Key Cocktail Ingredients: Whiskey + Ginger

One of the best discoveries of my undergrad drinking career was the whiskey and ginger . I found it to be so much better than a Jack & Coke and so much easier to come by then a whiskey sour. The whiskey and ginger was often the perfect weekend drink. Since then I’ve dabbled and made other whiskey drinks my first choice (see pickleback entry) but recently I was again invited to downtown BK and had two of the best whiskey cocktails I’ve had in a while.

Spicy Buck at Char No. 4

What better place to have a whiskey cocktail then the whiskey wonderland that is Char No. 4 (196 Smith Street). My seat at the bar gave me prime viewing for the ceiling to floor whiskey selections that ranged from $4 a glass to $200 a glass. It’s a true whiskey lover’s paradise. When looking over the menu the Spicy Buck was one of the first things to catch my eye. It was a whiskey ginger ale made with Weller Antique Bourbon and (drumroll please) Blenheim’s Spicy Ginger ale. Now this is no ordinary ginger ale. For anyone who really likes ginger ale, this is the most legitimate ones I have ever had. It’s incredibly spicy, made from all natural ingredients and almost impossible to find above the Mason Dixon line. This Yankee was only lucky to have tried it because of a Southern friend with good connections. The Spicy Buck is a great fall cocktail. Although it doesn’t punch you in the face with spiciness upon the first sip, after awhile you need to take your time with it.

Matt’s Ginger Old-Fashioned

Brooklyn Social (335 Smith St) was the next stop on this very short bar crawl. There my friend and I decided to keep with a whiskey ginger theme and tried Matt’s Ginger Old-Fashioned. The cocktail is comprised of bourbon, ginger, sugar, cherries, bitters and soda. It’s very lovely and very strong, two qualities I admire in a drink. I also recommend eating the slice of ginger two-thirds of the way into this drink. The strong punch of the ginger makes the drink taste completely different afterwards in the best way possible.

Moral of the story: Venture out to the charming neighborhood of Carroll Gardens and get yourself a good whiskey ginger cocktail.




image: http://newyork.seriouseats.com/images/20091006-charno4-whiskeys.jpg