Cocktail of the Month: The Cable Car

The Cocktail of the Month for this May is the Cable Car Cocktail, created by Tony Abu-Ganim way back in the 1990s.  It is a delicious balance of spiced rum, sugar, and lemon, topped with a cinnamon and sugar rim.  

The cocktail was created for the Drake Hotel in San Francisco.  This is probably why the cocktail is named after the famous cable cars, which have become a world famous tourist attraction in San Francisco.  Basically, as an outsider, you have not truly been to San Francisco until you ride the antique transit system and hold on while it speeds up and down hills and zooms around corners.  While the name choice may have just been purely for name recognition, we believe that there may be a deeper reason.

Let us explain.   

While the cable cars in San Francisco are the most famous cable cars, there have been many other cable car systems in the United States.  One of the lesser famous was located in Seattle Washington on Queen Anne Hill.  Nicknamed 'the counterbalance', this cable car system assisted the street cars as they ascended and descended a very steep hill.  

Basically, street cars would be hooked up to an underground counter balance which ran in an underground tunnel under the street.  As the street car went up the hill, the underground weight would go down the hill.  As the street car went down, the weight would go up.  Think of it as a large scale version of the old window weights that help you open and close heavy antique windows.  

The purpose of the counterbalance was to help the street cars ascend, and descend without letting them speed down the hill to their demise.   Basically, we believe that this is the same thing that the Cable Car Cocktail does for spiced rum- it elevates it to a new level while not letting the drinker plunge to their spiced rum cocktail demise, which is ever too common when one drinks spiced rum.  It does this by ever so carefully balancing the rum, lemon, and sugar without overwhelming the drinker. 

It is a truly delicious drink that is worth trying, even if you normally shy away from spiced rum.  While the original was generally made with Captain Morgan, we have upgraded ours to Sailor Jerry spiced rum, lemon, sugar, and Cointreau.  We rim the glass with a special spiced sugar mix and serve it up in a cocktail glass.  For the whole month of May, this delicious cocktail is only $5 during Old Fashioned Cocktail Hour from 5-9 Monday through Friday and all night on Sunday.  

St. Patrick's Day at Bryant's

Bryant's is a unique place that doesn't exactly fit the trends of other bars and lounges in the area.  When other bars are slow, we may be packed and when other bars are busy, we may be slow.  A beautiful spring night?  Dead.  A blizzard with 10 below wind chill.  Packed.  It's funny how often this is the case.

St. Patrick's Day is one of the holidays that is slower at Bryant's.  Maybe it's because we don't have green beer or little plastic bowler hats.  Or, maybe it's because our clientele stays away on St. Patrick's Day because they think we will be too busy.  Either way, it is generally a mellow night where the words "Erin Go Bragh" are not heard.

Looking back at Bryant's 74 year history, we found that this was not always the case.  In fact, the second owner, Pat Malmberg, was quite a fan of the holiday as was most of the clientele.  One year, Pat wanted to "set the mood" for the holiday, so he changed all the amber lights to green.  A valuable lesson was learned on that night: people look awful under green light.  It was a failure, but people still had a great time.

A Bryant's St. Patrick's Day tradition that wasn't so ugly was the St. Patrick's Day Punch.  The third in a series of punches at Bryant's (behind the Holiday Punch and Valentine's Day Punch), the St. Patrick's Day Punch was a strong punch with a lovely green hue and the taste of spiced limes.  Hard to describe, but easy to drink.

In addition to Pat's efforts, much of the Irish spirit at Bryant's was added by the employees and management of Allen Bradley.  Allen Bradley's Headquarters was located at 2nd and Greenfield, about 10 blocks from Bryant's Cocktail Lounge.  At one point, the huge plant with the massive 4 sided clock employed nearly 6,000 people working 24 hours a day.  Many of the workers and management would frequent Bryant's, especially around the holidays including St Patrick's Day.  The management of Allen Bradley, in a show of Irish cheer, would even send Irish dancers to Bryant's to entertain the guests.

