Forty Four, the Complete Menu, Punch and All

Now that the Royalton's new bar program is officially open for business, I feel at liberty to unveil the entire cocktail menu, designed by Cocktail Collection pictured above. I had the opportunity to preview some of the drinks last week at a time when all six members were in attendance. I can speak well of the Maiden's Prayer, Champagne Cobbler, Stone Place, Hocus Pocus and very well of Vieux Carre (made not too sweet, as is often the case), Other Word and the Martha Washington Punch, which is beautifully served up in a crystal bowl and heavy glasses, which fresh slices of citrus and freshly grated nutmeg. I put the authors of the various drinks (those I could remember) in parentheses. 

There will also be a barrel program, in which certain spirits will be aged in particular barrels and then later used to mix into proprietary cocktails.

One amusing note: One of Misty Kalkofen's contributions, the Pharoah Cooler, was on the menu for only the briefest time. Forty Four gets all its fruit and juices from a local organic supplier. Soon after the Cooler went on the menu, the bar was informed that Watermelon was no longer in season. So the Cooler's brief reign was over. She will soon add a different drink.

Here's the menu:

Royalton's Forty Four Bar to Open Sept. 20

The opening date for Forty Four, the revamped lobby bar at midtown Manhattan's Royalton Hotel, will be Sept. 20. As for the menu composed by the so-called Cocktail Collective—Richard Boccato from Dutch Kills and Painkiller in New York City; John Lermayer from the Florida Room in Miami Beach, and Woodward in Boston; Simon Ford, a former London bartender, and now a global cocktail ambassador employed by Pernod Ricard USA; Willy Shine, one of the founders of Contemporary Cocktails, a prominent cocktail consultancy based in New York City; Misty Kalkofen, who tends bar at Drink in Boston; and Eric Alperin, head bartender at the Varnish in Los Angeles—that's still be worked over, but expect something soon. After all, once that sextet settles on a list, they will have to teach the drinks and their methods to the Royalton's union bar staff, which may prove a tricky task. Union bartenders don't alway possess the same fervor for fancy drink-building that today's young mixologists do.