#74 – HOUSE GIN AND TONIC at AMOR Y AMARGO

For the third year in a row, I’m going to attempt to eat every single item on Time Out New York’s annual 100 Best Dishes list. In no particular order, here’s my take on their Top 100. Let the gluttony continue…

Here in New York, we have bars devoted to wine, scotch, tequila, rum, and now bitters. Seriously. Amor y Amargo is managed by the group that handles all the hippest cocktail bars in the East Village (Death & Co, Mayahuel, Cienfuegos, etc.) and doesn’t have any juices, sodas, or well drinks. This is a bar with homemade sweet vermouth on tap and a series of their own line of bitters, which are made in DUMBO and sold right here at the bar.

This is technically considered the tasting room of the company (which might explain the reason for their early 11pm closing), but it has a very dim, intimate, romantic vibe. We arrived early on a Tuesday and beat the rush. For a good 20 minutes it was just us and the very serious bartender who gave us some enlightening lessons (and tastings) of their bitters.

The cocktail menu was so interesting with many products I didn’t recognize (what the heck is becherovka? anyone?) I wish I was able to order whatever I want, but as you know, I’m tied to this Time Out list. They included the House Gin and Tonic as one of the 100 Best dishes of the year. I’m fine with gin and tonics, but it didn’t sound nearly as exciting as the cocktail with pine liqueur or peppercake bitters.

When I ordered “just the gin and tonic,” the bartender scoffed, “Just the gin and tonic, he says!” I understood once I tasted the best gin and tonic I’ve ever had. It was really enlightening.

The Autumn in Manhattan was a darker, richer play on a Manhattan with some chocolate molé bitters and some of their homemade sweet vermouth. But the gin and tonic shockingly overshadowed that complex concoction.

They use their own Tonic Liqueur (which infuses quinine into alcohol rather than water) with the gin, adding some Hopped Grapefruit Bitters (think the grapefruity character of beer hops), and maraschino. Simple, easy, but incredibly delicious.

It almost tastes like there’s not much alcohol in here (that could be an intoxicating mistake), but the flavors are incredible with a light sweet grapefruit finish rounding out the bitter, herbal qualities of the gin and tonic.

With all these complex herbal and spice flavors, I think I may have stumbled into my new favorite bar. They do one thing and they do it perfectly.

Would Amor y Amargo’s House Gin and Tonic make my Top 100 of the year? I never would have thought something as simple as a gin and tonic could be elevated to a 10 out of 10, so yes it definitely would.