The idea behind the drink is simple. It’s an Aperol Spritz, but sub the Champagne (or Prosecco to be accurate) for the “Champagne of Beers”, AKA Miller High Life. It’s named after the Tim and Eric skit, Spagett, where a goofy Italian dude jumps out from behind things to spook people. The thought is that an Aperol Spritz is a fancy Italian drink, where the Spagett is a little bit more lowbrow and fitting to the Character portrayed by Tim Heidecker.

AND word got back to Tim about the drink and he tried it for the first time with his dad on social media!

Spagett

• 3/4 fresh squeeze lemon
• 3/4 Aperol
• Miller High Life

Pour out a decent amount of High Life to create space and then add the lemon and Aperol to the High Life bottle. That’s it!

Lil Snickers, a cocktail that reminds us to never take ourselves too seriously, features a locally sourced Snickers Mini garnish that’s foraged from the Rite Aid across the street from the bar at Wet City. Some people, when reading a cocktail menu, might feel that ingredients like Cardamaro or Capaletti Apertivo might be a tad pretentious. However, throw a Snickers Mini into the mix and whammo you have one hell of an approachable and humorous drink for the masses.  And that’s why Lil Snickers has been one of Wet City’s longest running cocktails. That and it’s a damn good drink. Photo above by Nomtastic Foods.

Recipe

• 1 1/2 oz Ritenhouse rye
• 3/4 oz Cardamaro
• 1/2 oz Capaletti Apertivo
• 6 drops of mole bitters
• locally sourced Mini Snickers

Add all the ingredients except the garnish to your mixing glass. Add ice and stir. Strain ingredients into your cocktail glass over a large ice cube. Skewer the Mini Snickers and place over the glass.

This cocktail also bottles well!

Yes, this cocktail is named after Luis Fonsi’s song Despacito. After the staff at Wet City had been asked to play the song for the millionth time they decided to name a drink after the request. Yeah, it’s an inside joke, but it’s a great name for a great drink too.

Recipe

• 1 1/2 oz apple & ginger infused vodka
• 1/2 oz Lunazul reposado tequila
• 1/2 oz lime
• 1/4 oz ginger syrup
• top with 2 oz Fever Tree Citrus
• garnish with edible flowers or lime wedge

Add all ingredients except the Fever Tree Citrus and garnish to a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a collins glass with ice. Garnish and serve.

How to make the apple & ginger infused vodka:

Add the following to a jar you can seal:

• peels from 5 apples
• 4 heaping table spoons of ginger puree
• 1 liter vodka

Let sit for two weeks.

This drink, the Loss Leader, was created by Reed Cahill at Wet City for a weekly event we’ll be having together where we create a special cocktail menu each Monday. The “Loss Leader” name comes from a couple of drinks that Miles Macquarrie did at Kimball House in Atlanta. He dubbed these cocktails “Loss Leaders” due to their use of ingredients that were uncharacteristically expensive or rare for use in cocktails.

With that said, the star of this recipe is Cocchi Barolo Chinato. Cocchi Barolo Chinato is fairly uncommon as a base ingredient, but it offers a lot more complexity than a straightforward rosso vermouth due to the base wine being 100% Nebbiolo from Barolo (one of Reed’s favorite winemaking regions). The Xicaru Mezcal plays really well with the earthy, herbal bitterness of the Cocchi Barolo Chinato, and the Angostura Amaro just amps that up one more notch while providing some additional residual sugar. We served it with a seriously dark chocolate (in this case 85%) since serving chocolate with Barolo Chinato is a fairly common regional practice in Italy after dinner. The cocktail trends a bit sweet, but by no means cloyingly so. The dark bitterness of the chocolate and the slight hint of salt really pairs nicely in a sip-then-bite combo.

Recipe

• 1 1/2 oz Cocchi Barolo Chinato
• 1 1/2 oz Xicaru Mezcal
• 1/2 oz Angostura Amaro
• Dark chocolate
• Pink Himalayan salt

This Prohibition era recipe is new to the cocktail menu at Wet City in Baltimore. The Dandy is a 50–50 Manhattan-like recipe made with a red wine-based aperitif instead of the usual sweet vermouth. Wet City’s version uses Cocchi Dopo Teatro as the red wine-based aperitif. Feel free to use whatever red wine-based aperitif is readily available to you (e.g Lillet Rouge, Dubonnet, etc.). They also use a house whiskey blend of rye and bourbon. If you don’t want to try your hand at coming up with a blend that suits your palate I recommend using a high proof rye whiskey. The rest of the recipe is as follows…

Recipe

• 1 1/2 oz house whiskey blend
• 1 1/2 oz Cocchi Dopo Teatro
• Couple dashes of Angostura bitters
• A Pierre Ferrand Dry Curaçao rinse
• Garnish with an orange twist

Add the whiskey and the Cocchi Dopo Teatro to your mixing glass. Add ice and stir. Rinse your cocktail glass with the Pierre Ferrand Dry Curaçao. Express the orange oils from a peel into the cocktail glass, and rub the rim of the cocktail glass with the peel. Strain ingredients into your cocktail glass. Garnish with an orange twist.

