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Before hitting Columbus bars, more cocktails are spending time soaking up flavor in barrels
PHOTO BY WILL SHILLING
Barrels aren’t just for whiskey and wine anymore. A new trend making its way to Columbus bars involves aging mixed drinks as well.
At De-Novo Bistro & Bar, bar manager Tomos Mughan has been experimenting with Manhattans. “The hard part was finding the barrel itself,” he said. “We eventually got these two little tester barrels from this lady in Texas, ran a few test runs, then got a bigger barrel. We were messing around with it for two months before putting it on the menu.”
As for the result? “We sold out what was supposed to last two weeks in one night,” he said.
The idea is for the wood of the barrel to infuse its own flavors into the cocktail, and to allow time for the ingredients to meld together. The outcome, Mughan said, is a much smoother Manhattan, with hints of cinnamon and spice. “We’ve had people ask us if we put anything else in it,” he said. “But it’s the barrel.”
Mixologists also are toying with barrels that were previously used to age other varieties of booze, such as sherry or bourbon, to expose their concoctions to different qualities. Cris Dehlavi, bar manager at Cameron Mitchell’s M restaurant, said she’s been aging a batch of Manhattans with a local twist. She’s using Oyo vodka from Middle West Spirits instead of whiskey, and she plans to include the $12 drink on M’s summer cocktail menu.
“What is super-cool about this [Manhattan] is that I used vodka instead of whiskey, but I put it in a used whiskey barrel, let it sit in there for 90 days, and what you end up with truly is whiskey,” she said. “Oyo vodka is practically like an un-aged whiskey anyway, so it worked beautifully.”
Mixologist Nicolene Schwartz of MoJoe Lounge has been experimenting with the blend of ingredients she uses to make maraschino cherries. Like Dehlavi, she’s also tapped Middle West Spirits for help. “We are going to use Oyo whiskey barrels to make the cherries and age the ‘cocktail’ they’re macerating in,” Schwartz said. “We’ll then serve the cocktail on its own.” The hope is to include the drink on the menu by late June.
