The Apothecary

It's been awhile since posting for which I definitely have been remiss. I've been incredibly busy working on the fall menu. Our focus has shifted more towards the apothecary aspect of bartending. It started somewhere between deciding to make tonic and cola from scratch and deciding to make 1022 absinthe (which has led me down the rabbit hole trying to figure out how to make Chartreuse). I've followed this path to where I'm now consulting herbalists, visiting Chinese apothecaries, and endeavoring to make medicinal cocktails that are very, very tasty. We are working with such ingredients as kava kava, yohimbe, valerian, and chamomile. Now, I definitely feel like these are easy. If you check out any "apothecary" bar worth their weight, they are doing drinks with these same ingredients (and the others we use: nettles, yerba mate, etc.) We can do more. We can make better drinks; we can make cocktails the way they should be made: with care, exacting precision, and conscientiousness.
We can make drinks that are transformative.
Is this ambitious? Yes.
Is it pretentious? Yes.
Is it good for our community? Yes.
There's so much I want to say, but I'm not sure where to start. I want to write about the pound of damiana leaves I ordered today for our aphrodisiac infusion (with cocoa, yohimbe, kava kava, etc.); our experiment in a flower bitters that turned into a beautiful liqueur; or the stress relief formula that highlights the amazing properties of chamomile and valerian in conjunction with gotu kola and siberian ginseng. This doesn't even scratch the surface, though. Our 1022 bloody mary features an infusion of horseradish root and fire cider; we play with tulsi; we make drinks with golden seal, raw ginger juice, and turmeric infusions. I write all of this and I have yet to work with maca, catnip, sassafras, or mugwort. These are all coming soon...

So, suffice it to say, I'm very excited about what we are doing. I do have a difficult time translating this to marketing...but that's another post for another place. What I can say is that we are about to do something very interesting in our neighborhood. If you want a flavor or a feeling, then come challenge us to find it for you.