Bittersweet Christmas

Like nearly every small city in America, Madison’s booming cocktail scene of the early 2000s ended with the beginning of the COVID era. Truth be told, cocktails were dying prior to the pandemic, but the coronavirus was the proverbial coffin nail. Madison’s Capitol Area bars took huge hits when bar manager Grant Hurless left Heritage Tavern, Brocach closed its doors, and owner Mandy Arnold shuttered the Opus Lounge, one of our favorite bars in the world. The Merchant and Maduro remain, but the city is more about food again. Because of the current shortage of aluminum, small craft beer joints will also likely go the way of the dinosaurs, or like Lake Louie, get purchased by a big competitor. It’s sad times for the Lounge Lizards.

Cuffs and Buttons

Several years ago, I discovered a recipe for the original Southern Comfort created by New Orleans barman Martin Wilkes Herron. The original formula, named ‘Cuffs and Buttons,’ is a citrus and spice infused bourbon which was so popular that Herron patented the formula in 1899. 

To make the infusion, start with a good bottle of bourbon. In my two versions that worked well, I used a 750 ml bottle of Evan Williams for the first batch and a 750 ml bottle of Four Roses for my second batch. Pour your preferred bourbon into a large Mason jar. Add 2 inches of vanilla bean, 1 inch of cinnamon stick, 4 whole cloves, 12 dried cherries, a quarter of a small lemon, and 3 half-thumb pieces of orange to the jar. Let sit for five days. Agitate daily and taste. If the cinnamon gets too bold, remove the stick.

On the fifth day, remove the citrus and spices and strain the liquor. Heat a cup of good quality honey (don’t go cheap here) with a ½ cup of water. Add the honey syrup little by little to the infused bourbon until you find it tasty. If you pour the whole amount of honey syrup into the bourbon, the finished mix will be between 65 and 70 proof (Commercial Southern Comfort is 70 proof). Enjoy in your favorite whiskey cocktail or neat.

Cuffs and Buttons Old Fashioned

2 ounces of prepared Cuffs and Buttons
2-3 dashes of Angostura bitters
Top with 7up or club soda

Build the cocktail in a rocks glass filled with ice. Serve with a bourbon cherry or orange wheel or both.

Bigfork, Montana, part 3

We couldn’t leave Bigfork without a visit to Flathead Lake Brewing Company’s Pubhouse on the northshore of Flathead Lake, just a mile up the road from Whistling Andy’s. FLBC’s pubhouse was packed full of people, noshing on brewpub grub, when we arrived in the early afternoon. In a refreshing change of pace, both the general manager and assistant general manager of the pubhouse are women, Nicole Harker and Sarah Peterson.

We only had time to grab a growler to go, and had twelve-plus options on tap to choose from. FLBC is known for its dark brews. In 2006, the brewery became the youngest brewery ever to win not just one, but two, World Beer Cup awards. They won the silver for their roasty 369′ Stout and the bronze for their full-bodied Painted Rock Porter.

In accordance, then, we just had to choose a stout or porter to take home with us. We decided on FLBC’s Rising Sun Espresso Porter. The Rising Sun starts as FLBC’s award-winning Painted Rock Porter with a coffee blend added later from local Bigfolk roaster, Fieldheads Coffee (which is literally right next to Whistling Andy’s).

The resulting brew is black as pitch with a peanut-colored head. The aroma teases the roasty malts and the coffee blend. The upfront taste is surprisingly hop-forward for its 26 IBUs and then tails off into coffee notes on the finish. Frankly, it’s not too far from Vintage’s Scaredy Cat (which took the World Beer Cup gold in 2016). As the Rising Sun warms, its depth of chocolate increases. If you are off to visit Glacier National Park this fall, stop off for a growler before you go.

Bigfork, Montana, Part 2

After having a Huckleberry Fizz at The Raven on the shores of Flathead Lake in northern Montana, it piqued our interest in the gin used in the drink: Whistling Andy’s Pink Peppercorn & Pear Gin. We found Whistling Andy’s in a small, mostly non-descript distillery storefront only five miles north of The Raven in Bigfork itself.

Whistling Andy’s look maybe be low-key, but its spirits are not. Big flavors abound in its generous four-glass flight of liquor. We snared two flights, one a piece, with seven different kinds of spirits: their typical whiskey, their bourbon, a harvest-select whiskey, their peppercorn & pear gin, their cucumber gin, their hibiscus coconut rum, and their Spirit of Sperry (which, of course, is their huckleberry vodka).

