UnderTow Chapter 9 Menu

CHAPTER 9

City in the Clouds

This collection of cocktails is a collaboration of our UnderTow staff under the direction of our founder and resident cocktail guru, Jason Asher and Director of Bars, Jax Donahue. This menu marks the closing of the first saga for the crew of the UnderTow and is our first menu update in over two years. As always, we hope to push boundaries with flavors, ingredients & imagination! We sincerely appreciate that you, our guest, has returned to share in our passion and creativity – and we hope to live up to your expectations! As in all things good, one must first pay homage to the paths paved before them; we strive to honor the culture and hospitality brought forth by folks like Victor Bergeron & Ernest Raymond Gantt, better known as Donn Beach. Story & Characters by: Mat Snapp Illustrations by: Tom “Thor”

Thordarson

Classic Cocktails

Mai Tai - $17.00

C. 1944 Trader Vic

Rhum J.M VSOP Aged Agricole Rhum, Smith & Cross Aged Jamaican Rum, P. Ferrand Curaçao, Orgeat, Lime

Blue Hawaii - $16.00

C. 1957 Harry K. Yee, Hilton Hawaiian Village

Pau Vodka, Havana Club Blanco Puerto Rican Rum, Combier Blue Curaçao, Pineapple, Lime

Caribbean Punch - $16.00

C. 1937 Don the Beachcomber

Plantation Xaymca Aged Jamaican Rum, Havana Club Añejo Puerto Rican Rum, Sarsaparilla, Pomegranate, Lime, Orgeat, Angostura, St. George Absinthe

Bourbon Special - $16.00 C. 1950’s Steve Crane, Kon Tiki

Elijah Craig Small Batch Bourbon, John Taylor Falernum, Ginger, Lime, Angostura, Fever-Tree Soda

Chi Chi - $18.00 C. 1970’s Don the Beachcomber

St. George Green Chili Vodka, Cream of Coconut, Pineapple, Lime

Classic Cocktails

Pi Yi - $19.00

C. 1960’s Islands Restaurant, Phoenix, AZ

Havana Club Blanco Puerto Rican Rum, Rhum JM VSOP Aged Agricole Rhum, Giffard Crème de Pêche, Passion Fruit, Pineapple, Lime, Honey, Angostura

Happy Buddha - $18.00

C. 1940’s Ted Chamber Bar, The House of Hong Restaurant Michter’s US*1 Rye Whiskey, Cointreau, Guava, Lime

Coconaut Grove Cooler - $18.00

C. 1962 Tom Stenger, Coconaut Grove Nightclub, Los Angeles Monkey Shoulder Scotch, P. Ferrand Curaçao, Pomegranate,Passion Fruit, Orgeat, Pineapple, Lemon, Orange, Laphroaig 10yr Scotch

Jungle Bird - $16.00

C. 1978 Aviary Bar, The Kuala Lumpur Hilton Coruba Dark Jamaican Rum, Campari, Pineapple, Lime

El Diablo - $16.00

C. 1946 Trader Vic Ana Maria Tequila, Le Jay Cassis, Ginger, Lime, Fever-Tree Soda

Classic Cocktails

Scorpion Bowl (serves 4) - $45.00

C. 1960’s Trader Vic

Rémy 1738 Cognac, Havana Club Blanco Puerto Rican Rum, Orgeat, Orange, Lemon, Nutmeg

Lei Lani Volcano - $16.00

C. 1970’s Polynesian Village Resort at Walt Disney World

Coconut Oil-Washed Banks 7yr Island Blended Rum, Guava, Pineapple, Lime

Never Say Die - $16.00

C. 1960’s Tony Ramos, Don the Beachcomber, Hollywood, CA

Mount Gay Black Barrel Aged Barbadian Rum, Havana Club Blanco Puerto Rican Rum, Coruba Dark Jamaican Rum, Grapefruit, Pineapple, Orange, Lime, Honey, Angostura

