Ming River Tiki

It’s been a wild year and a half with lots of misinformation and unnecessary violence, including the horrifying rise in hate crimes against people of Asian descent. Misunderstanding, misplaced blame and anger have showed the ugliest side of many people in this country. That’s why I chose to create a cocktail that would highlight just a couple of the beautiful things coming out of Asia using the national spirit of China: , and soju, from Korea, to create a split-based tiki-inspired cocktail.

Baijiu translates to ‘white spirits’ in Mandarin and is usually distilled from sorghum, though it also can be made from rice, wheat, corn or millet. Just like other spirits, production methods differ with the region and style. The flavors have quite a range, and I chose Ming River Sichuan, which comes from the oldest operating distillery in China — it’s 400 year old! Baijiu itself is roughly 5,000 years old.

Soju hails from Korea and is distilled from rice. Haven’t heard of soju before? You’re in the minority: Soju is the best-selling in the world. It is often referred to as the ‘Korean ’ because of its similar flavor profile. This is good news for mixing: soju will go with most mixers, just like vodka!

Class adjourned — here’s a recipe using both spirits!

Ming River Tiki 2 ounces coconut water

1 1/2 ounces baijiu (Ming River Sichuan recommended)

1 ounce orgeat

1/2 ounce soju

1/2 ounce lychee syrup

1/4 ounce Carpano Botanic Bitter

Dash lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon white sesame seeds

1/4 teaspoon butter

Melt butter in a small pan and add sesame seeds, stirring until browned. Remove from heat.

Add coconut water, baijiu, soju, and lemon juice to a shaker with ice, shake and strain into a rocks glass over a king cube. Gently pour Carpano Botanic Bitter over the top so that it creates a thin floating layer. Sprinkle toasted sesame seeds on top for garnish.

The flavor profile is going to be tiki flavors with the creamy orgeat and the mango notes from the baijiu with the subtle fruity sweetness from the lychee. This all meets a slight bitter balance with the Carpano.

Cheers to well-crafted spirits from Asia and all over the world!

Served with a Twist: Sober or sober curious, mocktails are here to stay

As more and more people recognize the health benefits of not drinking (sorry guys — it’s delicious but not good for you), the mocktail revolution gains momentum every year. So whether you’re the DD, doing Sober September, or done with alcohol for good – your options are more vast than ever.

Where to Go

I went to Persimmon on Hope Street, which offers a house cocktail menu that can be served either alcoholic or nonalcoholic. If you want your drink nonalcoholic, you simply request it be “neutral.” I started with the neutral Amity Island Cooler: a raspberry forward delight that had the look and taste of summer. It was jammy and citrusy, and had surprising hints of cinnamon. The complexity of this mocktail is nothing short of impressive. Next, I ordered the neutral Mai Tai and was very curious about how this traditionally boozy cocktail would be presented without the booze. The mocktail was pineapple-forward, bright and citrusy, and very pretty.

Persimmon’s cocktail menu concept is not only respectful, refreshing and inclusive, it’s delicious! I highly recommend them for food and drink (whether neutral or not!).

Making Your Own

But you can’t dine at Persimmon every night. So I took the opportunity to try a couple nonalcoholic spirits by Seedlip, a distillery in LA. I chose the Citrus and the Herbal, and neither disappointed! It was hard to decide between the orange and lemon-forward notes of the Citrus or the fennel, dill and lime pith profile of the Herbal. Something about that Citrus called to me, though. It needed to be made into a nonalcoholic cosmopolitan!

My grandmother loves a good cosmo, so I made this in her honor. I hope she likes it, though she may be disappointed there’s no vodka.

Not Your Nana’s Cosmo

1 ½ oz Seedlip Citrus Nonalcoholic Spirit

¾ oz lime juice

½ oz simple syrup

¼ oz cranberry juice

1 edible flower

Add all ingredients, except the flower, to a shaker with ice, shake and strain into a coupe. Garnish with floating edible flower.

