Wednesday, May 4, 2011

park street cup

1 oz Pimm's No. 1
3/4 oz Peychaud's Bitters
1/2 oz Lemon Juice
3/4 oz Simple Syrup
1/4 oz Angostura Bitters
1/4 oz Fee's Orange Bitters
1 Egg White

Shake without ice and then with ice. Strain into a highball glass, top with 3 oz of Weihenstephaner Hefeweizen beer, and add a spoon straw.

Two Mondays ago, after attending the Domaine de Canton mixology contest and tasting some of the great entries (including Russell House Tavern's Aaron Butler's submission that hid 2 1/4 oz of the liqueur behind various dark rums in a Swizzle!), I decided to make good use of being in that part of Boston by stopping in at No. 9 Park. Luckily, there was a seat at the bar, and bartender Ted Kilpartrick was pleased to point out some of the new additions on their menu. One of these was the Park Street Cup which he described as a combination of a Pimm's Cup, Don's Little Bitter, Gunshop Fizz, and a beer. It was way too quirky of a concept to pass up. For a fizz component to the Park Street Cup, Ted was used a hefeweizen from the world's oldest continuously operating brewery, Weihenstephaner. I am not sure if this was symbolic for the nearby Park Street station was the first subway stop (along with the neighboring Boylston Station) built in the country back in 1897.
The Park Street Cup presented itself with a cinnamon and orange aroma from the bitters. The sip contained the Pimm's and lemon flavors at first and the malt from the beer later as the float made its way down to the straw's level. The swallow contained a pleasing bitter flavor that complemented the Pimm's and later the hops as well. As there was a delay in the beer component entering the drink, it was noticeable how it functioned to dry out the drink. A quick stir with the straw spoon would have solved this had I picked up on it earlier, or perhaps the dual level aspect was intentional.

No comments: