Wine & Drinks

What's Inside: The barrel aged Negroni, from Nick and Toni's Cafe on W. 67th Street.

What’s Inside the Bourbon Barrel? At Nick and Toni’s, It’s a Negroni

Comment | January 30, 2012 | By Rachel Wharton

If you missed last week’s NY1 segment (it airs Fridays and Sundays) be sure to take a gander online. We visited Nick and Toni’s Cafe on the Upper East Side to talk to Richard Scoffier, who took over their beverage program about four years ago. Like other bartenders in the borough, Scoffier is keen on locally sourced spirits, and is now using an old Tuthilltown Hudson Baby Bourbon barrel to age a Negroni cocktail made with Seneca Drums gin from Finger Lakes Distilling, which uses nearly 100% NY State-sourced ingredients.

Manhattan’s champion, John McCarthy from Mary Queen of Scots, won us with his The McQueen, aka the “Smoky Smoke Smoke.”

Introducing the Winners of the Great King Street Cocktail Competition

Comment | January 25, 2012 | By Gabrielle Langholtz | Photographs by Clay Williams

I had a blast Tuesday night judging the Great King Street Cocktail Competition. Faithful readers will remember we asked local drinks pros to submit seasonal cocktail recipes made with the new Scotch blend from Compass Box, designed precisely for such muddling and mixing.

From Scotland, yet inspiring drinks here at home.

Mint and New York City-Made Mike’s Hot Honey=The Gunsmoke Cocktail from Almond

Comment | January 23, 2012 | By Rachel Wharton

At last, the final recipe for the five cocktails that made it through the preliminary round of judging for our Great King Street Cocktail Competition. As you may recall, we asked local professional mixologists to submit seasonal recipes using Compass Box Whisky…

Central Park Honey and Finger Lakes Cassis: The Great King’s Kir Cocktail from Nick and Toni’s

Comment | January 20, 2012 | By Rachel Wharton

Here’s recipe four from the five cocktails that made it through the preliminary round of judging for our Great King Street Cocktail Competition; we asked local professional mixologists to submit seasonal recipes using Compass Box Whisky Company’s new blend made for drink-making. This one is the Great King’s Kir, made with casses and Central Park Honey by Marci Noble at Nick and Toni’s Cafe. Noble will actually be competing against one of her colleagues, Richard Scoffier, who will be making his Newfangled.

Mezcal and Compass Box Peat Monster: The Smoky McQueen from Mary Queen of Scots

1 comment | January 19, 2012 | By Rachel Wharton

Here’s recipe three from the five cocktails that made it through the preliminary round of judging for our Great King Street Cocktail Competition; we asked local professional mixologists to submit seasonal recipes using Compass Box Whisky Company’s new blend made for drink-making. This one is the McQueen, from John McCarthy at Mary Queen of Scots. Having tasted the majority of the original entries, we have to say this one was one of our favorites thanks to the earthy, smoky notes provided by mainly by that mezcal.

Scotch, Sour Cherry Cordial and Orange Bitters=Nick and Toni’s “Newfangled” Cocktail

Comment | January 18, 2012 | By Rachel Wharton

Below is the recipe for the Newfangled (a riff on the Old Fashioned?) from Richard Scoffier at Nick and Toni’s Cafe. If you don’t know American Spirits’ eaux de vies and fruit liqueurs made upstate, this is a fine introduction, and easy to make at home, unlike some of the other Great King Street Cocktail contest entries. We’ll be publishing more of those each day this week, so stay tuned until the winners get crowned next Monday.

Scotch, Spiced Apple Butter & Simple Syrup=The Barclay’s Kings Feast Cocktail

Comment | January 17, 2012 | By Rachel Wharton

As promised yesterday, we scored recipes for each of the five cocktails that made it through the preliminary round of judging for our Great King Street Cocktail Competition. It’s something we’re running in conjunction with Compass Box Whisky Company: Great King Street is their brand new Scotch blend designed for making drinks; so we asked local professional mixologists to submit seasonal recipes.

Judges kept notes, conferred on final scores and checked their math.

Announcing the Manhattan Semi-Finalists in The Great King Street Cocktail Competition

Comment | January 16, 2012 | By Rachel Wharton

In honor of our current Alcohol Issue, which features a profile of Compass Box Whisky Company founder John Glaser, Edible Manhattan and Edible Brooklyn recently partnered with the Scotch whisky makers to host the Great King Street Cocktail Competition. Great King Street is a new blend by Compass Box, one named after the Scottish street where the company is registered and designed for mixing. We asked professional Manhattan and Brooklyn drinks-makers to create a cocktail made with Great King Street and at least one seasonal ingredient.