I recently had the great pleasure of spending a few indulgent days as a food and drink tourist in New York City. Many memorable bites and sips were enjoyed, but this post is dedicated to a moment that delivered genuine astonishment. I would have wagered the mortgage payment against the idea that a Starbucks would serve me the most memorable beverage of the trip, but that is precisely what happened. Just as with The Apriscot, below is my attempt to reverse engineer this wonderful cocktail.
 |
| The cocktail as listed on the Starbucks Reserve Arriviamo Bar Menu |
Ingredients
- 2.0 ounces Bourbon whiskey
- 1.3 ounces Campari
- 1.3 ounces sweet vermouth
- Vanilla Syrup to taste (or simple syrup with vanilla extract added to taste)
- 2 dashes lavender bitters
- 3 tablespoons ground coffee (medium grind)
Composition
- Place the coffee grinds in a cheesecloth-lined fine mesh strainer
- In a cocktail shaker, combine the bourbon, Campari, and vermouth. Stir and taste, add vanilla syrup to your liking (usually one teaspoon for me). I like to ensure the drink is quite bold at this point, don't fret, we will be diluting a bit when we stir with ice just before serving.
- Hold the the strainer/cheesecloth/coffee assembly with one hand over a clean glass large enough to hold everything in the cocktail shaker. Slowly pour the mixed cocktail over the coffee as evenly as possible.
- Once fully strained through the coffee, toss the coffee grinds and transfer the cocktail from the glass back to the shaker and add the lavender bitters. Taste and adjust if needed.
- When satisfied, add ice to the shaker and stir until the drink is well chilled and diluted to preference
- Strain into your serving glass over a large cube of ice.
Commentary
A reminder that some of life's greatest surprises can indeed come from unexpected places. My friends and I were simply trying to kill thirty minutes or so in the early afternoon of our final day in New York when we decided to visit the bar we spotted earlier in the morning at the Chelsea Market Starbucks Reserve store. As we were walking from Little Island en route, I innocently blurted out my hope that the Starbucks bar had at least one coffee-infused cocktail. Oh how naive I was. The menu was filled with numerous creative coffee-infused drinks. Standard cocktails, while available, were relegated to the menu's dusty and less traveled back pages. There were two offerings on the menu that caught my eye - this Boulevardier and a Manhattan. Happily one of my friends ordered the Manhattan and I was able to sample the two cocktails that caught my eye, both equally enjoyable.
Two critical factors have emerged thus far as I've attempted to recreate this drink at home. First, the amount of coffee grinds. Too little coffee and the influence is nonexistent. Too much, and the cocktail is totally overwhelmed by the coffee. Currently I've settled on 3 tablespoons of coffee grinds to pass the cocktail through, but some further experimentation is needed. Second, the lavender bitters are fantastic, but be wary, too many dashes cloak the drink with an unmistakable floral/lavender/soap vibe. Less is more when it comes to the amount of lavender added to this drink.
 |
| My home setup |
 |
| The drink as it was served to me at the Arriviamo Bar |
