Cocktail of the Week: The Fernandito Cocktail

The cocktail for February 8 through the 11th is the Fernandito Cocktail, created by Gary Regan.

We chose this cocktail after searching for a better use for a common spirit: spiced rum. At Bryant's we are huge fans of rum. We use different varieties of rum in many, many of our cocktails. Light rum, dark rum, 151 rum, aged rum, Puerto Rican rum, Guatemalan rum, and yes, we even occasionally use coconut-flavored rum. The one rum we have found little use for is spiced rum. All of the Captain Morgan spiced rum we pour is mixed with coke. Not saying there is anything wrong with this, but there has to be a better use for spiced rum, right?

When someone wants a drink made with spiced rum, we find they will enjoy some of our house-made spiced drinks. The Navy Grog, the Fog Cutter, and the Scorpion are a few of the drinks we make with our own spice mixture. Personally, I feel these drinks blow any store bought spiced rum out of the water, but I may be a little biased. Or I may have had one too many Navy Grogs in my life (these drinks, by the way, are served in our ultra-cool skull mugs, which make them all the more mysterious).

For those of our guests who are not a fan of our house spice mix, we have finally found a cocktail that works well with store bought spiced rum. The Fernandito combines spiced rum (we are using Cruzan spiced rum, which has a heavy vanilla flavor), raspberry liqueur, lime juice, and orange juice.

The Fernandito has all the traits of a great cocktail- simple in ingredients, but complex in taste. It highlights the flavors of the spiced rum without being too boozy. This cocktail is so great, it will appeal to fans of rum and fans of spiced rum (yes, these are often two different groups of people).

Stop in during Old Fashioned Cocktail Hour this week and try the Fernandito for only $5. Follow it up with a Geronimo or a Hawaiian Eyes and make it a night!

Bryant's Cocktail Lounge Mythbusters

Bryant's first opened in February of 1938. That's 73 years of serving the finest cocktails in Milwaukee. After so many years, there are bound to be a few myths and misunderstandings surrounding such a historic business. Some of the myths are fun and add to the charm. For instance, did Frank Sinatra used to frequent Bryant's on trips to Northern Wisconsin? We may never know, but enough old timers tell that tale. Others are just plain ridiculous- no, Al Capone did not run a bootlegging business out of the basement of Bryant's.

There are three common myths that surround Bryant's that we have decided to address.

1. Bryant's used to have a drink menu.

We hear this a lot. People swear that Bryant's has or had a drink list and, the last time they were in, they ordered off a menu. Sometimes this frustrates people so much that they leave, believing that we are hiding the menu from them!

We heard this myth so often that we had to ask the old manager (who worked at Bryant's since the 1950s) whether there was, at one time or another, a drink menu. She, as well as every other employee, insist that there never was a menu at Bryant's. It was the original owner Bryant's philosophy that a menu only leads to limited choice and prevents experimentation.

While we agree with Bryant, there is another, more practical set of reasons. First, who would be able to read a menu at Bryant's? It is so dark, we would have to make the print really large. This would make the menu, which would contain over 400 drinks, the size of Webster's unabridged dictionary. If we did have a menu, how the heck would we classify all the drinks? We would have to have a cross referencing index or perhaps a card catalog. Purely from a practical standpoint, our staff is much better at helping you choose a drink.

2. Bryant's Hates and/or Owns At Random

At Random, the similarly styled cocktail lounge located in Bay View, is often mixed up with Bryant's. At Random, which does have a menu, is also dimly lit with delicious cocktails. The feeling is different, but there are definitely a lot of similarities.

Since these two establishments share similarities, people start assuming things. The most common belief is that there is an angry rivalry between Bryant's and At Random. The second, less common belief is that we own or used to own At Random.

