Finally, the First Amendment Gets Its Own IPA
A brewery themed for "FREEE SPEEECH!!!"; where savory cocktails actually shine; and this month's drinks Tarot.
Howdy, friends, I hope this missive finds you well. Of course, I never promised I wouldn’t ruin said wellness for you—I could not resist sharing here a brewery I discovered during a recent visit to good ol’ Chicopee, Massachusetts. It’s the city’s own Censored Munky Brewing Co. They do not seem to have a taproom, nor would I likely find myself there if they did, but their cans have popped up in a number of bars and shops. The thrust of the brand is free speech, as you might have gleaned from their name, and the beer I saw out and about is also called “Free Speech.” Sorry, “FREEE SPEEECH!!!” It’s billed as a Midwest IPA, “with the color and clarity of a West Coast.” However, the description notes, this Massachusetts-made, West Coast-colored Midwest IPA “has a milder finish,” whatever the flying fuck Chat GPT IPA word salad this all means.
I also love the rest of the description that says, “It should have hints of honey and flavors of citrus, grapefruit, and potentially peach”—okay, it’s good to acknowledge the subjectiveness of the sensory experience but this to me comes across more as, “it will have these notes if we did everything right and the beer’s not too old or you don’t get a bad batch”—and then, the final ingredient: “with the Freedom required to Speak your mind while drinking it one pint at a time.” Thank christ, finally there is a beer that empowers the kinds of people who actually believe their speech is being policed—you know, bigots—to spout the important stuff, like that word that begins with “r” they’re so obsessed with.
The label art for this hot mess IPA as well as for the “Grassee Knowle” pale ale looks like your grandpa finally figured out to paste Clip Art into a word doc to illustrate his conspiracy theories for his Facebook friends. I unfortunately spent far too much time rabbit-holing on this brewery’s social media because a few posts made me unsure of whether Censored Munky is actually trying to do satire here, and perhaps I’m being too generous, but I still think it might be a possibility they are in fact not anti-PC in earnest (but are bad at comedy). If you happen to have any inside scoop, please do share.
Savory Cocktails Might Be Happening, But They’re Certainly Not Everywhere
For a few years now, we’ve been getting regular reminders via both traditional and social media coverage that savory cocktails are A Thing. I, a savory cocktail stan, have personally contributed to this hubbub. But I think we need to have a little check-in about what this actually looks like once you step outside that elite circle of bars that make 50 World’s Best lists and have hard-to-snag stools and often make the headlines with their painfully col bartenders. What the savory cocktail trend looks like out in the rest of the world is, well, virtually invisible.
Your dirty martinis, sure, of course. Your bloody marys, yes, duh, that’s preceded the trend, fine. But on your average cocktail menu at your average cocktail bar in your average non-New York, LA, New Orleans, Chicago, etc. bar, things still skew overwhelmingly sweet. As in, these menus haven’t even caught up to the last Big Thing, bitter cocktails and amari. I’ve been clocking this more carefully this year to make sure I’m not just letting my imagination run away with me. Most recently: Just this past month or so, I’ve been upstate New York; in New Hope, Pennsylvania and nearby areas in New Jersey; and around New England—western to eastern Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Portland, Maine. At 90 percent of those bars, you’re much more likely to find vanilla appearing in more than one cocktail, and an overall menu so loaded with fruit that it’s clear the alcohol is supposed to be all but hidden.
As a drinks writer, it’s an important reminder of how small our scopes can get when they should be sprawling—sure, savory cocktails are absolutely a trend, but it’s important to remember it’s not what the average Joe is sipping on. As a savory cocktail lover who involuntarily gags at the mere thought of a sweet drink, I wish this trend were indeed to grow further. On that note, I want to spotlight two bars doing the lord’s work in savory cocktails.
Williams & Graham, Denver
I was having a bit of a stressful time in Denver when I was there in August and Williams & Graham is just what the doctor ordered. The staff was so lovely, from the host to the bartenders. I had the It’s Greek to Me, an aquavit cocktail with Henricks gin, Greek yogurt, lemon, confit garlic, cucumber, and olive oil; and the Family Meal, with miso butter-infused Suntory Toki whisky, peanut orgeat, chili oil, Dolin dry, Thai chili, lime, and cilantro. Holy moly. The former was so incredibly fresh, nailing the profile of bright tzatziki and dancing with leafy greenness, dill-y herbaceousness, acidic lemon, that caraway for some spice…I was expecting something clarified with Greek yogurt, but it was actually something just thicker than your standard cocktail yet nowhere near smoothie territory—super cool, refreshing, velvety and luscious. And the Family Meal captured the flavors of the best goddamned pad thai you’ve ever had. It packed that chili heat but was really rounded out with umami savoriness and sweet—but not too sweet, almost earthy?—peanut. I can still taste both of these now. And when I chatted about them with the bartender, they mentioned they like to play with these savory profiles—noted, appreciated; now I’m spreading the word.
Blyth & Burrows, Portland, Maine
I just got to Blyth & Burrows for the first time this October, and am officially a fan. I had a similar conversation with the bartender here as I did at Williams & Graham, in which we got into the variety of savory cocktails on offer and they started talking about how savory flavor profiles were really a focus there. And how. The guy next to me had the Ranch Marauder and raved about it; force-carbonated in-house, it came in a cute little bottle and included tequila, lime, parsley, dill, cilantro, and MSG, essentially a much more fragrant and complex riff on the refreshing nature of a ranch water. I had the Skålduggery, essentially a gin and aquavit (huzzah for aquavit!) martini fat-washed in smoked salmon with dill and caper brine (wowzers); my husband got the Tom Yum Punch, which actually mixed tom yum soup (a sour, spicy Thai soup with kaffir lime, galangal, lemongrass, chili, and garlic) with gin and lime. Both were wildly delicious in that “I can’t believe they pulled that off way.” They both really captures the flavor profiles of their savory inspirations, but emphasized the varying sweet, sour, spicy, umami, rich, and acidic notes that, lo and behold, make perfect sense in a cocktail.