Their whiskeys were young, but very well-crafted; I found the harvest-select whiskey to be a grain flavor that wasn’t my favorite, but I could see how other people would enjoy it. The cucumber gin and coconut rum were fine examples of their kind; both with bold flavor. But the bottles we bought were the peppercorn & pear gin and the Sperry vodka!

I know what you’re thinking- Vodka in the Lounge? Well, this vodka was darn good, imparting a whisper of huckleberry love on each snip. In addition, the vodka’s electric pink color would be a welcome part of any Valentine’s Day couple’s aperitif.

I will leave you a cocktail from Whistling Andy’s distillery bar-

Drink: Bear Bait

Establishment: Whistling Andy

Location: Bigfork, Montana

1 ½ ounces of huckleberry vodka (or another berry vodka you have on hand)

2 bar spoons of huckleberry jam

½ ounce fresh-squeezed lime juice

Soda

Add vodka, jam and lime juice to a shaker with ice, shake until the tin frosts. Pour without straining into an iced Collins glass. Top with soda water. 

Bigfork, Montana, Part 1

Many of the Lounge Lizards were born and raised in a Great Lake state, so big lakes are not new to us. Big lakes that overlook mountains, though, are somewhat of a novelty. A beautiful example of such a lake is Flathead Lake which is nestled in the Rockies of northern Montana. Flathead Lake, which is just a bit smaller than Lake Winnebago, is dotted with bars, breweries, and distilleries for locals and visitors alike.

When we visited, we found little cabins to rent just outside the city of Bigfork which lies on the north shore of the lake. We got to the cabins too early for the staff and they recommended a casual bar on the lakeshore called The Raven. We suspect the cabins and The Raven have the same owners since they were both decked out in a Caribbean theme.

Cocktails at The Raven may have a tropical name and pedigree, but the northern vibe absolutely showed through. Its baskets of hand-cut fries, its small bar kitchen, and its locals slamming suds read more Wisconsin dive bar than Jamaican tiki bar. And nothing read ‘Montana’ more than the myriad of huckleberry elements in the drinks. See, Montana loves it some huckleberries. They have huckleberry everything- pies, jams, ice creams, and, yes, cocktails. So, when in Rome… here’s the huckleberry drink I had at The Raven.

Drink: The Huckleberry Fizz

Establishment: The Raven

Location: Bigfork, Montana

First Connoisseur: Holly

2 ounces gin (The Raven uses Whistling Andy Pink Peppercorn Gin)

½ ounce huckleberry syrup

7up or club soda

Combine gin and huckleberry in an iced mixing class. Stir to incorporate and cool the drink. Strain. Top with 7up or club soda. Gently stir to keep the carbonation.

Portland, Maine

Time to take the Lounge Lizards to the farthest-most northeastern locale of the long-standing Around America series- Portland, Maine. Along the sun-splashed early summer wharf, there are plenty of seaside offerings to be had, from Boston clam chowder at Becky’s Dinner to chocolate-covered Maine blueberries at Old Port. All the tasty treats require a bit of liquid refreshment, so why not partake in some of the in-house libations at Liquid Riot Bottling.

Liquid Riot does it all. They brew beer. They distill spirits. They serve lobster bao buns. We came for bottles of their booze. Their catalog includes five types of whiskey, vodka, a couple of beer spirits, rum and fernet; we purchase bottles of the latter two. Their standard rum, Dow’s Demise, is named after Neal Dow, the mayor of Portland in the mid-1850s. Dow, known as the Napoleon of Temperance, instituted the Maine Law, which prohibited alcohol in the city. When the city got wind that Dow had purchased $1300 of liquor at City Hall for ‘medicinal purposes,’ the people rioted and the militia Dow called out killed a man. The Portland Rum Riot of 1855 ended Neal Dow’s political career, but gave both Liquid Riot and their rum, Dow’s Demise, their names.

The Dow’s Demise itself is a blend of small batch rums aged in oak whiskey barrels. It’s funky and sweet; any cocktail you would use a deep Jamaican rum like Smith & Cross in, would be excellent with Dow’s Demise. The house fernet, named Fernet Michaud after Liquid Riot’s proprietors Eric and Ian Michaud, is a blend of 21 botanicals which is aged half a year in Maine blueberry wine barrels. The resulting amaro is mint-forward with grassy bitterness and a sea salt back. 

For a cocktail, we’ll go with a house special in the Resto-bar, the Rum Punch. The recipe is modified from its roots in that Liquid Riot eschews the typical orange juice and adds Benedictine. In addition, the sweetness and color of grenadine is replaced by cherry liqueur.