The truth is that Bryant's Cocktail Lounge and At Random are similar because the owner of At Random used to work at Bryant's. In the 1950s, he left and opened his own lounge in Bay View. This is why you will see some of the same cocktails at both establishments. They also share a similar style that was more common back in the day. There actually used to be several swanky cocktail lounges in Milwaukee- Bryant's and At Random are just the two best ones that happened to survive several periods of changing tastes.

There is no rivalry between At Random and Bryant's. In fact, the owners were friends for many years. Our staff will often go to At Random on their nights off- after all, where else would you go for a tasty cocktail if you didn't want to go back to work? We believe that there is plenty of room in this city for two cool cocktail lounges and Bryant's and At Random both offer great places to have a cocktail.

3. Bryant's is Haunted

It is difficult to confirm or deny this one. There have been a ton of strange happenings at Bryant's, but we have never been able to catch any on tape.

Footsteps, voices, stools moving on their own, customers being tapped on the shoulder only to turn around and find no one there. We have also seen shadows and people who were not there. Even our most skeptical staff members are suspicious of some of the weird happenings at Bryant's.

After 73 years, there have been two owners, several long term staff members and countless customers who have passed away. They all loved Bryant's and, if you believe in this sort of thing, would probably try to come back to sit at the bar and enjoy an Old Fashioned. I can't think of a better place to spend an afterlife!

I hope you have enjoyed this edition of Bryant's Mythbusters. Do you have a Bryant's myth you would like explained? Let us know and we will do our best!

Cocktail of the Week: The Golden Glow

The Golden Glow of Cocktail Hour

For the past two years, we have been offering the same specials for our "old fashioned cocktail hour". Half price old fashioned cocktails, as well as our depression era cocktails. Stopping down between 5 and 9, Tuesday through Friday, is a great way to enjoy some classic Bryant's cocktails for a song. At just $3.50 to $4 each, these cocktails are a true recession-era special.

Many of our best customers first stopped by during cocktail hour to feel the place out. Once they double check their directions, open the door, and let their eyes adjust, they are usually hooked and will stop by again and again and again. Sometimes they become loyal to one specific cocktail, but often they are looking to try a variety of drinks.

We have decided to expand our offerings during cocktail hour to include a "cocktail of the week". This cocktail may be a classic cocktail, or an obscure Bryant's favorite, or it may be a new creation that features a specific new spirit, bartender, or ingredient. The featured cocktail may be available at all times, or it may be a special cocktail that is only offered under the spotlight of cocktail hour. The best way to find out more about the cocktail of the week is to ask your friendly bartender or to keep up with us on Facebook, where we will announce the cocktail of the week:

http://www.facebook.com/bryantscocktaillounge

The first cocktail of the week will be the Golden Glow, which will be available at Bryant's Cocktail Lounge for only $5 through February 4th.

We discovered the Golden Glow in a Galliano cocktail book from the 1970's. We have always been searching for Galliano cocktails, besides the Golden Cadillac and the Harvey Wallbanger, that properly utilize this anise based liqueur. The Golden Glow blends gin, Galliano, and Drambuie (another spirit that is difficult to mix). Simple and sweet, this cocktail is interesting enough to be our first Cocktail of the Week.

Stop by Milwaukee's Classic Cocktail Lounge between 5 and 9 to re-experience our Old Fashioned Cocktail Hour.

The Perfect Replacement

When we took over Bryant's Cocktail Lounge, some of the most iconic Bryant's decor and accessories were missing.  For example, there used to be a clock on the pillar in the downstairs lounge.  Also missing were the glasses for the blue devil and the skull glasses that used to hold the Navy Grog.  Most noticeably, there used to be a picture in the velvet lounge of a mysterious woman.  She was very memorable due to her exceptionally long hands and the mysterious look in her eye.  

Many of the past customers and employees believed the painting to be haunted.  We don't know if this is true or not, but we do know that a lot of strange stories exist about the Velvet Lounge. 

Whether or not the painting had super natural powers, we were very disappointed when it disappeared.  You just can't find paintings like this any more.  We searched and searched for a suitable replacement.  She had to be beautiful, but mysterious.  The painting had to be dark and unique enough to call the Velvet Lounge home.

