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This week, Whiskey Wednesday followed Shane Sahr's trail of cocktail contestvictories back to his home base of Tini Big's. All but straddling the border of Lower Queen Anne and Downtown Seattle, the cocktail bar doesn't quite have much to offer when it comes to food (something I'm told will be remedied in the very near future), but more than makes up for it with a literal bookfull of tasty drinks.
I started off with The Deshler, an orange-heavy whiskey cocktail with Dubonnet and Peychaud's bitters. It was a competently made classic featured in most respectable bar books -- but tonight, I was far more interested in the award-winning ingenuity of Sahr than another history lesson. Once I had his attention, he was extremely enthusiastic to show me some of the more novel attractions he'd been working on behind the bar.
First, Sahr served his Barrel-Aged Manhattan, a delicious contribution to the recentNorthwest revival of pre-prepared cocktails left to age in oak casks. After a patient wait in the relatively small barrel, the aged concoction is poured very slowly and carefully over a stout brick of ice and served unadorned in an Old Fashioned glass.
He gave me a taste of the tiny oak barrel twenty days in, which tasted amazing but still definitely "on its way" to what was initially served. I asked him how long he usually aged the drink but he was reluctant to give me a definite answer. He said a month was customary, but that he often waited it out several days later. To what end? Well, tasting the exactness of the answer is obvious, but explaining it is near impossible. Experimentation is the key to the perfection of Sahr's Barrel-Aged Manhattan, making it a deliciously important metaphor for Sahr's overall mixing philosophy.
Up next, I was of course obligated to finally try the winner of last week's Manhattan Shake-Off -- The Northwest Manhattan. Simultaneously unmistakable as the legendary mixture while reinvigorated by Sahr's own Oregon berry-infused cognac, I'm happy to say the drink more than earned it's accolade.
After I was finished with the champion Manhattan, Sahr was also kind enough to let me try the secret ingredient on its own. Oregon berries are carefully insinuated into Hennessey and an unrevealed brandy ("for heat"). I asked him if it was being used in any other mixture, but he claimed the unique taste was simply too fragile to be successfully implemented in any other experiments. Furthermore, the process of making it is extremely time-consuming for a relatively small amount of product.
Sahr's next concotion was an ambitious, unnamed mix that sought to reinvent the Old Fashioned (Shane almost called it "A Bitter Experience," but quickly took it back once he realized how bad "A Bitter Experience at Tini Big's" sounded). What you once knew as the shitty muddled mess that is the Modern Old Fashioned has now been optimized into a crash course on the subtleties of bitters. Instead of chewy maraschinos and pulverized orange wedges, cherry and orange bitters are added to an otherwise classic recipe... Okay, Peach bitters are thrown in the mix too, but they're a necessary evil against the theme to combat Angostura's bully of a flavor.
If I were going to be an elitist prick about this place (a tendency usually stronger than my gag reflex and kneejerk hatred of all things Sam Worthington combined), I would complain about the constant marketing that seems to coat Tini Bigs. Martini glasses are doubly branded with Finlandia vodka and Tini Bigs logos. The "Tini's Classics" section of the drink menu cross-references most cocktails to its corresponding page in the Tini Bigs official bar book (available for sale at a discounted rate after ordering a cocktail!). Even the featured spirits menu above the bar is sponsored by Woodford Reserve.
That mostly meaningless quibble aside, Sahr's enthusiasm for creating new and well-practiced cocktails coupled with the management of Tini Bigs' willingness to fund his passions come together for a powerful alliance that brings excitement well beyond a few mix-off trophies. With a rehaul of the food menu on the way, expect this bar to make some big waves in 2011. Until then, take a seat at Tini Big's and treat yourself to the service of one of the most exciting young bartenders in Seattle
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