Wednesday, October 6, 2010

bishop allen

1 1/2 oz Appleton Estate Reserve Rum
1/2 oz Falernum
1/2 oz Pineapple Juice
1/4 oz Lime Juice
1 1/2 oz Stout

Shake all ingredients but stout with ice and strain into a wine or rocks glass. Top with a measured jigger of stout.

A few months ago, I was asked by Green Street owner Dylan Black to come up with a beer cocktail for their Sunday Stout & Oyster nights. He felt that it would be great to have a stout cocktail right under their list of draft and bottled stouts. Moreover, he suggested a drink that used the bounty of Appleton Estate Reserve Rum bottles that he had left over from an Appleton event back in May.

Dylan had previously mentioned that he had been working on a housemade falernum for the bar, and I wanted to incorporate it into the recipe. While I developed the drink with Velvet Falernum instead of Dylan's, it seemed to function similarly in the one I had at Green Street a short time later. The stout's identity seems to allow a bit of leeway; however, over-pouring the stout will drown out the other flavors. Indeed, with the right amount of stout, the fruity, spiced, and tropical notes were well balanced by the roasted malt and bitter hops flavors of the beer. Likewise, another richly flavored amber or dark rum could probably be substituted if the Appleton Reserve is not available.

For a name, I went with Bishop Allen. Green Street is located on a street one block away from and parallel to Massachusetts Avenue, and Bishop Allen Drive is one block on the opposite side of Mass Ave. The street itself is named after Bishop Richard Allen, a slave who bought his freedom in 1780. He later founded the African Methodist Episcopal Church and ran an Underground Railway station for 34 years to help others escape slavery. While Allen lived his free life in Philadelphia, there is a branch of the church he founded not too far from the bar itself.

5 comments:

SPS said...

This sounds great. I've been enjoying beer cocktails a good deal of late. As a matter of fact, I'll be up in Boston this weekend. I guess I now have a reason to go to Cambridge. Though, I'll be staying out near Jamaica Plain. Are there any interesting drink spots in that direction that you'd recommend? Thanks.

frederic said...

In JP proper, we don't go to too many bars. We do go to VeeVee for dinner and they have a decent beer selection.

DrinkBoston recommends Doyle's - the oldest Irish pub in Boston, but it's just as it sounds save for the fact that it's near the Sam Adams Brewery and they get some special kegs now and again:
http://drinkboston.com/2008/08/20/doyles-cafe-best-boston-bars/

The closest bar we sit at in proximity to JP is to the north in Brookline -- Lineage (a restaurant with a bar). Most places we go are in Boston, Cambridge, or Somerville it seems.

SPS said...

Thanks for the helpful info. I had a feeling I wouldn't find much in JP. And funny that you mention Lineage. I recently ran across their cocktail menu while researching genever and amontillado sherry as an ingredient pairing. They apparently serve a drink called the 8 Years War that with Bols/amontillado/Ramazzotti/benedictine. Sounds tasty. Also, my girlfriend used to waitress there. Cheers!

Ben Alpers said...

That same Bishop Allen Drive gave the indie rock band Bishop Allen its name, fwiw.

frederic said...

FWIW, I discovered the band when researching the street name a few months back. And surprisingly, I knew two of the members, Christian and Justin, when we were all DJs at WHRB during the mid to late 90s. I had also been to their apartment on B.A.D. I still think of them more as the Pissed Officers than as the Bishop Allens.