Not Just for Wimbledon and New Orleans Anymore

I had my first encounter with Pimm's No. 1, appropriately enough, in Wimbledon. It was 1999. Business has relocated a college friend there temporarily. While visiting with him in his lush back yard, he made me a Pimm's Cup and told me he was mad about the stuff. Didn't I love it?

I'll be honest. It didn't make much of an impression at the time. I assumed that my friend was passing through an acute case of Anglophilia and had lost all sense of perspective where English-made goods were concerned.

Pimm's didn't truly leave its mark on me as a drink until 2006, when I stepped across the threshold of the Napoleon House in New Orleans. Everyone was drinking Pimm's Cups, and the bartender was making them by the half-dozen. When in Rome, I thought. 

I liked the drink immediately this time. That it was July and scorching outside, and the cocktail was light and refreshing, certainly helped stoke my affections. I've had many Pimm's Cups at Napoleon House since, as well as at other bars across the world, and at home, where I build them fairly frequently between Memorial Day and Labor Day.

It was a pleasure to report, in this article for the New York Times, that you can walk into almost any respectable bar in NYC today and order a Pimm's Cup with confidence.

Cocktails to the Maks

There are two things every serious New York drink should do at least once on a Monday night. One is take in a "Tiki Monday" at Lani Kai. The second is experience one of bartender Maks Pazuniak's "Something Like This" sessions at the Counting Room in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. The menu is different every week, featuring five of Pazuniak's original, bitter and beguiling liquid creations (and sometimes a classic or two). Monday is the only day of the week Pazuniak works at the Brooklyn bar (though he designed the place's entire cocktail menu). So if you want to experience his work first-hand, that's when you go. If you merely want to taste one of his drinks, go to the The Counting Room any night and order a Salt & Ash, or Wire & String. Or go to nearby Maison Premiere and take in a Carondelet—a remnant of his short bartending stint there.

Here's a story I wrote for Wine Enthusiast about him:

Counting Room Goes for Batching Drinks and Pared-Down Program

The Counting Room, one of the best and most unappreciated of the Williamsburg cocktail bars, is making some changes to its drinks program.

Whereas in the past one stayed upstairs to drink wine, and went to the basement if cocktails were the order of the day, now one will be greeted with a unified menu for both floors. According to a press release, the change "is necessitating not only a new cocktail list, but a new type of cocktail program, one that increases the speed of production, while maintaining the unusual style of cocktails, headed by Maks Pazuniak, that The Counting Room has been known for."

In the name of speed, the cocktail list has been pared down to five selections, and each of those will be pre-made, or batched. This method is used by a lot of bars around the country, but hasn't been touted by the new cocktail movement, which prizes freshness and the individual crafting of each drink. The downside of this attention to detail is that drinks often take a while to reach you. "In the growing market of artisanal cocktails, speed is an area where there is a lot of room for opportunity, and The Counting Room is jumping on it," read a press release from the bar.

One can't help but agree, but one wonders whether such a system will effect the quality of the cocktails. Time will tell. But it's hard to imagine Pazuniak allowing a poor drink to leave his bar. A talented mixologist, he is a veteran of New Orleans' Cure and has been praised for his use of bitters and other unusual flavors in cocktails.

The five drinks on the menu are as follow. Good to see they've retained the Salt & Ash, which I've previously praised as one of the best cocktails in town.

Parade of Lunacy - Sparkling Wine, Wine Aperitif, Orange Bitters, Lemon Peel

First Transmission from Space - Cynar, Homemade Ginger Syrup, Apple Brandy, Mint

Salt & Ash - Mezcal, Lapsong, Sweet Vermouth, Fresh Lemon Juice, Grapefruit Peel

Look Both Ways - Gin, Fresh Lime Juice, Chartreuse, Wine

The Last Slow Dance - Whiskey, CioCiaro Amaro, Apricot Liqueur, Bitters, Orange Peel

Counting Room Unveils Fall Cocktail List

The Counting Room, the Williamsburg bar which is armed with the great mixologist Maks Pazuniak, whose amazing work with cocktails I first encountered last summer at Cure, a bar in New Orleans, has a new cocktail list. 

A couple great drinks, the Salt & Ash and the Italian Heirloom, will remain. But a few new ones arrive:

One for Sorrow, Two for JoyDeaths Door Gin, Lime, Rich Simple, Laphroaig 10 Yr

Blackboard JungleSmith & Cross Rum, Lime, Pedro Ximenez Sherry, Allspice Dram

How to TravelCinnamon-infused Laird's Applejack, Cinzano Italian Vermouth, Lemon, Honey, Angostura, Lagunitas IPA

New York in the 70'sOld Overholt Rye, Smith & Cross, Islay Scotch, Demerara, Boker's Bitters, Green Chartreuse and Orange oil.

A Visit to the Counting Room: Brooklyn Gets the Cure

The Counting Room, a new restaurant and bar, opened in April on Berry Street in Williamsburg. I spent my time during a recent visit in the downstairs space, where there's a long bar, brick walls and plenty of space.

I have become enthused about the prospects of the joint when I learned the man behind the bar was Maks Pazuniak, whose amazing work with cocktails I first encountered last summer at Cure, a bar in New Orleans which, for my money, ranks as one of the best in the nation. I actually didn't put two and two together until I was home. (When I was introduced, I heard "Max," not Maks.) But I knew something was up when I tasted the deeply complex Salt & Ash, which must be one of the best Mezcal-Tequila cocktails in town.

The smoky drink is made of Chichicapa Mezcal, Grapefruit-infused El Jimador Blanco Tequila, Lapsang Sweet Vermouth, Maraschino, Agave, Angostura, Orange Bitters. The emphasis on cleverly deployed bitter ingredients is reminiscent of the work at Cure. Should have drunk more after I tried that one. But I'll be back. The full cocktail menu is below. Pazuniak said seven of the cocktail are his own creations, including the Italian Heirloom and the Arbitrary Nature of Times. Salt & Ash is a variation of a cocktail Pazuniak created at Cure called the Improved Scotch Sling.

French Compromise
Orange-infused Beefeater Gin, Lemon, Prosecco

A Lazy Spring
Beefeater Gin, Rosemary-infused Bianco Vermouth, Lemon, Honey, Black Peppercorn

Karmic Fate
El Jimador Blanco Tequila, Plymouth Sloe Gin, Lemon, Egg White

Vanishing Sun

Clement Rhum Agricole, Maraschino, Grapefruit, Lime, Honey, Mint, Angostura Bitters, Regan's Orange Bitters

Empire Sour
Laird's Applejack, Lemon, Egg White, Angostura, Carpano Antica Formula

Salt & Ash
Chichicapa Mezcal, Grapefruit-infused El Jimador Blanco Tequila, Lapsang Sweet Vermouth, Maraschino, Agave, Angostura, Orange Bitters

No. 49
Plymouth Gin, Yellow Chartreuse V.E.P.

Red Light Companion
Bol's Genever, Campari, Dolin Dry Vermouth

Sherry, Jerez, Xeres
Fino, Amontillado, Oloroso, Mint

The Arbitrary Nature of Time
Wild Turkey Rye 101, Campari, Cherry Heering, Mole Bitters, Orange Bitters

Italian Heirloom
Cynar, Laphroaig 10 yr , Dewars, Salt