Over the years, Allen Bradley lost employees and St. Patrick's Day revelers moved to pitchers of green beer.  The St. Patrick's Day punch disappeared and (thankfully) so did the green lights.

This year, we are bringing back the St. Patrick's Day cheer.  No, we won't be transforming in to O'Bryant's and we won't be resorting to cheap gimmicks.  We will, however, be celebrating Bryant's style with an awesome list of St. Patrick's Day themed cocktail and, yes, St. Patrick's Day Punch.

Plus, just for you old timers, we will have one green bulb glowing by the bar.

See you on St. Patrick's Day!

Sweetest Day

Did you know Sweetest Day is this Saturday?

For those of you outside the Great Lakes Region, you may have no idea what I'm talking about.  For those of you from the upper Midwest, you probably know exactly what I'm talking about.  Whether you are looking forward to the other Valentines Day, or whether you grumbling about the "Hallmark Holiday" that has no real meaning, there is no question that the day is celebrated by many here in Milwaukee.

While it is true that Sweetest Day was an 'invented' holiday that was used to sell candy in the 1920s, the fact is that many of the holidays we celebrate today were promoted or created by a commercial business.  Do you think the Christmas Card or the turkey dinner on Thanksgiving would be what they are without the Hallmark or Butterballs of the world?

Maybe it is time we change our perception of sweetest day.  After all, it is a retro holiday with a unique beginning.  Imagine all the flappers and dapper celebrities handing out candy in Cleveland in the 1920s.  Imagine the candy they were handing out!  It was probably an awesome treat that tastes nothing like what we have today.  Back in those days, candy making was an art, similar to mixology or bread making.  It was such a celebrated craft that they could have just as easily called Sweetest Day "Artisan Chocolate Day", but this, of course, would not have the sensual connotations that sweetest has.

This year at Bryant's, we are bringing back the roots of the holiday.  We are working with Atomic Chocolates, a local artisan chocolate maker, to provide a free chocolate to the first 100 guests on Saturday.  Unlike the store bought candies you often see on Sweetest Day, these chocolates are the real deal, made with fresh ingredients and rich cocoa.  We like to think these are similar to the chocolates that were given out back in the 1920s, before corn syrup and artificial flavors became standard ingredients in candy.

We hope that even those of you who hate the idea of sweetest day will join us this weekend for a cocktail and celebration of the sweet thing we sometimes take for granted.  Whether you decide to bring your sweet thing is entirely up to you.

We open at 5PM on Saturday with the Velvet Lounge opening at 8PM.

Cocktail of the Month: The Rob Roy

There is a simplicity to cocktails that is often overlooked.  This is especially true in the days of complex craft cocktails, where bartenders are striving to carve a niche in the cocktail world by using obscure ingredients and methodologies.  Not saying we have a problem with flamed Truffula Fruit or fresh squeezed Tomacco Juice, but here at Bryant's we believe there is a classic value in simple, spirit-forward cocktails.  

These are the cocktails that aren't meant to fool a gin-hating cocktail drinkers into enjoying gin; rather, these are the cocktails that make a gin lover love gin even more.  Spirit forward classics include the much loved martini, manhattan, and negronis of the the world, along with our cocktail of the month, The Rob Roy.

The Rob Roy is a scotch-based drink that is, in essence, a manhattan in which scotch is used instead of rye or bourbon.  Wait a minute- you may be wondering how a bartender can change one single ingredient in a cocktail and claim it as their creation- isn't that cheating?  Remember, these are simple, spirit forward cocktails that are minimalist and well-balanced, where changing even one ingredient completely changes the cocktail.

Similar to knowing the subtle differences between the Cosby Show introductions in season 6 and 7, the bartender who invented the Rob Roy in 1894 knew that substituting scotch for whiskey would change the manhattan in to an entirely different cocktail.  Indeed, adding scotch changed it from a sophisticated, whiskey tipple to a sword-wielding scotch-drink, capable of satisfying the most adamant scotch lover who, as you may know, generally prefers scotch on its own.