This is going to be more tart than a classic cosmopolitan because the Seedlip Citrus brings the lemon notes that aren’t usually present in a cosmo. A classic cosmo has vodka, orange liqueur, cranberry juice and lime juice. The Seedlip in my recipe takes the place of the vodka and the orange liqueur (it can do it all!).

So whether you’re sober for September, a day or for life, the options on liquor store shelves and on forward-thinking menus like at Persimmon are more plentiful than ever. Go forth and explore, enjoy and drink as much as you want!

Feeling No Dolor at Dolores: This Oaxacan restaurant offers up straight-forward and rarely seen cocktails

For my final patio of my summertime excursion (read the other articles in the series, too — Tiny Bar and Little Bitte), I chose Dolores. Dolores is a Oaxacan restaurant, and I’m a big fan of agave product; the choice was easy!

I started with a drink I’d never had before: an alcoholic tepache. Tepache is a traditional Mexican drink made with partially fermented fruit, often pineapple. This was a Tepache Collins with , fermented pineapple, spices and mineral water. Wow! I can’t believe it took me so long to fall in love with tepache. This drink has all the barnyard funk of a fermented fruit with the brightness of the lemon. It’s reminiscent of Riestra and French ciders, which I love because of the fermented funky notes. I could drink this all day, every day!

Next, I couldn’t resist a rarely seen Sotol based cocktail. Sotol is of the dasylirion genus, the name of the plant and the spirit are the same and translate to desert spoon. Sotol is a traditional spirit in Northern Mexico, but is a rare find in both liquor stores and bars, so I was really excited to see yet another gem in this authentic Oaxacan restaurant! The Sotol Sour is made with two different sotols, passionfruit, lime, panela (unrefined cane sugar), bitters and a red float. Oh my goodness! How could I have been even more pleasantly surprised by the Sotol Sour than I was the Tepache Collins? This cocktail was earthy and woody, with a hint of smoke and a mellow passionfruit finish. It was reminiscent of a New York Sour, a whiskey-based drink that I have always loved. Garnished with a dehydrated lime wheel and layered with the red wine float, this drink was as beautiful to taste as it was to look at it. I hope that this never comes off their menu and I can’t wait to make it back and have more!

So in conclusion: Dolores, let me count the ways I love you!

Frosé All Day

As if you needed another reason to drink rosé, frosé was invented! And the good news is you don’t have to be a master bartender to make a yummy frosé at home. Here’s a simple and easy recipe for making your own, with the added bonus of a little gin!

You will need:

1 bottle of rosé 1 ½ ounce simple syrup 1 ounce Kennay Farms Gin 1 ice cube tray (4 ounce cubes recommended)

Freeze 4 ounces of the rosé. The rosé should be left to freeze at least six hours. Remember, it’s alcohol, so it will take a while to freeze! I let mine sit overnight.

Once your rosé cubes are frozen, put two in your shaker (that will be 8 ounces) then add the simple syrup and gin. Shake a few times — not too much because these cubes are not as solid as ice cubes, they will quickly become slushy. Pour the contents into a large martini glass. Garnish with a dried rose bud (for aesthetic purposes only)!

I chose the Kennay Farms Gin because of its citrus notes. This gin isn’t super herbal, so I think it pairs well with rosé. But if you don’t care for gin or don’t have one that is citrusy on hand, that’s okay, you don’t need the gin at all in this drink to satisfy your craving for frosé.

The simple syrup, though, is a necessity. No frosé (that tastes good) exists without sugar added. This is because rosé will get bitter as it freezes. The wine cubes will oxidize in the freezer and the chemical compounds will change, which changes the flavor profile. Keep this in mind when choosing which rosé to freeze. Don’t spend a lot of money on this bottle because it’s not worth it.

Now go forth and impress your friends with this easy at-home recipe! Cheers!