Baku is a cocktail bartender Reed Cahill created for Wet City’s opening cocktail menu. This cocktail was inspired by Japanese highballs. They tend to focus on getting as much complexity and depth of flavor from a short list of ingredients as possible. We wanted a breezy summer rye drink that would be accessible to non-rye drinkers as well. The earthiness of the macadamia orgeat plays off the rye well, while the cream soda gives it its soft, smooth texture.  The 18–21 Japanese Chili bitters are a favorite, made by a couple of amazing women originally from Baltimore who now operate out of Atlanta. They add a lot of depth, and an almost textural spice to the drink.

Recipe

• 1 1/2 oz rye
• 1/2 oz macadamia orgeat
• 1/2 oz yuzu juice
• 3 dashes Japanese chili lime bitters
• Splash of cream soda
• Garnish with a lemon twist

Add the rye, yuzu juice, orgeat and ice to your shaker. Shake well. Double strain into a collins glass filled with ice. Top with splash of cream soda. Garnish with a lemon twist.

Written for the Baltimore American Whiskey Club (BAWC) by Owen Lang.

A traveler in Edo period Japan making their way from Tokyo to Osaka by way of the Tōkaidō route would make their last stop in Moriguchi. They might stop for the night, and have a meal and a drink.

Today, across from a post marking the very location of that stop, lies Rogin’s Tavern, the ultimate in bourbon destinations. Proprietor Seiichiro Tatsumi opened the tavern in 1977 in the same location that his family has had business for 16 generations. A man of many interests, whether it is restoring old jukeboxes, or tooling around the countryside in an Aston Martin, he always ends up back in the bar with a glass of bourbon.

His collection of bourbon has grown over the years, thanks to his tireless search among the backroads of the United States. Based out of his farm in Lexington, he drives along backroads until he sees the faint neon glow of a liquor store. If the store has been around long enough, there might just be a dusty case in the basement. If there’s a dusty case in the basement there just might be a chance for this charming man from Japan to name the right price.

I spent five days drinking my way through the history of American whiskey at Rogin’s Tavern. Every night in Osaka, I would return to his bar as the crowds died down, and spend the rest of the evening, tasting, talking and listening to vinyl records. As we made our way through his collection, his recollection of where he purchased things astounded me.

“This I found at a Korean liquor store in Washington DC,” he told me, referring to the Pikesville Rye I was tasting (distilled in 1924, bottled in 1933 in the neighborhood next to mine, Mt Vernon)

Sipping on different eras of American whiskey, I began to notice distinctions. The bold, robust flavor of pre-Prohibition era whiskey. The slight corn flavor that crept in during the 50s ad 60s. The smooth crispness that trended in during the 70s and 80s. In the mid to late 80s the modern taste solidified. Whether this has to do with the grain bill (non Roundup ready wheat?) the barrels (old growth timber?) or simply changing tastes, I can’t quite tell. The grain bill for Ancient Age seems to exist in all eras, and if I was capable of taking better notes (forgive me, I tasted at least 10 varieties every night) I could point to specifics. Suffice to say, there are distinct eras of American Whiskey that I had never been able to taste before.

Rogin’s Tavern is chocked full of whiskey memorabilia. A traditional bar that would not look out of place anywhere in the United States is on the first floor. A jukebox (restored by our erstwhile proprietor) plays in the corner, and a wide selection of whiskey covers the bar. A food menu hangs from the wall letting you know that you can get fried chicken, or cheesecake (Tatsumi-san’s mother’s recipe!) The first floor bar is accessible from the Moriguchi stop of the Keihan line. Climb up the stairs to your left and you will enter a whiskey monger’s heaven. A few tables, and a long squat bar are surrounded by a collection of whiskey bottles full and empty. The entrance to this level is also at street level, but on the other side of the building, on an old road that used to run along a river. This road (as I learned late one night after a few too many) is called “space-time” road. The second floor bar was his first, and he had been open seven days a week until just a few years ago, when he decided to cut back and close three Sundays a month. I have to say, if I had that collection of whiskey around me, I wouldn’t mind working seven days a week either.

On my last day in Osaka, Tatsumi-san had something very special in store for me. We agreed to meet for lunch. He chose his favorite spot for grilled eels; when his wife found out, she had to join us, because these eels are not to be missed. We arrived as the restaurant was opening, but still had to wait for the first round of customers to be served, because we were not the only ones ready for this fine meal. He joked about the “sour mash” sauce that they season the eels with. A barrel of fish sauce that has been in constant use for 100+ years. When we were finally invited in, I had a front row seat for the process of taking a live eel and turning it in to the most heavenly grilled dish I experienced in Japan. A simple preparation of grilled eel dripping in sauce on a bed of rice. The taste and texture were out of this world.

