Customer Appreciation Post — Anita Pisco

A customer came back from a trip abroad with a newfound love of Pisco, and in specific — the Pisco Sour.

We don’t have Pisco at the restaurant where I work, but that didn’t stop me from making her an egg white sour with Añejo tequila.

The drink was a hit and she cleverly named it the Anita Pisco — “I need a Pisco.” And her name is a Anita Paladino. And there’s still no tequila in the drink, but she and I still think it’s funny to call it that.

I’m sure it’s slightly annoying for my co-workers that I have these one-off drinks for a dozen different regulars… but my customers like it that I remember their drinks, and when it’s something specific to them (like his this Anita Pisco) — it’s even more of a memorable visit to the bar. Plus we’re only open five days a week and I’m usually there most every night, which is surely how all this arose in the first place.

Regardless, I like slinging specialty drinks and it’s always a treat to have fun and enthusiastic customers.

Customer Appreciation Post — The Scarlet Witch

Another pic from New Year’s Day:

  
Pictured above is my Scarlet Witch cocktail.

This drink has been going over really well.

I’ve sold it to a few different people who were debating between wine or a Cosmo or Vodka/Cran.

It’s a nice little twist on those flavors — with Ramazzotti, Chambord & Cabernet lending extra dimensions to the taste:

  

Customer Appreciation Post — Hot Daiquiri

An Instagram pic of a drink I made tonight:

  

We Call It… The Banana Gun!

This drink was a surprise stroke of genius that came as a result of a little back-and-forth with a customer.

Most times, as a bartender, I’ve got a couple different drinks on my mind in case anyone wants something but doesn’t know what they want. When someone wants me to pick for them and surprise them with something, I’ll still work with ’em to either direct ’em to a classic or one of the slate of drinks I’m holding onto in my brain — I’ll ask a couple of questions and try to read ’em and make sure they get a drink they’re going to like.

Then there are those moments when a little back-and-forth banter leads to a collaboration you would’ve never thought of on your own — which happened to me Tuesday night. 

I’d served a friend a Manhattan after his dinner and then we were discussing where to go next. The idea of rum was raised and the possibility of a banana daiquiri was discussed, but then I brought up the Revolver.

The Revolver is a bourbon drink with coffee liqueur and orange bitters. It’s a simple three-ingredient cocktail, but it’s surprisingly easy for essentially being all booze.

And as I explained all this, my friend nodded in agreement and then said something like: “Yes, but banana.”

So, into the drink went banana rum — which definitely made a sort of sense. I mean, the coffee liqueur we were using in the drink was Kahlua, which is a rum-based coffee liqueur that tastes like vanilla.

And so it was settled and we made the following, a Revolver with all the typical ingredients of the traditional drink plus banana rum — making it a Banana Gun:

  

Banana Gun
•2 oz Woodford Reserve
•.75 oz Kahlua
•.75 oz banana rum
•2 dashes orange bitters

Thirsty For More?
— Read here about the Revolver.
— Liquor.com’s page about the cocktail.

Customer Appreciation Post — Irish Handcuffs

I appreciate it when people appreciate the drinks I make for them, especially when they post about ’em on social media:

  
Both of those drinks are the same thing — a variation on the French 75 with Absolut Peach in place of gin, as well as a little peach liqueur to balance the brut champagne.

Later I made a “grilled” peach version of this drink with a smoked sugar simple syrup and a Laphroiag rinse.

Customer Appreciation Post — Disaronno Sour

Here’s a photo of a Disaronno Sour that I was tagged in earlier tonight:

 

The recipe’s a simple one, but just make sure to use fresh-squeezed lemon juice! It makes all the difference!

About This Cocktail:

A classic amaretto sour made with Disaronno.

Ingredients:

•2 oz amaretto 
•1/2 oz simple syrup
•1/2 oz fresh-squeezed lemon juice

Preparation:

Shake all ingredients over ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass — or strain over new ice into an Old Fashioned glass. garnish with a lemon twist.

Customer Appreciation Post — The Blinker Cocktail

Here’s a photo of a cocktail I made for LochNessie last night:

 A classic Blinker cocktail:

This drink is one I have saved in my Highball app.

Highball is a really great app for saving cocktail recipes. It’s easy to use, it’s pretty minimalist and it allows you to save and share your recipe cards.

Here’s my recipe card for The Blinker:

 

When I made the Blinker last night, I didn’t stick exactly to the recipe.

I didn’t use grenadine for the drink, as the only grenadine on hand was the typical pre-packaged grenadine full of sugar and preservatives and whatnot.

Instead, I used a grenadine-style simple syrup comprised of Pom Pomegranate juice and my restaurant’s housemade simple syrup.

It’s not a full-blown grenadine, as it’s missing a few ingredients and flavor components, but it’s a start — and it’s a nice flavored simple syrup to have on hand.

Here’s a link with more info about Jeffrey Morgenthaler’s method.