Jeppson's Malort cocktail challenge Victims Participants Nos. 2-3: Colin Shearn and Al Sotack of The Franklin

We recently challenged Philly's best bartenders to come up with a tasty cocktail using Jeppson's MalÃ¶rt, a notoriously disgusting Chicago-based spirit. The first person to take us up on the challenge was Christian Gaal of Noble. Now here are contributions from Colin Shearn and Al Sotack, barkeeps both at The Franklin Mortgage & Investment Company. The subterranean spirit stirrers at The Franklin (112 S. 18th St.) seemed to be equal parts intrigued and concerned by the introduction of MalÃ¶rt to their bar, easily one of the best-stocked in the city. "So you got some gross shit for me?" Shearn, a self-proclaimed bitter-stuff enthusiast, asked when we surfaced with the goods. Yes we did. (Just to recap, MalÃ¶rt is an only-available-in-Chicago spirit that is well-reputed for its crass undrinkability.) Shearn's two attempts (pictured, top left and bottom): 1.5 oz. MalÃ¶rt .5 oz. Green Chartreuse .5 oz. Carpano Antica .5 oz. Ramazzotti 5 dashes absinthe Salt Lemon This cocktail traveled in the "don't fight it, just let it happen" direction also taken by Gaal's "Broad Street Bully" entry — instead of attempting to mask the wormwood-based roundhouse kick to the junk that is unquaffable MalÃ¶rt, this preparation all but embraced it, with the addition of anise-forward flavors like Ramazzotti (a brand of amaro, the Italian digestif) and absinthe. The half-ounce of Green Chartreuse (CP's Tim Hyland recently broke down use of that oddball spirit in Philly) gave things a slightly vegetal bent, too, with the salt and lemon peel cutting through it all. 1 oz MalÃ¶rt 1 oz. Plantation Reserve 1/4 oz. Demerara syrup Egg white Angostura bitters Shearn's second sipper went a different route, with egg, top-shelf rum and raw sugar simple syrup combining for a sort of sweet 'n' nutty wedge block protecting our punt-returning palate from MalÃ¶rt's bloodthirsty special-teams beast. Did it work as a drink? Yessir, we drank it. Did it hold off the MalÃ¶rt in any way? Nah, it was still there. We got tackled — but we made it to the 35 or so before eating turf. Head bartender Sotack caught a swig of MalÃ¶rt and promptly announced to his coworkers that he was not to be permitted to taste any drinks for the rest of the evening, as his palate was shot. Didn't really believe him, though, as he put together this complex entry in a Collins glass (pictured, top right): .5 oz. MalÃ¶rt 3/4 oz. lemon 3/4 oz. ginger syrup .5 oz. Carpano Antica 1.5 oz. Famous Grouse Mugwort tincture Seltzer 2 dashes Peychaud's bitters Salt Sotack's drink has the distinction of being one of the most well-balanced cocktails we've tried so far, especially when considering there was a helluva lotta stuff in it. The unmatchable spice of ginger, as we discovered both here and in one other experimental session we haven't posted about yet, is a great foil for supervillainous MalÃ¶rt, as is a smooth-as-can-be blended Scotch like Famous Grouse. The Mugwort tincture was a bold addition, too, as the bitter plant is actually a relative of wormwood, MalÃ¶rt's primary component. On a later visit to the The Franklin, managing partner Mike Welsh told us that he discovered a few unlabeled ounces of the stuff that Shearn had stashed in a glass behind the bar, and smelled it out of curiosity, only to recoil in shock and terror. A boozy jack-in-the-box moment. Sorry about that, Mike. Next up in the MalÃ¶rt cocktail challenge: Preston Eckman of APO Bar + Lounge. Jeppson's Malort cocktail challenge Victim Participant No. 4: Preston Eckman of APO :: Meal Ticket :: Food Blog :: Philadelphia City Paper Posted 2010-05-12 18:52:44

options

Jeppson's Malort cocktail challenge Victims Participants Nos. 2-3: Colin Shearn and Al Sotack of The Franklin

POSTED: Friday, April 16, 2010, 10:13 PM

Filed Under: Booze

We recently challenged Philly's best bartenders to come up with a tasty cocktail using Jeppson's MalÃ¶rt, a notoriously disgusting Chicago-based spirit. The first person to take us up on the challenge was Christian Gaal of Noble. Now here are contributions from Colin Shearn and Al Sotack, barkeeps both at The Franklin Mortgage & Investment Company.

