Midnight Rambler, the swanky cocktail den located in the basement of the Joule Hotel, is shaking and swizzling winter elixirs flavored with pine, stone fruit, cardamon, and spiced apple cider. The bar’s co-creator Chad Solomon released his latest seasonal menu a few weeks ago and it’s a good one. Trust us.
Some standouts worth trying:
Hot Buttered Soul (my personal favorite): Brown butter bourbon, pecan orgeat, lemon, cinnamon, cayenne pepper. Named for the 1969 Isaac Hayes album.
According to Solomon:
“Brown butter bourbon is made using a cultured butter from Vermont creamery and that is then used to prepare brown butter, and infused into the bourbon sous vide. The brown butter laden bourbon is then frozen to congeal and filter (wash) off the butter lipids leaving on the nutty brown butter aroma infused into the spirit. The brown butter bourbon is blended with roasted Pecan Bourbon, which is made by slow roasting pecans and then infusing sous vide. Pecan orgeat is also made in house by roasting pecans and blending with brown and cassia bark to get the nut milk. It is then filtered, clarified in the centrifuge, and sweetened with demerara sugar. Pecan orgeat is also made in house by roasting pecans and blending with brown and cassia bark to get the nut milk. It is then filtered, clarified in the centrifuge, and sweetened with demerara sugar.”
Bullet Train to Bardstown: Brown butter bourbon, pecan orgeat, Jerry Thomas decanter bitters, orange zest. The drink is a nod to Jerry Thomas’ Japanese Cocktail.
According to Solomon:
“This is a perfect case where we find multiple uses for house-made ingredients, which in this case is the brown butter and pecan Elijah Craig small batch, and the pecan orgeat created for the Hot Buttered Soul currently on the menu.”
The Revolution Will Not Be Wassailed: VSOP cognac, Trinidadian rum, Oloroso sherry, spiced apple cider. This drink is based on a wassail that Chad’s mother made when he was growing up.
According to Solomon:
“For Midnight Rambler, the idea here is to take traditional wassail (apples, hard cider, ale, sherry/madeira, baking spices) and marry it with higher horsepower classic punch. We’ve maintained the spiced cider component, but use cognac, Trinidadian rum, and Oloroso sherry. Zach Smigiel was instrumental in dialing in the spirit/sherry base.”
There you have it. Bottoms up, people.
