This week we celebrated the 4th of July with a glorious meal at Shaun’s in Inman Park. We were accompanied by Ashley’s Mom and two Mystery Guest Tasters who did not wish for their names, likenesses, or any vaguely identifying information to be published on the world wide web – you never know who will discover your unpatriotic distaste for Bourbon and put you on a Do Not Fly List! To protect these guests, we will refer to them only as Guest X and Guest Y.
As we pass the half-way mark of our year-long drinking adventure, we are refining our tastes, increasing our expectations, and realizing the inter-connectedness of Alanta’s mixology community. We first met the fabulous Master of Mixology at Shaun’s – Callie – in May when we surprised – or intruded – upon some friends during their anniversary dinner. We learned that the Mixologist at Abattoir, who we found so very attractive, formerly shook ice right here behind the bar at Shaun’s. We are not going to speculate about which direction the “inspiration” for lovely cocktail-making may run, but the cocktails we tasted at both of these locations are hands down our favorite of the entire first 28 weeks.
At Callie’s recommendation, I ordered the Black and Blue off of the seasonal cocktail menu. Ashely opted for The Thistle. Both of these drinks were superb, delightfully summer-y, and well-balanced.
The Thistle was a unique cocktail with cane rum, green chartreuse, allspice dram, lime, maple syrup served up with a lemon slice garnish. The chartreuse can be a dangerous ingredient, but like all great cocktails, this one used just enough to balance off the rum and create a refreshing summer sipper.
Don’t forget our ratings scale is between 1 and 5 Olives. One Olive = waste of my blogging time; 5 Olives = oh my goodness/yummmmmm
Presentation: 4.5 olives – Nothing fancy, but the presentation perfectly matched the drink – a low cocktail glass with a nice thinly-sliced lemon floater.
Taste: 5 olives – Memorable and uniquely satisfying on a hot summer day. A nice blend of flavors that sipped smoothly.
Creativity: 5 olives – Sometimes unique ingredients can create a less than unique taste or a taste that is so odd you just have to stop sipping. Not here – perfect balance.
Overall: 5 olives – Ahh…
The hands-down crowd favorite of the table was the Black and Blue. Berry-anything makes us worried that a cocktail will be a big hot sweet mess. Boo-Berry Bliss = ick. But in good hands, a house-made blueberry soda is just what is needed to balance the Bourbon and give this drink a refreshing, not-too-sweet, twist appropriate for the Fourth of July. The ingredients of the Black and Blue included Black Maple Hill Bourbon, apricot eau-de-vie, pernod, house made blueberry soda, and was served on the rocks.
This drink is exactly what we meant a few weeks back about a great Mixologist being able to make Bourbon taste good to non-Bourbon drinkers and cut the strong taste with seasonally-appropriate flavors. Everyone wanted a second sip of this one – even Tasters X & Y – “more please!” (Notice Taster X’s hand holding the drink. And that’s Ashley’s mom in the background. She loves getting her photo taken…)
Don’t forget our ratings scale is between 1 and 5 Olives. One Olive = waste of my blogging time; 5 Olives = oh my goodness/yummmmmm
Presentation: 5 olives – Two tiny dark cherries on top – simple and yummy.
Taste: 5 olives – Not an unsatisfied palette at the table. Taster X HATES Bourbon (shh…don’t tell anyone), but could not get enough of this delightful concoction. Mmmm!
Creativity: 5 olives – We can longer support anything above a 4 for drinks that do not involve some sort of house-made mixer.
Overall: 5 olives – You want one.
We feel as though Shaun’s website might want to have Callie’s amazing cocktails as part of the menu on-line. They rock and are worth a trip to the bar.