Maple syrup might be the hardest-working sweetener in show business, and Vermont happens to lead the country in maple syrup production, which means people in Vermont probably have stronger bones, as there’s more calcium in maple syrup than milk. It takes approximately forty gallons of sap to make one gallon of maple syrup, and it’s important to make sure you’re using 100% pure maple syrup, as some popular brands use high fructose corn syrup, which can lead to madness and convulsions.
Vermont
Vermont was the first state to allow partial voting rights for women, the first state to abolish slavery, and the first state to legalize same-sex marriages. The only thing you can’t do in Vermont is put up a billboard advertising anything, as that is not allowed. So, in a huge way, thank you for being a real human being, Vermont.
Vermont is famous for maple syrup, trees, the jam band Phish, covered bridges, IBM, artisanal cheese, Bernie Sanders, and teddy bears, as the Vermont Teddy Bear Company is one of the largest handmade teddy bear producers in America. And let’s not forget: Ben & Jerry’s was created in Vermont. I’m told the employees receive a free pint of ice cream every day, which is why I can never work there.
Nevertheless, all Vermont roads lead to maple. I know Vermont claims that milk is their state beverage, but maple syrup is where it’s at. One of my friends once told me his eight-year-old son was keen on sneaking a small glass of maple syrup when his parents were not looking. Even my good friend Jim McDuffee has claimed, “I honestly think I order pancakes just so I get a chance to drink maple syrup.” Good maple syrup can be great when applied to the right situation.
Montpelier, the largest producer of maple syrup, is also the smallest capital in the United States, holding strong with a population of fewer than eight thousand people. It is also the only US capital without a McDonald’s. The go-to cocktail spot in Montpelier is Kismet, which provides a nice balance of classic cocktails and a worthwhile list of Bloody Marys, which may be a key reason why they can claim to offer one of the most popular brunches in Vermont.
It’s always fun to find a dive bar in a town you’ve never been to and start up a conversation with the cranky bartender who’s probably worked there for sixteen years and only makes Vodka Sodas, Jack and Cokes, and cracks open PBRs, eavesdropping on regulars chatting over nothing at the bar. That is what I love about dive bars.
—Jocelyn Smith, bar manager, the Mule Bar (Winooski)
Winooski, a small village just outside Burlington, holds two very special bars worth visiting: the Mule Bar and Misery Loves Co., a farm-to-table restaurant with seasonal cocktails.
Burlington, the state’s most populous city, provided some memorable cocktails tasted at some of its many worthwhile destinations: the Light Club Lamp Shop is not only the spot in town to see live music (among endless festooning lights and lampshades, no less), it is a surprisingly welcome cocktail haven; Juniper, at the Hotel Vermont, offers a cocktail menu with mostly Vermont-based spirits, beers, and ciders, including its own line of bourbon, vodka, and gin; and the Archives (which tugged at this author’s heartstrings of nostalgia, reminding him of days when he had a pocketful of quarters) brings vintage arcade games and elevated cocktails together. I had the Baked Alaska cocktail when I visited, a gin-based sour with CBD*.
One standout cocktail that is quickly becoming adopted as a Vermont cocktail is the Bee’s Knees, a gin sour sweetened with honey. “The bee’s knees” was a phrase used during Prohibition to mean “the best” version of a drink, often using a sweetener and citrus to cover up the nasty flavors of bathtub gin. Bee colonies and our ecosystem require more attention, so the bartending world has adopted the Bee’s Knees cocktail and a myriad of variations as a conduit for awareness. Vermont’s honeybees are a major contributor to the state’s agricultural welfare, so the Vermont distillery Barr Hill introduced Bee’s Knee’s Week, in late September, which raises awareness and some modest funds to maintain colonies for beekeepers.
Favorite American bartenders: I have many and it’s hard to pick. I would say for bartending technique and general “This is how I live my life and rock at it”: Natasha David from Nitecap in New York. She is wonderful and fluid behind the bar and she is a WOMAN who owns a bar and has a family. I really am in awe of her. The other is Hunky Dory’s Claire Sprouse (Brooklyn). What she has done with her focus on sustainability is incredibly admirable.
—Ivy Mix (born and raised in Vermont), cofounder, Speed Rack, co-owner, Leyenda (Brooklyn, NY)
Saxtons Distillery, Smugglers’ Notch Distillery, Dunc’s Mill, WhistlePig, and Stonecutter Spirits are some well-known distilleries making waves in Maple Country. Stonecutter does a cocktail scavenger hunt every fall to celebrate the laundry list of great cocktail places throughout the state, which is always a great way to get familiar with what’s new and game-changing in the Vermont cocktail world and beyond.
*Cannabidiol (CBD) has been popping up everywhere in the past couple of years. We now find it in syrups, sodas, and coffee products as a non-psychoactive way of relieving aches, pains, anxiety, and all other things we suffer on a daily basis, like people who walk in horizontal groups down narrow sidewalks (share the road, man!). Some bartenders have embraced it, and some have felt there is no need to have it, as alcohol itself does a pretty good job of relieving all aforementioned ailments. Just ask my old high school English teacher.
BAR SNACK
Speed Rack, a nationwide bartending competition featuring badass female bartenders in a number of cities, which gives 100 percent of its proceeds to breast cancer research and prevention, was co-founded by Ivy Mix, a superhero from Tunbridge, Vermont, famous for its annual World’s Fair festival, held every September, featuring pig races, tractor pulls, and 4-H agricultural arts and crafts competitions. “Speed Rack” is a reference to the shelf below the bar where bartenders store liquor for faster cocktails.
