Mouthing Off

Courtesy of Manresa

Bartenders familiar with the dark, medicinal Italian liqueur Fernet Branca as a digestive or hangover cure are now using it in fantastic, herbaceous cocktails. The long-standing industry favorite earned extra buzz last month as the main component in San Francisco Cocktail Week's signature drink: The Black Lily with Fernet, citrusy Cointreau and fresh lime juice over ice. Just south of San Francisco in Los Gatos Manresa is serving a Fernet-and-Coke-inspired cocktails. »

Crushed Nun cocktail at The Modern. Photo by Leah Herman

Ehren Ashkenazi, bar director of The Modern at the New York Museum of Modern Art, often collaborates with Brooklyn’s Sixpoint Brewery on specialty brews (like the French painter–inspired Paul Saison), but he recently unveiled the restaurant’s first project with exhibiting artists. The two avant-garde filmmakers behind "The Quay Brothers: On Deciphering the Pharmacist's Prescription for Lip-Reading Puppets," which runs through January, worked with Ashkenazi on a cocktail called The Crushed Nun (Light on the Veil). Its name comes from a scandalous portrait, by 19th-century painter Jean-Jacques Lequeua, of a nun exposing her breast. The dark, herbaceous riff on a Champagne cocktail combines absinthe, fresh blueberry syrup infused with Strega (an herbal liqueur similar to Chartreuse), sparkling rosé and Angostura bitters. Here, Ashkenazi discusses what it’s like to make drinks with artists >

© Marcus Nilsson

Forget the field, the real action during football season is in the parking lots where die-hard fans of barbecue and other pregame foods gather to eat and drink before the game. Many tailgate enthusiasts own tricked-out grills, portable smokers and outdoor living room setups with televisions that put most people’s home sets to shame—like these dedicated superfans. But when it comes to beverages, a cooler full of generic six-packs is sadly common. Tailgaters who pay as much attention to drinks as they do to chili warrant legend status. Tailgate-perfect cocktails, wine and beer >

Summit Bar's Shu Jam Fizz. Courtesy Pamela Vlahakis.

Preserving sweet summer fruits in jams and marmalades is a tradition for many home cooks, but home mixologists should consider stocking up as well. Preserves are good for more than just spreading on toast; they add bright flavors and a silky texture to cocktails >

Courtesy of Casa del Mar

Spiking childhood refreshers like slushies and snow cones is nothing new, but craft bars now treat these drinks like real cocktails. Read more about these nostalgic, icy treats >

© David C. Sampson

In 1823, English restaurateur James Pimm developed a tea-toned, spicy and lightly fruity gin-based apéritif called the Pimm's House Cup. Now bottled and known as Pimm’s No. 1 (or simply Pimm's), the formula remains a guarded secret and is still primarily used in an iconic British long drink topped off with sparkling lemonade and garnished with cucumber, fruit and mint. Leave it to Americans to rebel against tradition. Mixologists on this side of the Atlantic are mixing the delicious spirit into a variety of creative and refreshing summer cocktails.

Courtesy of Beyond Kombucha

Bars and restaurants across the US are starting to serve alcoholic versions the trendy probiotic tea Kombucha. Read more>

 

Vinegar doesn't jump to mind as a cocktail mixer, but when the tangy, bracing tonic is macerated with fresh fruit, it becomes a bartender’s favorite. Buzzy chef Andy Ricker loves "drinking vinegars" so much that he makes and markets his own under the label Som >

Courtesy of 1022 South

For many, it’s not a margarita unless there’s salt on the rim and no shot of tequila is complete without a lick of it. Bartenders who appreciate the mouthwatering mineral are now using it in a variety of new cocktails that pop with flavor or benefit from a savory element. Read more >