Through the (Cocktail) Glass

D.L. Sivley shakes up drinks to shake up the world

words: Madeline Crozier | photography: Candice Conner

Someone who considers himself a bar chef, experience curator and enthusiast apothecary might seem like a jackof-all-trades. But D.L. Sivley, bartender at Field Brewing in Westfield, knows exactly who he is—and it only takes a few sips of his cocktails to find out.

DEALING IN MOMENTS

As a bartender trained in international cuisine, Sivley does more than make drinks with clever names. He curates cocktails rooted in global history and personal memory, making sure every drink tells a story.

“If you can connect to what you have in front of you, then you can appreciate it more and it makes for a better experience,” he says.

There’s plenty of wit in Sivley’s work, too. When he opened a bar for a Thai restaurant, he created a Genghis Khallins Punch, a riff on a Tom Collins and Tom Kha soup bursting with lemongrass, basil, lime and chili oil. The flavors also nod to the origins of punch, when British sailors would drink their rations of rum with lime to prevent scurvy and then add sugar or molasses to sweeten it.

The Genghis Khallins Punch also demonstrates Sivley’s fat-washing technique. Fat-washing involves mixing a liquid fat—think coconut oil or butter—with a room-temperature spirit and then freezing it. After skimming off the fat layer, the spirit retains a savory flavor.

“Fat-washing allows you to perceive flavor notes in the spirit that you couldn’t before. It brings out flavors and gives a rounder body on the tongue, which gives a better mouthfeel,” Sivley says.

The fat-washed coconut rum in his Genghis Khallins Punch does just that. The punch combines a classic cocktail with a nod to the past and international ingredients, representing Sivley’s perspective in one frosty punch bowl.

“My drinks are a little bit more than just what’s in the glass,” he says, humble for one of the United States Bartenders’ Guild’s Top 100 World-Class Bartenders in the U.S. “I deal in moments through the medium of drinks and food.”

THE PATH LESS TRAVELED

Sivley came to Indianapolis three years ago on an invitation to become the sous chef of a new restaurant. But after working seven days a week totaling up to 114 hours a week, he quickly found himself unhappy in his work—and his life.

He decided to take his love for food in a different direction, so he stopped cooking and started bartending. Sivley still uses his culinary skills when he prepares small bites that take bar snacks to a whole other level.

Opposite page: D.L. Sively; above: D.L. Sively serving the Genghis Khallins Punch with the Matcha Candied Key Limes.

“I deal in moments through the medium of drinks and food.”