FATTY CRAB (Freelance)
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Cocktails are showing their age this summer, but not because they’re old hat — they’re sitting around in oak barrels for weeks on end to gain flavor.
A handful of the city’s mixologists credit trend-setting mix master Jeffrey Morganthaler of Clyde Common bar in Portland, Ore., who brought the idea to the US after seeing it in a London boite. “I’m really excited and interested to see where this will go,” says Alex Day, another expert mixer, who spent six years bartending at serious Manhattan cocktail bars such as Death & Co. and now designs cocktail programs and creates new drinking establishments around the world. The Post asked Day to compare three barrel-aged cocktails to their “pure” versions at three NYC saloons.
At Fatty Crab in the West Village (643 Hudson St.), beverage director Adam Schuman makes two aged libations: the Old Oak Tree, made with tequila and St. Germain, and the Jake Leg, a riff on a classic Negroni made from gin, chamomile grappa, Aperol and Cocchi Americano (two Italian aperitifs). The mixtures are poured into a 3-gallon cask and left to stew on the top shelf of the bar, where it’s between 75 and 80 degrees, for 2½ weeks. Each 3-gallon barrel cask from Tuthilltown Spirits (a distiller in Gardiner, NY, that’s supplying all the barrel-aging bars around town) yields about 130 cocktails.
“The wood imparts tannins that expedite the aging process,” says Schuman of the Jake Leg, which comes out amber-colored and smells citrusy, thanks to a twist of orange peel added before serving.
“You get the texture of the wood and some of the grit of the grappa,” says Day after a swig of his slightly bitter $15 drink. “It’s very different. The unaged version is very aperitif-y, light, but the aged is more harmonious.”
Just a few minutes’ walk away, at Fedora (239 W. Fourth St.), Day grabs a seat at the dark wooden bar and watches as beverage director Brian Bartels puts together his Fedora ($14), a dark, intense version of a Sidecar that packs a punch. This is the fifth time Bartels has barreled the brandy, rum, bourbon and orange curacao concoction in just a few months. Each recipe is aged just shy of three months and is tasted every five days until it’s ready to serve. Temperature is also a factor, says Bartels, who keeps his casks downstairs in a basement-like atmosphere, where it’s a cool 66 degrees, hence the longer aging time.
“That’s lovely,” says Day of the off-menu Fedora. “It’s big, weird and ridiculous. These kinds of spirits — this funky Jamaican rum — can be a big bully in a drink. They can be one-note. With the aging you add all the barrel and temper it.”
Across town at The Dutch (131 Sullivan St.), Andrew Carmellini’s red-hot restaurant in SoHo, bartender Wade McElroy started barrel-aging six weeks before the place even opened. The Barrel-Aged Brooklyn ($14) — ironically, a take on the Manhattan — is made from rye, dry vermouth, Amer Picon (a French aperitif) and Luxardo Maraschino liqueur. It’s aged for five weeks.
“We wanted to let the oak speak as much as possible,” says McElroy of the drink, which has a smoky, bittersweet taste. “By aging the cocktail, it’s almost softening it.”
He concedes it’s a lot more work than creating a regular cocktail, but, he says, the payoff is that drinkers become more discerning after trying one: “It’s a gateway to a world of cocktails. People that are vodka-soda drinkers are really into it — and that’s a huge jump.”
Day admits it’s his favorite. “It’s a light Manhattan, but it’s given guts by putting it in the barrel. Unaged, it’s much lighter and dry; it’s unbalanced in that you taste the rye whiskey first. Aging it is such a smart decision.”
So is this all just a short-lived gimmick that will fade away with the warm weather come October? “I don’t think so,” says Day. “It takes time, which is fantastically different to any other part of our drinking culture. It’s our slow food. And I’m really excited to take it even further: to age specific ingredients and then add something incredibly fresh to create a whole new drink. I’ve already ordered the barrels!”