What I’ve Been Up To
Some exciting stories of mine have published since we last caught up, friends.
One of the two main reasons I flew to Colorado in August is live—it’s the story of how I was scheduled to ride along on the FlyteCo fresh hop flight that wasn’t, for the first time since the brewery opened and started the tradition. A story of disappointment or dedication and determination? You be the judge—on Craft Beer.
I’ve been fascinated by dining reward apps for a while: how and whether they actually do help restaurants and bars, how they profit, what operations look like under the hood. I dug into this by profiling Blackbird and inKind for Inc.com, a super fun assignment—special shout out to friend and star drinks writer Ruvani de Silva and her lovely husband for introducing me to Blackbird in the first place, and to favorite Brooklyn brewery KCBC for weighing on their experience.
Are alternative approaches to barrel-aging becoming more acceptable—cool, even? If the distillery is dialed into the exact science of in-bottle wood infusions, I think the answer is yes. I talked to Split Spirits and Bare Wood Spirits about the advantage of this technique for Craft Spirits & Distilling, especially when it comes to experimenting with wood varieties that don’t make for good barrels.
I understand that it’s simply not doable for every brewery, but boy oh boy, am I more likely to walk out of a brewery with a four-pack these days if I can mix said four-pack up. (Interesting note: We were recently on a New England road trip and a frankly shocking number of breweries did mix-packs; super rad when you’re trying to discover entire regional beer scenes in one or two nights at your AirBnB.) I was psyched Brewing Industry Guide gave me the opportunity to dig into how breweries offer these, why and how they engage customers, and how they affect the bottom line.
I’m a longtime Mr. Lyan stan, and was on the edge of my seat once I heard New York was finally getting one of Ryan Chetiyawardana’s bars—I couldn’t wait to see what kind of concept we were getting and how it would translate here. So, I’m thrilled I got to dig into just that for this Observer review of the brand new Seed Library.
No new podcast episode this month, by the way—it’s been a perfect storm of non-stop travel, deadlines, a death in the family, and scheduling roadblocks. I’m busy planning can’t-miss episodes for you all now, but in the meantime, catch up on fascinating chats with Anton Kinloch of Lone Wolf cocktail bar, Jenny Pfafflin and Shana Solarte of the Bier Omakase tasting event series and Substack, food and beverage branding, content, and social media consultant Stephanie Grant, and beer + chocolate writer, educator, podcaster, and zine publisher David Nilsen. And be a pal: rate and review!
Best Drinks This Month:
The Italian Lira at The Fed, in Boston’s Langham Hotel: Hendrick’s gin, [I’m assuming St. George’s] basil eau de vie, Génépy d’Alps, tonic reduction, Strega, and a cucamelon. This one was a stunner, essentially a martini with a silky, glassy mouthfeel and a complex balance of herbaceous, floral, sweet, and savory notes with a touch of acidity. And I had never even heard of a cucamelon—is this something everyone is familiar with? It literally looks like the teeniest, cutest li’l watermelon you ever did see, and has a flavor profile like a cucumber, green tomato, and green grape.
That aforementioned Skålduggery at Blyth & Burrows in Portland.
House of Tamworth Crab Trapper Whiskey at Tamworth Distilling’s tasting room: Almost as the salmon does for the Skålduggery, the crab gives this whiskey a sweet, briney salinity that makes for a really lovely and interesting lightness playing against the whiskey’s deeper notes of wood, tobacco, and molasses.
Horseradish vodka at Cathedral Ledge Distillery in North Conway, New Hampshire: I brake for horseradish and this vodka had just the right amount of pungently peppery heat. Dirty martini enthusiasts, take note.
Chocolate Orange Porter at Allagash: Chocolate and orange is the best flavor combination, I don’t make the rules. Here, the zesty, sweet, acidic notes of orange peel sing, lifting up the decadent chocolate, coffee, and roast qualities of the porter. An absolute dream to sip on a chilly fall day in Portland.
Black Lager at Argenta Brewing Company, also in Portland, Maine: Brown bread depth and a coordinating bread-crusty hint toward subtle roast, balanced by supreme easy-drinking crispness and perfected by an A+++ pour crowned with a pillowy head.
Wet Martini at Eel Bar: Flawless, no notes.
Drinks Tarot
I pulled The World card, which essentially speaks to accomplishment and completion. Something may have recently come full circle for you, resulting in an achievement or exciting new step, and you’re feeling proud—or should be, anyway. A project, an assignment, studying for and receiving some kind of certification, brewing a new beer, even birthing an entire human; you’ve reached the culmination of some process or long road of hard work. And if this milestone hasn’t happened for you yet, it’s not far away.
The World is really a reminder to celebrate and feel gratitude for this accomplishment. Don’t rush into the next big thing without reflecting on whatever you’ve done and the magnitude of that. Really think about where you want it to take you—it may be somewhere you never expected.
It certainly may not feel like something to celebrate, but this brought to mind the recent news of Rogue shutting down. It’s sad for the brewery and the employees who lost their jobs, it’s sad for craft beer because another major OG has bitten the dust…but man, Rogue is one of the breweries who really did the damn thing, right? The Dead Guy Ale was a gateway beer for many of us craft nerds, myself included. They had a great (? from the outside…) run, and were still in the top 50 largest breweries in the country just last year. This is a bummer, but let’s say a little “cheers” for Rogue and its better days.
Funny enough, I'm the one who introduced Ruvani and her husband to Blackbird. Word of mouth works, apparently!