Cheers

Cheers July/August 2016

Cheers is dedicated to delivering hospitality professionals the information, insights and data necessary to drive their beverage business by covering trends and innovations in operations, merchandising, service and training.

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www.cheersonline.com 25 July/August 2016 • John Stanton, head bar- tender of Chicago's Sable Kitchen and Bar, says the shift to summer drinks starts about six weeks out, with staff meeting to discuss what they are see- ing in other bars, possible new ideas, directions and ingredients. Sushi Samba in New York likes to put unique and seasonal spins on classic cock- tails, such as the Snow Pea GnT, made with snow pea- and edama- me-infused gin, simple syrup and tonic. The Lady Bird at Blue Duck Lounge and Blue Duck Tav- ern in Washington, D.C., with gin, rose- mary, pineapple, verjus and house- made grenadine. Sable Kitchen and Bar's cocktail Mr. Big Imbue captures the crisp fl avors of fall with Rhine Hall apple brandy, malic acid, granny smith apple and cranberry reduction. Sable's recently introduced new menu has a theme as well. Inspired by the Chicago Transit Authority and fashioned after a vintage train map, the menu is split into four "lines," each of which follows a theme. There's a modern cocktail line (the Metropolitan); the Brew Line for beer cocktails; the Local line (drinks made with regional products); and the Greater American Line, featuring spirits and ingredients from across the Americas. The Brew Line in particularly speaks to warmer weather. "Beer cocktails have been on the radar for a long time, but I've seen relatively few bars embrace them," Stanton says. "Since we have a well put together beer program here, I felt it was something we could do; it felt like the right time to me." So summery radler-style drinks provide customers with something refreshing and easy to drink on the patio. The Bohemian Blvd., for instance, adds gin, Aperol, lemon, cinnamon and Tiki bitters to a jasmine ale. "It's a really refreshing drink, very much designed for quaffi ng in the summer—thirst quenching and enjoyable but complex—and perfect for our patio customers," Stanton says. KITCHEN CONFIDENTIAL At Blue Duck Lounge and Blue Duck Tavern at the Park Hyatt Washington in Washington, DC, the cocktail menu changes four times a year as well. As with Sable, the major changes come in the in spring and fall, with tweaks in summer and winter. The changes refl ect local drinking patterns as well as seasonality in alliance with the kitchen, says assistant manager Michael Bryan. "A lot of the ingredients we pull into the drinks come from the kitchen, and fl avor profi les from what they are using. Exchange of ideas is very important for us, as is getting inspiration from kitchen." The DC area is well known as a big gin market in the summer, so Blue Duck's spring menu included a set of mix-and-match Gin and Tonics. These include gins house-infused with strawberries, green almonds or cardamom and cilantro served with house- made fl avored tonics, such as rhubarb and espelette, lime and pink peppercorn, or balsamic vinegar. "In summer, DC gets steamy and gin is big here, and we'll look at perhaps changing one of the gins, perhaps the cardamom cilantro and look for a different kind of vegetal spiciness in fl avor," Bryan says. In the fall, the mix and match offerings may move more to whiskey instead. One of the bestsellers on the spring menu at Blue Duck has been the Palisades, made with bourbon, grapefruit and basil. The grapefruit fl avors come from a simple syrup made with whole fruit rather than just juice—a technique learned from the Forgery's spring menu includes drinks with more low-al- cohol ingredients to add light and bright fl avors. One is the Gran Cobbler, with Gran Lusso vermouth, raspberries, absinthe and lime. Wildhawk's spring cocktail menu includes 9 Deaths of the Ninja, with toasted coconut whiskey, white port, pear eau de vie and egg white.

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