Happy Hour at Gin Joint
By Sydney Gallimore, @QueenoftheFoodage
Most recently, I attended for a #TastemakersCHS dinner, where we were able to try a number of cocktails and some of the new bar snacks on the menu. I started with the Fortune Cat (Tom Cat Gin, ginger, sesame, caramel, lemon, $12), which will come as no surprise to anyone who knows how much I love cats. The drink was gorgeous to look at (in fact, my drink was stolen for multiple people to photograph at the table before I was able to even taste it). It was nice and refreshing with a nice level of tartness from the ginger + lemon.
It’s extra appropriate because last time I went to a fortune teller, all she saw for me was cats, too.
To pair with the cocktails, we also tried some of their charcuterie, which comes as part of the Chef’s Snack Board (You Pick Three Cheeses, Chef’s Selection of Meats, Grilled Bread, House Made Jam, House, Spiced Nuts, $32). I saw salami on the board and was immediately happy, as it’s my favorite cured meat. If you have a few friends, this is a great deal and perfect for an after work snack!
Charcuterie is bae
Also part of the chef’s snack board, we were able to try a sampling of their cheeses (although they brought us all 4 instead of the 3 you’re limited to in the snack board). The options were black & bleu, Flory’s truckle, Mountaineer, and Rockets Robiola (which all sounded like names of Harry Potter dragons IMO). My favorite was the black and bleu, because as a blue cheese, it was super creamy and not as pungent as you usually find.
Actually cheese boards are bae
Additionally, they also brought out the House Made Soft Pretzels (Sriracha Cheese Sauce, Maldon’s Sea Salt, $8). I love soft pretzels, and these were no exception. They were nice and fluffy and glutinous, and I really enjoyed the sriracha cheese sauce.
Ok, wait… maybe soft pretzels are bae?! WHY ARE ALL MY BAES FOOD
For my second cocktail, I opted to do the Bartender’s Choice ($12), where you pick 2 adjectives from a predetermined list and the bartender makes you a custom drink based on your choices. I went for “refreshing” and “vegetal” and ended up with this cucumber and gin cocktail that is my new favorite drink. It’s just a shame I don’t actually know what’s in it.
“S” for Sydney… right?!
Our final bar snack was the Cola-Braised Ham Slider (Mornay, Brown’s Court Benne Seed Bun, $9) which were probably my favorite snack of the night. I don’t usually like ham, but the ham in these sliders was super thick (more like a slab of pork) and had just a touch of sweetness from the cola. The mornay sauce was nice and creamy, and altogether, this slider was perfection.
Miguel also makes a good hand model.
Before we left, they also gave us one of their signature desserts, a housemade Old Fashioned Lollipop (Whiskey, Angostura Bitters, Orange Zest, $1.50). It didn’t really taste like an old fashioned to me, but it was still really yummy!
It also made me feel 12 years old.
If you haven’t been to The Gin Joint lately, you need to give them a try! The improvements they’ve made have been fantastic, and they’re really in a league above when it comes to handmade cocktails (did I mention that they make their own ice? They use the same 300lb blocks of ice that ice sculptors use and cut it down for each cocktail). They have a lot more than just gin (except there’s no vodka, so don’t bother asking), and if you come in with an open mind, you’re likely to leave with a new favorite drink!
Also, they’ve started serving brunch, too!
