New Spring Cocktails At A.Bar

While winter calls for boozier, slow-sipping beverages, the warming weather is inspiring drinks with more dilution–ones that you can drink with abandon. The theme of spring at a.bar? Beverages that are either shaken, swizzled, or stirred. Bar manager Dan Hamm (formerly at 1 Tippling Place and one of the brains behind the pop-up cocktail events at Spirit Forward) has created a mix of offerings, many of which include seasonal elements.

Yes, we tried them. And yes, we came home with pictures.

If you’re in an apertivo mood and you love an Aperol Spritz, go for the Orange Catholic. It’s a tall, coral-hued sipper made with a.vod vodka, lemon, and hibiscus, all topped off with sparkling wine and an orange wheel.

An unadorned coupe of Corralejo Blanco tequila with crème de violette, yellow Chartreuse, lime, and honey called The Amphibious Lady is as lovely as a siren. It’s a blend of floral and herbal flavors that goes down dangerously easily.

A spear of pickled asparagus is a fitting garnish to the Alsatian Swizzle–a crushed-ice beauty so cold that it frosts the glass as it sits. Playing on the bright green and yellow flavor profile of fresh herbs, this one is a wine cocktail, Reisling matches with fines herbes extract and lemon.

The Cheap Suit works for the same reason that we love lemonade on warm days. It’s cold and tart, with just a little sweetness to balance the acidity of a a lemon-coriander shrub. Beefeater Gin matched with beguiling Cocchi Americano, it’s a lighter riff on the gin-vermouth match in a classic Negroni.

If the classics are more your speed, the other half of Hamm’s menu is drinks you might recognize: a Caipirnha, a 20th Century, and a Singapore Sling, alongside more modern favorites like the gin, maraschino, lime and grapefruit combination of a Sands Cocktail.

As always, a.bar’s edibles play with the idea of the sea (to offset a.kitchen’s focus on earth), and you’ll find plenty of offerings to accompany your drink of choice. Keep it classy with rillettes of smoked arctic char with dill; or clams on toast with oregano, chili, and parsley. Alternately, go big with a burger or their take on a tuna melt. It’s not quite the same as being by the shore, but it’s a delicious prelude to summer on its way.

a.bar [f8b8z]