Eric Tadsen
House raspberry syrup brightens the Wanderous.
The spring cocktail menu at the new Field Table, 10 W. Mifflin St., has something for everyone. This is my affectionate and roundabout way of saying that while it features a number of complex spirit blends, it also serves vodka.
Some craft bartenders treat vodka like a tacky cheap date, finding it to be simultaneously bland and overbearing. But bar manager Mike McDonald welcomes it with a drink called Wanderous, a reimagined vodka sour that combines Milwaukee’s Twisted Path vodka with lemon and a house raspberry syrup. It’s the simplest drink on the menu and one of the bar’s best sellers.
Though I believe bartenders should serve us what we like, I also like it when they expand our horizons. Order an eccentric spinoff of the French 75 called Northern Prince. Instead of gin and sugar, it mixes brut cava with brandy and papaya syrup. There’s also a revamped Martinez — a cocktail traditionally made with gin, sweet vermouth, maraschino liqueur and orange bitters. Here, as the Hunters of Kentucky, this drink mixes straight bourbon whiskey with coffee liqueur, cinnamon syrup and Cardamaro, an Italian digestif amaro that you might liken to a vermouth.
I crushed hardest on the Sèvitè, a peppery punch made with Haitian rum, pineapple, grapefruit, Campari and bitters — Angostura plus Bittercube’s Jamaican #1 and #2.
Even farther out there is the Taíno, a rum drink made with condensed milk, fresh carrot juice and blackstrap bitters, served in a mini milk jug with a straw.
Now that is something for everyone.