Missionary’s Downfall - $16.00 C. 1940’s Don the Beachcomber

Flor De Caña 7yr Aged Nicaraguan Rum, Giffard Peach, Pineapple, Mint, Honey

Nui Nui - $16.00

C. 1937 Don the Beachcomber Denizen Merchant’s Reserve Blended Rum, St. Elizabeth Allspice Dram, Cinnamon, Vanilla, Lime, Orange, Angostura

Classic Cocktails

Zombie - $20.00

C. 1934 Don the Beachcomber

Plantation Xaymaca Aged Jamaican Rum, Havana Club Aged Puerto Rican Rum, Hamilton 151 Proof Aged Demerara Rum, John Taylor Falernum, Grapefruit, Cinnamon, Pomegranate, St. George Absinthe, Angostura Bitters

Royal Hawaiian - $16.00 C. 1948 Moana Hotel, Waikiki Beach, HI

Hendrick’s Gin, Orgeat, Pomegranate, Pineapple, Lemon

Three Dots & A Dash - $18. 00

C. 1940’s Don the Beachcomber

Rhum JM VO Aged Agricole Rhum, El Dorado 12yr Aged Guyanese Rum, John Taylor Falernum, Honey, Orange, Lime, St. Elizabeth Allspice Dram, Angostura

Saturn - $16.00 C. 1967 J. Popo Galsini

Ford’s Gin, John Taylor Falernum, Passion Fruit, Orgeat, Lemon

Tropical Itch - $19.00

C. 1957 Joe Scialom, Private Journal

Pau Vodka, Havana Club Blanco Puerto Rican Rum, Coruba Dark Jamaican Rum, Cointreau, Mango, Lime, Angostura

Sours

Clear Skies & Tropical Winds - $18.00

Clarified Milk Punch

Neisson Blanc Rhum Agricole, Chairman’s Reserve Aged St. Lucian Rum, Heirloom Alchemeres, Contratto Vermouth Bianco, Aperol, Guava, Lemon, Red Mango Fruit Tea

Fireside - $17.00

Plantation O.F.T.D Blended Rum, Germana Umburana Cachaça, Jägermeister, Pumpkin, Pineapple, Lemon, Lime, Condensed Milk, Cinnamon

Lady in Lace - $17.00

Strawberry-Infused Pau Vodka, Giffard Crème de Fraise des Bois, Combier Apricot Liqueur, Heirloom Alchemeres, Spiced Pineapple Cordial, Lemon, Lime, Pineapple, Mint

Henderson’s Last Journey - $17.00

Amburana Cask-Finished Ford’s Gin, Royal Combier, Sea Buckthorn Berry, Ghost Chili-Infused Honey, Mango, Lemon, Lime

Poseidon’s Court - $17.00

Monkey 47 Gin, Smith & Cross Aged Jamaican Rum, Hibiscus, Orgeat, Lime Leaf, Ginger, Lemon, Angostura Bitters, Saline, Lapsang Souchong Tea

Sours

Exit Strategy - $21.00

Mt. Gay Black Barrel Aged Barbadian Rum, St. George Spiced Pear Liqueur, Carpano Antica Sweet Vermouth, Fresh Banana, Pineapple, Lemon, Nutmeg

Shadows and Ghosts - $17.00

Velier Clairin Communal, Plantation O.F.T.D Blended Rum, Heirloom Génépy, Cream of Coconut, Lime Leaf, Pineapple, Lime, Angostura

Silhouette of a Man - $18.00

Ojo de Tigre Mezcal, Caperitif, Bay Laurel, Pineapple Frond, Pineapple, Lime, St. Elizabeth Allspice Dram, Cassia Bark

Sunrise Over Baja - $22.00

El Tesoro Blanco Tequila, Heirloom Pineapple Amaro, Lustau Manzanilla Sherry, Pineapple, Ginger, Passion Fruit, Guava, Lime, Habanero, Tajin

Two Islands to Port - $19.00

Coconut Oil-Washed Absolut Elyx, Heirloom Génépy, Bay Laurel, Strawberry, Lemon, Lime, Mint, Nutmeg

