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Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/700131
www.cheersonline.com 16 • July/August 2016 and became obsessed with learning about the juniper spirit, studying, tasting and bartending in various craft bars. She opened The Gin Room three years ago in a section of her family's 33-year-old restaurant Café Natasha. "People told me I couldn't open a gin bar in St. Louis, because nobody drinks gin," Bahrami recalls. "I did it anyway." Starting out with just 18 gins, Bahrami now has more than 300 expressions on a backbar that climbs all the way to the ceiling. The Gin Room also has an in-house aging program. At any one time, four to six commercial gins are resting in new or used barrels for anywhere from one to seven weeks. Prices for a 1-oz. pour range from $10 to $25. TONIC TUNE-UP The Gin & Tonic is one of the most iconic cocktails, and several operators are offering new variations on that theme. Since opening in July 2015, seasonal G&Ts have been a signature for Coquine, a full-service destination restaurant and neighborhood café in Portland, OR. First was a Melon & Cucumber G&T, which started out with green-fl eshed melons then switched to cantaloupe as the season progressed. The recipe added juices to the standard dry G&T, says co-owner/general manager Ksandek Podbielski. "In the winter months, with less fresh produce available, we changed our approach by making our own tonic bases," he says. The result was Pine and Sudachi Tonic, which is a classic combination in Japanese cooking, combining pine needles, cinchona bark, coriander, fennel seed, star anise and pepper with juice from the sour Japanese citrus. In the spring, Podbielski infused simple syrup with local cherry tree blossoms, to sweeten a tonic base of equal parts cinchona and cherry barks. Portland is the Rose City, and those fl owers inspired Podbielski to create Rose City 'til I Die—with Hendrick's gin, a rose petal and long pepper infusion, tonic and lime. The G&Ts are priced about $10 each. In Philly, the signature at Victoria Freehouse is the Double G and T, which adds ginger, lime, thyme and mint to the tonic; it's priced at $9. The Gin Room offers a fl ight of three of its house-made tonics paired with gin for $21, "for people who don't want to sample gin all by itself," says Bahrami. The tonics rotate on a regular basis with four to eight on the menu at any given time. Added fl avorings include lavender, hibiscus, lemongrass and apricot; featured G&T of the day are priced at just $7. CREATIVE MIXOLOGY Most of the on-premise gin consumption is via cocktails, classic or otherwise. "Being a gin bar has its advantages," says Rivers at Whitechapel. "Our menu is all gin, our 105 cocktails are all gin-based and although we carry a few other spirits, most of our guests come for gin." Several drinks on the list mix not only traditional cocktail styles but also gin categories, created by co-owner Alex Smith. These include the Holmes' Bonfi re ($13) with both London dry gin (Berry Bros. & Rudd No. 3) and genever (Bols); while the Modern Prometheus ($14) mixes Royal Dock Navy Strength gin, Diep 9 Oude Genever and Plymouth Sloe Gin. Tough Luck Club sticks to the classics such as the Collins and Gimlet, which are priced at $7 each. For an extra $1, customers can add a "buzz button" to any cocktail, which is a golden fl ower bud called a Szechuan Button. The buzz buttons proved so popular as a drink garnish that Tough Luck Club decided to offer them as an add-on. Szechuan Buttons have a numbing tingling effect in the mouth and change perceptions of the taste buds, says Holcombe. One of the more popular gin cocktails at Victoria Freehouse is the Earl Grey, featuring an Earl Grey tea reduction, with gin, orange blossom water and lemon. "It's a delicious drink for the summer," notes Strojan. House cocktails sell for $10. The Yeamans Collins at Prohibition has a savory note that appeals to non-gin drinkers, says McCourt. It's made with Bombay Sapphire gin, lemon and lime juices, white balsamic vinegar and ginger beer. Also savory is the Gordons Cup—Hendrick's gin, cucumber, Clockwise from left: The Gin Room in St. Louis, MO, carries more than 300 expressions of gin on a backbar that climbs all the way to the ceiling; the bar's Natasha Leila Bahrami, a.k.a. The Gin Girl; and the Gin Room's house-made tonics, which rotate on a regular basis, with four to eight on the menu at any given time.