Drink 38: The Curse of the Oyster Bar (Part II)

The Name: The Curse of the Oyster Bar                                                                                 

The Bar: On the Rocks (696 10th Ave., NYC)

The Story Behind The Name: A seafood restaurant called Dock's has brought nothing but bad luck to me and my family. And that bad luck continued when I got rejected by a bar when I first tried to order this drink! You can read about that experience, and about the horrible things that happened every time my family tried to eat at Dock's, in Part I here.

Ordering The Drink: A few days after I was at Death & Co., I met some more friends for drinks in Times Square. After first stopping at The Rum House, where I've had a great drink before, we left in search of a less expensive option, and settled on On The Rocks, which I'd never heard of before. Things in the theatre district tend to be a mixture of tourist traps and then great New York institutions. On The Rocks fits firmly in the latter category--it's a small place with a vast whiskey collection that has a very local and quiet feel. It's one of the few Times Square bars that really has a neighborhood feel. Plus, we discovered that they offer a 20% off discount for members of Actor's Equity, which not only made my wallet happy, but also reinforced that they are supportive of the locals (read: struggling and not struggling artists). I finished off an impeccable whiskey sour, and decided to see if I could finally get a drink called The Curse of the Oyster Bar.

The bartender--and I think the only person working in the entire bar--was a friendly and dapperly-dressed guy named Josh. I told him I had a weird request for him. "I doubt it's THAT weird," he said. "You say that NOW..." I replied and told him my request. After I gave him the name The Curse of the Oyster Bar, he was silent for a long time and lost in thought.

"I'm going to do something weird," he said.

"Great! I told you it was a weird request," I said. Soon, a drink was placed before me.

The Drink:

The Curse of the Oyster Bar

Tequila

Lemon Juice

Sugar

Frost Bitters

Whiskey float 

Assessment of Drink: As soon as Josh set this drink down, he apologized. "I made something awesome," he said, "but then I tried to add a whiskey float to it and I think I ruined it. If you don't like it, I'll make another one without the float."

But I tried it, and I liked it a lot! My friends Christa and James tasted it too and also thought it was great. Josh seemed surprised. "I guess I just know what it HAD tasted like and I liked that better. But I'm glad you like it," he said

The secret ingredient here are the frost bitters. Frost bitters, a variety of bitter I was not aware of, have a unique taste that's a bit reminiscent of menthol. It's almost medicinal but in a good way, and has a briney taste like old-fashioned licorice. Josh let me smell the bitters and it's evident that this is a very strong ingredient, and probably a difficult one to use as it would threaten to overpower any other flavor in the drink. And while it's certainly a prominent taste in The Curse of the Oyster Bar, it didn't feel like it overpowered anything. Probably due to the sugar, which softened some of the abrasiveness of the frost bitters. The sugar also tempered the lemon, highlighting its sweetness as opposed to the sour or bitter flavors. It made this a remarkably easy drink to sip. Considering that it had both whiskey and tequila, it could have easily felt too strong for most casual drinkers, but it went down very easily. The tequila and whiskey were both prominent flavors, but the combination of the frost bitters, lemon, and sugar, served well to temper the strength while still preserving the flavor. I really liked it!

But, I was curious about how disappointed Josh was with his effort. He clearly thought this drink was better without the whiskey float (a technique where the drink is layered--in this case, the whiskey was sitting on the top of the drink rather than being mixed in with the rest of it). I asked if he'd be willing to make me the same drink but without the whiskey float and he happily obliged.

The drinks look almost exactly alike.

The drinks are very different, to be sure. Despite the only difference being the whiskey, it was amazing how different these two drinks tasted. But while I liked both drinks, I didn't find this one to be so clearly superior as Josh did. I actually liked the whiskey on top--since it's not incorporated into the rest of the drink, it comes in as a bit of an aftertaste, which adds a bit more dimension to the drink I think.

But I can also understand why Josh liked the second drink better--without the whiskey in there, the tequila came through much clearer. Considering that this bar is called On The Rocks, its emphasis is less on mixed drinks and more on highlighting the quality of the spirit. And that's something that the non-whiskey version managed to do better. The various ingredients were used to enhance the tequila--the whiskey competes with it. More serious drinkers would probably agree with Josh and like the second drink more. For me, I still liked the kick of whiskey at the end--it was a nice little surprise.

Does It Live Up To The Name: My first thought is that the frost bitters make this drink fit the name. They had a slightly briny flavor that could arguably put one in mind of the sea. It's a loose connection, but it's one that I made as I considered why this drink might be called The Curse of the Oyster Bar.

But I wasn't completely sold. The connection to oysters was tenuous. But even more lacking was the actual "curse" part. There was nothing sinister about this drink--nothing to imply a curse. So, I ultimately didn't really think it lived up to the name too much. Especially since Josh already used a layering technique by floating the whiskey, it might have been cool if there had been a floating of something like absinthe, or some sort of red mixer that could have made a big impression and maybe implied some sort of curse. When I think of curses, I don't usually think of lemons.

That being said, I bet that Josh had a reason for assigning this drink to the given name. He put a lot of thought into it and crafted this drink with much precision. So I have a feeling that if I had inquired as to why he came up with this drink, he might have had a good explanation.

I'll definitely be returning to On The Rocks--and not just for the Equity member discount! It's a Times Square bar that doesn't feel like a Times Square bar. That might be because it's technically in Hell's Kitchen, not Midtown, but you say tomato and I say tomato. It has a great selection of whiskey and beer, and is a nice quiet oasis from the hustle and bustle of one of NYC's busiest areas. The drinks were good enough that they might have shaken the curse of Dock's off of me for good. And, after being rejected the first time I tried to order this drink, it was great to find a place that made me TWO drinks instead of just one.