Stirred

A Night in the Irons - $17.00

Botanist Gin, Rhum JM VO Aged Agricole Rhum, Narano Seville Orange Liqueur, Martini & Rossi Rubino Vermouth, Giffard Crème de Pêche, Zucca Amaro, Martini & Rossi Select Bitter, Madras Curry, Za’atar, Regan’s Orange Bitters, Orange Oils

Bonaparte’s Loss - $21.00

Hardy 1863 Cognac, Appleton 12yr Aged Jamaican Rum, Caperitif, Averna Amaro, Amaro Montenegro, Ginger, Vetiver Root, Cassia Buds, Bitter Truth Peach Bitters, St. Elizabeth Allspice Dram, Orange Oils, Cinnamon Fog

The Book of Hâo - $22.00

Old Forester 1920 Bourbon, Carpano Bianco Vermouth, Luxardo Abano Amaro, Giffard Crème de Fraise des Bois, Vedrenne Mango Liqueur, St. Elizabeth Allspice Dram, Lemongrass, Soy Sauce, Lemon Oils

City in the Clouds - $18.00

Fortaleza Blanco Tequila, Plantation Stiggins’ Fancy Pineapple Rum, Yerba Mate-Infused Lillet Rouge, Lustau East India Cream Sherry, John D. Taylor Falernum, Coconut Oil-Washed Campari, Passion Fruit Bitters, Irish Moss, Orange Oils

JM’s Paradise Lost - $22.00

Worthy Park Jamaican Rum, Carpano Dry Vermouth, Carpano Antica Sweet Vermouth, Giffard Banane du Brésil, Vicario Nocino, Martini & Rossi Select Bitter, Orange Oils

El Robusta - $17.00

Bacardi 8yr Aged Puerto Rican Rum, Dark Roasted Dandelion Root-Infused Carpano Antica Sweet Vermouth, Averna Amaro, St. George NOLA, Tonka, Pandan, Orange Oils, Cinnamon Fog

Stirred

Madame Emilie’s Effects - $57.00

2001 Rhum J.M Aged Agricole Rhum, Plantation XO Aged Rum, Grand Marnier 100 Centenario, Lustau Amontillado Sherry, Amaro Nonino, Giffard Crème de Fruits de la Passion, Kalani Coconut Liqueur, Bitter Truth Creole Bitters, Saline, Orange Oils, Absinthe Fog

Jungle Stowaway - $17.00

Vago Espadin Hacienda Tapanela Mezcal, Plantation O.F.T.D. Blended Rum, Banana-Infused Carpano Bianco Vermouth, Carpano Classic Sweet Vermouth, Giffard Banane du Brésil, Campari, Guava, Mace, Orange Oils

Sound of Sinners - $17.00

Suntory Toki Japanese Whiskey, Coruba Dark Jamaican Rum, Select Aperitivo, Lustau East India Sherry, Dandelion Root-Infused Giffard, Crème de Pêche de Vigne, Passion Fruit Bitters, Angostura, Orange Oils

Silk in the Water - $17.00

Plantation Stiggins’ Fancy Pineapple Rum, Plantation O.F.T.D Aged Blended Rum, Raspberry-Infused Botanist Gin, Carpano Antica Sweet Vermouth, Carpano Dry Vermouth, Guava-Infused Campari, Pernod Absinthe, Angostura, Grapefruit Oils

Three False Druids - $16.00

Diplomatico Reserva Exclusiva Rum, Plantation O.F.T.D Blended Rum, Giffard Crème de Fruits de la Passion, Heirloom Pineapple Amaro, Casa D’aristi Xtabentún Classic Mayan Liqueur, H&H 10yr Sercial Madeira, Coffee, Mace, Orange Oils

Shots Fired!

Load the Portside Cannons! Delightful little “cheekies” meant to start your journey right!

