![drink.png[1]](http://crowsinthekitchen.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/drink.png1_.jpg "drink.png[1]")
The Boston Crows got a girls night out last week in celebration of Riane’s visit, and boy did we do it up! Mo, Holly and I have been simply dying to try out relatively-new hot spot Drink for what feels like ages, and this finally afforded us the opportunity. Located in the rarely visited Fort Point neighborhood of Boston, Drink did not disappoint. The drinks were exciting and original, the munchies were delicious and the bartenders were friendly and attentive. We were in Crow Heaven.
Owned by Chef Barbara Lynch, the proprietor of several fabulous locations around these parts, Drink is a pretty unique concept- it is a cocktail bar without a cocktail menu. All drinks are made custom to the taste of the drinker; you tell the bar tender what you like (example: fruity, clear liquors, with some fizz) and they whip something up. If you don’t like it- no big deal- they’ll make you another. There are a few “suggestion” drinks listed on a blackboard behind the bar, but they were inconspicuous enough that we didn’t even notice the list until round three.
The environment itself is warm and comforting- 3 long wooden bars with brick walls and perfectly low lighting. Behind the bars it is mostly sterile stainless steel and stone- not a single booze bottle or mixer in sight. Only several glasses filled with garnishes and basic bartending tools can be seen by the patrons. The bartender’s dapper attire gives some indication of their skill- even the barbacks were in vests and ties!
We wanted to try as much as we could and between the four of us we came close to succeeding. Mo and I started off with two vodka and champagne cocktails- hers topped off with house-made grenadine and mine with their homemade raspberry syrup. Holly and Riane went the gin cocktail route (Holly’s was a gin and grapefruit concoction) and after the first sips we knew we were off to a great start.
Of course, it being dinnertime and all, the crows needed to munch. Drink has a small menu of snacky items to compliment their cocktails. Everything sounded delicious, and everything was reasonably priced at under $15.oo. We wanted to try it all but finally settled on bacon wrapped dates ($9), french friens with a lemon aoli ($6?), the house cheese plate (which came with a hard and a soft cheese, citrus marmalade, a portion of salted nuts and baguette, $12) and a plate of cheesy puff pastry bites (only $2!!!!!!!!). Everything was as satisfying as promised and we mowed down while we watched our lovely and attentive bartender prepare our second round.
Honestly, I get a little blurry on the particulars after this point, but I know that there were more drinks and that they were amazing. After conducting a survey of the crows, here are some of the highlights:
- A Dark and Stormy, made with Drink’s housemade (and spicy!) ginger beer
- A Bee’s Knees; you could taste the fresh honey
- Cucumber and Hendrick’s gin with grenadine
- A Pink Lady- made with a raw egg white (good until it got warm)
- a play on a whiskey sour
- Dueling tequila drinks: one that was margarita-esque and one that tasted almost like tequila on the rocks but with a stronger smokey flavor. (This is when it starts to get blurry)
All together, we had an amazing time at Drink, and although it was a bit to pricy to become a regular crow perch, we all agreed that the bill was very reasonable considering the damage done and the high level of service and skill that we got. (Side note: I would highly recommend coming to drink on a weeknight as apparently it gets super crowded on the weekends, and the personal attention we got on a Tuesday was half the fun.) Drink sets the bar so high it will be tough to find another cocktail establishment we like as much, but if you know of any, please leave suggestions in the comments!
For more information on Drink, check out the following article on boston .com: here
The beets I used were the “candy-striped” variety so that’s why they do not appear that vibrant red in the picture above. I quartered and steamed them for around 30-40 minutes until they became tender and the peeling came off with ease. From there I chopped them into a small dice, put them in a jar and covered them with olive oil and red wine vinegar. My taste buds fall on the side of salty/sour so I like to add alot of vinegar to my beets to balance our the sweetness but if you are a fan of sweet then you should hold back on the vinegar.
