Judith Davidoff
Steve's keeps cocktails fresh in cans.
I walked into Steve’s liquor store on University Avenue hoping to replenish the canned cocktails my wife and I have grown fond of. Her favorite, the Aviation, was in stock; my fave, the Hurricane, was not.
Pete Baisden walked over to see if he could help. No problem, he said, when I told him what I was looking for. He said he’d mix one up in a jiffy.
I followed Baisden to a room at the front of the store, where a scale sat atop a small table. He put a tall, aluminum can or “crowler” on the scale.
“We weigh each ingredient so each cocktail is the same,” says Baisden. “We use everything that we sell in the store.”
“It’s a cool program,” he adds. People get to sample different cocktails and, if they like them, can purchase the ingredients to mix them up fresh at home.
Co-worker Rachel Bottner, who is also a bartender at State Line Distillery, came up with the original program of drinks and she and Baisden have continued to add cocktails to the list. The two met when they both worked at Sardine.
For the Hurricane, Baisen pours some Barbancourt white rum, Plantation Barbados 5-year rum, Liber & Co. passionfruit syrup, lime juice and some water into the crowler.
Bottner says the water is a substitute for the ice cubes that would be used by a bartender to chill and mix a drink. The cocktails are stiff, at least according to my measure, and delicious.
Each 32-ounce crowler serves between six to eight drinks; they stay remarkably fresh in the refrigerator even in the open can, though we usually transfer any remaining cocktail to a jar with a lid. Bottner says they will soon be offering 16-ounce cans as well.
Regular cocktails include bloody mary, margarita and old fashioned. Bottner says they also offer seasonal specials, like the current Spiced Apple Moscow Mule. “We try to stay seasonally fresh and interesting so that there is always something new for the customers to try.”
The crowlers are sold only at the Steve’s University Avenue store. “It’s kind of surprising the volume we’ve been selling,” says Bottner. “It’s tricky even keeping up with ourselves.”
Steve’s cocktail crowlers were not the first on the local scene. Plain Spoke Cocktails launched in 2018 with a Moscow mule. Their website now also lists a bourbon smash, mojito and brandy old fashioned, and more than 20 locations where they are available.