Chains to the Mast! - $9

Wray & Nephew Overproof Jamaican Rum, Strawberry-Infused Fernet Branca, Kalani Coconut Liqueur, Strawberry, Lime

Shells and Shrapnel! - $9 Ana Maria Tequila Rosa, John Taylor Falernum, Zucca Amaro, Amaro Montenegro, Ginger, Lime

Warning Across the Bow! - $9

Mount Gay Black Barrel Rum, Giffard Créme de Fruits de la Passion, Heirloom Alchemeres, Passion Fruit

Beer & Wine

The UnderTow has a revolving menu of select beer and wine, featuring a variety of international, American, local, and seasonal favorites. Please ask your server for details.

Beer - $10

Glass of Wine - $14

Non-Alcoholic Cocktails

All ingredients are made in house in the style of their alcoholic cousins.

Captain’s Apprentice - $12 Spiced Gin, Green Chartreuse, Mint, Strawberry, Cream Of Coconut, Lime Leaf, Lime

Starboard and Steady - $12 Bourbon, Averna Amaro, Ginger, Guava, Lime, Pineapple

Shipless Sailor - $12

Jamaican Rum, Heirloom Alchemeres, Orgeat, Hibiscus, Lime Leaf, Lime, Pineapple

CHAPTER NINE –

“City in the Clouds”

Henderson stood quietly with Oxford on the quarterdeck of the UnderTow, the sun rising on his right. This was not a warm sun; not the same sun that had blessed him and his men as they passed through the warm Baja waters two days earlier, their chests bare and their eyes closed. This sunrise merely illuminated the inside of the fog, a new lighter shade of sad grey every minute until it was a wall of white on all sides. The water below made itself known only with the splashing against the hull, it’s depths and drops invisible as they echoed.

“Sailing through fog this thick, especially in the morning, is as close as a breathing man comes to purgatory,” Henderson said quietly, his words hanging in the dense moisture. “Mallory used to call this the city in the clouds. San Francisco. Said she hides everything from you, hides the water, hides the land, hides the sky. I’ve only watched him bring us in a handful of times, Oxford, and I’ll tell you a secret so long as you promise the heart of it will disappear into this mist the moment after I say it.”

“Aye, Captain,” Oxford said. He looked out over the deck, lowering his spectacles down his nose, squinting to locate the outline of the foremast and seeing only shadows and ghosts.

“I’ve never made land in this bay without Mallory at my side,” Henderson said just above a whisper. “There’s a telling wind he would hear, and damned as we’ve been on this run, I’m worried that bit of breeze won’t speak to me in the same tone as it once did for Captain Mallory.”

Henderson adjusted the helm, easing two handles to port. From his chest pocket he handed Oxford his pipe and tobacco pouch. Around Henderson’s neck on a stretch of tightly braided fiber hung a hand carved vial made of Amburana wood. In it was a choice, one he hadn’t made yet.

“Captain, sir?” Oxford handed the lit meerschaum pipe to Henderson, exhaling the rich sweet tobacco smoke. “He’s alive, isn’t he, sir?”

“Who would that be, Oxford?”

“Mallory, sir. I’m not sure the men have noticed since we docked in Concepción a fortnight ago, but I see it plain as this fog, sir. I think you’ve seen

Mr. Mallory, sir, and I think he’s given you some kind of trouble to chew on.”

“Go on,” Henderson said.

“I’d be happy to let you throw some details out into this cloudy morning and unburden your mind, sir, I’d be happy to help - if helping is all you need,” Oxford said taking the pipe back and pushed another pinch into the chamber.

Two weeks earlier, Henderson sounded the call for the men to drop anchor alongside the floating

wreckage of an overturned clipper in the bay of Concepción on the west coast of Chile.

“Ahoy, men!” Henderson bellowed. “Sheets in the water, starboard! Rafts and cockles gone!

Two teams! Attend the wreckage! Arms heavy, my boys! Clean the water before making land!”

