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Congratulation to Magnus on Water. The Biddeford cocktail bar has been recognized by The Pinnacle Guide for the excellence of their bar program. Magnus is one of 37 cocktail bars in the world and one of only 10 in the US to be honored.
The Pinnacle Guide requires bars to submit a detailed self-application and then the establishment is evaluated by a series of anonymous auditors.
Knickerbocker Ice Company (website, facebook, instagram) co-owner Brian Hanson was interviewed on the Maine podcast Cocktails with Friends about the history of ice harvesting in Maine and the present day Portland company Knickerbocker Ice Co. that supplies specialty ice cubes to cocktail bars and for retail sales.
Punch has published an article about Papi beverage director LyAnna Sanabria’s recipe for the classic Puerto Rican drink Coquito.
While coquito is often shorthanded as Puerto Rico’s answer to eggnog, the comparison is not quite right, Sanabria notes. While the two drinks share some characteristics—boozy, creamy, spiced—coquito tends to be lighter-bodied than eggnog, meant for sipping in warmer weather. It also has a complicated heritage entwined with the island’s colonial past.
Punch has published an article featuring the Room for Improvement Cosmopolitan created.
The intention was to appeal not only to the customer who orders Cosmos at every bar, but also to “nerdy cocktail friends who might never ordinarily call for a Cosmo,” says [Arvid] Brown. That meant rethinking each ingredient. “We looked at what it is that people like about it: It’s pink, it’s served up, it’s citrusy, it’s refreshing and it’s got a little tartness,” Brown says. “We tried to reengineer those flavors with more craft ingredients.”
Hardshore Distilling (website, facebook, instagram) is launching a line of bourbons under the brand name Shorebird Whiskey.
The initial line-up of three whiskeys are a 4-year old Small Batch, a 5-year old Single Barrel, and a 6-year old Master Distiller’s Series Bourbon. Harshore began the production of the bourbons not long after the distillery launched in 2016. They’re now available for pre-order for release in the second half of October.
Additionally, Hardshore has been building out an enlarged tasting room at their location on Washington Ave. Their updated construction schedule has the new seating area to open to the public in mid-September.
Today’s Maine Sunday Telegram includes an article comparing the cross-road Wiscasset lobster roll options of Red’s and Sprague’s, and
From my perspective, differences between the two are slight. Sprague’s roll is a little brinier, and its buns a little less substantial, while Red’s seems to use more butter (Kate’s Butter) and hand-tears meat into larger pieces. Both are so enormous that they need to be wrapped to maintain the pretense of structural integrity. On the strength of lobster rolls alone, the two are tied. Either would be a good choice for a hungry adult who wants full autonomy over how their roll is dressed.
an article about Tree Spirits, a winery/distillery in Oakland.
Being a state where agriculture flourishes, Maine has witnessed recent growth in wineries that utilize a wide range of fresh produce to make wines and other spirits.
[Owner Bruce] Olson said he and his wife go through meticulous processes to produce the 15 items on their menu, including wines, brandies and absinthe, an anise-flavored spirit derived from several plants.
Forbes has published an interview with Jonathan Baker, a self described ‘ice nerd’ who produces specialty cocktail ice for Blyth & Burrows, Via Vecchia and the soon-to-launch Papi.
Jonathan Baker: I’m an ice nerd, going way back. As a kid in West Texas, I would look forward to the few icy days we got every year. I’ve always felt at home around ice — which is partly why I ended up in Maine, a state with a long and storied history of ice production. I also wrote my master’s thesis at the University of Chicago about ice as metaphor in nineteenth-century American literature. Since completing grad school, I’ve continued to read and study everything ice-related that I can get my hands on.
The Maine Sunday Telegram has published a review of Wayside Tavern, and
Cast in deep greens, golds and Victorian-era stained wood, this European-inspired restaurant (read: mostly Italian and French) is the sort of bistro-esque neighborhood restaurant any locality would be lucky to have. The cocktail menu takes familiar classics like negronis and boozy spritzes and tweaks them just enough so you’d notice only if you’re paying attention. The menu does the same, although it also plays with format, reimagining a roast chicken as an open-faced sandwich slathered in ricotta and pine nuts, soaking up the fat and juices from griddled chicken thighs…
an article about a trend in cocktail design popping up in local bars.
Au courant cocktail enthusiasts or anyone with an adventuresome palate these days can sip drinks all around town that showcase the savory flavors of everything from fresh spinach and carrots or roasted beets to Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, brown butter, lobster, North African shakshuka sauce – even hot and sour Thai tom yum soup.
Punch magazine has included the Microdose (recipe) on the menu at Magnus on Water in the list of the magazine’s Favorite Cocktails of 2021.
It’s most impressive to me when a drink achieves complexity in restraint. A prime example is Brian Catapang’s Microdose, served at Magnus on Water in Biddeford, Maine. The drink works from a simple concept—“salty watermelon on a patio”—executed with razor-sharp precision. Fresh watermelon juice is bolstered by the slight salinity of fino sherry, the fruit notes of pisco, the acid of lime and an added saline jolt from a tincture of habanero and dulse seaweed. Like all cocktails strive to be, it’s far greater than the sum of its parts.
The Maine Sunday Telegram has posted a roundup of beers and cocktails to go with pandemic-inspired names such as the Dr. Fauci.
If the stress of the pandemic is getting to you, or you just want to try something new that will make you smile, check out our guide to these specialty cocktails and beers below. Just don’t enjoy them in a crowd.