Reformed Cynic

A Lackluster Thanksgiving Indian Summer at Clink

As I catch up with my holiday drink blogging, here's my Thanksgiving Day cocktail experience at Clink, one of the restaurants in the Liberty Hotel here in Boston MA.

Finding myself without plans for Thanksgiving, I decided to just have a quiet meal and give thanks in my own introspective way. Getting a last-minute reservation for lunch through OpenTable (which, quite frankly, surprised me by its availability), I headed over fully expecting a very early taste of the dinner menu.

I was a tad disappointed to find that it was the regular lunch only, but decided to compensate by having a cocktail, the Indian Summer. Made with Grey Goose's Le Citron, fresh lemon juice, simple syrup, muddled raspberries and water, it tasted rather like a Snapple foray into hard lemonade.

The best thing that I can say about this drink is that the muddling was great! The raspberries were appropriately crushed, and seemed well incorporated into the drink itself:

Overall, I did not care for the drink - there was too much liquid, and the vodka itself settled at the bottom of the water glass, which was far too large for this drink. With less water, smaller slivers of lime garnish, and and of course less raspberry - and served in an appropriately sized glass - it would have been a delightful reminder of warmer days. Instead, it tasted like a drink teen friends would make by doctoring their lemonade with vodka when Mum and Dad weren't looking.

I'll blog more about my experiences in the Liberty Hotel's Lounge area, which are always first-rate..

Martinis at a Beer Joint: Pomegranate Martini at Rock Bottom

Happy New Year, dear friends! May 2010 bring you all of your best wishes, purest hopes and desires. I've taken a little bit of a break from blogging, but am back in full-force and have a few great Holiday-season drink experiences to post in the days ahead. Prost!

Now, on to my tale of sampling cocktails at a brew pub. I had some visitors in from out-of-town, and we decided to dine and catch up at our local Rock Bottom, a brewery pub chain. I of course started with an obligatory Mug Club sized beer, then perused the cocktail menu. I decided on the Pomegranate Martini, consisting of Pama Pomegranate Liqueur, Absolut Citron up with a twist, and a sugared rim. The sugared rim seemed excessive (let's nip elevated blood glucose levels in the bud, kids), so it was nixed.

About 10 minutes later, this pleasant little glass arrived:

Pleasantly pink, it was well chilled, and after the first few sips I declared it a success. As it sat for a bit, though, I think the ingredients settled somewhat, and as I drank and the liquid in the glass concentrated, the Martini tasted more and more like that Red Children's Robitussin I so despised.

Not terrible - the bar did not skimp on the alcoholic raw materials - though it's definitely not going into my annals of cocktail fame. This Martini should only be drunk ice cold and at speed, so as to avoid the inevitable medicinal taste.

Then again, I was dining in a brewery, not a distillery.. Next time, I'll just stick to beer!