June Cocktail of the Month: The Blue Tail Fly

If the recent weather is any indication, summer is just around the corner. And while summer officially begins June 20^th, we here at Bryant’s Cocktail Lounge know that Milwaukee welcomes any sign of warmer weather with open arms. So why wait three more weeks? Let’s celebrate summer’s arrival early by bringing back the Cocktail of the Month!

For those of you who don’t remember how our Cocktail of the Month special works, every month we’ll highlight a different classic Bryant’s drink and offer it to you for the special price of $6 during our Old Fashioned Cocktail Hour (Sunday through Thursday 5pm-8pm). So, in addition to the $5 Old Fashioneds and Depression Era Drinks, you’ll have one more discounted cocktail to choose from. This month, we bring you the Blue Tail Fly.

The Blue Tail Fly is one of our four dozen ice cream drinks, and, we think, one of the oldest here at Bryant’s. Invented by the original owner, Bryant Sharp himself, this cocktail’s primary ingredient is Blue Curacao, which gives this drink both its light blue color and a flavor reminiscent of Valencia oranges. Once as locally famous as some of the other ice dream drinks Bryant invented like the Pink Squirrel and the Banshee (both of which, along with the Blue Tail Fly, can still be found on the menus of historic Wisconsin supper clubs), its popularity undeservedly and inexplicably waned over the years. This month seems like a perfectly appropriate time to correct that.

So why is it called the Blue Tail Fly, you ask? Much like many other ice cream drinks, such as the Grasshopper and the Pink Squirrel, its name was most likely inspired by its color. But it was quite possibly named after a very old and enduring song as well. “Blue Tail Fly” (you might know it better as the “Jimmy Crack Corn” song) was popular with traveling minstrel shows in the 1840s, and was a mainstay with an 1860s minstrel troupe named, of all things, Bryant’s Minstrels (Coincidence? We think so.). But after World War II, the song regained popularity in a more whitewashed and kid-friendly version, especially with a 1947 recording by Burl Ives and The Andrews Sisters. Although nowadays we primarily associate the tune with child sing-alongs, the 1940s and 1950s saw this song recorded numerous times by the likes of Leadbelly, Kate Smith, Pete Seeger, and Lawrence Welk. It’s as if the drink had its own soundtrack. Given how popular it was, Bryant might have found inspiration in the song while naming his new creation.

However, unlike the contemporary iterations of the song, Bryant’s Blue Tail Fly is neither watered down nor child appropriate. It’s a delicious and refreshing cocktail, the perfect complement to a hot summer day or a fitting dessert to a backyard cookout.

Stop in between 5pm and 8pm Sunday through Thursday and get a Blue Tail Fly for just $6 all month long. 

Where do I park?

We have decided to dedicate some time to a question we get asked quite a lot: where do I park?

The answer to this question is, it depends on the night.  On weeknights, we recommend parking on Lapham Boulevard.  There are generally plenty of spaces next to Bryant’s or across the street. 

On a weekend, the Lapham Boulevard spaces fill up fast.  Most people’s first instinct is to drive down 9^th to look for parking.  This is not the best idea.  Many residents of this neighborhood don’t have off-street parking (garages weren’t that popular in the 1890s), so they will be competing with you for the limited number of parking spaces.  Plus, 9^th street is strangely dark and hard to navigate. 

Instead, head ½ block south of Bryant’s on 9^th Street.  There is an amazing, huge, well-lit parking lot that is owned by the city.  There are over 250 parking spots in this lot.  Park here and walk the ½ block-

it is the easiest place to park.

The history of this parking lot is interesting for those who remember when the city wanted to turn Mitchell Street in to a walking mall, as was popular in the 1970s when suburban malls were rapidly becoming the preferred shopping centers.  The idea was to close off main urban shopping streets and raze the buildings adjacent to the shopping street to create large parking lots that would appeal to shoppers.  The results were not good and most of the stores on Mitchell Street closed during the 1980s, leaving only the remnants of a bad idea.  The last department store on Mitchell to close was Goldmann's Department Store, which used this lot until 2007 when it finally closed its doors (on a side note, as of 11/9/2013, the Goldmann's building is for sale- you should buy it and help us bring back retro Mitchell Street!).   

We hope that someday shoppers will again flood to Mitchell Street for Christmas Shopping and holiday cheer, but for now there are plenty of parking spaces for you and all your friends!

November Cocktail of the Month: The Great Pumpkin Drink

Here at Bryant’s Cocktail Lounge, November always marks the beginning of our favorite time of the year- the Holiday Season.  The fall crisp air, the festive parties, and (of course) the cocktails.

The Great Pumpkin Ice Cream Drink
Only $5 during Old Fashioned
Cocktail Hour!

This is the time of year we start moving away from the clear spirits of summer in to the dark spirits of winter.  ‘Tis the season of Whiskey, Brandy, and Calvados, mixed with amaros and spices most commonly associated with winter dishes and desserts.  Who doesn’t like the flavors of cinnamon, cardamom, and clove on a cold snowy day? 

The most exciting holiday drinking tradition is when we take these traditional flavors and mix them with ice cream, creating the most delicious Wisconsin pastime- the ice cream drink.  During the winter months grasshoppers, brandy alexanders, and cherry benjamins become as popular as popular as scarves, hats, and those funny little furry boots. 

For our November Cocktail of the Month, we have decided to go 100% in to the Holiday Season and offer our Great Pumpkin Ice Cream Drink for a very special price during Old Fashioned Cocktail Hour.  No subtlety here- just pure pumpkin goodness, ginger, and spices mixed with the finest ice cream.  And as always we top our ice cream drinks are topped with homemade whipped cream. 

Stop in for Old Fashioned Cocktail Hour, from 5-9 Tuesday through Thursday to get our small Pumpkin Ice Cream drink for only $5.  Ice cream not your thing?  We have over 45 other cocktails on special for half price.    

October Cocktail of the Month: The Milwaukee Manhattan

We love cocktails named after places.  The Manhattan, the Fort Point, and the Jamaican are all great drinks.  Heck, even the Long Island Iced Tea makes us a little warm inside.

What makes place cocktails so delicious?  We figure it’s because you are thinking of a great place while at the same time sipping on a delicious drink.  How can you not think of the brick lined Thames Street while sipping on a White Baltimore?  Or is it possible to not think of the sun soaked beaches of Waikiki while sipping on a Hawaii Kai?

Our October drink of the month is named after the most special place of all: Milwaukee.  The Milwaukee Manhattan is a fine mix of Jameson Irish Whiskey, sour cherry, and sweet and dry vermouths.   So why does this drink signify Milwaukee, you may ask.  The answer is seeped in symbolism.  First, the Milwaukee Manhattan is essentially a play on the perfect Manhattan, which is traditionally rye whiskey, and sweet and dry vermouths.  Milwaukee, we feel, is also a play on the perfect Manhattan- a quirky place that seems odd and out of place, but is in fact perfect. 

 

The sour cherry flavors are symbolic of the Italian immigrants that give so much character to the east side of Milwaukee, living in perfect harmony with the Irish whiskey of the Upper East Side.  A melting pot, a mishmash, and a hodgepodge that, once is mixed together, becomes a perfect mix of flavors.  This, my friends, is Milwaukee.

If you want to taste a drink that is as perfect and quirky as Milwaukee, this month is your chance to try the Milwaukee Manhattan for only $6 during Old Fashioned Cocktail Hour from 5-9 Tuesday through Thursday.  

Cocktail of the Month: The Amelia Cocktail

For September, our Cocktail of the Month is the Amelia cocktail, a vodka-based cocktail that is a play on the famous classic cocktail, the Aviation.  While few of our classic cocktails utilized vodka as a base (in fact, vodka used to be thought of as a cheap liquor more suitable for the drunkard than the sophisticated cocktail drinker), we believe the Amelia is a great cocktail for our vodka loving patrons who are looking for a citrusy cocktail that is more complex than a cosmopolitan.  In fact, if you are apprehensive about trying classic cocktails, or if you don’t know where to start, we believe this is the perfect cocktail for you. 

The Amelia is named after one of the most famous pilots of all time, Amelia Earhart.  For those of you who don’t know, Earhart was the first female pilot to fly across the Atlantic in 1928 and was a well-loved pilot, author, and pioneer of women’s rights in America.  She famously (and some people say mysteriously) disappeared over the Pacific Ocean during her attempt at a trans global flight in 1937. 

In 1938, when Bryant’s first converted his little tavern in to a luxurious cocktail lounge, the world was infatuated with the adventurous Amelia Earhart and her disappearance the year before.  The search teams were still looking for her and many were hopeful that she would be found somewhere alive and well.  After all, how could someone who captured the hearts and minds of a country simply disappear?

We like to believe Amelia Earhart is still alive in the spirit that drove America to recover from the Great Depression and to survive a brutal World War.  In fact, this spirit of adventure and exploration is probably what drove Bryant Sharp to take a risk on his new venture.  We can say with certainty that we are glad he did. 

So, when you sip the Amelia Cocktail, please sip with a spirit of hearty exploration and adventure.  If you are new to classic or craft cocktails, we encourage you to take a risk and try our cocktail of the month.  It is only $6 during Old Fashioned Cocktail Hour, Tuesday through Thursday from 5PM to 9PM.  

    

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!