NEW YORK On May 23 some of New York's mixologists and bartenders gathered to showcase both new and classic cocktails for the annual New York City Taste of the Nation event at the Roseland Ballroom here.
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Audrey Saunders, owner of Pegu Club, kept things familiar with a margarita, but she also shook things up by creating a brand new drink called the Limestone Sour. It is made with lime flavored vodka, fresh lime juice, simple syrup, amaretto and angostura bitters. Rob Oppenheimer of Raoul's mixed the Limestone Sour.
As for the margarita, Saunders said, "It's a very classic margarita with tequila, triple sec and fresh lime juice."
While not being explicitly on Pegu Club's menu, the margarita is just one of the many drinks that can be made to order since the bartenders are well-versed in standard classics. Saunders explained that while new drink creations are popular, the classics are always popular.
Another popular trend exhibited at the event was the reinvention of obscure old cocktails to serve as a refreshing change.
For example, bartenders Joseph Schwartz and Richard Boccat from Little Branch mixed the Ward 8, a drink that dates back to the late 1880. Little Branch is one of cocktail lounge mogul and mixologist Sasha Petraske's newest ventures in New York. Other spots tied to Petraske include Milk and Honey and The East Side Company Bar.
Ward 8 is made with whiskey, fresh lime juice, homemade grenadine and fresh orange juice. It was created to celebrate an electoral win in Boston's Ward 8.
"It's a fancy, fancy whiskey sour," Schwartz said.
James Meehan, bartender for Gramercy Tavern gave the classic gimlet a summer-infused flavor by incorporating coming-into-season basil for a drink called the Rickshaw.
The original gimlet is made with gin and lime juice, Meehan said, a drink which gets its name from a British naval medical officer named Sir Thomas Desmond Gimlette. Gin was the "official spirit of the officer class," and lime juice was accessible as scurvy prevention, Meehan added.
Meehan's Rickshaw is made with gin, fresh lime juice and basil simple syrup made by boiling basil with simple syrup and allowing it to sit overnight before draining.
Meehan believes more savory flavors will be popular in the summer months with herbs such as tarragon, vegetables like cucumber, or even floral accents. "I also think there'll be a lot of muddled shaken and stirred drinks or drinks with teas," he said.
While the others in attendance shook their drinks throughout the evening, B.R. Guest's corporate mixologist Eben Klemm decided to go a different route.
Calling it an "old drink with a new topping," Klemm's Rum Tea Double-Swizzle is rum with black tea and fresh lemon juice. The "new" topping is a passion fruit "air" made with passion fruit and soy lecithin, creating a frothy layer of additional flavor. The drink was inspired by existing tea drinks.
"I didn't want to use a shaker," Klem admitted as being one of the main motivations behind the creation of the drink for the event. Instead he rapidly twirled a swizzle stick between the palms of his two hands to mix each drink.
"The passion fruit and orchid conjures the tropics," Klemm said. He also develops other tea-type drinks and cited Naked in the Rain, a cocktail served at B.R. Guest restaurant Blue Fin, made with vodka and a strawberry green tea fizz.