Establishment: HSL — 418 E. 200 South, SLC
Bartender: Cole Jones
Cocktail Name: The Dirty Rat
Cole Jones tried several different artistic fields, including working as a chef, before he found bartending and something clicked. “I love coming up with cocktails and making menus, it’s such an interesting expression of creativity. There’s nothing else like it”.
That creativity led to the Dirty Rat, a cocktail inspired by his experience making late summer ratatouille. “The second it hit me, a ratatouille martini, it was like divine inspiration.” Watch for hints of garlic and olive.
Photography by Natalie Simpson, Beehive Photography.
Even though his drink is veggie-forward, when it comes to relaxing, Cole loves a tiki cocktail. A classic daiquiri or ‘ti punch with rhum agricole hits the spot. Cole also loves mixing up some theatrical drinks—“anything I can light on fire, I’m happy with.”
His hangover recovery routine is inspired by Anthony Bourdain: “Have a beer, have a cigarette, eat some spicy food, go for a long walk, drink some coffee, all within the same hour.”
The Dirty Rat
1.5 oz Sugar House Vodka
1 oz ratatouille shrub
.5 oz Olive brine
.25 oz Waterpocket Toadstool Notum
.25 oz Lusau Fino Sherry
2 drops of Saline solution
Stir, strain and garnish with a skewer of dehydrated zucchini and yellow summer squash
Ratatouille shrub:
Add tomatoes, charred eggplant, zucchini, squash blossom, red bell pepper, garlic, salt, pepper, verjus rouge, red wine vinegar and water to a blender, blend on high till well incorporated, strain through a fine mesh strainer, then strain again through a coffee filter.
Explore the cocktail trail and vote for your favorite cocktail in the 2025 Salt Lake Magazine Farm-To-Glass Cocktail Contest.
About the 2025 Salt Lake Magazine Farm-To-Glass Cocktail Contest
23 bars from across the state present delicious cocktail creations and compete for the best in Utah. This year’s contest cocktails shine with all Utah has to offer, embodying the farm-to-glass ethos by incorporating the bountiful range of Utah’s native herbs, homegrown produce and locally distilled spirits. Celebrate the bartenders’ hard work throughout from Sept. 1–Oct. 1 by visiting participating bars, trying their unique cocktail concoctions and voting for your favorite on saltlakemagazine.com.
