bitter in brazil

1 1/2 oz Cabana Cachaça
3/4 oz Grand Marnier
1/2 oz Punt e Mes
1/4 oz Demerara Syrup

Stir with ice and strain into a rocks glass that was rinsed with Fernet Branca. Garnish with a lemon twist.
The other drink I had at the Citizen in Worcester was the Bitter in Brazil, one of the two Fernet Branca drinks on the menu. While I was expecting a whopping amount of Fernet Branca in this cachaça drink to match the name, the glass was only seasoned with it and most of the bitter notes actually came from the Punt e Mes. Even though there was only a small amount of Fernet in the drink, its pairing with Grand Marnier reminded me of Jeff Grdinich's Root of All Evil. The drink began with lemon oil that set up for the orange in the sip from the Grand Marnier that was accompanied by the liqueur's caramel notes. The first wave of the swallow was the Fernet Branca and Punt e Mes' bitterness, and this was followed by the cachaça's grassy funk at the end. Before we left the Citizen that night, bar manager David Delaney took Andrea and I on a tour of what will be the restaurant's cocktail-centric back barroom that they are calling "Still and Stir." The room is replete with jail cell bars from when it used to be the court house's holding cell. Still and Stir apparently had its opening on Friday so we will have to return to enjoy some drinks in this cool and eccentric space.

ticket to paradise

1 oz Milagro Silver Tequila
1 oz Plymouth Sloe Gin
1 oz Housemade Swedish Punsch
1 barspoon Lemon Juice
2 dash Fee's Rhubarb Bitters

Stir with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a lemon twist.

Two Sundays ago, Andrea and I decided to make a road trip out to Worcester to get dinner at the Citizen. For my first beverage, I asked bartender Travis for the Ticket to Paradise which was the Swedish Punsch drink I passed up when I picked the Millionaire of Havana last time. The Punsch was paired up with tequila, a combination which I have experienced in Metexa from the Café Royal Cocktail Book, and with sloe gin, a combination that appears in the Mabel Berra Cocktail that I read about on the Two At The Most blog. I neglected to ask about the drink's name or origin, but if it was a nod to the Swedish Punsch, it could have been named after a somewhat obscure 1962 Swedish film.
The Ticket to Paradise began with a candied lemon aroma that prepared the drinker for the rich, citrussy sip. The swallow packed the biggest variety of flavors with tequila and Swedish Punsch's Batavia Arrack and spice notes. These potent elements were smoothed out by the tart sloe berry flavor that was complemented by the bitters' rhubarb notes at the end.

[exchange place fizz]

2 oz Redemption Bourbon
1 oz Pineapple Shrub
1/2 oz Lemon Juice
1/2 oz Simple Syrup
1/4 oz Allspice Dram

Shake with ice and strain into a highball glass filled with ice. Top with soda water, add a straw, and garnish with a mint sprig.

While drinking the Millionaire of Havana, bartender Dave Delaney gave me a small glass of the Menta Flip (Fernet Branca Menta, demerara syrup, cacao tincture, whole egg) that was a more mint and chocolate version of the Fernet Flip. When it came time for the next round, I was not sure what to order next since Dave had already read my mind with the flip. Therefore, I asked him to showcase something new especially since he had mentioned that the Spring menu was due out shortly. Instead of pulling a drink from that collection (or giving me a sneak peak at his winning drink to appear on the cover of Imbibe magazine), he improvised with the pineapple shrub that they had just crafted. At Tales of the Cocktail last year, I did have the Averna Pineapple Shrub that was delicious, but that was not as much of a properly made shrub as just a combination of pineapple puree, simple syrup, and vinegar added to the other ingredients in the shaker. For a direction, Dave went with a highball idea using the new Redemption Bourbon.
In the Fizz, the mint sprig donated a great aroma that paired well with the Bourbon. Next, the fruit notes appeared on the sip as a pineapple and lemon flavor that was sharpened by the soda's carbonation. The swallow though was spicy from the allspice dram which paired well with the Bourbon's barrel notes. Overall, it was a Kentucky taken in a more refreshing and flavorful direction.

millionaire of havana

1 oz Old Monk Rum
1 oz Apricot Liqueur
1 oz Swedish Punsch
1 dash Lemon Juice

Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a lemon twist.
For my second drink at the Citizen Wine & Cheese Bar in Worcester, I picked the Millionaire of Havana, one of the two Swedish Punsch-containing recipes on the menu. Bartender Dave Delaney merged two apricot liquer-laden classics, the Millionaire and the Havana, and I was curious to taste the resulting hybrid. Here, the lemon twist provided much of the drink's aroma. While the sip was mainly the richness of the dark rum, the swallow contained a lot more complexity with apricot, tea, citrus, and vanilla notes. As the drink warmed up, the Millionaire of Havana became more apricot driven and sweeter in balance.

groovy child

1 1/2 oz Hendrick's Gin
3/4 oz Noilly Prat Dry Vermouth
3/4 oz Lime Juice
2 heaping barspoon Guava Jelly
1 barspoon Simple Syrup

Shake with ice and double strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with 3 juniper berries.

Last Saturday, Andrea and I drove out to Worcester to visit the Higgins Armory. Since Andrea was in the mood to go to a museum and I remembered that Hilary Scott's exhibition there was ending in a few months, it seemed like a good day for a road trip. After looking at a lot of old armor and Hilary's surreal art work, we drove into downtown Worcester for dinner at the Citizen (unrelated to the Citizen in Boston). When we sat down at the bar, bartender Dave Delaney greeted us and remembered meeting me at Tales of the Cocktail last summer. As we looked over the drink menu, we noted that there was a combination of classics like the Martinez and the Boulevardier and a handful of house originals; surprisingly, there were neither vodka drinks nor light beers on the menu (lucky for them, they did have vodka at the bar)! The drink that caught my eye first was the Groovy Child for it called for guava jelly. Beside my enjoyment of marmalade in a recent drink, I was curious for I had only seen guava jelly called for in 19th century punch recipes. Indeed, Dave explained that he got the idea from Jerry Thomas' Barbados Punch. While I spent the whole time drinking the Groovy Child pondering the name, I only later made the connection that it was taken from a line in the Bob Marley song "Guava Jelly."
The juniper berry garnish helped to supplement the aroma of the Groovy Child especially since Hendrick's is a less juniper-forward gin. The lime and guava jelly elegantly paired up to conjure a tropical sip; guava jelly has been described as a less sharp lemon rind flavor, so it worked well with the lime. The lime helped the sip transition into the swallow where these notes lingered to pair up with the gin and dry vermouth. With the drink on the slightly tart side, the Groovy Child was a decent drink to have before our first course arrived.