A whirlwind drinking tour of Portland
My liver and I are still recovering from Martin and his lovely wife’s visit to our fair city.
A few of the highlights:
Great steaks, where Rare means Rare, at Ringside Steakhouse. The drink for that evening was the Monte Carlo. It’s sweet, tasty, and the Bénédictine just matches the sweetness of the Rye in a profound way.
Monte Carlo
- 1 1/2 Rye (Sazerac Rye recommended)
- 1/2 Bénédictine
- dash Angostura Bitters
Stir with Ice, strain into cocktail glass.
Clyde Common, at the Ace Hotel, has a rather amazing Whiskey and Bourbon selection, and makes an in-house Tonic and Ginger Beer. The Dark and Stormy uses freshly grated ginger, and the Gin and Tonic uses Hendricks with their home tonic and a few slices of cucumber. Both are fantastic, though the fresh grated ginger would drive my Dark and Stormy through the roof, as I’m prone to using Cock ‘n Bull Ginger beer.
Jake’s Famous Crawfish has been around since 1892, and still has the piss trough to prove it. Yes, under the bar lies a tiled trough and drain, because every moment counts when you’re out drinking. Had a damned decent French 75 there.
Learned a lovely technique on making Spanish Coffee at Huber’s. First, give a nice inch deep or so sugar crust on a white wine glass, fill with 151, and light the alcohol. Swirl the glass about to rotate the flames, baking the sugar a bit. Then, add a touch of triple sec, plenty of Kahlua, top with coffee, whipped cream, and nutmeg. It’s fantastic.
The ambiance at Thatch was fantastic as always, and the food a delight. The drinks though, leave much to be desired. A Tiki bar without passion fruit syrup, well… it just ain’t right! C’mon Robert, get it in gear! (prior to 08-13-08 this has been remedied!)
I can’t even finish this brief write-up I’m still so reeling. In the morning, I may just need another Brandy Milk Punch to set me right.
Tags: Ace Hotel, Clyde Common, Dark and Stormy, Gin and Tonic, Huber's, monte carlo, portland, ringside, Spanish Coffee, Thatch
We were pleased to hoist a few with Martin and the missus when they stopped by Vessel last night. If our babysitter had a little more vitality, we would have made it to Zig Zag, too — hopefully our out-of-towners had the full experience.
I’m just sad we couldn’t make it to Seattle, again.
Been in the area a year and still haven’t made the trip. I’d really like to have some time to kill there, but the looming drive and workday just didn’t bode well for proper drinking.