Barrel-Aged Cocktails: Mixology’s Hottest New Trend Comes To Paso Robles
La Cosecha Bar + Restaurant adds barrel-aged cocktails, unique drinks and wines to its trend-setting menu
May 12, 2015 (Paso Robles, CA) The already-progressive menu, wine list and craft cocktail programs at Paso Robles’ La Cosecha Bar + Restaurant recently kicked up a notch with the addition of several new items including barrel-aged cocktails designed by Mixologist Andrew Brune.
“I follow tastemakers in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and New York to try new ideas here,” said Brune, whose barrel-aged cocktails include a Boulevardier (whiskey, sweet vermouth, Campari) that mellows and melds in a five-liter barrel behind the bar for two months. “Barrel-aged cocktails are so smooth. After a while in barrel, some of the oxygen evaporates, kills the burn, and makes the drink darker and more viscous.” The resulting Boulevardier shows seamless toasty, earthy, and nutty notes from time in barrel, served in a lowball glass over one block of ice and garnished with a ribbon of orange peel.
Eventually, Brune also hopes to carve his own ice (currently the blocks are frozen in molds) and even smoke the barrels. While La Cosecha’s international signature cocktails cover favorites like the Seasonal Caipirinha and Pisco Sour, recent additions include Brune’s of-the-moment drinks like Kaled By Love (Ixa Reposado Tequila, Bauchant liqueur, kale, pineapple, lime, and turbinado sugar) and the LD2 (El Agave Reposado tequila, Strega liqueur, lime, bell pepper, agave and soda).
“I call him the mad scientist,” said Managing Partner Carole MacDonal, who launched La Cosecha with her husband and Executive Chef, Santos MacDonal. “Andrew has a passion for developing new cocktails and a sixth sense about what goes with what. Everything he does is always in balance – and he loves working with customers to devise just the right drink to their taste.”
Brune also makes a point of stocking the bar with products most establishments in the area don’t, such as Samaroli “Evolution,” the rare Italian-bottled Scotch whiskey blended from single malts from countless distilleries that span from 10 to over 40 years aged. “I try to target smaller, family-owned distilleries instead of the mainstream ones,” he said. His interest in small family producers extends to local distillery, RE:FIND, with whom he will team up to create a barrel-aged cocktail to be bottled and sold under the RE:FIND label, released later this summer.
La Cosecha’s menu continues to lean Latin, but dishes are continually subject to Chef Santos’ inspiration and whims. New dishes include Seco de pato (duck confit over herbed rice), Ecuadorian shrimp with linguiça over white polenta, and braised pork cheeks over celery root. Additionally, Carole MacDonal recently updated the wine list with a variety of selections from Spain, Chile and Argentina, as well as several sought-after bottles from local producers.
For more information on the barrel-aged cocktail program, Mixologist Andrew Brune, or Chef Santos’ eclectic menu, please visit www.LaCosechaBR.com or call 805.237.0019.
About La Cosecha Bar + Restaurant
Centering on the flavors of Spain and Latin America, La Cosecha Bar + Restaurant in Paso Robles is the bold creation of celebrated chef, Santos MacDonal. After establishing Paso Robles Italian favorite, Il Cortile Ristorante, Chef Santos was inspired by his own Honduran heritage and the abundance of fresh Central Coast ingredients to bring La Cosecha to life. Along with his brother and longtime collaborator, Jorge MacDonal, and wife and Managing Partner,Carole MacDonal, Chef Santos developed La Cosecha’s menu to be fiercely local while also making use of specialty herbs and spices specific to regional Latin cuisine for a taste that’s both completely authentic and totally unique. Open late, La Cosecha also features a craft cocktail menu designed to make use of garden-fresh ingredients and artisanal spirits. La Cosecha is located at 835 12th Street, Suite A, on Paso Robles’ famed City Park. Please visitwww.LaCosechaBR.com or call 805.237.0019 for more information.