Cilantro Sour If you’re like me, you can’t get enough herbal flavor when it comes to cocktails. I love anything with green chartreuse in it, but I feel like it’s a liqueur all too often reserved for winter or fall cocktails. The strong, complicated spirit has a nearly mythical background: produced by French monks with a highly protected secret recipe, only those who make it know the 130 plants and flowers used to create the signature flavor and color. (Fun fact: Chartreuse the color was named for the liqueur!)

So this month I decided to combine some of my favorite things — green chartreuse, cilantro and whiskey sours — to create a green chartreuse-based summer drink. I started by making a cilantro simple syrup. Here’s how:

Cilantro Simple Syrup

½ cup sugar

½ cup water

1 handful cilantro leaves Combine sugar and water, stir until sugar is dissolved

Add cilantro and allow to sit overnight

Strain and stir

Store in sealed container in the refrigerator

I like to do a cold infusion for cilantro syrups because when the simple syrup is warm, it will cook the cilantro and alter the flavor, making it taste more candied than I like.

Cilantro Sour

1 ½ ounces green chartreuse

1 ounce cilantro simple syrup

½ ounce lime juice

½ ounce lemon juice

Shake and pour into rocks glass

Express three cilantro sprigs by slapping them

Garnish with cilantro sprigs

This drink is going to hit you on the nose with that gorgeous cilantro you just expressed. It’s going to be green and summery – like a fresh salad! At first sip, you’ll get the herbal warmth of the green chartreuse, followed by the sour notes you know from a Whiskey Sour. The cilantro will end up being a subtle flavor in this drink, complementing the already present summery herbal notes of the green chartreuse.

So here’s to enjoying green chartreuse, no matter the weather! Cheers!

Little Bitte Magic: Signature style delivered on a new garden patio

In my continued quest for delicious drinks and beautiful ambience on a patio, Little Bitte’s new Garden Patio, called Bar Bitte, at the Bloom Collective was the perfect next stop. You enter the space through the parking lot, which is peppered with local artists and shops selling everything from candles to clothes. Little Bitte’s set-up is on the right, complete with a small bar and several tables with plenty of space between them. Of course, it wouldn’t be Little Bitte without flowers! Every table is graced with a small flower arrangement, and the bar itself is blooming with them.

The menu is large for such a small spot. It features a variety of spritz cocktails, from the classic Aperol Spritz to more esoteric ingredients. They also offer bottled cocktails and cocktails by the glass, several , beer, mocktails — even Topo Chico and cookies!

I started with the Bianca, which was from the Spritz menu featuring Suze, lemon and bubbles, garnished with an edible tulip petal from Wicked Tulips Flower Farm. The cocktail delivered with its signature herbal bitterness from the Suze, and lovely light lemongrass finish. And the tulip? It tasted like a fresh piece of Romaine lettuce!

Next I tried the Flora, with vodka, butterfly blossom, elderflower and citrus. The butterfly blossom made the drink a gorgeous purple color, reminiscent of an Aviation, and the cocktail tasted like everything you want from a summer tipple. It was light, bright and floral with more organic and edible buds for garnish.

Owner and operator Willa Van Nostrand took a moment from bartending to give me details on her summer plans. She aims to have the patio open Friday-Sunday all summer, allowing the crowd to dictate further hours. You can expect collaborations with food vendors, new and interesting beers and a safe, comfortable environment.

In short: Little Bitte’s Bar Bitte delivers all the delicate attention to detail the company has made itself known for. I highly recommend making it a must for your summer plans!

Bar Bitte at the Bloom Collective, 1455 Westminster St, PVD. Open Sat and Sun, noon to 5pm.

Cantaloupe Tonight

This month’s recipe isn’t more complicated than previous ones, but it does require more steps. Don’t be intimidated, I’m here for you! My goal was to make something super summery and refreshing so I made a simple cantaloupe lassi, which I paired with white rum and velvet falernum. The name of my cocktail is Cantaloupe Tonight: a nod to dad jokes and all the dads out there telling them. Happy Father’s Day!

For this recipe you will need:

Plain Greek yogurt Ground cinnamon 2 – 3 cinnamon sticks 1 large cantaloupe ½ Cup sugar ½ Cup water A blender

Cantaloupe Tonight Lassi

1 ½ oz white rum

½ oz velvet falernum

Top with the cantaloupe lassi (recipe below) Stir lightly to mix the alcohol and lassi

Garnish with a sprinkle of cinnamon

Cheers to summer and dad jokes!

Cantaloupe Lassi:

1/4 Chopped and peeled large cantaloupe (half if the cantaloupe is small)

1/2 Cup Greek yogurt

1 oz cinnamon simple syrup (recipe below)

Add all ingredients to a blender and blend until smooth and creamy

Note: You can keep this a nonalcoholic drink and consume as is!

Cinnamon Simple Syrup:

½ cup water

½ cup sugar

2 – 3 cinnamon sticks

Combine ingredients in a small saucepan over low heat, stir until sugar is dissolved, turn off heat

Allow the sticks to steep in the syrup (like tea) until it cools, then remove the sticks

Store in the refrigerator (this is a great syrup to have on hand for all you Tiki lovers!)

Tiny Bar, Big Punch: Our cocktail expert kicks off her summer patio tour Clarified Piña Colada at Tiny Bar

This month I took it upon myself to explore some local patios. I know, it’s very heroic of me, but I do it for you all!

I’m not a Providence local and I’ve only been in the city since August 2020. I picked a really great time to move to a new city, once again, I know! But since the vaccine has become more circulated and we are all safer as and the world opens up again, I’ve gotten to explore this gorgeous city more and more, and I’m loving what I’m seeing.

I had a great experience at Tiny Bar in April, so when they launched their summer menu in May, I went back to try some of the new cocktails. The staff was friendly, attentive and efficient. And the drinks – the drinks! I came for one and I had … well, more than one. I started with one of their staples: the Clarified Piña Colada. This was a light interpretation of a classic Piña Colada, with all the flavors you expect but without the heaviness of a traditional Piña Colada. It was so light and delicious – it went down almost too easily! Phoenix Down at Tiny Bar

Next, I tried the Phoenix Down, made with poblano liqueur, tea-infused rye, lemon, pineapple and cinnamon simple syrup. This was my favorite cocktail of the day. While it could have been a palate ruining drink with heavy spice, the genius behind this cocktail, bartender Birk Wozniak, made it balanced with a hint of herbal wood from the tea and cinnamon. Pineapple is a tough ingredient to work with in that it tends to easily overpower other flavors, but the spice of the poblano liqueur blended well with the pineapple, which was lit up by the bright lemon. Every time I took a sip, I tried to identify another one of the complex flavors. It was a really gorgeous drink: savory, spicy and sweet. I could’ve had a pitcher!

What I’m saying is that Tiny Bar’s tiny attention to detail pays off, in more ways than one, I’d highly recommend you visit them. This summer you can also expect pop-ups and live music! So follow Tiny Bar on Instagram for all their big news and enjoy the al fresco patio this summer! Rum Old Fashioned: The unsung hero of the tipple community

For the theme of this month’s recipe, I decided to go with one of the unsung heroes of the liquor world — and there are a lot of them. Aquavit, for example, is one of my favorite rarely mentioned spirits. But as far as cocktails go, I’d have to say the Rum Old Fashioned is definitely one of the unsung heroes of the tipple community. Why? I’m glad you asked.

People love whiskey, people love rum. But a lot of people who are loyal whiskey or rum drinkers don’t always realize how well classic cocktails exchanging the two spirits work. The Rum Old Fashioned is one of those cocktails, at least in my opinion, and it’s delicious.

Many people ask for Old Fashioneds without entirely realizing what they’re ordering. All they know is that it’s whiskey-based and yummy and hey – that’s totally okay! But if you substitute the whiskey in an Old Fashioned for an aged rum, you won’t be angry. Think about it: Aged rum is going to have a lot of the familiar woody, vanilla and caramel notes that a lot of whiskeys offer. I’d suggest this trick with many classics, especially those that call for bourbon.

