|
|
 |
|
Favorite Cocktails: Goose Me!
• by Stacey Rynders - Photo by Allyson Mace
|
 |
|
|
For the third consecutive year, Sauce readers have crowned Absolutli Goosed as their favorite place for cocktails in the metro region.
“We use [the award] as our measuring stick,” said co-owner Melissa Spear. “When you don’t try hard to win something and don’t push the voting, it’s a nice compliment.”
Located on South Grand Boulevard, Absolutli Goosed is housed in a narrow space with deep red walls and modern décor. It also has one of the larger outside seating areas in the neighborhood. “We like being a part of the diversity of South Grand,” said Spear. “It fits our customer base.”
Absolutli Goosed offers wine, beer and other bar staples, but these aren’t what consistently push the 3-year-old establishment to the top of the St. Louis cocktail scene. It is the magazine-style menu with more than 100 different martini options, most of which are not available anyplace else in the city, that has earned Spear and co-owner Deb Ransom a faithful following.
Also appealing to devotees are the more unique and edgier cocktail names on the menu. For example, in the “Women of Bond and Powers” drink category, a name such as Dixie Normous is rather tame in comparison to others. Other categories include “The Fruit Stand,” with drinks aptly titled Raspberry Ice, Appletini or Tangerine Drop. “Old Faves” includes Bugs Bunny in Drag, Porky Pig in Leather, The Pink Panther and Garden of Eden.
But eccentricity can only carry a bar business so far – customers often want to order more-familiar cocktails. For those, there are 14 different Cosmopolitan alternatives as well as a range of 25 chocolate martinis, several “Goosed Ritas” (margaritas) and Tequilatinis, “Gin and Sin” listings and a new selection of five different Long Island Iced Tea recipes.
“The big thing right now is the Long Island Iced Tea,” said Spear. “We have one traditional and four flavored. We have a little secret in the selection of ingredients.”
The newest Absolutli Goosed menu was unveiled last month. Among the new drink choices, the Chocolate Cherry Caramel stands out, Spear said. The drink combines Three Olives cherry vodka, white crème de cacao and Amarula (a liqueur that has the consistency of Baileys Irish Cream but is made from a South African fruit). It is garnished with a caramel-sauce rim and a maraschino cherry.
“We try out new ideas with customers at the bar,” said Spear, who said the decision of what stayed and what went was difficult when revamping the drink menu. “We kept about 50 percent of the last menu.”
“And for the bold only,” Absolutli Goosed serves up a 1-ounce serving of Jose Cuervo Reserva de la Familia tequila for sipping, tequila being the drink preference of both owners.
Another way to test your own cocktail endurance at Absolutli Goosed is the Bloody Mary Martini, for which the bartender will inquire: mild, medium or hot. The answer determines the amount of Tabasco sauce added to the recipe of house-blended, garlic-pepper-infused vodka and Bloody Mary mix. It is served with an atypical rim of celery salt. Garnish options include hot-pickled asparagus, hot-pickled green beans or olives. Olives stuffed with Gorgonzola and blue cheese are also sold at three for $1.
For those cocktail fans who are adventurous in their drink selections, Absoluti Goosed is an oasis.
Mixer Archive
View Complete Archive
|
|
|
|