Drink: Liquid Riot Rum Punch
Establishment: Liquid Riot Resto-bar
Location: Portland, Maine
First Connoisseur: Holly

2 ounces Dow’s Demise Rum
1 ounce Benedictine
1 ounce cherry liqueur (Liquid Riot uses Rothman and Winter)
3 ounces pineapple juice
½ ounce fresh-squeezed lime juice
Dash of Angostura bitters

If you don’t have Rothman and Winter cherry liqueur, Herring will work. Place all ingredients in a shaker full of ice. Shake until chilled and foamy. Serve over fresh ice in a Collins glass.

San Antonio, Texas

A five-minute walk down the San Antonio River Walk from the historic Alamo, sits a watering hole that has been satisfying thirsty Texans since the end of Prohibition: The Esquire Tavern. Opening in 1933, just six years ahead of the groundbreaking of the River Walk, the Esquire prides itself on an upstairs brimming with historical swank and a downscaled downstairs that offers a more laid-back setting on the river at the tavern’s rear. Both levels boast a separate cocktail list; the downstairs claims a more uncomplicated experience, but like the upstairs, the house cocktails are likely to contain five or more ingredients, many from the classic prohibition era. No Seven and Sevens here.

The Esquire didn’t mind if the whole family got a bite to eat upstairs, so we did; I grabbed their meatloaf sandwich, which may not seem very sophisticated except with a beautiful classic cocktail in tow. Mine was a Warpaint- a heady concoction of Norwegian Aquavit, Beet-Tarragon Shrub, Herbsaint, Cocchi Americano, and fresh-squeeze lemon juice. Cindy’s cocktail, the Scrubby Collins, was equally involved- a mixture of blanco tequila, strawberry-basil black pepper shrub, and mineral water, stirred on ice and served long.

In true Wisconsin-style, I couldn’t leave without an after-dinner (or lunch, in this case) drink, so I ordered up a Waking the Dead #1 (yes, they did also have a #2 too, which was too fruity for my tastes). Although we don’t know the exact proportions, I do have the ingredients, so here’s my best approximations...

Drink: Waking the Dead #1
Establishment: The Esquire Tavern
Location: San Antonio, Texas
First Connoisseur: Holly

1 ½ ounces bonded bourbon
¾ ounce Italian vermouth (I used Carpano)
½ ounce espresso-fernet (I used a mix of espresso liqueur and fernet branca)
1 ounce pineapple juice
Dash of fresh-squeezed lemon juice

Place all ingredients in a shaker full of ice. Shake until chilled. Serve up in a cocktail glass and enjoy in warm temperatures.

New Beginnings Cocktail

Last year during the holiday season, we offered an original tea syrup-amaro treat called A Life Well-Lived Cocktail, whose genesis was at the time of the still-burgeoning COVID pandemic in Asia, which now, in retrospect, seems a bit melancholic in its appellation. With a vaccine just around the corner, we are looking to an end of the pandemic by summer so that we can return to America’s grand liquid traditions in our favorite watering holes. Until then, there’s no reason why we can’t celebrate new beginnings here virtually in the Firewater Lounge with another homemade cocktail in the same family as last year’s cocktail.

Instead of gin as the spirit base (as in A Life Well-Lived), we wanted a young bourbon as a symbol for the new year, so specifically we used a one-year-aged Colorado bourbon whiskey from 291. To add to the bourbon, we made a 1-to-1 Yaupon tea syrup made from Catspring’s holiday blend called Deck the Hills. For newcomers to yaupon, it is the only American native caffeinated plant, which yields a lightly sweet green tea. We controlled the cocktails sweetness with Amaro Amaricano, a new American amaro from Seattle’s Fast Penny Spirits. The amaro adds depth of favor and color. The resulting cocktail favor is a balance of ginger, pumpkin, and licorice with a warm sweet attack up front, moderating as it retreats.

New Beginnings Cocktail

Holly's Original

1 ½ ounce young bourbon (We used 291)

1 ounce yaupon tea syrup

¾ ounce Amaro Amaricano

If you do not have yaupon syrup, prepare some 1:1 syrup by boiling 1 cup of water and 1 cup of white sugar, then steep a tablespoon of yaupon in the syrup for 6 minutes. Strain. Cool before using. To prepare the cocktail, mix all ingredients in a stirring vessel with ice. Gently stir 40 revolutions to maintain the drink’s smooth texture and then pour into coupe or old-fashioned glass. Garnish with star anise.