We recently came across a painting that we feel fits right in.  She is mysterious, beautiful, and a little dark.  Best of all, her hands are behind her back, so we're not sure how big her hand are. We will assume they are abnormally large.

Visit the Velvet Lounge soon and take a look at the newest old addition to Bryant's. We think you will be quite pleased.

See you soon!

 

Thanks for Stopping by Jimmy Fallon

Last weekend we had the honor of serving Jimmy Fallon a cocktail. He and two friends stopped by and headed up to the Velvet Lounge where Jimmy enjoyed a hand crafted Frank's Drink, which consists of Old Oberholt Rye Whiskey, Chartreuse, Sweet Vermouth, and orange bitters.

He loved the cocktail and even gave us a Twitter shout-out. Whatever the heck that means.

We contemplated renaming the drink Jimmy's Drink, but our dear friend Frank wouldn't have it.  

Thanks for stopping by, Jimmy.  It was an honor serving you a delicious cocktail.

Featured Cocktail: the old Silk Stockings

A delicious bourbon cocktail with a sorted past. 

For those of you who have ever searched your local bar or liquor store for a spirit you read about in a magazine, you know that finding specialty products is not always easy.  This is especially true in Southeast Wisconsin, where many specialty spirits are not even brought in to the area.

Over the years, some of the ingredients used in our cocktails would become unavailable.  During these times, we would either change the recipe or retire the recipe.  With the resurgence of classic cocktails, we are finding that specialty spirits are once again becoming available.  This is great news for us!

We had a recent success story with one of our depression era cocktails, the Silk Stockings.  Sometime in the past, one of the primary ingredients became unavailable.  The liquor, called Mandarine Napoleon, is a mandarine based liquor that has a mellow, almost herbal taste.  When this spirit became unavailable, the mixologists at Bryant's substituted a mellon based liquor. While this may seem odd, both offered a sweet, warm taste that kept the Silk Stockings cocktail balanced with its other ingredients, including bourbon.

After some searching, we found that Mandarine is once again easily available.  We acquired a bottle and eagerly mixed a silk stockings the old fashioned way.  It was delicious.   The mandarine melds seamlessly with the bourbon, creating a very unique and drinkable cocktail.  

We now have the pleasure of offering both Silk Stockings cocktails.  The old silk stockings, made with mandarine for a smooth, mandarine taste and the new silk stockings, made with melon liquor for slightly sweeter taste.  

The best part?  Both cocktails are half priced during our Old Fashion Cocktail Hour, from 5-9 PM, Tuesday through Friday.  

Defrongue

There are some cocktails at Bryant's that are more than just a simple, balanced mixture of alcohol and mixer ingredients.  The Defrongue is one of these drinks.  

We are not sure of the exact history of this potent specialty drink, but we do know it has been served at Bryant's Cocktail Lounge since at least the 1950's, but probably before.  The cocktail is Southern Comfort based, but the actual recipe remains a long held secret.  In fact, we believe that only four people know the exact makeup of the secret ingredient that makes the Defrongue so tasty. 

What makes the Defrongue unique is its reputation as an aphrodisiac.  While some would joke that alcohol itself is an aphrodisiac, we believe there is something more to this drink.  Maybe it is the heady, sweet flavor or the mystery of not knowing the secret ingredients that make this drink a potent partner to the woo.  Regardless, this drink is so highly regarded that, during the 1950's, it inspired a poet to create on ode to the Defrongue cocktail.  This poem was printed in a mini poem book and given to the customer lucky enough to be enjoying a Defrongue cocktail.

After many years, we re-released this amazing cocktail on Valentine's Day of 2009.  You have the choice of enjoying this cocktail up or on the rocks (personally, I suggest enjoying it up, which was the traditional way of enjoying the Defrongue) and you even get a copy of the coveted poem book to take home.