High Spirits: Color Bars

In winter, my cocktails of choice are golden brown: a Martinez, a Manhattan. These are the faithful companions of cold-weather cocktail hour. Come spring, the brighter, the fresher, the better. The finest drinks I’ve encountered of late are as lively in hue as they are on the palate.

On a recent balmy night in New Orleans, after too many fried boudin balls at Cochon, I found myself at the bar at Cure. My request for a drinkable digestion aid was met with a tall, fiercely crimson Gunshop Fizz, a Cure original that’s not on the menu but is available by request.

Peychaud’s bitters—made in New Orleans since the 1830’s—anchor the drink, with a full two ounces in the mixing glass. A vigorous muddling with lemon juice, simple syrup, strawberries, cucumber and citrus peel follows, then a hard shake and a topping of Sanbitter, San Pellegrino’s bitter, rosy-hued soda. The result is a grownup fruit punch, juicy and bright with a backbone of sophisticated bitterness.

Fresh celery juice colors the Green Hornet at Trenchermen in Chicago, where Tona Palomino, a transplant from New York’s WD~50, mans the bar. The verdant cocktail is the dangerously drinkable lovechild of a gin-and-tonic/gimlet/celery ménage. Palomino shakes the gin and juice with lime, simple syrup and celery bitters, and tops it with Fever Tree tonic. It has a G&T’s freshness, bolstered by celery and lime, with its edges smoothed by a touch of sweetness.

To stock a home bar with vibrant color, look to a handful of new cocktail syrups. Jack Rudy Cocktail Co. of Charleston, South Carolina, recently launched small-batch grenadine made with California-grown pomegranates, cane sugar and orange-flower water (jackrudycocktailco.com). Last fall, Brooklyn’s Royal Rose (royalrosesyrups. com) added saffron to its rainbow of simple syrups, and the latest from Madison, Wisconsin’s Quince & Apple is sunny-hued lemon-lime syrup scented with lemongrass and lime leaves (quinceandapple.com). In other words: Your cocktail future is looking bright.

HIGH SPIRITS

Color Bars ‘TIS THE SEASON FOR VIBRANT DRINKS

by

HEATHER SPERLING