Bryant’s Milwaukee Manhattan

 

As I climb toward half a century on this twirling rock, I can easily say that this year is the darkest of Christmases I have known. The challenges have been great, and many of our friends and family cannot share the day with us, either because we are safeguarding the anticipated celebrations to come or because they live on only in our hearts. Either way, I think no one has been spared at least a touch of melancholiness this season.

The Firewater Lounge has always been a virtual presence, but it is built on the experiences of all the joys of the good people and warm places that we have had the good fortunes to visit- the simple charms of New Orleans’ Revel Bar, the classic Midwest grandeur of Louisville’s Seelbach Hotel, the camaraderie that the Penn Brewery extends to its non-Pittsburgh natives, the elegant flare of Boston’s Drink, I could go on and on. Many of these places are on temporary hiatus or, like Marvel Bar in Minneapolis, permanently closed, their good-byes abounding with hopeful thoughts of their patrons’ health and happiness during this begrudging, indefinite parting of ways.

Personally, I think the place I miss most is Bryant’s, with its darkened, yet friendly corners. Bryant’s is the kind of time machine whose dials are only set to ‘Milwaukee noir’ and the first person you meet when you step through the doors is Humphrey Bogart. And I wouldn’t have it any other way. I’ve always been older than my age; the ‘40s barman lurking in my soul is always tipping a fedora in Bryant’s direction. 

This Christmas, then, since we can’t go to Bryant’s, let’s have the Firewater Lounge bring it to you. It’s 2020, though, so there’s always a difficulty. You see, Bryant’s cocktail recipes are a secret; to get them, you need to work there or know someone who has. Luckily for us, Bryant’s bartender Emily Evans has unveiled a riff on a timeless classic which tastes best in the winter- the Manhattan.

I’m going to give you most of the recipe here, except one ingredient to keep the recipe generally secret. If you are a Lounge Lizard, p.m. me and I’ll give you the last ingredient as a Christmas gift, plus we’d love to hear from you. We’ll get together soon, I promise. Lots of love from the Lounge to you all and have a Merry Christmas.

Bryant’s Milwaukee Manhattan

2 ½ ounces Jameson Irish whiskey (Evans also uses Bulleit if you want rye)

½ ounce sweet vermouth (Noilly Prat Rouge)

½ ounce dry vermouth (Dolin Dry)

½ ounce maraschino liqueur

3 dashes Angostura bitters

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Stir all ingredients in a well-iced mixing vessel. Strain into a cocktail glass and garnish with orange peel.

Minute Before Midnight

One of our favorite amari in the Lounge is CioCiaro, a bitter-sweet digestif created by Vincenzo Paolucci in 1873 in central Italy. For those Lounge Lizards not fortunate to have had the experience of CioCiaro, its aroma is full of light cola and citrus peels. This amaro tastes like it smells, with cola and oranges upfront, clove in the middle, bitter lemon peels and a bit of anise as an afterthought.

Because of its cola and citrus flavors, CioCiaro is pure joy when paired with coffee in cocktails before dinner and chocolate in cocktails after dinner. Knowing that people are at home with their liquor right now, we encourage that you branch out and buy this very versatile amaro.

For a cocktail recipe, we’d recommend a new classic that riffs from a creation from Misty Kalkofen of Boston’s famous cocktail bar Drink. This sophisticated little number marries CioCiaro with the smokiness of mezcal and the fruity elderflower of St-Germain which brings out the lemony quality of the amaro. The name of the drink is 11:59 p.m. which is a mouthful, so I call it a Minute Before Midnight.

11:59 p.m.

Classic Series

2 ounces mezcal

1 ½ ounces St-Germain

½ ounce CioCiaro amaro

Combine all ingredients in an iced stirring vessel. Stir for 40 revolutions evenly to keep the smoothness of the cocktail. Strain into a chilled coupe, cocktail glass or Nick and Nora glass. Drink slowly to lengthen the flavor on the tongue.

Minneapolis, Part 3

It’s pretty tough to leave Minneapolis without swinging by Surly Brewing Company. So we crossed over the Mississippi, drove through U of M campus and sauntered into Surly’s digs. Right at the front doors, you are met by Surly personnel giving the low-down on the beer-making operations at the beginning of their beer tour. Just beyond the tours, a hallway led to a large German-style beer hall fit for a hundred beer-swilling Vikings (except for the fact that they were pumping in reggae music). I ordered a Bender and Cindy ordered its sibling, the Coffee Bender. 

