Cocktail Class 201: New York Bars

The Mrs and I recently got back from a weekend in New York. It was a boozy weekend and I wanted to share with you some cocktail ideas that I saw there.

The bars are spilling into the streets since Covid, making the sidewalks even more slim and the streets super narrow, all squeezed between the tall buildings. No way I could drive there, let alone park my vehicle. Crazy.

The intimacy inside these makeshift street bars makes for terrific intoxicated conversation! One of my take-aways was that every bar had your classic cocktails. There were a couple interesting things other than the classics but everyone had a variation of a Margarita, of a Manhattan, or a riff on the Aviation with a slightly different twist and a clever name.

Basics, right ?

Two things set off these drinks from one another, beyond the cool names: syrup.

Simple syrup is just that : 1 cup of water boiling, add 1 cup of sugar, stir till dissolved, put into an empty bottle and refrigerate. Stays nice, clear and sweet for a couple of months in the fridge.

These bartenders make their syrups daily. For example, they might be using fresh mint & a steeped mint tea bag for a mint syrup; squeezing fresh lemons & limes and putting that juice in a boil with sugar; pineapple syrup; fresh raspberry syrup. Endless variations of this syrup thing. Remember; you’re measuring this out carefully and tasting the drink until it’s just barely sweetened. For balance.

The other commonality among these drink menus is high quality ingredients. No cheap-out bottles of gin to be found. Lesser brands are not used and the bartenders are very aware of what brand of vodka the bar down the street is using. What is the competitive bar pouring for bourbon? I asked for a marg with Correllejo tequila and was told to go down the street  if that’s what I had to have. “We pour Patron.” Well, OK then…

Less is more and if you’re going to pour your guests at home a drink, you might as well pour them a dang good one. You just need fresh fruit, a fun syrup or two, a classic recipe and one or two bad ass bottles of liquor to share. Don’t forget the ice =)

Cheers,
Eric