After Dark

Once relegated to garden parties and summer soirees, red wine spritzers are now a favorite for fall, thanks in part to bitters.

Forget its lowbrow reputation and remember it’s a favorite Spanish refresher. Switch out the tradi­tional lemon soda for a splash of seltzer and amp the sophistication with a dash of bitters. Instantly, the red wine spritzer becomes a great fall sipper. Red wine gives it more body and substance than a white wine cocktail and, of course, lends a festive color. The bitters add backbone to the low-alcohol drink, perfect for casual gatherings. Give it a hint of the holidays by stirring with a cinnamon stick. 

What You’ll Need

4 ounces medium-body red wine 

4 ounces soda water 

4 dashes orange bitters 

½ ounce orange juice 

Orange peel garnish 

Utah Gets Even Bitter

Americans—and especially Utahns—are famous for their sweet tooth. But we’re learning to love sweet’s opposite: bitter as in the astringent taste that comes in bitters. Maybe it started with the radicchio and arugula craze of the ’80s. That has settled into a permanent relationship but perhaps it broadened our palate to include bitterness.

The popularity of Amaro, Campari, Aperol and Fernet Branca have all increased. In San Francisco, a favorite drink is Fernet and ginger beer and I have a friend whose regular drink is a Coors Banquet with a shot of Fernet. (Yes, odd. We all think so.) This category has exploded. No longer do we have to choose between Angostura and Peychaud’s. In Utah alone there are several bitters-makers—Bitters Lab, Grandeur View Bitters and Honest John Bitters that make dozens of flavored bitters.

Every day some finance bro on an expense account discovers there’s something other to drink than Bud Light and Jägermeister and has to tell me about it. Yeah. Bro. Say “the angel’s share” again and order the table another round of $75 Pappy Van Winkle shots. Thanks. I’ve had more ounces of whiskey than days this 25-year-old Goldman Sachs account exec has been alive and there’s not enough of it in the world to tolerate listening to him saying “notes of leather” one more time. Would ordering a shot of Beam drive him away?

Bro. Forget Pappy. Japanese whisky (no “E”) is the new, although not new, thing and one Salt Lake bar is ahead of the curve. Post Office Place has always had Nipponese leanings, being the next-door sibling of Takashi. But POP General Manager Rich Romney and Beverage Director Crystal Daniels have taken that inclination to the next level and built out a full library of Japanese juice. They back it up with a deep knowledge of the intricacies of booze from a country 5,000 miles away. 

Daniels found her passion for Japanese whisky and rice whisky (more on that in a minute) when, like all of us, her palate finally grew up. “When I was young I drank a lot of Scotch because I thought it was badass.” What she discovered with Japanese spirits, however, was a wide spectrum that ranges from delicate to intense. “I used to think I needed something that would punch me in the face, but now I enjoy spirits that whisper to me.” 

Daniels didn’t stray that far from her youth, actually. See, the roots of Japanese whisky come from Scotland. In the 1920s, Japan was one of the biggest markets for Scotland’s famous spirits and two men, Shinjiro Torii and Masataka Taketsuru, set out to make Japanese whisky. Taketsuru traveled to Scotland to learn from the masters and brought back the knowledge that would meld Scottish technique with Japanese fastidiousness at Japan’s first distillery, the Yamazaki Distillery.

“Eventually, Japanese whisky would taste more in common with Irish whiskey than Scotch,” Romney says. “The Japanese like to consume whiskey with food and the early distillers learned to make their own spirits more nuanced, less aggressive.” 

But wait, there is more. It’s called “rice whisky” and paradoxically you can only get it in the United States—Takashi even has its own label. Rice whisky is made from shochu, a distilled rice (or grain) spirit made in Japan, but in Japan, there are rules about what shochu can be and it can’t be whisky, even though it can. An enterprising importer saw that shochu makers were trying new things, aging the spirit in various casks for example, but couldn’t sell their variations in Japan, and thus “rice whisky” arrived in America as a whole new category of spirit.  

And all of this, a new frontier of whisky, is waiting for you at Post Office Place. A good place to start is POP’s Japanese Whisky Wednesdays when every pour is 20% off. Daniels and Romney will be there as your guides. 

“I always ask someone who hasn’t tried a lot of Japanese whiskys what their preference is from bourbon to Scotch, and can help them discover something familiar but entirely new,” Daniels says. 

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“This is a much more difficult decision this year than last.” The editors of Salt Lake, along with Francis Fecteau of Libation SLC, had a lot to discuss while deciding the winner of our 2021 Cocktail Contest. We evaluated how these cocktails engage the senses—the visual presentation, the aroma and, most importantly, the taste. We mused philosophically about what makes a cocktail great and debated our personal preferences. We considered which cocktails were particularly unique, which were well-balanced and which we wanted to order again and again. 