I like oatmeal brown ales and the Bender fits the bill. Dark as cola with a finger of tan head, the Bender smells slightly of chocolate and Nutella. Easy drinking and smooth, if you like sweet beer, this is a selection for you. Obviously, Coffee Bender is simply regular Bender except with the addition of Guatemalan coffee, roasted in Minnesota. In the Coffee Bender, the coffee aroma pushes out the Bender’s lighter hazelnut, and coffee bitterness stomps down the sweetness of the Bender with a longer, roastier finish. The question of which you would like to drink really only depends on if you like coffee or not. I prefer the Bender with food, and the Coffee Bender without.

As we left Surly, we stopped by their large gift store and had to purchase a couple of T-shirts featuring Surly’s most famous product by far, their annual Darkness offering- rich, black Russian Imperial Stouts graced with labels sporting some of the underworld’s creepiest denizens from Cerberus to minotaurs.

Minneapolis, Part 2

The Mississippi River, where Marvel Bar sits, is the northeast border of the revived Minneapolis warehouse district, while broad Washington Avenue cuts it right down the middle. On Washington, near the newly-restored lumber mill-turned hotel The Hewing (where we were staying), is a small liquor shop called the North Loop Wine & Spirits and it’s well worth your time. Tiny as it is, the NLWS is packed from ceiling to floor with bottles. Its floor displays are mainly devoted to world wines and craft beers. Its walls are lined with a surprising array of odd liqueurs, specialty vermouths, and wide-ranging whiskeys. The great thing about NLWS is its lineup of Minnesota products. Seemingly every liqueur Tattersall makes is here, including its glorious 80 proof grapefruit crema; Vikre aquavit, flavored and otherwise, and Norseman gins and rums also make an appearance.

I couldn’t wait to open my Tattersall grapefruit crema until I got home, so here’s the cocktail I made at the Hewing:

Viking Spring 

Holly’s Original

1 ½ ounces Tattersall grapefruit crema

½ ounce Farigoule

3 ounces Spruce Soda orange blossom tonic 

Just around the corner from the North Loop Liquor is the Red Cow, a upscale hamburger joint that features a good beer collection. Here we sampled a number of local brews including a Steel Toe Brewing’s Dissent, a dry wintertime stout; Lift Bridge Brewing’s Cow-laboration #5, a dark porter that is imbued with coconut flavor at the middle and through its finish; a Brau Brothers Moo Joos Red Velvet, which was a sweet milk stout that wouldn’t interest many beer drinkers due to its overwhelming cocoa forward nature, but chocolate cake lovers might dig it; and a Fulton’s Lonely Blonde, a rather ordinary pale ale that still went great with a Red Cow Philly cheesesteak.

Minneapolis, Part 1

We love that cities are revitalizing their old factory areas into art and entertainment districts. From Oklahoma City’s Bricktown, to Old Sugar in Madison, to Red Hook’s Widow Jane, America’s cities far and wide are converting their industrial and shipping areas to cocktail clubs and breweries. One of the best examples of this is the mill and warehouse districts of Minneapolis, where, slowly, abandoned buildings, one-after-another, are trading in their mill status for sophisticated cuisine and smartly-crafted libations.

We scoured the warehouse district for some of these tasty treats and found that our first destination was pretty darn hard to find- Marvel Bar. Despite its huge acclaim in bar circles, Marvel is a true modern speakeasy. If you use Google maps to find it, you still might not find it. It involves going to the Mississippi riverside at the end of the bar’s block under the Bachelor Farmer cafe, going down a flight of stairs on the outside and through two signless doors.

