Drink Recipe

Cocktail Recipe: Sip into Autumn

Seasonal libations at the Dean Hotel

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This is not a column about pumpkin-anything. Shocking, I know, in the month that pumpkin beverages long ago colonized. You have your pumpkin lattes, your pumpkin ales and your pumpkin cocktails. Pumpkin smoothies, because society decided that baby food-colored drinks for adults are not disgusting. Is pumpkin wine a thing? If not, I’m sure someone, somewhere, is trying to make it one.

I, for one, have never understood the craze. That said, I’m not an autumnal-themed beverage hater in general. In fact, there’s something quite lovely about capturing the season in liquid form. But do we have to be so narrow about it?

At the Magdalenae Room in the Dean Hotel, Mike Sears (who’s somewhat of a don in Providence’s bar scene) has put together something that invokes autumn minus the omnipresent gourd. How very refreshing, no? Called the Bourbon of Venice, it’s a Maker’s Mark-based drink that gets complex notes from two Italian liqueurs, one bitter and herbal and the other slightly sweet. “The profile has flavors of cardamom, cinnamon and bitter orange peel,” barman Richard Ruff explains, noting that for all its complexity, the drink has a mere three ingredients. No crazy syrups, foams or other bells and whistles. It’s smartly edited for solid impact.


I register my approval, and Ruff seems pleased. “It’s harder to make something really good with fewer ingredients than with more,” he enthuses. Amen to that, sir.

The Bourbon of Venice
One Serving
This cocktail is a snap to make at home, provided one’s home bar has the two liqueurs. They really are essential and shouldn’t be substituted. The bourbon, on the other hand, can be swapped out for your standby brand – though Maker’s Mark does make an excellent base.

•2 oz Maker’s Mark
•1 oz Luxardo amaro
•1/2 oz Luxardo maraschino

Mix all ingredients with ice in a glass or cocktail shaker. Stir – don’t shake – and strain into a glass. Serve it straight up.

The Magdalenae Room at the Dean Hotel
122 Fountain Street
455-DEAN 

Dean Hotel, The Magdalenae Room, The Bourbon of Venice, Autumn Cocktail, Mike Sears

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