After a day on Wyoming’s cowboy powder, a cold can of beans just ain’t gonna cut it. That’s why chef-owner Paul O’Connor is serving up creative country cuisine, like bone marrow and cheddar fondue and buffalo-fried quail with celery root slaw and Jackson hot sauce. There’s plenty of Jägermeister, beer, and spicy Margaritas flowing in this rambunctious outpost, but saddle up at the bar on one of the custom leather saddle stools and veteran bartender Tobias Gelber will pour you an Old-Fashioned, aged in-house in 5-liter barrels. “I am a big fan of aging cocktails in barrels, as it adds a new level of complexity to the cocktail. What’s good for bourbon, rum, and wine is good for most spirit-based cocktails,” says Gelber, who adapted the recipe for us using more convenient oak spirals. The recipe makes ten servings.
INGREDIENTS
- 20 oz. Maker’s Mark bourbon
- 10 oz. Grade B maple syrup
- 30 dashes of Autumn Bitters (or other cocktail bitters)
- 1 oak spiral (available from northernbrewer.com)
- 1 swath orange peel
- 1 lime twist
DIRECTIONS
Combine liquid ingredients in a wide-mouth quart jar. Add one oak spiral to the jar, seal, and allow to age for one week, or to taste. To serve, pour 21⁄2 oz. liquid into a mixing glass with ice and stir. Strain into a double old-fashioned glass over a large ice cube. Garnish with a large swath of orange peel and a lime twist, expressing the oils into the cocktail.
