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Drink This – Sharpie Mustache

moustache 01-2

We’re handing the reins to Jamie for this one. A few weeks ago, he spent the night with us in Georgia and late Sunday morning, whipped this up this for me to try. One turned into two turned into a pre-made batch that he bottled up for me to enjoy over the next few days. Here’s his story on his first experience with this cocktail, and of course, the recipe.
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I had an opportunity to attend a class for bartenders in Nashville on bitters. If there is something I obsess over and would love to know more about, it’s bitters. There are two types of bitters – tinctures and potables. Tinctures are what you dash into cocktails (think Angostura, Peychauds) and potables are what you drink (think Fernet, Campari). Both are vital to making incredible cocktails.

The class was being taught at a bar across from the street my house in Nashville (how convenient ) called 308. The most exciting thing was the people teaching the class. We were taught by Sother Teague, head bartender for Amor y Amargo, a cozy bar in the East Village of NYC, and also one of the best bars in the city.

Amor y Amargo is such a fascinating concept. The bar uses no sugar, no shakers, no juice. All drinks are brown, bitter, and stirred. Nothing nonalcoholic besides water. No sugar means no syrups. That coupled with no juices, I can’t fathom how you create an entire bar menu. However they do, and it is incredible.

We got to try a drink during the class called the Sharpie Mustache. There was no act in making the drink, Sother just popped open a beer growler and poured a batch made cocktail onto ice and zested it with an orange peel. I got excited because I LOVE batch making cocktails. The drink was delicious, and the crazy thing was – it was a split based Manhattan. That means the base of the cocktail (or the main spirit component) was mixed up of two different types of spirits. In this case, it was Rye and Gin. Rye and Gin!? That’s amazing!

I loved the drink so much, I went out and bought the rest of the ingredients I didn’t have in my bar already, batch made about 7 cocktails into a 32 oz growler and took it to a party. It was a HUGE hit. I just popped open the bottle, poured it on ice and gave a little orange zest. Boom.

The recipe is very, very simple:

Stir with ice and strain into a chilled coupe, rocks or Nick and Norah glass (pictured above).

OR, if you want to batch make it:

  • Funnel 250ml of Rye, Gin, Bonal, Meletti into a 32oz growler
  • Add 20 dashes tiki bitters
  • Don’t forget to orange zest with each cocktail your pour

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