New Spring Cocktails at Oyster House

Photo by Jason Varney

On a recent unseasonably warm March afternoon, I stopped in to Sansom Street’s Oyster House to try out several of the restaurant’s new cocktails. Head bartender/bar manager Lindsey Krueger, a Franklin Mortgage and Village Whiskey vet has been at Oyster House for four years and has built up quite the selection of gins behind the bar, a collection that is put to good use in the latest Oyster House cocktail list.

Bartender Colin O’Neill, himself a Franklin Mortgage alum mixed up the cocktails as I sampled the day’s oysters, house-cured gravalax and decided to wear the delicious barbecue oysters.

Up first was the Hotline Bling, a guzzle-able concoction of Tanqueray 10, cognac, green tea-lemongrass syrup, lime and grapefruit juices and finished with grapefruit bitters and fresh mint. That was followed up with The Royal We, a flip made with Pennsylvania’s barrel aged Wigle Ginever, genever, lemon, sugar, simple syrup, cucumber, sage, bitters, sparkling wine and egg white. It was a frothy and fun drink, especially when paired with the minerally oysters.

The tentatively named Cantaloupe Collins is as spring as can be with Death’s Door Gin as the base and cantaloupe syrup as the star.

It isn’t only gin behind the Oyster House bar. The Charming Yam uses Espolon Reposado Tequila, grapefruit and lemon juice, sweet potato syrup bitters and an amaro Averna float.

These new drinks join Oyster House standards like the Bloody Caesar, a Bloody Mary with clam juice which has been on the menu since day one.

Enjoy these cocktails during happy hour when there are always dollar oysters and $3 shooters or any other time you want to leap a bit forward into consistently warmer weather.

Hotline Bling

Tanqueray 10, Salignac cognac, green tea-lemongrass syrup, lime and grapefruit juice, grapefruit bitters, fresh mint

The Royal We

Barrel aged ginever, genever, lemon, sugar, simple syrup, cucumber, sage, orange aromatic bitters, sparkling wine, egg white

Charming Yam

Espolon reposado tequila, grapefruit juice, lemon juice, sweet potato syrup, Jerry Thomas bitters, amaro Averna float

Oyster House Oldies But Goodies

Bloody Caesar

Vodka, Oyster House bloody mary mix, clam juice

Mother’s Ruin Punch

Gin, fresh grapefruit, sweet vermouth, cinnamon, sparkling wine

Oyster House [Foobooz]