The Rob Roy mingled vermouth with scotch whiskey so well that it was named after the scottish folk hero Robert Roy MacGregor, who was a well-loved swordsman and cattle man who fought heroically against William of Orange and the Campbell Clan.  

Want to taste for yourself?  Stop by Bryant's Cocktail Lounge during Old Fashioned Cocktail Hour where we will be offering our Rob Roy for only $5 during the entire month of October.  Additionally, this scotch classic will be only $5 every Sunday in October.   Can you think of a better way to celebrate Scotchtoberfest?

Old Fashioned Cocktail Hour
Tuesday through Friday
5 to 9
 
  

Let's be honest, maybe a cocktail of the week is a bit much....

If you are a frequent follower of our blog or Facebook postings, you will notice that the cocktail of the week has nearly disappeared.  Maybe our last cocktail of the week was just so great, that it was difficult to follow.  Or maybe, just maybe, yours truly is a little bit lazy and a lot busy.

The fact is, a week comes and goes so quickly that it was difficult to keep up, especially if we were going to explore the origin or uniqueness of a rotating cocktail.  In addition, we found that our customers wished that some of the cocktails of the week stuck around longer than just 6 days; sometimes this is not nearly enough time to plan a trip to Bryant's.  In sum, a week just isn't long enough.

The answer, we believe, is to change the cocktail of the week in to the Cocktail of the Month.  If we get a good response, we may add two or more cocktails of the month.  Perhaps a rotating classic, Bryant's, and modern cocktail??  We'll see!

Let's just see how this goes!

We begin our new cocktail of the month on Sunday.  Want a hint?  Like Sean Connery in Alphabet City, this classic cocktail from 1894 is a riff on an even earlier classic.  First one to guess correctly and post it in the comments section of our blog gets one on us!

Reserving a table at Bryant's

Sometimes we need to make difficult decisions in order to make everyones life easier.

After much discussion with staff and customers, we have decided that it is in the best interest of all customers if we return to the original Bryant's policy of not taking reservations for large groups on weekend nights.  While we love groups of all sizes, we will now only offer seating on a first come, first serve basis.

The reasons for this decision are based on our capacity and several past experiences where large groups make reservations and don't show up, or only a small number of people show up.  When this happens it is not only frustrating for us, it is also frustrating for other customers who are waiting for tables.  While you may think this is rare, the fact is that it happens around 20% of the time.  

If you do have a group of 10 or more and want to come to Bryant's on a weekend night, there are still options.  First, we still ask that you call before you come.  We will try our hardest to get you a table that will accommodate your group.  Second, make sure to show up with your entire group, as we can only hold seats for 10 minutes.  Finally, show up early (before 8:30) or late (after 11:30).  This will greatly improve your chances of having little to no wait.

Finally, please be patient.  Even during the busiest of times the wait for a table is generally under 15 minutes.

If you want a guaranteed seat, you can always reserve the Velvet Lounge for a private party and you will be the envy of your friends and neighbors.

Please keep in mind that this new policy only applies to weekends.  If you are planning on bringing a group to Bryant't on a weekday, make sure to call or email at least two days in advance to we can make sure to have enough staff to accommodate your party.

A visit from across the pond!

We recently had a visit from a couple of reporters from The Guardian in the UK.  


They were in Milwaukee visiting some genuine businesses that are often missed by travel writers.  These included our favorite tiki bar, the Foundation, and our favorite custard stand, Leon's Frozen Custard at 27th and Oklahoma.  They also visited some great businesses in Bay View, including Sky High Skateboard Shop and the Cactus Club.  


While at Bryant's, our newest bartender Jordan made quite the impression, leading the author to describe Bryant's as "effortlessly smooth as the mixologist behind the bar".  Hopefully The Guardian article will lead more travel writers from around the world to visit our fair city. 


Read the whole article HERE.