Strict attention to time honored cocktail recipes – nope. Fussy mixology, with fresh herbs rubbed and exotic fruits muddled before a bar guest’s weary eyes? Again, that’s not how Daniel Watson does it.
“Basically my philosophy is I want to provide something you can’t get anywhere else,” says Montrio’s new bartender. “That’s the point of a craft cocktail.”
So Watson’s inventiveness goes largely unseen, taking place as prep work. But it fills each glass. The Clarified Colada resembles the refreshing classic, except ethereal shadows form – a tingling spice, a haunting zing, a sensation of opulence – and then vanish from your perception before you can identify their source. The Brown Butter Old Fashioned is like smoke from piles of burning leaves drifting over your palate, brooding and bittersweet then nutty and mellow.
His secret is clever, exacting technique. The colada involves clarifying whole milk. For the Old Fashioned, Watson starts by blending high-proof bourbon and browned butter and giving the mix a sous vide-style water bath. “It seems I like to make my life more difficult,” he says with a laugh. “But I like the stuff I do to be the best I can do.” It’s the reason he employs unusual techniques. Clarification, for instance, “takes the edge off the lime and smooths the whole drink.”
Currently there are six signature cocktails on the menu, with three more coming soon. These will change with the season.
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