A cocktail menu is already presumed premium. But at least two New Haven bars have quietly played with that premise, each offering a second, more elevated cocktail section with price points to match.
I started at downtown fine-dining institution ZINC, where “The Upscale List,” shaken and stirred that night by Omar Mejia (and conceived, Mejia told me, by manager and veteran bartender Sean D’Addio), had me at the Island Living ($20). I love a beachy rum cocktail, and this one sounded private-beachy, with two artisanal rums, pandan liqueur, pineapple shrub (think fruit- and vinegar-infused simple syrup), coconut milk and chili syrup. The nose was creamy and dreamy with notes of fresh coconut meat, funky vanilla and light pineapple. Carrying those flavors forward, the palate was not only juicier but spicier, with the chili syrup soaring up and floating past the end of every sip, leaving me craving every next one.
I then tried Mejia’s favorite, the Zinc’s Select ($22, pictured above), which had its own island: a Z-shaped ‘cube’ in a cola-brown sea. A dark, fruity and funky nose, in part due to a rich touch of sulfur, brought to mind blackberry compote and sweet balsamic. The latter note also stood out on the palate, followed quickly by the bitter, herbal notes of blood orange, strawberry and mango liqueurs. A fine, ashen lava salt charring the rim played beautifully with those flavors, softening rather than punching them up and giving a medley of dried fruit notes space to step forward. The booziness, led by ZINC’s very own barrel of Chardonnay-finished 110-proof bourbon, was considerable but would have been very well hidden if I hadn’t felt it in real time cozily swaddling my brain.
My mind felt more than bundled-up for the round-the-corner walk to my second destination, The Owl Shop, a singular cigar bar where a “Rare & Reserved” section of the cocktail menu is just two items long. Having already done a bourbon (and a rum) drink, and having consulted with my bartender, Rob Sherwood, I went with the non-whiskey option even at this avowed whiskey bar: the Martini Royale ($22). Featuring high-proof gin, connoisseur’s vermouth, dry sherry, dill, lemon and house-made peppercorn brine, this “sophisticated dirty martini” had a welcome oily sheen catching the copper glint of the bar top and the blue lighting behind.
As luck would have it, I barely had time to enjoy the aroma of the peppercorn brine before a neighboring customer lit a cigarillo (as was his right), then smoked it (as was also his right) for most of the drink’s duration, sending an admittedly pleasant floral vanilla smoke down my hatches. Smoke is of course a fact of life at The Owl Shop, but it can impact the drinking experience, potentially obscuring some notes while leaving others unchecked. And so it did in my case, neutralizing the peppercorn and sherry notes even while giving the salt, dill and lemon, plus a deconstructed lace of sugar from somewhere, a pass. The pieces of the puzzle just didn’t fit together as well as I suspect they otherwise would have, and this reminded me why The Owl Shop emphasizes whiskey, which can stand up to and even pair well with smoke.
Tasting challenges aside, I enjoyed my visit, as I always do. The Owl Shop is like an old-fashioned bar car or club lounge—a time-space where indulging in light vices feels truly unapologetic, and where a gently dispositioned bartender might serve you a drink with a fat smoldering cigar in one hand and an even thicker mustache he’s somehow resisting twiddling with the other, and where I do think I’ll go with whiskey next time, whether straight up or in a premium—maybe even ultra-premium—cocktail.
Written and photographed by Dan Mims.
