Drink 40: The Birthday Shirt

The Name: The Birthday Shirt                                                                              

The Bar: The Tippler (425 West 15th St., NYC)

The Story Behind The Name: It was my birthday last week! Happy birthday to me! I'll pause while you sing in celebration of your favorite cocktail blogger becoming one year older!

December 4th is not just my birthday, it is also the anniversary of the only actively bad drink I've ever gotten for this blog. Regular readers will surely remember the debacle of The Brave Potato, a drink I ordered on my birthday two years ago and which left a bad taste in my mouth, both literally and figuratively. It was a disaster. It was such a disaster, in fact, that last year, I didn't even order a What's-That-Drink cocktail because I was worried I might have a similar experience. I also didn't order a drink because last year I celebrated at a bar called The Ginger Man, which has one of the best beer selections in the city, but is not exactly known for their mixed drinks. 

But this year, I decided that I had to order a birthday drink and hopefully the results would be better than two years prior.

But while I didn't order an unusual drink on my birthday last year, I did do something special at The Ginger Man: I wore a shirt. I know, you're thinking that most people wear shirts in polite society, but this wasn't just any shirt. It was a special shirt that I had never worn before. And it looks like this.

 

It might not look too weird on the clothes hanger, but this shirt is quite odd. The middle is white, but then the sleeves and collar and cuffs are not, so you look kind of like you're wearing a vest. And then the collar, cuffs, and right sleeve are all a purple checkered pattern, but the left arm is inexplicable robin's egg blue. On top of all that, there are the rather prominent black buttons which just add together to make the shirt perplexing. I had bought it because I liked how unusual it was. It's a well-made garment, but it really does look like someone made a terrible mistake while making this and accidentally put the wrong sleeve in. Or someone had started making a shirt and realized they didn't have enough white fabric, so they decided to use the purple check fabric for the rest of the shirt, but then realized they didn't have enough of THAT, so they just went, "fuck it" and made one sleeve blue because they had to finish this shirt because they were on a deadline. Maybe the shirt was put into a futuristic matter transporter with two other shirts and the atoms got jumbled out and the three shirts melded into one. No matter why this shirt was made, I like it. I like clothes that people are confused by when they look at you.

And other people liked it too! Almost everyone who came to my birthday last year said "I like that shirt," and we all theorized how this shirt had come into being. The person who seemed most enthusiastic about the shirt last year was my friend David, who recently joined me for The Psychic Squirrel a few months ago. On my birthday, we planned to meet at another time, and he told me that we could grab dinner only if I wore the same shirt. I don't think he was joking.

After my birthday, I went to put the shirt away and reflected on how well-received its first outing had been. "What a great shirt!" I thought to myself. I then proceeded to completely forget that it was in my closet and didn't wear it again.

Until last week. As I was going through my closet on my birthday last Friday, I happened to see the shirt and realized that I had to wear it again. And thus, a tradition is born. It is now officially my birthday shirt. And I, forever and always, will only wear it on my birthday. Or if someone invites me to a weird shirt party.

Ordering The Drink: One of my favorite places in New York City is Chelsea Market, a large indoor market and food hall located in, you guessed it, Chelsea. I've been there multiple times (it's one of my go-to places to take friends who are visiting the city), but I had not been to their underground bar, The Tippler. I'd heard great things about it, though, and I do love Chelsea Market, so I figured this would be the perfect place to celebrate my birthday. It was a great selection--The Tippler is a huge space, but also feels very cozy. By arriving early, I was lucky enough to nab a large wooden table right at the entrance to the bar, and as friends trickled in, I had several cocktails from off the menu and all were delicious. Plus, as you would expect from a bar located in a sprawling culinary market, the food was great. And some of the cocktails even contained ingredients that I knew I had seen in the various storefronts above--most notably a variety of unusual bitters. I immediately knew The Tippler was a great choice for a birthday celebration, and was excited to play What's That Drink there.