Fecteau, who was also on the panel for our 2020 Cocktail Contest, said that this year’s entries represented an exciting leap forward. None of the 12 cocktail creations were exactly alike. They featured unexpected flavor combinations and inventive uses of local spirits. Some took us on a summertime trip to the islands with tiki-inspired drinks, while others evoked the coziness of fall. Plenty gave new life to unconventional ingredients, from beets to parsnips. Bartenders used homemade shrubs, eye-catching garnishes and other personal touches to make these cocktails unmistakably their own. This contest proved how many places there are to get a great cocktail in SLC—and was a testament to the creativity and passion of the bartenders behind these delicious drinks.

READERS’ CHOICE: The Alta Peruvian by Eli Larson Hays (SLC Eatery)

It was a close call. All month long, the competition for number one was neck and neck, but ultimately Eli Larson Hays’ rich and smooth concoction garnered the most votes in this close contest. The Alta Pervuian  gets its name from the Peruvian Pisco Logia, which is coupled with brandy and balanced by a sweet and nutty orgeat syrup, tart yuzu juice and a dash of chocolate bitters. The toasted sesame seed rim makes for a pretty presentation as well, solidifying this crowd-pleasing cocktail’s status as our readers’ favorite. 

JUDGES’ CHOICE: Dead Man’s Party by Maddy Schmidt (Alibi)  

As the days get darker and colder, this bright, inviting cocktail provides necessary counterprogramming to a Utah winter. Starring a shrub that balances the sugar rush of pineapple juice with the kick of ancho chiles, bartender Maddy Schmidt’s Dead Man’s Party is pure escapism. Our panel kept returning to the addictive mix of sweet and spicy that made this drink an approachable yet complex favorite. One sign of its greatness: Dead Man’s Party actually gets better as the ice melts. The result is a cocktail that is well-balanced, creative and, most importantly, a lot of fun to drink.

RUNNER-UP: Second Iteration by Christopher Stephenson (Lake Effect)

We couldn’t resist sneaking in one more winner. Both judges and readers agreed that Lake Effect’s cocktail Second Iteration is a highlight of this year’s contest. Christopher Stephenson’s creation was less than 300 votes behind the reader’s choice winner, and our panel also appreciated this one-of-a-kind drink. Stephenson, a self-described “booze nerd,” combined two surprising local spirits—Holystone Distilling Bosun’s Navy Strength Gin and Sugar House Distillery Rye—with a manuka honey and marigold tea syrup for a daring, complex and downright delicious cocktail.

Honorable Mentions

There was a lot to love about the entries in this year’s contest. Here are a few more of our favorites that almost took the crown.

BEST SEASONAL REFRESHER: London Foggy by Esther Nemethy (Bambara) 

This cocktail’s fall spice rim and earl grey syrup highlights classic fall flavors while the combination of Velvet Falernum and lemon juice ties the drink together with a light touch.

MOST INVENTIVE: A Good Sarsaparilla by Jacob Sanders (Post Office Place)

This high-concept creation earned our respect for pure chutzpah. Inspired by a cozy fall viewing of a good scary movie—did you catch his The Big Lebowski reference?—Jacob Sanders’ daring flavor combination includes butter, tarragon vinegar and, of course, sarsaparilla. The drink is garnished with a marbled shard of sugar, resembling edible stained glass, that we used to amp up the sweetness. 

VIBE CHECK: Fire and Earth by Nick Harward (Mortar & Pestle)

This easy-to-miss bar tucked behind Curry Up Now should be your next not-so-secret hangout spot. Cozy yet chic, we were more than happy to linger at Mortar & Pestle while sipping Fire and Earth, a surprisingly sweet beet syrup cocktail.  

BEST USE OF AN UNCONVENTIONAL INGREDIENT: The Malouf by Joel Aoyagi (Stoneground Kitchen)

Stoneground Kitchen bartender Joel Aoyagi was a sentimental favorite for naming his drink after our late editor Mary Brown Malouf. The Malouf daringly used a labor-intensive syrup made from roasted parsnips in a nod to Mary’s frequent quip after trying a drink flavored with beet juice: “Beets! Why doesn’t anyone make a drink using parsnips!” Joel Aoyagi answered the challenge with a tasty, drinkable cocktail that succeeds far beyond the concept’s novelty. 

That’s a wrap on our 2021 Cocktail Contest. Thank you to Alpha-Lit SLC and The Shop for assisting us with the photoshoot. Thank you to Libation SLC for sponsoring this year’s prizes. Thank you to each of the 12 bars and restaurants for participating in the contest and to the bartenders for sharing their time and talents with us. And thank you, especially, to our readers for coming back to vote again and again and for supporting local food and drink. Cheers!

Check out our 2021 Blue Plate Awards, honoring people making a positive impact in the food and drink community.