Drinking Brooklyn: Buttermilk Channel

Earlier this week, Matt and I had the pleasure of meeting Rob, founder and author of the new-ish blog Drinking Brooklyn, which is about exactly what you think it's about.

 The Fair Harbor at Buttermilk Channel - basically a dark and stormy with a splash of 
pomegranate molasses.  Photo from kaydeesquared on Flickr

Recently, he started a contest on Twitter through which the winning local blogger could meet him at their favorite Brooklyn bar and star in a brief video about what makes their selected bar a winner.  I was last week's winner and I suggested that we meet at Buttermilk Channel, the deservedly-hyped restaurant that's 15 minutes from our apartment.


Most people don't think of Buttermilk Channel as a drinking destination, but those of us who have been there know that their drink menu, while short, is excellent.  Every single cocktail I've had there has been exceptionally mixed, each flavor present but perfectly balanced in relation to the others.  If cocktails aren't your thing (and if that's the case then we can't be friends), they have excellent New York State beers on tap (including my favorite, Sixpoint), mostly-local bottled beers, and a wonderful selection of American wines by the glass.  Perhaps one could call their drink menu well-curated, but I wouldn't, just because I don't like that term.  I prefer to call it short and sweet.

The bar at the front of the restaurant is the perfect place to stop by after work before the restaurant gets packed (which it does, even on weeknights) and to sip a cocktail and perhaps order a nibble or two (hello hush puppies with green chile aioli).  The dining room never gets too loud (although that can't be said of weekend nights when the place is perpetually mobbed) and the vibe is laid back, friendly, and local.

Matt and I stayed for more than the one drink we had expected to have - Rob was just so personable and easy to talk to, and it turned out that we all got along swimmingly.  Wonderful drinks, atmosphere, and company - a winning combination.

Oh yeah - here's that video we made!

Mojito Cake

Here’s another one from the archives.

I made this for a co-worker’s going away party…which was before Labor Day… Anyhow, I wanted to try something new, and had seen a few recipes for mojito cakes but liked none of them. I concocted this recipe and figured that even if it didn’t come out right, there was enough mint, lime, rum, and frosting going on in this cake to conceal any minor problems.

Irish Car Bomb Float

Who needs dessert and an after-dinner cocktail when you can have both in one glass?

An Irish Car Bomb is a half pint of Guinness into which a shot glass filled with Baileys and Jameson is dropped and then chugged before it curdles. I was introduced to this drink a few years ago on St. Patrick's Day by a friend of mine who happens to be half-Irish. I love Guinness so I knew it would be good - and it was.

Old photo (September 2004) of me in front of a gate to the
Guinness brewery in Dublin - I told you I love the stuff!

I wanted to make something for St. Patrick's Day but traditional Irish fare was out of the question and I had no desire to put green food coloring in frosting and call it a holiday cupcake. I was perusing the Ben and Jerry's website the other day and when I came across Dublin Mudslide (Irish Cream liqueur ice cream with chocolate chocolate chip cookies, and a coffee fudge swirl), I remembered the Irish Car Bomb float that I had made a few years back after having tried the cocktail version. (I used Haagen Dazs Baileys Irish Cream ice cream last time so I thought I'd try a slightly different flavor this time.) The ice cream is a great stand-in for Baileys, and the chocolate in it works great with the rich flavor of the Guinness. Grab a straw and a long spoon for this float - unlike the original drink, this version is best enjoyed slowly.

Irish Car Bomb Float
(serves 1)

1 ounce Irish whiskey (preferably Jameson)
4 ounces (a big scoop) Irish Cream ice cream (I used Ben and Jerry's Dublin Mudslide but Haagen Dazs Baileys Irish Cream would be really good, too)
1 11.2 ounce bottle of Guinness

***************

Pour the whiskey into the bottom of a pint glass. Add the ice cream to the glass. Slowly pour the Guinness over the ice cream, making sure that a head forms. Serve immediately.

Highbrow Cocktails (my own and my love for others')

Although they were one of the big trends of 2007, I have always liked creative handcrafted cocktails. I think the infamous Milk and Honey in Manhattan’s Lower East Side was the first place to offer such libations, and, because I’m sooo cool, I used to have their phone number and have been there a few times – of course, this was a number of years ago, before they got really popular and started changing their number like every month because people were posting it on the internet. The owners of M&H then opened Little Branch, for which you don’t need a phone number to get in, and, although I’ve only been once, I think it’s just as good as – if not better – than the original (probably because it is stripped of all pretenses).

Spiked Apple Cider Cupcakes

It’s that time of year when everyone starts pulling out special holiday flavors for their drinks – pumpkin and gingerbread lattes and hot apple cider are practically ubiquitous these days.

One of my favorite holiday drinks is spiced and spiked apple cider. (I love Red Jacket Orchards cider, but I obviously can’t get it down here, so Reid’s Orchards is my very able local substitute.) Good apple cider is wonderful on its own, but one cinnamon stick, a few cloves, a dash of nutmeg, a splash of rum, and a quick trip through the microwave later, it turns into a delicious drink for a cold night. And here it is all dressed up as a cupcake.

Tropical Dinner Part 5: Kiwi Lime Fizz

It’s almost happy hour, so I figured I’d share the cocktail that goes along with this week’s theme. I came up with this one because I had bought too many kiwis the week before. Some of them were turning to mush, so there was only one thing I could do with them: turn them into puree. And that is how this tasty green cocktail was born.