The subterranean spirit stirrers at The Franklin (112 S. 18th St.) seemed to be equal parts intrigued and concerned by the introduction of MalÃ¶rt to their bar, easily one of the best-stocked in the city. "So you got some gross shit for me?" Shearn, a self-proclaimed bitter-stuff enthusiast, asked when we surfaced with the goods. Yes we did. (Just to recap, MalÃ¶rt is an only-available-in-Chicago spirit that is well-reputed for its crass undrinkability.) Shearn's two attempts (pictured, top left and bottom): 1.5 oz. MalÃ¶rt .5 oz. Green Chartreuse .5 oz. Carpano Antica .5 oz. Ramazzotti 5 dashes absinthe Salt Lemon This cocktail traveled in the "don't fight it, just let it happen" direction also taken by Gaal's "Broad Street Bully" entry — instead of attempting to mask the wormwood-based roundhouse kick to the junk that is unquaffable MalÃ¶rt, this preparation all but embraced it, with the addition of anise-forward flavors like Ramazzotti (a brand of amaro, the Italian digestif) and absinthe. The half-ounce of Green Chartreuse (CP's Tim Hyland recently broke down use of that oddball spirit in Philly) gave things a slightly vegetal bent, too, with the salt and lemon peel cutting through it all. 1 oz MalÃ¶rt 1 oz. Plantation Reserve 1/4 oz. Demerara syrup Egg white Angostura bitters Shearn's second sipper went a different route, with egg, top-shelf rum and raw sugar simple syrup combining for a sort of sweet 'n' nutty wedge block protecting our punt-returning palate from MalÃ¶rt's bloodthirsty special-teams beast. Did it work as a drink? Yessir, we drank it. Did it hold off the MalÃ¶rt in any way? Nah, it was still there. We got tackled — but we made it to the 35 or so before eating turf. Head bartender Sotack caught a swig of MalÃ¶rt and promptly announced to his coworkers that he was not to be permitted to taste any drinks for the rest of the evening, as his palate was shot. Didn't really believe him, though, as he put together this complex entry in a Collins glass (pictured, top right): .5 oz. MalÃ¶rt 3/4 oz. lemon 3/4 oz. ginger syrup .5 oz. Carpano Antica 1.5 oz. Famous Grouse Mugwort tincture Seltzer 2 dashes Peychaud's bitters Salt Sotack's drink has the distinction of being one of the most well-balanced cocktails we've tried so far, especially when considering there was a helluva lotta stuff in it. The unmatchable spice of ginger, as we discovered both here and in one other experimental session we haven't posted about yet, is a great foil for supervillainous MalÃ¶rt, as is a smooth-as-can-be blended Scotch like Famous Grouse. The Mugwort tincture was a bold addition, too, as the bitter plant is actually a relative of wormwood, MalÃ¶rt's primary component. On a later visit to the The Franklin, managing partner Mike Welsh told us that he discovered a few unlabeled ounces of the stuff that Shearn had stashed in a glass behind the bar, and smelled it out of curiosity, only to recoil in shock and terror. A boozy jack-in-the-box moment. Sorry about that, Mike. Next up in the MalÃ¶rt cocktail challenge: Preston Eckman of APO Bar + Lounge.

Jeppson's Malort cocktail challenge Victim Participant No. 4: Preston Eckman of APO :: Meal Ticket :: Food Blog :: Philadelphia City Paper

Posted 2010-05-12 18:52:44

[...] spirit. The first person to take us up on the challenge was Christian Gaal of Noble, followed by Colin Shearn and Al Sotack of The Franklin Mortgage & Investment Company. In this installment, Preston [...]

June 28: Seven cocktail beasts form boozy Voltron at Oyster House :: Meal Ticket :: Food Blog :: Philadelphia City Paper

Posted 2010-06-21 21:43:24

[...] a Malort Challenge victim); Phoebe Esmon (Chick’s CafÃ©); Al Sotack of The Franklin (also a Malort Challenge victim); Christian Gaal of Noble (make that three); and George Costa of Southwark. They’re not [...]

Posted by Drew Lazor @ 10:13 PM Permalink | Post a comment

Comments (0)

Now Serving: Lil' Pop Shop
Notes from the Weekend: June 17
Rock Star cheese dinner at Di Bruno's
Happy National Martini Day!
Afternoon Snacks: Party Pizza, Empellon joins tumblr, Giant bibimbap (!), Snickerdoodle cobbler
Vetri opening in the Navy Yard, plus a nod to Le Bec
Dolcissimo! Pastry classes with Le Virtu's Angela Ranalli
The Lite Choice Opens Flagship Store on 16th Street between Walnut & Locust
Free stuff for Father's Day
Gone Fishin'

About this blog

Founded in October 2008, Meal Ticket is a City Paper blog about food, drink and assorted other things that make you go mmm. We do recipes, interviews, restaurant news, commentary and much more. We don't do restaurant reviews here — those are handled in print, mostly by our critic (and Meal Ticket contributor) Adam Erace. Got a tip, question, thought or concern? Just want to say hello? Please shoot a note to caroline@citypaper.net.

Follow team Meal Ticket on Twitter:

@mealticket | @carolinerussock | @adamerace

Search this blog:

Topics:

Blog archives:

June
May
April

March
February
January