Stockade Tavern, the Federal-style drinking establishment—“bar” is too crude a term—at 313 Fair Street, is dedicated to restoring the art of the cocktail, which got lost during Prohibition, resulting in too many bland, watery drinks in decades since. Stirring and shaking up a variety of vintage cocktails every night takes brains (bartender and tavern co-owner Paul Maloney noted it’s a challenge remembering each complicated recipe), brawn (all that shaking), and an ability to multitask (fulfilling three different drink orders at once isn’t easy). Just to give you an idea of what’s involved, here’s Maloney’s description of how he concocts two of his establishment’s killer drinks:
The first is for a Pink Stag, which is a kind of deconstructed Bloody Mary masquerading as a martini:
“I first infuse vodka with horseradish root (which is washed and cut into pieces small enough to fit in a bottle). I fill the bottle almost halfway with horseradish, put in the vodka, let it steep, and within four hours it’s ready. Then I “muddle” (extract the juice) from 5 or 6 cherry tomatoes, add a half ounce of fresh lemon juice and a little bit of simple syrup (water and sugar mixed in equal amounts). I add a basil leaf and use an oak “muddling” stick to crush the ingredients. Then I add a few ounces of horseradish vodka, an ounce of regular vodka and ice cubes and stir. I double strain it through a Hawthorne strainer (which holds back the ice cubes) and tea strainer into a chilled martini glass. I coat the top with a few dashes of ancho chili powder, add a drizzle of olive oil, a sprinkling of kosher salt, and top it off with a dilly bean (a green bean that’s pickled with dill).”
Maloney noted that he came up with this recipe as a way to avoid opening a can of tomato juice. “We juice everything ourselves,” he said. “This is a cleaner drink, though it’s hellacious to make if we’re really jammed. You can batch certain drinks, but not this one.”
The second drink is a Ramos Gin Fizz, named after a bartender in New Orleans who invented one of the Big Easy’s most famous cocktails in the late 1800s:
“I crack an egg white into a shaker tin. In the other half of the tin I put an ounce of half of half and half, a half ounce of fresh lemon, a half ounce of fresh lime, an ounce of simple syrup, two ounces of gin, three or four drops of orange flower water and shake for 20 seconds. When you crack the tin it should be nice and foamy. I add a bunch of ice, put the tins back together, and shake for a good minute or so. (Ramos shook his for 12 minutes, using a gaggle of guys who stood behind him.) I pour it into a Collins glass, without any ice, and fill an inch from the top, then add an ounce of club soda and tamp it down, by tapping the glass on the bar top. I pour another ounce of club soda into the tin and strain it into the glass.”
Maloney said he’s constantly adding new drinks to the menu, which insures a visit to the Stockade Tavern is never without novelty. Thanks Paul for sharing! —Lynn Woods
