Photo by Felicity Bosk

This column is going to run slightly differently than usual because I visited a place I have an entire story about close to the front of this publication. It made sense that if I was going to do a profile on a bar that they should be the ones whose cocktails I review this week. I had asked if they had a cocktail menu and bartender/manager Larry Ricker said it was a work in progress. Instead of highlighting just one drink he wanted to show me three very colorful beverages that are strong contenders for their official menu. Since re-opening they are exploring a lot of new ideas and there is no doubt the recipes in these drinks may change. In the photo, from left to right you are looking at the Eclipse, Tequila Mockingbird, and the Monday Blue Martini. 

Eclipse 

It’s gin, grenadine, an olive, orange slice and a splash of lime. This was the strongest of the three drinks easily. You can feel the alcohol in your stomach but you can’t taste the gin flavor because the grenadine cuts it down. The orange slice, Ricker said, counteracts with the olive to polarize the drink so it should be sharp but sweet. “The orange floats and the olive sinks and that’s what the eclipse is,” he said. 

Tequila Mockingbird 

It is minty and fruity which I was not expecting. The name sort of make sense. Mockingbirds sing in the morning and in the morning you might brush my teeth and drink juice which is sort of what this drink tastes like, but don’t take that to mean that it is gross. This would be a good drink for someone who can’t stand fruity, overly sweet drink but really wants the aesthetic of that sort of thing. After squeezing the garnished lime into the drink it became much more evenly mint and lime flavored. The mint is still going to be the dominating flavor in this drink even with some help. 

Blue Monday Martini 

Cachaca, lime juice and a dash of soda water. It is rimed with lime and sugar and garnished with a lime. “It’s a different kind of martini,” said Ricker. Cachaca is a very sweet alcohol made from sugarcane and as such this is their sweetest menu drink. The lime adds a fruity flavor to the sugary-tasting drink. This is one you really cannot taste any alcohol as opposed to the first two and is the easiest to drink.