Drink 26: The African Violet (Part II)

The Name: The African Violet                                                                                

The Bar: The Cellar at Beecher's Handmade Cheese (900 Broadway, NYC)

The Story Behind The Name: In my last post, I explained all about how I have a younger sibling who just happens to be an African violet named Irving. And then explained how I tried to order a drink with this name, only to instead be given a drink with the worrying name "The African Violence." If you missed it, be sure to catch up here.

Ordering The Drink: A couple days after I first tried to order The African Violet, I went to catch a movie with my friend Kenny, who has been there when I got several of these drinks (the movie, by the way, was Jupiter Ascending which is one of the most glorious and ridiculous things I've ever seen). We ended up seeing the film later than previously anticipated, and decided to grab a quick bite to eat beforehand. We ended up going to Beecher's Handmade Cheese, a famous cheese shop in Seattle which also has an outpost in New York's Flatiron District, which has won awards for its mac and cheese. Unsurprisingly, I am a big fan. It's really great--even better than the amazing Mac and Cheese I had at Jacob's Pickles.

I mean, look at this.

We got there after the official lunchtime had ended, and happy hour had just begun. We went to a little underground bar area called "The Cellar" that was just very cool--it felt like a sort of a secret medieval room. Very neat--and even if it was a bit dungeonesque, it felt like a bit of an oasis from the hustle and bustle of the city.

The decor at The Cellar

To my surprise, The Cellar also boasts a really impressive classic cocktail menu (the drinks are inspired by the architect Stanford White and his womanizing reputation). I had come there for cheese, but it became clear that this was the perfect place to get The African Violet. One of the cocktails on the menu--the Bedrock--even had Creme De Violette in it, so this was perfect.

So, I ordered a cocktail and mac and cheese. Kenny went the much more sophisticated route and ordered a cheese plate and a glass of red wine.

I told him to "look intelligent" and this was the best he could do.

The bartender--a really friendly young guy named David-- came to our table to take our order. When I explained that I wanted a drink called The African Violet, he seemed on board with the idea, but also seemed fairly tentative in terms of coming up with a drink. As he thought, he said "Usually when people say they have a strange request, it isn't all that strange. But...this definitely is a strange request." He mentioned that he'd definitely put Creme de Violette in it, which is an obvious choice but definitely strikes me as the right one (for those who don't know, it's actually made from the violet flower and is usually violet in color), but was having a tough time with the rest of the drink. "I don't want to do anything insensitive," he said, which struck me as a strange comment, but also, yeah, I don't want a racist drink. It's funny, I've thought about ordering this drink for a while, and had always thought it would be one of the easier drink names, so I'm surprised it's given these bartenders so much trouble!

Trouble or not, after a while, David returned with my drink

The Drink:

The African Violet, with Kenny's cheese plate in the background.

Espolon Tequila

Cranberry juice

Lime juice

Simple Syrup

Creme de violette to finish

Lemon and lime garnish

Assessment of Drink: This was great--the tequila, cranberry, and lime combination is pretty classic, but this was very nice and well balanced. Tequila is tricky--it's incredibly delicious, but can also be overpowering. In many tequila drinks, the tequila is either overpowering or not present. I worried when David put the drink down that the latter would be the case--and that the addition of the simple syrup might make the drink overly sweet. But this drink was quite well made. The use of cranberry and lime is a familiar combination in particular (most people have at one point had a Cosmopolitan, which made with vodka, cranberry, lime, and triple sec) so this drink already felt like a standard. I do wish the creme de violette had been more present. It's a very subtle flavor--on its own it is distinctly sweet and floral, but is certainly a much more muted flavor than a lot of liqueurs, and often serves as an accent to a drink. The most famous creme de violette cocktail is probably the Aviation, which is creme de violette, gin, lemon juice, and maraschino liqueur. Here, the gin and lemon juice are also quieter flavors so the creme de violette has a chance to really affect the profile of the drink. When paired with something like tequila, however, the creme de violette was pretty lost, and I wouldn't have been able to identify in the drink had I not been told it was there. That doesn't mean it didn't have an affect on the drink--it probably brought out the sweetness of the cranberry as opposed to the tartness, for example--but on its own it was lost on me. But, I very much enjoyed the drink. I'd certainly order it again...although I want to try one of the more traditional cocktails on the menu at The Cellar first. And I'll have the chance--I definitely have to return there sometime for both drinks and cheese, two of the greatest things on earth.

My next blog will be called "What's That Cheese" and it's just where people feed me cheese. I'm really excited for it.

Does It Live Up To The Name: Not really. I'm glad (and unsurprised) that this drink had creme de violette in it, but for a drink with "violet" in the name, I would think that it might have been more present. Honestly, I kind of wanted a purple drink, which this certainly was not. Now, David had mentioned that he was struggling to think of a way to incorporate the "African" part of the name, and his strategy here seemed to be to just ignore it entirely. Granted, it's tough, but tequila--specifically when he mentioned a specific brand like Espolon, which he did--is so very identifiable with Mexico that it is not even possible to consider it as African. And then flavors like cranberry and lime don't really help make the drink feel more African. It definitely is tough to make a drink that feels African, but David didn't do himself any favors by bringing in flavors which are decidedly reminiscent of another region of the globe altogether.

The most identifiably African liqueur is something called Amarula, which is a cream liqueur like Bailey's but African instead of Irish, and with more flavors of fruit and caramel. And while Amarula is not necessarily a staple of most bars, and most people might not know about it, if I were to make a drink, i might want to go the route of making a creamy drink based on that. Especially since I think that creme de violette would pair really well with a creamier drink. Maybe we could bring in flavors like banana or cinnamon which are common in Africa. I will admit that this drink name was a lot tougher than I would have initially thought, but I still think that it could have been conveyed much better than what I've gotten twice now.

So, all in all, I don't think this drink really represented the African Violet. But "Irving" is an unconventional name for an African violet, after all, and the two drinks I've gotten in pursuit of this name have both been rather yummy. And I'll definitely be returning to The Cellar--I've known about Beecher's award-winning cheeses for a long time, but I'm glad that I stumbled upon its secret underground bar, almost by accident. It's a really cool place with really great drinks, that are certainly worth checking out.

The check comes on a little cheeseboard which is adorable. Kenny tried to chop off his fingers on it, which is less adorable.