Rum Old Fashioned

1 Sugar cube (or roughly the same amount of sugar) placed in a rocks glass 1 Dash Orange Bitters

4 Dashes Angostura Bitters

¼ oz Filtered water

Muddle cube until sugar starts to dissolve

Add 2 oz aged rum (Old Monk or Plantation recommended)

Stir until sugar is dissolved

Add ice, give one quick stir

Garnish with a Maraschino Cherry (Luxardo recommended)

Cheers to the unsung heroes!

The Magic of Magic Mushrooms: Psilocin and psilocybin and their effects on depression

Cannabis is slowly becoming legalized, so it makes sense that other natural drugs could follow suit. Hallucinogenic mushrooms are one of those drugs, itching to become legalized, so that they may be appreciated for their medicinal potential. They are a polarizing topic, but understanding the benefits, especially when discussing depression and other anxiety disorders, is imperative.

The Anxiety and Depression Association of America (AADA) reports that 18.1% of Americans suffer from anxiety disorders. Most cases are treated with anti-depressants, which utilize ketamine or ketamine-like drugs to diminish some or all depressive symptoms. But ketamine and similar drugs have their negatives. Ketamine can numb the senses, and people report having trouble speaking while on it. Ketamine also can become addictive and our bodies can build a tolerance to it, which means we need higher and higher doses in order for it to remain effective. And then there’s the problem with finding the right dose and brand.

Prescribed anti-depressants do not always work and we often have to try different doses and brands, constantly tipping the scale of our body’s chemicals to find the right balance. This process can take weeks, months or years. The problem is that we are all different, and our anxieties and depressions are different, too. But the findings in a recent Johns Hopkins study shocked researchers when they saw the effects of psilocin and psilocybin impacting different patients in consistent, positive manners.

Psilocin and psilocybin are the two principle chemicals in magic mushrooms, which produce hallucinogens. In the research process, those two chemicals are isolated by doctors and researchers, who micro-dose patients who have depression in order to treat the symptoms. A 2014 Johns Hopkins study focused primarily on terminally ill cancer patients suffering from depression as they dealt with their impending deaths. The results were so positive that it led to another, more recent study.

In the following Johns Hopkins study, published in November of 2020, researchers stated that: “…two doses of the psychedelic substance psilocybin, given with supportive psychotherapy, produced rapid and large reductions in depressive symptoms, with most participants showing improvement and half of study participants achieving remission through the four-week follow-up.”

Tim Ferriss, who supported and funded the campaign for the most recent John Hopkins study said: “I believe this study to be a critically important proof of concept for the medical approval of psilocybin for treatment of depression […]. How do we explain the incredible magnitude and durability of effects? Treatment research with moderate to high doses of psychedelics may uncover entirely new paradigms for understanding and improving mood and mind.”

The study is the tip of the iceberg when it comes to medicinal potential for hallucinogenic mushrooms. Magic mushrooms have been known to aid in the cure and management of cluster headaches, alcohol and nicotine addiction, and even obsessive-compulsive disorder. Still, magic mushrooms — like marijuana — are classified as Schedule 1 drugs, meaning that they are considered high-risk for addiction and have no official recognized medicinal usage.

But despite the government dragging its ultra-conservative feet, scientists push forward in research to prove the medicinal benefits of hallucinogenic mushrooms. Once there is enough research and proof, the goal is to get FDA approval to use this natural medicine. The closest anyone has come as of yet, is COMPASS Pathways receiving the FDA Breakthrough Therapy approval in 2018. Breakthrough Therapy approval from the FDA is granted if initial evidence proves that the new drug could be a large enough improvement over any current therapeutic methods. I am personally really looking forward to what happens with COMPASS’ research.

So what can we expect in the future? I believe that utilizing hallucinogenic mushrooms for medicinal use will continue to be a slow, uphill battle, though it is in the realm of possibility now more than ever. I find it very uplifting to see that studies are being conducted and well-funded by reputable companies in order to move closer to this goal.