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

In Honor Of the World Series…

Let’s talk Giants…and beer! Despite being born and raised in New York I never felt a close relationship to our resident major league baseball teams. Although my mother was in love with pinstripes, Jeter, and the YES channel, I could never really share her enthusiasm. I’ve searched and searched for a team I could get excited about and recently after stumbling upon a random baseball game on TV, I found my team. I have decided to switch coasts and am now a San Francisco Giants enthusiast. For last Saturday’s game against the Phillies, a close friend who is also a Giants fan brought me to a “California-themed” bar to watch the game. This bar was the Pacific Standard.

Despite having to push my way through the crowd of California transplants, Pacific Standard (82 Fourth Ave) is a great place to watch to the game and have a beer. The On-Tap selections are all microbrews, over half of which hail from the Golden State. I should admit that when I was there I wasn’t fully in the California spirit. I got a Founder’s Harvest Ale from MI but next time I’m planning on trying a new addition and rare find, the Bear Republic’s Ryevalry.

The two cozy rooms that make up the bar boast plenty of seating for those who want to stay awhile and indulge on a pint and an Its-Its. They also have something that I think all bars should take feature, a Frequent Drinker Program. For $10 dollars you become a full-fledged member with ID card and benefits. Benefits include Monday-Wednesday all night Happy Hour, book-lending privileges from the bar’s library and VIP status entrance on crowded nights when the bar has a line. You also have the opportunity to earn reward points. Rewards vary from a goldfish to a BAM membership…sign me up please and thank you.

Beers are $5 or $6. Tuesday night’s happy hour prices all pints at a cheerful $3. I’m excited about Pacific Standard. Not only because it satisfies my dreams of one day moving to California but it feels like a vacation from my usual Williamsburg bubble.


*They also currently feature two beers from Long Island REPRESENT.

Images (http://images1.citysearch.net/) (http://www.pacificstandardbrooklyn.com/)

Raise High the Jim Beam, Bartender and Excited by Drinking an Introduction

Hello. We are three ladies in the wilds of Brooklyn just lookin' for a good bar and a good drink; this is our blog.

Brooklynites are overwhelmed by the choices of bars around. So many dives! So many wine bars! Where's a good place to get a beer and watch a forgotten Spanish pornographic film from the 1960s on a Friday night? Where can I get a veggie hot dog and a shot of Jim Beam in a cream soda at noon or 3:30am? Where's a bar stool that has the imprint of the buttocks of hundreds of salty sailors? Where can I play indoor bocce ball? Where can I dance and not feel like a total ass or square? Where can I find a good mixologist quality drink and not feel break the bank?

Don't worry! We're going to solve those mysteries and more!

We're excited! We're excited by drinking! We're excited by Excited by Drinking! We want you to be excited by Excited by Drinking!

Drunkenly,

Jessica, Karl, and Shannon