Although this drink isn’t made with Irish whiskey or beer, I think it’s pretty fitting for St. Patrick’s Day. It’s green and was possibly created by the Irish in Prohition-era Chicago. But most importantly, it’s very cold, which is fitting for this insanely early spring we’re having.
Many of the quick gin drinks I make at home — such as gin and tonics, gimlets, and gin rickeys — are mixed with lime juice. But I recently bought a bunch of organic lemons and have been looking for ways to incorporate them into cocktails. One easy drink is the Southside, a minimalist cocktail with easy-to-find ingredients: gin, lemon juice, mint, and simple syrup.
Well, it's March. Here in New York, after another warm spell, we're back in the midst of chilly temps. It's more Paris chilly than Northeast US frigidness; instead of negative temps giving your face frostbite, the all the cold moisture in the air just seeps into your bones. These past few rainy days, hiding indoors with a good movie or book seems preferable to sloshing through the streets and subways, the latter which in New York becomes totally crippled any time we get more than 1/4 inch of rain.
I've also been dealing with the cold by whipping up some hot drinks. In this case, hot buttered rum. Now, every bar in town seems to serve a mulled wine, hot apple cider, or hot toddy. But in our high-cholesterol-fearing modern age, it seems that nobody wants any butter in their drinks anymore, even as we scarf down pork belly entrees and bacon desserts en masse. What a shame. Because you can actually make this delicious drink with just a scant 1 teaspoon of butter, or less than the amount the average person puts on his morning toast.
Last year I had an amazing cocktail at a restaurant whose name escapes me now. It might have been in Brooklyn. Or Manhattan. All I remembered is that it was one of those places that served amazing, pitch-perfect cocktails.
I ordered one called The Bee’s Knees without knowing the ingredients except gin. I took a sip and immediately asked the bartender what was in it.
One of my first New York apartments was on Smith Street, where I lived from Fall 2005 to Summer 2006, when the area was already gentrified and rents were becoming pretty high. However, there were very few good dining options on Smith at the time. We had one incredible restaurant, Saul, and a few solid standby's, such as Zaytoon's and Cafe LuLuc, which was downstairs from my apartment. Most were bland or forgettable.
Flash forward to Spring 2010, when I moved back to New York after three years away. Smith Street was nothing like I remembered. Smith and Court Streets had become a dining destination of Brooklyn. So many noteworthy restaurants had already opened or would open in the coming months. Char No 4, Clover Club, Buttermilk Channel, Prime Meats, Watty and Meg, Seersucker, the list went on and on.