director at D'Amato's Italian Restaurant and Goodnite Gracie Jazz & Martini Bar in Royal Oak, MI. That said, Flora does make the Serrano-pepper vodka used in the LemonPepperCello cocktail. And he infuses vodka with raspberries for the signature Vixen, which combines the house infusion with melon and raspberry liqueurs and pineapple juice. —THS The Mill at Spring Lake Heights in New Jersey uses flavored vodkas in a number of cocktails, including the Lemon Basil (above left), Huckleberry Lemonade (center) and the Pome Cosmo (right).

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