Year round the bartenders inside local establishments are busy conjuring up new recipes to delight guests with. From dark sippers heavy on the alcohol to refreshing basil-and-lime concoctions perfect for summer sipping, cocktails—and the bartenders who craft them—are definitely bringing their A-game to San Joaquin County.
If you’re a cocktail connoisseur, you may already know about the hotspots creating new menu items at the turn of the season, using local liquors and fresh ingredients wherever possible for tastes truly inspired by the county around them. And with the rise of the craft cocktail, restaurants are also embracing a more homemade quality to some of their drinks, either going completely craft (cocktails where every element is homemade) or just a little crafty (where some ingredients are homemade but not all).
Alysia Rohde, a bartender at West Oak Nosh, loves coming up with new recipes for the bar, “putting a nice, fresh spin on things and a little personality,” she says. At West Oak Nosh, craft cocktails are popular right now, muddled with simple syrups made from scratch, finished with small-batch bitters, and routinely topped with some sort of garnish to make the drink pop—from dehydrated fruit to melon balls. Regardless of the exact recipe, every aspect of these drinks takes longer to make, but the flavors are worth every minute (or hour, or year) of prep time.
Alysia says the designation between a common drink with just a couple of ingredients and a specialty cocktail is in the details. Making one of these specialty cocktails takes her an average of three to four minutes, while a more common drink takes about 30 seconds. Alysia recommends two of her favorites from the West Oak Nosh menu: the White Linen and the Cherry Limeade. The first is a simple, light cucumber beverage finished with limejuice that offers a blend of sweet and citrus. The latter is more tart, made with real muddled cherries and perfect for summer.
With a wide variety of mouth-watering, artisan options on the menu, it may also take you more time to select the ideal beverage pairing for your meal. If you’re stumped, go for flavors you like individually and see if they create a winning combination. It’s also helpful to start with a liquor base you gravitate toward. Just don’t play it too safe; half the fun of these specialty beverages is mixing it up.
When ordering a drink, overall flavor is important. For light and refreshing, choose cocktails made with citrus or basil, or something fizzy. For texture, consider beverages made with egg—yes, you read that right—or muddled fruit. Or, for something smoky, pick a mezcal drink. Those who like dark and heavy may prefer dark-colored liquor finished with berries, cherries, or orange bitters. If you’re stumped, ask the bartender for a recommendation. After all, chances are they had a hand in crafting the menu.
“Right now, I’m really into grapefruit. It’s a little on the bitter side and I think it’s kind of a forgotten fruit,” Alysia says. Whether you mix it with vodka or tequila, the grapefruit is a good balance for the alcohol. “It’s versatile that way.”
September is the right time to explore cocktails at Midgley’s Public House—it’s right when bartenders are switching from the summer menu to the fall one, still offering refreshing summertime sips for a hot day while also bringing in some of those classic fall flavors for the start of autumn.
“Right now my favorites to make are the Huckleberry Lemon Drop and the Orange Blossom,” says Jenae Koski, a bartender at Midgley’s.
Mandee Johnson, who also bartends at Midgley’s is responsible for the Huckleberry Lemon Drop, made with huckleberry vodka, homemade simple syrup and lemon sour, plus cranberry juice and triple sec. She created the drink a while back, but it’s become a staple. “That one just never comes off [the menu] because it’s so popular,” Mandee says.
Another favorite for Mandee is the Patique Sour made with local cherry liquor from San Joaquin County. It comes hand-delivered right to the bar, which is a cool touch for locals ordering the beverage.
So many of the cocktails on Midgley’s menu are made with homemade extras from syrups to juices (like the orange and carrot juices in the Orange Blossom cocktail), but Mandee is looking forward to going full craft on the fall menu—a designation bartenders seem to agree means every part of a cocktail is made in-house, and not just a few.
“Everyone has their own definition of craft cocktails,” Jenae says. “They take more time, more attention.”
Order Up!
West Oak Nosh
10 W. Oak St., Lodi
(209) 224-8157
Midgley’s Public House
296 Lincoln Ctr., Stockton
(209) 474-7700
MidgleysPublicHouse.com
Recipes:
Orange Blossom:
2 oz. Goslings Gold Rum
.5 oz carrot juice
.5 oz orange juice
.5 oz limejuice
.5 oz. flarenum
Directions:
Shake and pour into a bucket. Garnish with a big piece of mint.