VERMONT SPIRIT
Barr Hill has been operating under the Caledonia Spirits umbrella since 2012, when a longtime Vermont beekeeper decided to bring raw honey into the distillation process. The distillery makes vodka, rye whiskey, and one of my favorite spirits, Tom Cat gin, which is their raw honey gin aged in Vermont white oak barrels for three months, and it belongs on your shelf. In addition, they started Bee’s Knees Week, an annual program devoted to helping sustain and rebuild bee colonies through Bee Cause, a nationwide organization (thebeecause.org) connected with more than three hundred schools in every state.
Ivy Mix is my favorite. Ivy has accomplished such a great amount in such a small amount of time. Bartending since the age of seventeen, she has moved up along the tough ranks in NYC. With her devotion to the craft and passion, it’s contagious and inspiring. But to me, her most important achievement has been Speed Rack. WOW.
—Amy Kovalchick, bartender, Fedora (Manhattan, NY)
VERMONT’S OLDEST BAR
Manchester is a tiny little town of four thousand people, tucked away in the Green Mountains. The Tavern was opened in 1890 and has an old stagecoach vibe from the front entrance, beautifully restored in the recent past. The inside features abundant knick-knacks on the walls, a quaint six-seat bar, antiques that will make Grandma jealous, and uneven doors. Stop by for a Manhattan and have some cranberry fritters with Vermont maple butter. The place is also famous for having the first telephone line in Manchester.
The very first cocktail I had was Vodka and Coke. At a house party one town over from Tunbridge when I was like eleven. Gross!
—Ivy Mix (born and raised in Vermont), cofounder, Speed Rack, co-owner, Leyenda (Brooklyn, NY)
Every bar absolutely needs an amaro program. It allows you to expose people to things they never knew they needed in their life! Or at least Fernet.
—Jocelyn Smith, bar manager, the Mule Bar (Winooski)
VERMONT BUCKET LIST BAR
I was at the Mule Bar on a Sunday night at 8 p.m., which felt like the best place in the world at that moment, given the conviviality. Look around and every other person is enjoying the Gin and Tonic featuring housemade tonic made with quinine syrup. Whether or not it is the first place you visit, it is always the last place you end up. But no matter when you visit, try the breakfast sandwiches, which are served all day and night. On top of all this, the bar has the most comfortable stools I have sat on in recent memory, which means a lot to this little keister. (And yes, I used the word keister. You try being raised by a German-Irish family from northern Wisconsin.)
VERMONT COCKTAIL BAR
One enters Deli/126 through what seems like an unmarked meat locker front door, into a cozy cocktail lounge that features live jazz a few nights during the week. Bar director Emily Morton applies the right balance of Prohibition-era influence while modernizing the mood with shout-outs to industry legends (Jim Meehan’s Center City Swizzle from 2010, George Kappeler’s Widow Kiss from 1895, and varying recipes from Deli/126 bartenders of recent years past). What stands out most, however, is the innate desire to continue building stronger philanthropic endeavors. Morton is connected to the community and values the relationships of bartenders and service industry people near and far.
OLD VERMONT
Jim Meehan is very influential to me. When I was given the opportunity in late 2017 to design my own bar, the liquid was important, but the experience was crucial. I spent weeks of my life curating every detail of Deli/126’s experience, from using 1920s ingredients in every cocktail, to orienting the room toward the bar or musicians, to designing unique spaces to enjoy a drink within the bar, and to providing education for the curious drinker. Meehan’s Bartender Manual validated that effort.
—Emily Morton, bar director, Deli/126 (Burlington)
Though the origin of this drink isn’t clear, it has been around for quite some time, and I wanted to add it as a precursor to Emily’s cocktail. They’re both great!
1½ ounces gin
½ ounce grade B Vermont maple syrup
½ ounce fresh lemon juice
2 dashes Angostura bitters Garnish: orange peel
Shake the ingredients with ice until chilled; strain into a chilled cocktail glass and serve up, garnished with the orange.
THE (NEW) OLD VERMONT COCKTAIL
Emily Morton is one of the nicest, most hospitable, and most passionate cocktail and hospitality professionals I met through researching this book. The excitement in her eyes when she made this drink said everything about people being proud of their heritage. Emily offers her take on this classic cocktail and of course uses two of the best Vermont products (Barr Hill gin and maple syrup).
2 ounces Barr Hill Tom Cat bourbon barrel–aged gin
1 ounce London Dry gin (Deli/126 uses Beefeater)
¼ ounce Vermont maple syrup (the darker the better)
1 teaspoon fresh orange juice 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
4 dashes Regan’s orange bitters
2 dashes Angostura bitters Garnish: orange peel
Stir the ingredients with ice until chilled. Strain into a chilled coupe glass. Express the orange peel a few inches over the top of the drink and then add it to the drink.
STONE FENCE
In 1775, Ethan Allen and the Green Mountain Boys were a-drinkin’ at the Remington Tavern in Castleton. Since they were preparing to stage a revolution at Fort Ticonderoga, they wanted to toast the unknown, and the local liquid in their glasses was none other than rum and hard cider, which, served cold or hot, adds up to the same results when sipped: victory.
2 ounces rye whiskey (apple brandy, Scotch, rum, or bourbon also work)
4 ounces fresh-pressed apple cider
¼ ounce fresh lemon juice 1 dash Angostura bitters
Pour the ingredients over ice, briefly stir, and live forever.