After lunch, we parted ways with his wife, and headed to a liquor store in another part of town, so I could pick up some export only bourbon to take back with me. After selecting several bottles of bourbon I’d never seen in the states, we ran in to a friend of Tatsumi-san’s who happened to be the local Willett rep. We headed to the basement for an impromptu tasting of a handful of outstanding Willett bourbons. As we were leaving he presented me with a mini bottle of 18 year old Noah’s Mill. Feeling wonderful, and carrying a giant box of bourbon, we split up so he could go open the bar for the night.

After a few hours of touristing around, and an outrageous punk show, I made my way back to Rogin’s Tavern for one last night of tasting. On the agenda was a selection of corn heavy whiskeys spanning 30+ years. I finished the night with a Sazerac, and said my final goodbye at around three in the morning. I walked down space-time road to my apartment thinking to myself, what sort of scheme could land me in Osaka permanently.

Moral of the story? Run, don’t walk to Rogin’s Tavern in Osaka, before I go back and finish off all of those delicious bottles.

Highlights:

1933 Pikeville Rye
1914 Col Taylor
1903 Park & Tillford

This cocktail is a collaboration Reed Cahill and I came up with for Monday nights at Wet City where we showcase a special cocktail menu. As it’s the 25th anniversary of Bad Boy Records, we figured it was only appropriate to do a ‘peaches and cream’-esque tribute to 112. The idea came about when Reed grabbed a bottle of barrel-aged peach white grape balsamic from local Greek vinegar and olive oil store DEVOO. This balsamic is insanely complex and flavorful, so we wanted to keep our other ingredients as simple as possible. After some experimentation, we landed on pairing it with Vizcaya Cristal rum, which is a total vanilla cream bomb. Cocchi Americano which adds some nice floral nuance, and turning it into a highball made it super light, breezy, but still complex. The rosemary garnish adds a nice savory aromatic contrast to the light sweetness of the drink itself.

Recipe

• 1 1/2 oz Vizcaya Rum
• 3/4 Peach & White Grape Balsamic Vinegar
• 1/2 Cocchi Americano
• Soda
• Rosemary

The 4th of July is one of my favorite holidays, and I celebrate every year by hosting a party complete with homebrewed shandy and fresh summer cocktails. Because my garden is usually overflowing by this time of the year, I like to take advantage of that by creating cocktails packed with fresh herbs. This year, I’ll be serving my adaptation of the Basil Smash.

The Basil Smash was originally created by Jörg Meyer of Le Lion — Bar de Paris in Hamburg, Germany. According to Jörg, he loved the whiskey smashes he drank in New York so much that he came back to Germany to create what would go on to win “Best New Cocktail” at the 2008 Cocktails Spirits Awards. The Basil Smash is refreshing, aromatic, and – perhaps the best part – it’s amazingly simple to make. This cocktail is the perfect addition to your 4th of July festivities.

Recipe

• 2 oz Bluecoat American Dry Gin
• 3/4 oz freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 3/4 oz simple syrup (1:1 ratio)
• 4–5 sweet basil leaves
• Splash of club soda
• Garnish with a basil leaf

Pick 4–5 basil leaves. Place in your hand and clap your hands together to wake up the basil. Place into cocktail shaker.  Add the gin, lemon juice, simple syrup and ice to your shaker. Shake well. Double strain into a collins glass filled with ice. Top with splash of club soda. Garnish with a basil leaf.

This recipe is a twist on a classic cocktail known as The Old Pal. If you’re not familiar with it, you might be familiar with its sibling — the Boulevardier — which has overshadowed it in popularity for years. Both drinks are 1920’s creations by Harry MacElhone — cocktail pioneer and founder of the infamous Harry’s New York Bar in Paris. Harry attributed the Old Pal to a writer known as William “Sparrow” Robertson, who called anyone he talked to his “old pal.” Turns out Sparrow Robertson has also been described as a “cocky, antique, legend-crusted peewee,” so it’s no surprise that the Old Pal comes packed with an aggressive bitterness.

In the Sparrow, I toned down the bitterness by cutting the Campari with its milder brother, Aperol. Not only does a touch of Aperol bring out the fruity tones in the rye, but the aperitif’s mandarin orange flavor plays nicely with the chocolate and cinnamon notes of the mole bitters. Add the smoky finish of Laphroaig, and you’ve got a sophisticated, six-ingredient cocktail that is sure to please.

Recipe

• 1 1/2 oz rye
• 3/4 oz Dolin Dry Vermouth
• 1/2 oz Campari
• 1/4 oz Aperol
• 4 dashes of Bittermens Xocolati Mole Bitters
• Laphroaig rinse
• Garnish with orange twist

Add all the ingredients (except for the Laphroaig and garnish) to the mixing glass. Add ice and stir. Rinse your cocktail glass with the Laphroaig. Express the orange oils from the peel into the cocktail glass, and rub the rim of the cocktail glass with the peel. Strain ingredients into your cocktail glass. Garnish with an orange twist.