Barfly's Beat: Liberty Belle Cocktail Menu

Fredo behind the bar the Empire Hotel

By popular demand, below is the cocktail menu I put together for the recent Liberty Belle Fourth of July Spectacular at the Empire Hotel Rooftop bar. A big thank you to Justin Noel from Contemporary Cocktails for helping me batch the punch and prep the ingredients. The bar staff of the Empire Hotel bar were pros despite the over capacity crowd.

The recipes from the Specialty Cocktail menu:

Yankee Doodle Dandy

2oz (RI) Rye Whiskey

1 barspoon of John C. Taylor Velvet Falernum

1 barspoon of Yellow Chartreuse

2 Dashes of Aromatic bitters

Orange and lemon peels

Combine ingredients in bar glass. Add ice and stir until chilled. Strain into Old Fashioned glass and add several large ice cubes. Garnish with orange and lemon peels.

This recipe is a variation of Giuseppe Gonzalez’s “Dandy” series of cocktails (he used scotch or gin) at Dutch Kills.

Southside Fizz

2 oz Tanqueray London Dry Gin

1 oz Lime Juice

¾ oz Simple Syrup

6-8 fresh Mint leaves

Club soda

Gently muddle mint with lime juice in bottom of mixing glass. Add gin, syrup, and ice and shake well. Pour into a Collins glass and top off with club soda. Garnish with mint.

Independence Julep

1 oz Woodford Reserve Bourbon

1 oz Appleton Estate Rum

¾ oz of Demerara sugar syrup

2 springs of Mint

Gently muddle the mint and Demerara sugar in bottom of bar glass. Add the rum and bourbon then strain into a chilled highball glass over crushed ice. Stir the mixture, garnish with mint and serve.

Liberty Belle Punch (single serving)

1 ½ oz of Buellit Bourbon

1 oz of St. Germain Elderflower

1 ½ oz Lemon juice

1 oz Simple syrup

2 dashes of Rhubarb bitters

Lemon wheels and cherries

Sparkling wine

Combine everything except sparkling wine in shaker, add ice and shake until well chilled. Strain into goblet and top off with sparkling wine. Garnish with lemon wheel and cherry.

Classic Daiquiri

2 oz Cruzan Platinum Rum

½ oz Lime juice

1 oz simple syrup

Combine ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake until chilled and strain into a martini glass. Garnish with Lime wedge.

(Photo credit: Gabi Porter for Metromix NY)