Bartenders need nightcaps, too. Once the hustle and bustle of Harvard Square subsides and the parting shots have been poured, the Park bar team toasts to another night well-served. Beverage Manager Joseph Gowland shakes up a bold shift drink for his crew, matching Nautical Gin with Aperol and Yellow Chartreuse – and a bit of sea salt. Here, the former Navy-man waxes Nautical on the behind-the-bar ritual and shares an easy-sipping cocktail that’s quick to the helm.
My usual go-to shift drink is anything that’s crisp and refreshing. Everything from a cold Pilsner or a lager to a daiquiri. Anything that takes the edge off but you don’t have to think about drinking it.
Shift drinks – it’s all about the community and the bar as a team. So, at the end of the night it has to be a shared drink because it’s a shared effort.
A lot of people think of gin as a summertime drink. Not necessarily true. Though it goes great with summertime fruits and it’s delicious in the hot weather, when you have a good quality gin that pairs well with other ingredients behind the bar, you can make gin drinks all year round.
With the Nautical, the juniper is not over-pronounced like some other gins — it allows the other spices and herbs to really come forward, such as the coriander, the lemongrass, the mint. You’ve got beautiful, delicate aromas that you can definitely pick up on the nose. You’ve got herbaceous spices that you get in the taste but within all of that you’ve also got a great body that makes it a sipping drink, as well.
Gin and cucumbers go together so well and with the lemon flavor that I picked up, I figured let’s do something crisp and refreshing, which also falls in the category of a nice shift drink. I wanted to experiment and see what the Nautical could handle and stand up to, so I threw in some bold spirits, like Aperol and Yellow Chartreuse and I think it took very well. It was still missing a little something. So I thought back to the old nautical theme and being out to sea—the pinch of salt really added to it.
Nautical Cocktail
1.5 ounces Nautical Gin
0.5 ounce Yellow Chartreuse
0.5 ounce Aperol
0.5 ounce lime juice
2 slices cucumber
pinch of salt
Muddle the cucumber in the bottom of a shaker tin, then add spirits, lime juice and a pinch of salt. Shake, strain and serve.
