Drink of the Moment
Mixing It Up
Photo Credit: Dan Watkins |
Like the new Louis Boston downstairs, the cocktail menu at Sam’s feels cleaner and more restrained than you might expect. There are creative selections and some novel brands used in intriguing combinations: whiskey and plum wine, Chartreuse and ginger beer. But at the top of the list sit two highballs, and here’s where the decorum decelerates. The Narcissist ($12) is the brainchild of Brooklynite Jon Parsons, while Bostonian Jon Rogers created Pandora’s Box ($12).
“We have a poking-each-other-in-the-ribs competition,” Rogers says about this contest between local and outsider, good versus evil. “How about law versus chaos?” Parsons asks.
His Narcissist was born during a lazy Sunday at Williamsburg’s Sweet Ups, when boredom led Parsons to carve his name into the preserved Asian-pear garnishes. Starting with a classic Polish combination of Zubrówka (bison-grass vodka) and apple juice, he adds simple syrup and passion-fruit liqueur. This slices through the tartness with a sustained note of sweetness.
Rogers’ Pandora’s Box ($12) cuts to the chase. Mixing gin, açaí liqueur, and grapefruit and lemon juices, his drink starts with an acid punch before a clean, agave-nectar finish—sweet without the sticky.
In hefty rocks glasses, both cocktails feel like something James Coburn would down at a patio party before he punched you in the mouth. Asked for her preference—with Rogers standing nearby—bartender Jess Li opts for Pandora’s Box. “I’m a gin person though,” she clarifies. “Until it makes me angry.” Best bet: Enjoy ’em both.
Sam’s | 60 Northern Ave., Boston | 617-295-0191 | samsatlouis.com
