08 Oct Where we’ve been drinking: The Partisan

Where we’ve been drinking: The Partisan

We love cocktail establishments that have good cocktails. No surprise, right? We also love when the vibe is funky, decor is fun, and the staff are friendly. The Partisan did quite well on most of these fronts, and therefore we were quite pleased with our visit. Also, going anywhere for good drinks before 5, which we happened to be doing on this particular outing, is always great.

What we ordered & what we thought

Voyage to Infinity: Bols Genever, Drapo Bianca, Benedictine

Our bartender was a good balance of friendly and professional. She nicely chatted with the guy to our right who was going on about cappuccinos while perfectly doing an ice wash in the our glass. After she was finished making the cocktail, while still listening to cappuccino talk, she artfully spritzed orange zest on the stem and base of the glass (something I rarely see). The drink was super smooth, with almost all the taste on the front end.  It was a great example of a very sweet cocktail without being syrupy. The sweetness came mostly from the genever. Genever is a sweeter older sister (or maybe even mother) to gin. And since we don’t normally stock this in our bar, it was fun to try it.

What we thought was most interesting about this drink was the choice of milder ingredients, instead of their stronger counterparts–using genever instead of gin, the rare both light and sweet Drapo Bianco vermouth instead of its darker Torino cousins, and Benedictine instead of something like Chartreuse–which made for a complicated but simultaneously mild drink with herbal and spicy hints coming through.

Regulator: tequila, sloe gin, Dolin Genepy, lime

The lime plus the Genepy created a grapefruit flavor. It reminded us of another drink we’ve had where the tequila interacted with the flavors in a similar way. The piney-ness of the Genepy mixed with the tequila created  sour and bitter flavor notes. We couldn’t discern the sloe gin (we’re guessing it cut the tequila a bit). It wasn’t super clean and had sort of a bracing tone.

So should you go? 

Yes! But not if you’re single and trying to hit on the bartender with stories about cappuccinos.