Forget the pretentious “mixologists” pushing Old-Fashioneds and Manhattans. It’s time for some summer fun, and a new class of chill bartenders are putting a fresh take on fruity, dated, decidedly uncool cocktails — think Carrie Bradshaw’s Cosmo and tiki-bar piña coladas — with fresher, more sophisticated ingredients and a skilled hand.
“If these drinks are made well . . . there’s nothing wrong with them,” says Naren Young, the mixologist at Saxon + Parole on the Bowery, who features an upgraded Harvey Wallbanger on his menu. These “disco drinks,” as he fondly calls them, are making a comeback, and the new versions are far better than the rocket fuel that got you through college or that all-inclusive tropical vacation.
Meet five bartenders shaking things up with tasty remakes you can sip without shame.
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THE NEW WHITE RUSSIAN
“Munich Style” White Russian, $16 at the Lambs Club, 132 W. 44th St.; 212-997-5262
The updated White Cosmo at Daniel uses white cranberry juice instead of the red that Carrie Bradshaw loved in her pink drink. (Christian Johnston)
Saxon + Parole bartender Naren Young pours a new Harvey Wallbanger, made with fresh OJ. (Christian Johnston)
At Brooklyn’s Quarter, the Sea Breeze gets freshened with bar-squeezed grapefruit juice and house-made grenadine. (Tamara Beckwith)
Maison Premiere’s Maxwell Britten says his piña colada is an easy introduction to absinthe. (Anne Wermiel)
The White Russian — a creamy, coffee-flavored mix of vodka, Kahlúa and cream — is one of the last drinks you’d want to order if you’re trying to show off your cocktail cojones. Yet, Lambs Club bartender Michael Dudas says, “while they might not be in style, they’re definitely still ordered all the time.”
So, the Lambs Club enlisted cocktail-guru Sasha Petraske as a consultant, to add some refinement to the Big Lebowski’s favorite beverage. The restaurant’s “Munich Style” version is served — not on the rocks — in a chilled coupe glass, and the cream is fluffed up and lightly layered over the top, rather than being mixed in with the vodka and Kahlúa. Without the melting ice cubes and heavy dose of heavy cream, it’s a tasty sip that you don’t have to be a Lebowski fan to appreciate.
THE NEW COSMOPOLITAN
White Cosmopolitan, $21 at Daniel, 60 E. 65th St.; 212-288-0033
Daniel bartender Arnaud Dissais has a complicated relationship with the Cosmo. The native Frenchman previously worked at the Hotel Plaza Athénée in Paris, where Carrie Bradshaw orders a Cosmo in the 2004 finale of “Sex and the City.” He can still recall being plagued by throngs of women ordering the cloying drink in the post-“SATC” era. “We used to propose some very nice other cocktails — but they always wanted the Cosmo,” he says. “We were like, ‘Nooooo!’ ”
Now tending bar on the Upper East Side, he serves a chic take on the Cosmo that’s far better than Carrie’s pink drink of choice. It features St. Germain elderflower liqueur rather than harsh, high-proof Cointreau and understated white cranberry juice instead of red. The tart, slightly floral cocktail is elegantly anchored by a delicate orchid frozen in the middle of a solid-ice sphere. “It’s the No.1-selling cocktail,” Dissais says. “We can’t take it off the menu.”
THE NEW HARVEY WALLBANGER
Harvey Wallbanger, $11 at Saxon + Parole, 316 Bowery; 212-254-0350
Popular with disco dancers, surfers and the masses from the 1960s to the 1980s, the original Harvey Wallbanger was a sickly sweet mash-up of vodka, Day-Glo-yellow Galliano liqueur and preservative-laden orange juice that was about as tasteful as a pair of neon bell-bottoms. The Galliano was largely to blame for the hangover-inducing sweetness, but in 2010, the liqueur reverted to its original 1896 recipe, dropping the sugar content, upping the proof and spurring a new wave of popularity among Saxon + Parole’s Naren Young and his fellow downtown bartenders.
“The old Galliano was so low in alcohol, no one took it seriously,” says Young. His updated version gets a further upgrade thanks to freshly squeezed OJ, making it perfect for a boozy brunch. “It’s not going to challenge anyone,” he says. “It’s just easy drinking.”
THE NEW SEA BREEZE
1928 Sea Breeze, $10 at Quarter, 676 Fifth Ave., South Slope, Brooklyn; 718-788-0989
After learning that the Reagan-era, country-club fave Sea Breeze actually originated in the ’20s, and was mixed with gin, grenadine and grapefruit juice —not vodka and Ocean Spray — David Moo, the bartender/owner of Brooklyn hangout Quarter, added this anachronistic version to his menu. It’s been a hit.
“It surprises [customers] when they see it on the menu,” says Moo, who caters to a mixed crowd of Miller High Life guzzlers and cocktail aficionados. He puts more wind in his Sea Breeze’s sails by using gin instead of vodka, fresh-squeezed grapefruit juice and house-made grenadine.
“Regular, store-bought grenadine has barely any pomegranate [flavor] and is made with high-fructose corn syrup, which is fine, but you wouldn’t have the floral notes,” explains Moo. The end result, he says, is “a cheesy ’80s drink filtered through the Cocktail Revival.”
THE NEW PIÑA COLADA
Maison Absinthe Colada, $14 at Maison Premiere, 298 Bedford Ave., Williamsburg; 347-335-0446
Piña coladas are typically confined to poolside locales and kitschy, tiki-themed bars featuring cocktail umbrellas, tribal masks and greasy chicken wings, but Maxwell Britten, the beverage director at Maison Premiere, a Williamsburg absinthe bar, saw the potential for more. “The piña colada is really representative of everything that absinthe works well with — dairy, coconut, citrus,” he says.
His version combines Mansinthe absinthe with crème de menthe, rum, pineapple and lemon juices, and coconut syrup. It’s an approachable beverage for those who are new to the harder stuff. “It’s a great gateway cocktail to absinthe drips,” enthuses Britten.
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