Mix It Up: The Thistle Hill Cocktail at Thistle Hill Tavern

Posted by Laren Spirer, June 18, 2010 at 5:00 PM

[Photograph: Laren Spirer]

The Thistle Hill Tavern has been a welcome addition to the South Slope, with a pub-like interior that somehow also feels open and airy, thanks to a wall full of windows. The owners/partners, who include alums from 'inoteca and Niagara, have created a neighborhood spot serving a European and Mediterranean influenced menu with the now requisite locally sourced, seasonal and sustainable ingredients. It was bustling on a recent Friday night, but a reasonable, short wait brought our party to a table.

John Bush has created a modestly priced cocktail list—most are $10—and the house cocktail is a great place to start. As dusk settled into evening, with a view of their pretty stained glass window featuring the Brooklyn Bridge and a stunning purple thistle flower, it served as a perfect transition from the busy week into the relaxing weekend. A riff on a Manhattan (it is Brooklyn, after all), a blended scotch serves as the whisky base rather than rye or bourbon, and the Fee Brothers Orange Bitters teases out the orange notes of the Carpano Antica.

Thistle Hill Cocktail

3 parts Famous Grouse
2 parts Carpano Antica sweet vermouth
2 dashes Fee Brothers Orange Bitters

Pour ingredients over ice; stir until well-chilled and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with an Italian amarone cherry.

Thistle Hill Tavern

441 7th Avenue, Brooklyn NY 11215 (map)
347-599-1262

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Tags: Brooklyn, Cocktails, Mix it Up, Park Slope, Thistle Hill Tavern