Food & Wine USA - (10)October 2020

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12 OCTOBER 2020

Bespoke Bottles How the custom bar became

the most meticulous chef’s final frontier

By Oset Babür

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podcast, and read more stories like this at foodandwine.com/fwpro.

Paul Monahan, chief

operating officer at

Matchbook Distilling

Company, based in

Greenport, Long Island

TODAY, DINERS ACROSS MAJOR CITIES expect to see hyper-

seasonal menus that seamlessly shift to make use of the freshest,

best ingredients available. Paul Monahan, chief operating officer

at Matchbook Distilling Company on Long Island, believes

beverage programs can be just as nimble. His solution? Custom

house spirits. “When we meet with chefs or operators, we ask

about the type of flavors they’re serving on their menus,” he

says. “We’re into the idea of chefs curating [alcoholic flavors]

to complement their menus.”

For Matt Danzer and Ann Redding of New York City’s Thai

Diner and recently shuttered Uncle Boons, the prospect of build-

ing a bar designed specifically to amplify the flavors in their

restaurants—from lemongrass to pandan—proved exciting. “It

all started with Mekhong, which is a Thai whiskey. By American

standards, it would be considered a rum,” Danzer says. “We

started looking for alternatives because we couldn’t get it in the

U.S.” By working with Matchbook to nail down a flavor profile,

Danzer and Redding created a house spiced rum and, eventually,

five other custom spirits, from a lemongrass vodka to a green-

cardamom gin. Additionally, Matchbook helps chefs source

produce for their custom spirits, like sweet potatoes, water-

melon, or berries, which are specifically harvested from local

farms, and also partners those chefs with a Rolodex of vendors

who assist with choosing unique bottle shapes, stoppers, and

branding for each bottle.

While custom spirits enable detail-oriented chefs

to refine yet another aspect of the guest experi-

ence, they’re also paving the way for innovation

and resourcefulness. In Portland, Oregon,

Kachka co-owners Bonnie and Israel Morales

are collaborating with Martin Ryan Distilling

Company, maker of Aria Gin, to produce bot-

tles of their personal recipe for Kachka Horse-

radish Vodka; Kachka Lavka, their pre-pandemic

deli and grocery, was set up to be a vodka tasting

room, where guests could also purchase bottles to

take home. Recently, when Monahan and his team came

across a nearby dairy farm that had large amounts of whey to

dispose of, they used it to create two different spirits (one using

grapefruit and the other rhubarb) for zero-waste cocktail bar

Hunky Dory in Brooklyn.

Matchbook’s distillates also satisfy beverage director Piper

Kristensen’s insatiable thirst for experimentation at tiny Brook-

lyn hot spot Oxalis. “Anytime we have a new seasonal distillate,

we just send them six bottles,” Monahan says. “Like last year,

we had a beautiful cherry blossom distillate.” Oxalis’ seasonal

cocktails are nothing out of a standard bartender’s manual,

instead utilizing ingredients like Bësk (a Swedish

liqueur reminiscent of absinthe) and medicinal

desert broom; for hospitality professionals like

Kristensen, cracking the code on how to work

esoteric, bespoke booze into his back bar is a

thrilling challenge.

Even so, custom spirit creation, which can

cost anywhere from $20 to $60 per bottle with

Matchbook Distilling Company, is significantly

more labor-intensive than placing an order for

cases of gin or vodka from a regional distributor. “I

will bug you with approval requests for labels, colors,

everything,” Monahan says, laughing. “But if you want to extend

your brand, what better way than creating a proprietary spirit

that people have to come to you for? Guests today are so inclined

to be adventurous with food. Let’s give them the opportunity

to be adventurous with drinks, too.”

CALLING

CURIOUS DRINKERS

Want to create your own

custom spirit? Matchbook

Distilling Company hosts a gin

experience on Saturday

afternoons throughout the

year. Learn more at

mdcdropshop.com.

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