Once in, Marvel is almost as nondescript as the outside. It’s small with a few funky chairs surrounding short tables; its only distinctive feature is their golden maneki-neko forever beckoning cocktail lovers toward their next liquid treat. Marvel’s bar travels the entire length of the room with three barmen working so furiously concocting cocktails or cracking ice that it prevented the smallest of talk. We started with Marvel’s most famous drink, the Oliveto. The Oliveto is a velvety mixture of olive oil, egg, lemon, and liquor that lives up to its reputation. Though its recipe looks challenging (both in pour and in taste) to the novice cocktail drinker, it is not as intimidating as it appears; it only entails a couple of shakes and it tastes like lemon meringue. Yummy! That recipe is below:

Drink: Oliveto 

Establishment: Marvel Bar

Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota

First Connoisseur: Cindy

2 ounces dry gin

1 ounce fresh-squeezed lemon juice

¼ ounce rich simple syrup (2:1)

¼ ounce Licor 43

½ ounce full-bodied extra virgin olive oil

1 fresh egg white

Combine all the ingredients in a shaker in preparation for a dry shake. Shake hard, without ice, for about 20-30 seconds to emulsify the egg white and olive oil. Add ice to the shaker and shake again for 20 more seconds. Strain into a chilled coupe.

Of course, we couldn’t leave Marvel without trying a few more cocktails. And although we don’t know the proportions of these, they do make for interesting combinations if you are an amateur mixologist! Strongwater: a mixture of Farigoule (French thyme liqueur), Carpano Antica Formula vermouth, Marvel’s own select Old Scout 8 year bourbon, Maison Rouge, and water. The Oakenshield: salt, Cynar, Toschi Nocello (Italian walnut liqueur), Isle of Skye 8 year scotch whisky.

Hot Toddy

Coronavirus. Ugh. We may not have a cure yet, but thankfully, we have some boozy remedies for respiratory ailments. Tonight looks like the last freeze of the 2019-2020 cold season and we’re all spending it in quarantine. So the Hot Toddy to the rescue! So what’s so great about the Hot Toddy? Well, for one, it’s old; it’s been healing Scots for about 300 years. The drink is also easy to prepare when you are sick and hard to screw up (if you do, it’s probably because you added too much lemon- add more honey to fix it).

The best part about the Hot Toddy, though, is that it really does help you through your cold symptoms. One, it has some Vitamin C from the lemons. Two, honey is antibacterial and soothes throats. Three, the heat of the Toddy itself acts as an expectorant, thinning your breathing passages. If you are worried about the alcohol, don’t be; most doctors are okay with an ounce and a half of spirit a day, even if you have a cold. So, a toast to your health (literally)!

Hot Toddy

¼ ounce fresh-squeezed lemon juice

1 bar spoon of  honey (about ¼ oz)

4 ounces boiling water

1 ½ ounces whiskey (we like Stranahan’s)

Combine all ingredients into a warmed mug or Irish coffee glass and stir to dissolve honey. Traditional garnishes include lemon peel, cinnamon sticks, and/or star anise. If you want to be fancy, stud your citrus peel with whole cloves.

Apricot Brandy Old Fashioned Sweet

Thomas Paine is famed to say that times like these try men’s souls. He was speaking of the hardships endured in the American Revolution, but besides our wars, the Spanish Flu of 1918, and the Great Depression, it’s safe to say that Americans have not been tested in the way that the coronavirus has.

Therefore, to provide some comfort to the Lounge Lizards throughout the country, and to celebrate the 10th Anniversary of the Firewater Lounge, we decided to post a little touch of home, for those of you at home, to remember the good times we’ve had in the past and the good times that are sure to come in the future. And every Wisconsinite knows, the cocktail that’s closest to home is the Brandy Old Fashioned Sweet.

Now, especially after the early 2000s cocktail renaissance in Wisconsin, everyone knows how to pour a Brandy Old Fashioned, but, among the Lounge Lizards, who don’t do anything halfway, there is an extra sweet version of the classic that, for the average man, might knock them into a sugar coma. The Stoefflers may disagree, but I can’t think of a better way to celebrate our anniversary. To your health, Lounge Lizards everywhere!

Apricot Brandy Old Fashioned Sweet
Holly's Originals

2 ounces Phillips Apricot Brandy
4 ounces club soda or 7up
3-4 dashes Angostura bitters

Find yourself a bitter-peeled orange, if you can; in these times, any old orange will do. We used a blood orange. Cut a swath of orange rind, the size of the bottom of a double old fashioned glass. Cover the peel (not the pith side) with Angostura, 3-4 dashes. Muddle until bitters meld with orange oil and fragrant. Add ice, then bourbon. Stir to incorporate. Add club soda (if you’re a Stoeffler) or 7up. Stir gently. Garnish with orange wedge, cherry, or both.