A Northern Michigan Cocktail Tour

It's officially summertime in northern Michigan, which means boats, beaches, and plenty o’ cocktails. If you’re still ordering the same ole, same ole vodka-soda, you’re missing out on some seriously spiced up summer fun. Craft cocktails are an art form here in the Mitten, and our local bartenders are shaking up pre-prohibition cocktails and saucy island drinks with Up North flair, bringing you unique blends of flavors with fresh herbs, juices, and locally distilled and infused liquors. So put down that gin and tonic, Sally. You’re not just looking for a drink; you’re looking for an experience. And we’ve found the goods that’ll give you something worth talking about:

Bartender Dino
Café Santé, Boyne City
The Drink: Basil Hayden 2.0, $10.50
The Taste: The Manhattan is a classic drink, fairly simple in itself: bourbon or rye whiskey, vermouth, bitters, served up or on the rocks, with a cherry. The Basil Hayden 2.0, however … ? In a class all it’s own, thanks to the addition of rich Michigan maple syrup and homemade brandied cherries. This drink tastes of divine comfort, a cozy, toasty warm-up worthy of a crisp summer night.
The Vitals: According to Dino, a successful Basil Hayden 2.0 has a few critical rules: It must be stirred, not shaken, and served straight up. Using local maple syrup adds a fantastically sweet, homey element, but what really makes the drink an Up North essential is its cherry. Café Santé brandies their own cherries, a recipe that proved so successful out of the gate — Santé made five gallons worth last fall and ran out of them by Christmas — they’ve more than doubled their output this year.      
Drink It: 1 Water St. (231) 582-8800, www.magnumhospitality.com/cafesante/

Colin Anderson
Twisted Olive, Petoskey
The Drink: Fernet-Me-Not (by request), $15
The Taste: It’s not easy to make a cocktail with Fernet-Branca, an Italian amaro, as the base. The herbal liqueur, served most commonly as an after-dinner digestif, smells like Sea Breeze and, according to one of Anderson’s coworkers, “tastes like minty Jäger.” But Anderson has been working with the liquor for more than a year now to perfect his Fernet-Me-Not, and its complexity is sure to pique the interest of your tastebuds. A split-base cocktail with both Fernet-Branca and Blanco tequila, Fernet-Me-Not boasts muddled blackberries, lemon juice, and simple syrup. It’s spearminty, sweet, fruity, and has smoky notes from Mezcal, a liquor distilled from the agave plant native to Mexico.
The Vitals: Anderson starts the cocktails with a rinse of Mezcal on the tin and glass to get the hint of smokiness without allowing it to overpower the entire drink, then muddles four large blackberries with the lemon juice and simple syrup. He said the drink must be shaken in heavy ice — hard and fast, so it isn’t diluted. Next, he strain the ice and remains of the blackberries and serves it up in a martini glass garnished with two blackberries.  
Drink It: 319 Bay St. (231) 487-1230, twisted-olive.com

 

Rich the Bartender
Chandler’s, Petoskey
The Drink: Rum Runner $12
The Taste: Rich holds his renowned Rum Runner recipe, which he said he brought to the mainland from his days tending Mackinac Island’s Pink Pony, close to the vest. Traditionally, the drink includes spiced rum, grapefruit rum, banana liqueur, grenadine, orange juice, pineapple juice, and lime juice shaken with ice and strained into a hurricane glass. Rich’s version? Let’s just say it smells like vacation and tastes like trouble, the kind of drink that could suck you into having a few too many. Perfect for summertime in Northern Michigan.
The Vitals: Aside from a hearty dose of bartender attitude and whatever other secrets Rich shakes into this drink, he offers only this hint: It’s necessary to include a float of dark rum on top. (See: trouble, above.)
Drink It: Find Chandler’s at 215 1/2 Howard St. (231) 347-2981, www.chandlersarestaurant.com 

Chantal Thibert (pictured)
Siren Hall, Elk Rapids
The Drink: Italian Greyhound, $9
The Taste: A sip of the Italian Greyhound is a lot like biting into a bit of grapefruit sprinkled with sugar: refreshing, not too tart, with the usual bitterness of grapefruit muted by an initial sweetness and a fruit base that lingers in the aftertaste.      
The Vitals: A greyhound is common, but an Italian Greyhound demands X-Rated Fusion Liqueur, a French vodka mingling with Sicilian blood orange, mango, and passion fruit. Thibert’s Italian Greyhound goes even further, mixing in a splash of Aperol, fresh squeezed grapefruit juice, a dash of grapefruit bitters. It’s served on the rocks and garnished with an exceptionally juicy orange.      
Drink It: Find Siren Hall at 151 River St. (231) 264-6062, sirenhall.com

Jess Heller
Little Fleet, Traverse City
The Drink: Painkiller (by request), $7
The Taste: Appropriately named, the Painkiller melts away whatever ails you with a hefty dose of amber rum, plus pineapple juice, cream of coconut, and a splash of orange juice, all topped with a perfect pillow of freshly grated nutmeg. Heller and Barbara Saxton, another Little Fleet bartender, travelled to Vieques, Puerto Rico, to bring back this delightful drink. Heller said the pair searched the island until they found a bartender named Renie who gave them his secret recipe.
The Vitals: Little Fleet is on a mission to remove plastic from their business as much as possible. Without the plastic straw to sip this drink, you’re able to kiss the earthy spice of the nutmeg before the creamy, sweet-island assault of the Painkiller. 
Drink It: Find The Little Fleet at 448 E Front St. (231) 943-1116, www.thelittlefleet.com

 

Robin Spencer
H&L Social, Hotel Indigo, Traverse City
The Drink: Red 8 Mojito, $9
The Taste: Mojitos — made with white rum, soda, simply syrup, fresh mint, and lime juice — are a summer staple; H&L Social’s version adds extra depth by way of Traverse City’s own Red 8 Silver Rum. A surprisingly smooth silver spirit, this handcrafted rum is made from premium molasses (rather than less flavorful cane or beet sugars) and wild yeasts captured from the air near its namesake, the Red 8 navigational bouy in West Grand Traverse Bay.
The Vitals: Spencer said fresh ingredients are the key in making any great summer drink, and a great mojito demands the freshest mint. She packs in and muddles only the fattest, greenest sprigs, and serves ’em up with the bar’s homemade syrup, making for a cocktail that’s as refreshing as the view from the rooftop where you sip it.
Drink it: Find H&L Social atop Hotel Indigo, 263 W Grandview Pkwy. (231) 932-0500, ihg.com

 

 

 

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