Say “coffee” and “booze,” and nine out of ten people’s brains turn to Irish coffee – not that there’s anything wrong with that. Certainly I’ve chugged my share of steaming, spiked mugs, especially as days grow shorter and colder. Still, merging everyone’s favorite, socially-acceptable vices can be a vastly more creative exercise.
New Harvest Coffee Roasters’ downtown offshoot shows how it’s done, turning out inventive, often locally-sourced cocktail menus each season. One of this fall’s highlights is the Broken Arrow, a cold cocktail with the warming power of rye whiskey and moody notes from coffee bitters and a bracing Italian liqueur. And although whiskey, coffee and autumn are about as natural a match as Mr. Rogers and his sweaters, non-whiskey and non-coffee drinkers needn’t be deterred. The café-cum-bar offers plenty of well-curated, seasonal drinks in hues other than brown.
Broken Arrow, Serves 1
Most of this cocktail’s ingredients can be found in any liquor store, except perhaps the coffee bitters, which Terry makes himself using New Harvest’s espresso beans. Adventurous types can DIY – just google for scores of easy recipes. Instant-gratification seekers can order some from companies like El Guapo and Bittermens. Either way, one teensy bottle will last a handful of seasons.
• 2 oz rye whiskey
• 1⁄2 oz Fernet Branca
• 1T local maple syrup
• A couple of dashes of coffee bitters
• Ice
• Garnish: Orange twist
Place the cocktail ingredients in a large glass with ice. Stir until blended. (The maple syrup won’t cause clumping problems like honey sometimes does.) Strain into serving glass over fresh ice. Try to bend the orange peel so that it sprays a bit of its oil into the drink. “You get a noseful of citrus on the first sip,” Terry says. “Then it gets deeper and darker.” Pair with a Poe tale and raise a toast to November.
New Harvest Coffee & Spirits | 65 Weybosset Street #118 | 272-4604
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