Ben Hopkins

What do you love about your city?

My favorite thing about this city is walking thru lower Manhattan around 2-3 in the afternoon and seeing five bartenders I know in grocery stores, walking to work, etc., looking for ingredients or talking about what’s coming next in their programs, and then having a different version of the same conversation twelve hours later over a hot dog and a beer. Our industry is everywhere, there isn’t a day where I don’t run into someone I am happy to run into out and about. So many friends. What a dream”

Cocktail Inspiration:

I took inspiration for this cocktail from Deerhunter’s 2010 album of the same name. While the deer-to-deer tie in is obvious, it to me represents everything I love about this spirit: its depth of field, it’s multifaceted uses, it’s bouquet of flavors that range from savory too sweet to spicy. The album itself is sort of a genre-mystery; a psych-rock album with 2 minute long sax-rock jams and 11 minute long muliti-system odysseys. I tried to make a drink that is sort of a few different drinks. Sort of a daiquiri. Sort of a spritz. All a good time!

Cocktail Name: Halcyon Digest

Name: Ben Hopkins

Recipe:

• 1 part Jägermeister
• 1 part White Rum
• ¾ part Lime
• ¼ part Bird’s Eye Chili Syrup
• ½ part 1-1 Demerara Syrup

Glass: Coupe

Garnish: Baby's Breath

Method: Combine ingredients in a tin and shake. Once shaken, add a splash of sparkling wine to the tin and then fine strain into a chilled coupe and garnish with a baby’s breath.

Tips & Tricks:

Bird’s Eye Chili Syrup - Combine 1000g of 1-1 white simple syrup with 5 grams whole stemmed bird’s eye chili in a Vitamix and blend until incorporated. pass through a coffee filter then fine strain.