I will confess that I initially was going to order a drink with a different name entirely, but as had happened the year before, my shirt had once again become a topic of conversation. Most interestingly, David--my friend who had been the most intrigued by the shirt last year--not only didn't remember the shirt at all, but seemed to actively dislike it this time around. "I wore this shirt just for you!" I told him. "I really wish you hadn't," he replied.

Given that the birthday shirt was now officially a tradition, my friend Morgan suggested that I order a drink called The Birthday Shirt. I agreed that that was a good idea. Morgan was incredibly pleased with himself, and told everybody multiple times how he was the one who came up with the name. I'm letting you know this because I always believe that credit should be given where credit is due. So, thank you Morgan. I hope you appreciate this acknowledgment.

The server--who was fantastic and was attentive all night even though the bar was very busy-- came to our table and I explained the weird drink order. Our server seemed to love the idea, although she did express some slight concern about explaining it to the bartenders. She seemed to think they might feel like I was trying to test them, but I assured her that there was not a specific drink I was looking for and that anything they put in the drink I'd be happy with. "Maybe give me a hint about what type of spirit you want?" she suggested. But I refused and told her I wanted their interpretation of The Birthday Shirt without any input from me. Given her apprehension, I repeated that if they didn't want to do it, she could let me know and I'd totally understand. But she smiled mischievously and said, "Oh no, I'll definitely find someone who'll do it," and walked off.

In a bit she came back holding both a drink and a shot in her hand.

The Drink:
"Is this The Birthday Shirt?!" I asked when she'd returned.

"Well...not exactly." she put the drinks on the table. The shot was topped with whipped cream and rainbow sprinkles, which certainly seemed festive. "This is a birthday shot," she explained. "And the bartender said that maybe someone with a speech impediment would call it a birthday shirt." I asked her what was in the shot, and she pointed it out on the menu: lemon vodka, frangelico, and Bailey's, topped of course with whipped cream and sprinkles. Our server rolled her eyes as she relayed the bartender's explanation. It was clear that she thought they had copped out quite a bit and wished that she was bringing me something more fun, unusual, and off-the menu.

"But, on top of the birthday shot, we're also bringing you our old fashioned with muddled cherries. On the house. Hope that's okay." I assured her that a free old fashioned was always welcome and thanked her. Then, I took the shot.

Me wearing the birthday shirt, while holding the birthday shot. The old fashioned is on the table, and my friend Alex is in the background completely undermining my attempts to look dignified and wise beyond my years.

Assessment of Drink: Not much to complain about flavorwise. The crew at The Tippler knows what they're doing, and both the birthday shot and the old fashioned were excellent. Birthday cake shots are actually fairly common, but this one was well-balanced and not as overly sweet as birthday cake shots tend to be. And the old fashioned was really great. A poorly made old fashioned tends to just be watered-down whiskey, but when you have a good old fashioned you realize that the process that goes behind making this drink well really does elevate it. In this instance, they had the brilliant idea to muddle cherries along with the sugar and bitters. Rather than just getting the customary maraschino cherry garnish, there was a nice undertone of cherry throughout which didn't dominate the flavor profile but also added a nice tartness. It was very well-crafted.

When they were placed on the table, the idea was clearly that these were two separate entities. One shot, and one drink. But since they were both served in response to my order, I decided to think about how they worked as a pairing. I wondered if doing the shot right before might have had any effect on the old fashioned. Maybe it would bring out some natural sweetness of the cocktail? But...yeah it really didn't. There's no cohesion between the shot and the drink. So, my attempts to justify the two as a pairing didn't really work, and they remained separate entities in my mind. But the were delicious entities at the very least.

Does It Live Up To The Name: I guess there is some cleverness is going "Birthday Shirt sounds like Birthday Shot," although the specificity of bringing speech impediments into the equation seemed unnecessary and lightly mean-spirited. But, still, it was a little disappointing to receive two things directly off the menu. The challenge really wasn't met. And so, as far as What's That Drink is concerned, I've now struck out twice on my birthday.

