Boston, Part 1

When Cindy was called away to Andover, Massachusetts for work purposes, it became a great excuse to secure the adjoining weekend for cocktail cruise through Boston. With the trip half paid for, I hitched a seat next to her on the plane with visions of Beantown liquid goodies dancing in my head. After Cindy spent two days in meetings, we finally got the ability to drive south, drop off the rental car at the airport and take the subway into downtown Boston. We quickly unpacked at our hotel and traveled two blocks to our first destination: the Black Rose.
The Black Rose is a cozy Irish Pub in the Faneuil Hall-Quincy Market area, notable for its Irish fare and live music every night of the week. We were there to put food in our stomachs in preparation for our bar crawl, so our eyes were on the food menu first. We ate Irish- Cindy with scrod and chips, while I had shepherd’s pie. Of course we had to wash it down and Guinness was the obvious choice, but we decided to go with one of the best one-to-ones in the history of booze- the whiskey ginger...and we made them a double. Drink: Whiskey Ginger

Establishment: Black Rose

Location: Boston, Massachusetts

First Connoisseur: Cindy 1 part Jameson Irish Whiskey

1 part ginger beer Invert your still-capped bottle of ginger beer to allow sediment to spread throughout the liquid. Build in a pilsner glass filled with ice. Stir slightly. Drink heartily. With our guts full, we attempted to get a cab to the cocktail bar Drink, a place that we have wanted to visit for a really long time (so long in fact that I first mentioned the place in an Around America post four years ago). Unfortunately for us, it was rush hour, so the bellman told us that our best bet was to walk to the Fort Point neighborhood, a 15 minute walk. Surprised that Drink was that close, we gladly conserved our cab fare for drink fare. Drink is actually under the Italian restaurant Sportello. Prepare for a line at the door; Drink only sits about 70 people at a time on purpose, in order to provide the best service possible for the complicated pours that sometimes ensue. In spite of our walk, Cindy and I got there soon enough to get in almost immediately. The bar was full so we were asked to stand at a side counter (not uncommon at Drink) which consisted of glass over numerous pinned bug collections. The bar itself is a semi-underground linear section of an old wool warehouse, full of exposed brick and a butcher block bar running from end to end. A server inquired us for drink choices. Drink is like Milwaukee’s Bryant’s- there is no menu, you tell them to pour something or what liquor you feel like having and the mixologists concoct something for you. Cindy asked for gin, not sour and the server recommended the classic Bees Knees cocktail which she accepted. I asked for the same drink I originally had at Bryant’s- the Fort Point cocktail which is an original Boston tipple in the first place. Once our server returned with our drinks, a space opened up at the bar.

We drank down our first drinks, enthralled by the master mixologists at work (and pondered at the necessity of at least two more bartenders given the celerity of the orders). Despite the busy bar, Cindy ordered up a cucumber collins of some sort and I asked for the classic Blue Blazer. For those of you not in the know, the Blue Blazer was very first recorded flaming drink, invented in the late 1850s by the most famous barman in the world, Jerry Thomas. Essentially, the Blazer is whiskey mixed with boiling water, lit on fire and passed between two silver plated mugs four to five times. At Drink, the still-flaming mixture is then poured into a smoked-bourbon sugar-filled sherbet glass. Orange oil is sprayed over the drink and the flame is extinguished. Given that the night had turned cool, this warm toddy hit the spot. We chose to have one more at Drink. Cindy asked for rum and received the Drink version of the classic Corn and Oil- made with housemade falernum and Barbados rum in place of the blackstrap. I ordered something light and with egg white and received a delicious Pisco sour. We could have stayed, but decided that the night called for one more bar, so reluctantly we left Drink and stumbled back out into the cool Boston breeze. Drink: Bees Knees

Establishment: Drink

Location: Boston, Massachusetts

First Connoisseur: Cindy 1 ½ ounces gin

½ ounce heated honey

½ ounce fresh lemon juice.

Combine all ingredients in a shaker without ice (dry shake). Shake, strain into a Collins glass with ice. Garnish with a lemon twist. Drink: Fort Point

First Connoisseur: Holly 2 ounces Overholt rye

½ ounce Punt e Mes

¼ ounce Benedictine Stir all ingredients on chipped ice and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a cognac-soaked cherry.