The masts and sheets from the sinking vessel had seemed to be in order, hauling them aboard would give the UnderTow the necessary tools for various repairs. The crew rescued crates of cassia and clove, vetiver and long grain tea, two trunks filled with silk, and to their united joy, four unbroken casks of island rum and cognac bearing the seal of Bonaparte III.

After a full morning of salvage, Henderson released the crew to the port city of Concepción to seek rest, recreation and supplies.

“There’s shipless sailors in this port,” Henderson called to the crew as they rowed to shore. “Let’s gather ourselves a crew, mates!”

Henderson left Oxford alone on the anchored vessel and slowly rowed his way southeast down the Biobío River and into the jungle. At nightfall, he made a small camp on the river’s edge and drifted off to sleep.

In his dreaming mind, he saw again what he’d seen every night since they cleared the Cape Horn. Waves of icy water as tall as the mainsail, illuminated against the sky in patterns of jagged lightning. He saw several of his men slide overboard, helpless, the great ship’s lines snapping, pulleys and turnbuckles ripping free of their bolts. Henderson knew these were but shadows of the voyage behind him; knew he’d need to give them audience for twenty nights, twenty weeks, twenty times twenty until his penancewas fulfilled.

On the banks of the Biobío, the cold coffin of the cape dissipated in Henderson’s sleeping mind and a new image arrived. Henderson stood at the foot

of a giant waterfall, a guide rope in his hand, the canopy of jungle shadowing the shallow pool in which he stood.

Two figures swung above him, into and out of the waterfall’s cascade. One he recognized immediately as Mallory and the other a woman. She was familiar in his mind though her features were dimmed and drenched as she swung back and forth.

He awoke suddenly from the dream, his bare feet appeared scraped and scarred from struggling against the riverbank’s loose soil. Henderson sat up. His small fire had dwindled to coals and smoke, a quiet helix ascending into the starlit sky. An outline of a broad-shouldered figure, the silhouette of a man, had joined him at the edge of the smoldering fire’s light.

“Captain Mallory, sir,” Henderson said quietly. “Ahoy, Mr. Henderson,” Mallory said, his accent thick and gravelly as if he hadn’t had words of that shape escape his tongue in a century. He lowered a gnarled walking staff to the bed of the coals and without question or hesitation the fire grew to a rage between them.

They spoke in hushed tones until first light. Mallory explained the past, present and future as if they existed together in the same handful

of loose dirt on the river’s edge. Henderson listened to the details, struggling to decipher if the references Mallory made were part of his past or part of his future.

At dawn, Mallory removed one of the braided cords that hung around his neck and placed it over Henderson’s bowed head. At the end of the cord was a hand-carved vial made of Amburana wood. In it, one ounce of the Kiss of Cleopatra. “Remember,” Mallory whispered. “Our little lost bird - our stowaway - H ǎo X ī wàng, is meant to lead as his people arrive to the new West. By his twenty-fifth

birthday there will be over three hundred times one thousand of his brothers and sisters arriving into ports across the north. The future rests on their capable shoulders and he must unite them. As lost birds no more, they shall become a force.”

“I will send him on his way,” Henderson said. “Give him this,” Mallory pulled a small leatherbound book from his sack, the figures scrawled so neatly and sharp: 迷鸟大军

“What does it mean, the symbols?” Henderson asked.

“The Army of the Lost Birds,” Mallory said. *

Oxford, H ǎo X ī wàng, and the Dodo boarded a small vessel the moment Henderson could make out a coast line in his eyeglass. Henderson had fashioned cloaks out of some of UnderTow’s torn sails for the Oxford, the small boy and the large bird. They appeared, especially with the misty nature of the morning, like a matched set of druid priests being taken to their temple.

The small boat barely struggled through the water as the waves were light and quiet, the paddles pushing them straight and sound. As

they disappeared into the fog, Oxford cleaned his spectacles, raised an open hand, and waved back at the ship.

Henderson turned his attention to the shoreline as he began sharpening his knife. A sharp knife should always accompany a good man when in the midst of those less so, Mallory had always said. Henderson ran the stone along the blade, slowly, letting the folded steel sing.