But, from a non-blogging standpoint, it was still a great order. The birthday shot was fun (in fact, later in the evening, I did another round of birthday shots with my friend Nick). And it's hard to be too disappointed in a bar's service when they give you a free drink--especially one as excellent as that old fashioned. So, much like the birthday shirt itself, it's hard to know what to make of the Birthday Shirt What's That Drink experience. I may not have left with a never-before-crafted custom cocktail, but I had a great time with some great friends at a great bar. While wearing a great shirt.

Drink 39: The Cotton Frog

The Name: The Cotton Frog                                                                                 

The Bar:  Bathtub Gin (132 9th Ave., NYC)

The Story Behind The Name: It's hard to believe that this blog is two years old. Two years ago, I happened to be at a bar with some good friends and, on a whim, ordered a drink with a weird name.

Now, two years and almost 40 drinks later, this has become a thing that I do.

I'm very lucky to have regular readers and many wonderful friends who have fueled my quest to irritate and/or intrigue every bartender I meet with my really weird request. And I would like to thank all of those bartenders who have indulged me and made me weird drinks--it has been heartening to know that my request is almost always greeted with enthusiasm (ALMOST always...) and I've had some really phenomenal and unusual drinks thanks to the many bartenders who have embraced this challenge. It's really been a blast.

And so, of course, I had to get a drink to celebrate the two-year anniversary of the blog. Last year, my friend Ryan and I grabbed a drink to celebrate, since he was present at this blog's creation. And this year, we made plans to meet again, and went to a phenomenal bar called Bathtub Gin. Now, all we needed was a custom name.

For the one-year anniversary, I ordered the Honey Milked From the Teats of Zeus in a blatant attempt to receive the most delicious drink I would ever taste in my life (and the bartender came pretty damn close). This year, I wanted to make it a little more personal. Most people are familiar with the tradition that, for wedding anniversaries, there are different types of gifts you customarily get due based on the number of years being celebrated. So, the one-year anniversary, you traditionally get a gift made of paper. After twenty five years, it's a gift made of silver. After fifty years, it's gold. I did some research and found out the customary two-year present is a gift made of cotton. I also found out that the sixth anniversary present is traditionally a gift of "candy or iron," which is super weird because those are two very different things. But, I figured that cotton would be a great word to include in the drink name. One, it would honor the fact that this blog is two years old. And, secondly, we were going to a bar that specializes in gin drinks. GIN drinks. Get it? Cotton gin? Like the cotton gin?! THE COTTON GIN?!?! Eh? Eh?!?!

That pun is great and you know it. Shut up.

But I needed more to this drink name. And I thought back to the very first What's That Drink cocktail--The Frog Hitler. And so I decided to order a cocktail called The Cotton Frog. This way, I could pay homage to the drink that started this all, and celebrate the two years of ordering weird drinks at once!

And, The Cotton Frog sounds much more appealing than The Cotton Hitler.

Ordering The Drink: Bathtub Gin is a wonderful speakeasy in New York. It's hidden in the wall of Stone Street Coffee in Chelsea, so you can have coffee during the day and then drinks at night. Once you go in, it's a really neat place, which fully embraces the speakeasy theme even more than other hidden bars I've been to. As we were going in, we were informed that there would be a surprise burlesque show that night. We were also told that, because of the burlesque show, we were absolutely not allowed to take any pictures or video. If we were seen using our cell phones, someone from the bar would confiscate it. That was enough for me to not take any pictures.

But if Ryan and I had been there on a non-burlesque night, I would have taken multiple pictures of the cool interior of this place. It has a lovely Victorian theme, and the centerpiece of the whole place is a giant copper bathtub in the middle of the room.

But, most importantly, the drinks were great. I first ordered a gin-based drink called The Sherry Cobbler, since gin is their specialty. But Ryan got a fantastic whiskey based drink and, even better, later got a a fascinating drink served hot that contained ale and sherry and all kinds of great things. It tasted like a fancy beer float crossed with eggnog crossed with a hot toddy. It was beautiful.

And it was really a pleasure watching the bartenders work. The bar was very crowded, even on a Tuesday night, so we didn't get to really study the bartenders, but it was clear that they were crafting these drinks with precision. We saw bartenders lighting orange peels on fire and measuring in fancy beakers and grating nutmeg with a flourish. It was great to watch.

