Iconic craft cocktails of Midcoast Maine
When it comes to the art of the cocktail, Midcoast restaurants and bars are up to par with some of the craftiest mixology as you’ll ever see in a big city. Sometimes it will be about locally harvested ingredients and sometimes it’s just all about the imagination. Note: some of the bars and restaurants we interviewed are no longer in business, but you can still see how a particular cocktail is deconstructed. Click on the “Full Story” link to see how to make one on your own.
Camden Hike
Name: Camden Hike
Crafted by: Tom Laslavic, Natalie’s Bar & Restaurant, Camden
Characteristics: Locally produced Cold River vodka mixed with a puree of native blueberries, blackberries, black currents and a syrup of Maine wild flower honey.
Notable: Camden Hike was featured in the 2012 book, The American Cocktail.
Full story: What’s in that cocktail?
Fromviandoux Flash
Name: Fromviandoux Flash
Crafted by: Mac McGaw, Fromviandoux, Camden
Characteristics: Vodka mixed with Lillet Blanc, an ounce of cucumber juice, a half-ounce of lemon juice, and a half-ounce of simple syrup.
Notable: The Fromviandoux Flash was created as a “one-off” for a cash mob after party. Cash is green and so, the drink had to be green as well.
Full story: What’s in that cocktail?
Love Zombie
Name: Love Zombie
Crafted by: Mike Bumiller, FOG Bar & Cafe, Rockland
Characteristics: Made with rum, brown sugar and equal parts lime and lemon. The added passion fruit is actually the tart balance to the sweetness of the rums in the drink.
Notable: Made for Valentine’s Day, the special sugar garnish FOG’s pastry chef makes for this drink looks like a heart-shaped icicle.
Full story: What’s in that cocktail?
Snow White's Poisoned Appletini
Name: Snow White's Poisoned Appletini
Crafted by: Shane Davis, The Slipway, Thomaston
Characteristics: Maker's Mark bourbon is muddled an apple, basil leaves, a pinch of cinnamon, a pinch of raw or brown sugar and two dashes of bitters. After muddling, add Maine Root ginger beer.
Notable: It has an earthy, textured taste, coated with a graham cracker rim, perfect for autumn.
Full story: What’s in that cocktail?
Cranberry Compass Rose
Name: Cranberry Compass Rose
Crafted by: Stacy Campbell, Archer’s On The Pier, Rockland
Characteristics: Made with fresh Maine cranberries, Hendrick’s Gin and St. Germaine liqueur. Added with a simple syrup made from boiled down cranberries from Moody Farm Cranberry Bog in Lincolnville, just after peak harvest season.
Notable: Another wonderful autumn or holiday drink with juices and simply syrups all made from scratch
Full story: What’s in that cocktail?
Death In The Afternoon
Name: Death In The Afternoon
Crafted by: Jon Poto, The Gothic, Belfast
Characteristics: Made with absinthe and Cointreau, topped with Cava or sparking wine.
Notable: The cocktail was inspired by Ernest Hemingway, who wrote a 1932 nonfiction book of the same title.
Full story: What’s in that cocktail?
Armageddon
Name: Armageddon
Crafted by: Colleen Wellman, The Smokestack Grill, Camden.
Characteristics: Designed for a maximum sweetness, this drink includes Raspberry vodka, Souther Comfort, and Peach Schnapps topped with equal parts cranberry juice and orange juice.
Notable: Made especially for their “End of the World” party, the end result is a persimmon-colored drink that tastes like a Jolly Rancher hard candy.
Full story: What’s in that cocktail?
The 207 Sour
Name: The 207 Sour
Crafted by: Seth Knowlton, Natalie’s Restaurant, Camden
Characteristics: This is a sour martini made with Applejack (a whiskey made from apples), along with a sharbat (a homemade concoction of Red Delicious apple peels marinated with lemon).
Notable: The sour notes in the martini don’t come from any commercial sour mix, but instead, from a complex layer of lemon juice, a deep apple flavor and the tang from the balsamic vinegar in the sharbat.
Full story: What’s in that cocktail?
The Spicy Mango Margarita
Name: The Spicy Mango Margarita
Crafted by: Shelly Trisch, La Vida, Belfast
Characteristics: Made with fresh puréed mango and a house tequila infused with Habenero peppers.
Notable: This cocktail was a major hit on Cinco de Mayo, so much so, that they ran out.
Full story: What’s in that cocktail?
Belfast Orchard
Name: Belfast Orchard
Crafted by: Shawna Aitken, Delvino’s Grill and Pasta House, Belfast
Characteristics: Made with any top-shelf organic vodka, peach purée, freshly squeezed orange juice and Solerno Blood Orange Liqueur.
Notable: Despite its name, this cocktail doesn’t have any apples in it. Rather, it’s redolent of blood oranges.
Full story: What’s in that cocktail?
A Bad Decision
Name: A Bad Decision
Crafted by: Molly Miller Staples,The Landings, Rockland
Characteristics: This fruity, refreshing spin on the blueberry martini goes the extra mile with a light rim of tequila.
Notable: This particular cocktail was invented by one of their staff members who decided if one was going to make a bad decision over drinks, it might as well pack a wallop.
Full story: What’s in that cocktail?
The Eggnog Winter Sherry Flip
Name: The Eggnog Winter Sherry Flip
Crafted by: Clementina Senatore, co-owner and chef of Meanwhile In Belfast
Characteristics: This slightly sweet, coolly fresh homemade egg nog cocktail is ideal for brunch.
Notable: Made with from scratch egg nog, this cocktail is a perfect rum and sherry-infused drink for the holidays.
Full story: What’s in that cocktail?
The Spiced Hot Buttered Rum Toddy
Name: The Spiced Hot Buttered Rum Toddy
Crafted by: Shelly Crisch, Delvino’s Grill and Pasta House, Belfast
Characteristics: A frozen concoction made with vanilla ice cream, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and butter chilled in a small ramekin. This is a creamy and comforting drink, especially after a cold, blustery day outside, and the cool whipped cream topping with nutmeg blends well with the warmth of the melted butter and spiced rum.
Notable: “It’s like a hot chocolate, but an adult hot chocolate.”
Full story: What’s in that cocktail?
Bad & Boozy
Name: Bad & Boozy
Crafted by: Dave Smith, The Block Saloon, Thomaston
Characteristics: A herbaceous, complex cool cocktail made from pureed cucumber, fresh squeezed lemon and sage simpe syrup that gives it its distinctive cloudy absinthe green color.
Notable: “Cucumber, sage and gin are amazing bedfellows—all three of them should get married.”
Full story: What’s in that cocktail?