Linear’s own Cliff Ensing treated us to a bounty of cocktails, on menu and off, while reminding us that Linear’s happy hour (3-6 p.m. every day) is one of the best around. Half off signature cocktails, draft beers and wine glasses is not so bad! You didn’t really mean you were going to the gym more often this year, did you?
To start, the no. 6 (pictured here) is a standard cocktail on the menu at Linear, featuring the increasingly popular amaro Fernet-Branca. Ensing says this is the “most returned” drink on the menu, despite warnings, so if you’re not aware of what Fernet tastes like, don’t be a hero. Caveat emptor.
But if the herbaceous, slightly medicinal quality of the Fernet doesn’t bother you, the no. 6 is quite nice, and a good repose from the dominant whiskey drinks meant to warm you up in the wintertime.
no. 6
Ingredients:
1/2 oz. Long Road gin
1 1/2 oz. Fernet-Branca
1/2 oz. lemon juice
3 fresh cucumber slices
Ginger beer, to top
Pour the gin, Fernet and lemon juice into an iced mixer. Shake well, then pour into an iced Collins glass. Top with ginger beer and garnish the rim of the glass and the drink itself with cucumber slices.
The gin sour is nothing new, but here we have the addition of a rather excellent gin, instead of whatever’s hiding under the bar. The dry shake, you might notice, is necessary to incorporate the egg white into the drink so as to whip up a silkier foam. I have to say that it worked — a nice, bright gin sour with a creamy smooth texture.
MichiGin Sour
Ingredients:
2 oz. Long Road MichiGin
3/4 oz. lemon juice (fresh squeezed, preferably)
3/4 oz. simple syrup
1 egg white
Lemon zest, for garnish
Pour all ingredients into a shaker without ice. Dry-shake for at least 15-20 seconds. Add ice and shake for an additional 10 seconds or so. Strain into a coupe, then garnish with lemon zest while the drink settles.
