Nov 17, 2010

the bespoke option

on this recently concluded visit to dc, it was my good fortune to meet and then have some tremendous drinks with jake parrott, the tongue responsible for much of the selection available at ledroit (thx lex). jake makes stock in 50-gallon batches, which often indicates seriousness of intent.

  • at the passenger, the bespoke option threw up a cynar sour fizz (dry, floral, bitter, perfect but grey and ugly in the glass).
  • at proof, the jabberwock, a savoy classic. the original formulation includes caperitif, a south african aromatized white wine which is no longer available. adam bernbach modified the drink by replacing the caperitif with cocchi americano and it is mighty tasty. (manzanilla, tanqueray 10, regan's orange bitters, cocchi americano, orange twist.) 
but the gibson introduced me to a stirred classic which may be the best drink i've had this year.
  • the bamboo. an old school classic, now almost never ordered. manzanilla, dry vermouth, orange and angostura bitters, orange twist. dry as a bone, floral, aromatic, citric, with a salt breeze in the back. this is a brilliant drink.
when the bartender can see into the depths of my soul and understand what i really mean when i say "something dry, herbal, floral, aromatic; bitter and citrus are both acceptable," i get to discover the bamboo and the champs elysees. chief among the many pleasures of the bespoke option is the revelation of previously unknown deliciousness.

No comments: