Michigan Avenue - Niche Media - Michigan Avenue magazine is a luxury lifestyle magazine centered around Chicago’s finest people, events, fashion, health & beauty, fine dining & more!
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TASTE Liquid Courage RARE ARTISANAL INGREDIENTS—MANY OF THEM LOCALLY MADE—ARE HELPING CHICAGO'S BARTENDERS ADD SERIOUS SHOWMANSHIP TO THEIR COCKTAILS. BY CATHERINE DE ORIO F rom 19th-century star barman Jerry Thomas's flaming Blue Blazer to Tom Cruise's bottle-juggling in Cocktail, theatrics in the bartending world are nothing new. But Fulton Market's James Beard Award– winning lounge, The Aviary (955 W. Fulton Market, 312-226-0868; theaviary.com), has set a new standard, with high-concept cocktails that combine unique, house-made ingredients in whimsical presentations. Now local mixologists are raising their own bar with rare ingredients and exclusive house tinctures, tonics, shrubs, and bitters. Inspired by his experience at Michelin-starred restaurants like French Laundry in California, Adam Seger was the first Chicagoan to move fluidly between the cocktail and culinary worlds. At Nacional 27 (325 W. Huron St., 312-664-2727; n27chicago.com) in the early aughts, the mixologist/cocktail consultant drew acclaim by focusing on classic techniques and high-quality ingredients like single-estate Yakami Orchard Yuzu, heirloom pink lemons, and even wild mulberries he hand-picked himself. Now he has partAdam Seger's nered with Rodrick Markus, founder of Rare Tea Cellar, Balsam, pear, and sage leaf whose culinary staples include Okinawan sea grapes, cocktail. black sugar, and vintage pu-erh tea. "Rare Tea Cellar opened up a whole new universe to my cocktail world," says Seger. "It was bitters and infusion-palooza 2.0." "We have every tea in his line," adds Charles Joly, The Aviary's acclaimed beverage director, who makes hot rooibos tea cocktails with Markus's blends and serves them tableside from a vacuum brewer. Together, Seger and Markus have founded Rare Botanical Bitters Co. The pair's early successes include Truffe Amère, a black winter Perigord truffle bitter; and Balsam, a botanical —ADAM SEGER infusion containing all the traditional elements of a vermouth (except wine) that can then be added to wine as needed, guaranteeing optimal freshness. (Seger himself makes a sophisticated seasonal spritz with Balsam, ginger beer, diced pear, and sage leaf.) Meanwhile, at Logan Square hot spot Billy Sunday (3143 W. Logan Blvd., 773-661-2485; billy-sunday.com), bar director Alex Bachman imports ambergris (which has a long history in the perfume industry) for his aptly named drink Cocktail, also featuring palm sugar syrup, malted rye whiskey, Spanish brandy, and house bitters. A waxy nugget that forms in the sperm whale's digestive tract before it is naturally excreted, ambergris is foraged from the shoreline and fetches more than gold due to its rarity. "It brings musky, old-quilt, briny-sea aromatics to a drink," explains Bachman. "We have this opportunity to explore new ingredients," says Bachman, musing on the city's burgeoning cocktail scene. "Those ingredients open up possibilities for truly exciting new drinks." MA RIGHT: Black rooibos tea cocktails are served tableside from a vacuum brewer at The Aviary. LEFT: Mixologist Adam Seger helped pioneer the tea trend in cocktails. 86 PHOTOGRAPHY BY ANTHONY TAHLIER (DRINKS) "Rare Tea Cellar opened up a new universe. It was bitters and infusionpalooza 2.0." MICHIGANAVEMAG.COM 086_MA_Taste_Cocktail_October_13.indd 86 9/17/13 12:04 PM