He had his bearings on the tip of his tongue. “Follow the coast until you see the green mountains above the clouds, bear to starboard and slip past the two islands to the port – the first like a desolate little pile of rocks, the second like a lost island in a children’s tale,” Henderson called out to his crew. “That’s when you drop the sheets and pull her hard until you see the masts waving and the slips growing near, pull boys! Pull her in!”

The UnderTow sidled into the wharf, dropped and dragged anchor, and the men began tying down the boom and mainsheets. Henderson pulled a small flask from his coat pocket and pulled the last of his Jamaican Rum into his cheek, swallowing as he exhaled. He needed a quick wash and shave – as Mallory had always said – the captain never sets one polished boot on dry land without a broad smile, a clean shave, and a freshly sharpened knife.

Vincent Samuels stood on the dock, his lips sneering into a thin line and his beady eyes straining against the now dissipating fog. He saw the crew first, swinging down the gang planks with bales of rope on their shoulders. He nervously opened and closed his pocket watch. The last time he’d spoken to Mallory and his crew, he’d awoken adrift in a cockleboat in New York Harbor. It had taken hours to bring him back to shore and by then the UnderTow, with his eight wooden crates of Brazilian Robusta coffee beans, was but a blink of

white triangles on the southern horizon. He’d been planning his revenge for this embarrassment since the day the UnderTow made berth from New York.

Would it be charges of theft and a night in the irons?

Would it be refusal of final payment and the seizure of additional monies owed?

Would he merely cast it off, nonchalant, and not give them the satisfaction?

“Mr. Samuels, sir?” Henderson called out and walked up the pier towards him.

Vincent straightened his coat and stood firm as Henderson approached.

“Mr. Samuels, sir, the men are unloading most all of what you needed brought this way.

As you can maybe ascertain from the look of it, we struggled mightily this run and it cost us the lives of a dozen sailors and Captain Mallory himself,” Henderson said and removed his hat.

This news wasn’t what Vincent Samuels had expected to hear. His lavish and hopeful revenge fell like iron in the deep.

“Before the whole show turned to Poseidon’s Court,

the boys and I cooked up something real special with that coffee we stole from you, sir – let it sit in Jamaican rum and fancy French vermouth for a night and a half. I saved you a bottle of it myself. I hope there’s no hard feelings about our exodus as such, Mallory always had a wry side for a grand exit, may his soul rest with those who went with him.”

“Yes, no – I mean,” Vincent struggled to find words. “He was a villain. He was a great, no, a worthy – well, in my mind, but I’m sure his heart was,” Vincent stopped and clenched his jaw.

“And I appreciate you saying that about him, Mr. Samuels, sir,” Henderson said. “If it’s all the same to you, I’m going to hang this here coat and tails up and help the boys unload your wares. I’d like the last thing I see today to be an empty ship with no immediate course or carriage,” Henderson said.

“Well and good,” Vincent said. “Madame Emilie will handle your compensation minus losses, of course, she’s along shortly.” He turned and walked away from the bustle and filth of the pier, his fists deep in his pockets.

Madame Emilie Grey approached Henderson carrying a small valise and a wooden box. “Quite the performance, Monsieur Henderson,” she smiled. “I’m sure he will love the story when he hears it. Walk with me for a moment, won’t you?”

She handed the valise and box to Henderson and they walked slowly down the pier. She held the hem of her dress to keep the lace from dragging through the street.

The fog had finally lifted in this city by the bay. The deep green of the hills reminded Henderson of the coastal rain forests of Brazil, the trees and mountains huddled together as if pushed together by two giant hands.

“I can tell your mind is swimming, Monsieur Henderson,” Emilie said quietly. “It is a big decision and one that you cannot make lightly. You have the vial around your neck, and you know what it means, and I believe I know what you will decide,” she said.

“I believe so as well,” Henderson said.

“Rest easy tonight,” she whispered and kissed his cheek. “Tomorrow you will start your greatest journey.”