And so I was very glad when the bartender agreed to my drink request for The Cotton Frog. Without hesitation he said, "Alright!" and set to work. In not too long, I got my drink.

The Drink:  

Since I had turned my phone off in fear of the bouncer's warning, I didn't get a picture of this drink, but it looked...for lack of a better word...fluffy. It was white and foamy and delicate. Almost graceful, if you can use such a word to describe a cocktail's appearance. I asked the bartender what was in it, and he began to rattle off the ingredients. But, as I've already mentioned, the bar was crowded, and the noise level was pretty high. When he finished, I said, "I missed all of that," and he jokingly said, "Well that's the only time I'm saying it!" He then repeated the list of ingredients...and I think I got all of them? I'll be honest, I might have missed something. But I'm about 90% sure this is the correct drink recipe. Which is pretty sure, but I still wanted to provide a disclaimer.

Gin

Lime juice

Cream

Egg

Green Chartreuse

 

Assessment of Drink: This was incredible. Really, absolutely delicious. I'm a sucker for cocktails that include lime in them. As one of the more vibrant of the citrus fruits, lime is perhaps the most consistent way to add a dash of acid to a drink, which makes the flavors of the drink bright and refreshing. Also, as acidity tends to do, it serves to highlight the flavors it interacts with, and that's always nice when it comes to cocktails. Especially when you have such a subtle flavor such as gin.

The lime was certainly the most assertive flavor, but not too overpowering. You could still taste the freshness of the cream and the subtle sweetness of the chartreuse. It was, in many ways, a dessert drink. But unlike most dessert drinks, it was not too sweet thanks to the lime.

The texture was also on point--the drink itself had a lot of foam which clung to the sides of the glass and which I licked clean in a most undignified manner. The drink itself, under all the foam, was velvety and buttery and lush, but still quite light and airy.

And, it should be noted, this is the type of drink that only a trained bartender can make. I certainly wouldn't be able to replicate it--especially considering the use of the egg, this drink showcased a lot of skill and know-how.

When I closed out my tab, the bartender asked how the drink was. I thought for a second and said "It was like drinking a key lime pie cloud." I'm pretty happy with that description. It's surprisingly accurate, I think, and it also sounds marketable. "Try The Cotton Frog today, it's like drinking a key lime pie cloud!" This is one of the select drinks I've gotten for this blog where it was good enough that I actually think it could be on the cocktail menu at the bar--if anyone from Bathtub Gin is reading this, consider The Cotton Frog for the next time you change your menu. All the cocktails I tried there were delicious, but I think The Cotton Frog was actually my favorite.

Does It Live Up To The Name: Yes it does! The Cotton Frog was, I think, a deceptively challenging name. It would be easy to show cotton. Even if you don't think of my groanworthy cotton-gin-pun, making a completely white drink would automatically make the word "cotton" make sense. And the word frog would also be easy to show--just make a green drink. But it's impossible to have both a green and a white drink.

The bartender at Bathtub Gin was able to find a way around this. He went with a white drink, but the fact that it had both lime and green chartreuse was enough, to me, to represent the idea of a green frog. So it worked very well. It was both a delicious drink, and an excellent fit for the name.

Bathtub Gin was a really wonderful place. Any bar that you have to enter by going through a hidden panel in a wall is automatically cool, and Bathtub Gin really goes all out with its atmosphere. Unfortunately, Ryan and I left shortly after the burlesque show begins. The bar was busy, and all of the tables where you can actually sit and relax were reserved (definitely try to make a reservation if you plan on going). The room was too crowded and I was too short to be able to see anything. Although I know that the pre-show act did something that involved fire because there was a sudden flash and everyone went "ooooh," and then the first act performed to a very cool cover of Besame Mucho.

But despite our early departure, Bathtub Gin was a rousing success, and the perfect place to celebrate two years of this blog. Many thanks to my readers these past two years--and I look forward to sharing more drinks and more stories with you all!