James Bumbery and his Muddler
Westchester Home, Summer 2013
By Julia Sexton
For several years, I wrote Savor, a column that I conceived for Westchester Home, a quarterly. In it, I asked chefs to name their favorite kitchen tool and show how best to use it in recipes. I loved this column because the chefs (and, in this case, a barman) chose tools that really showcased their particular style of work.
In the way that the letters BC and AD distinguish historical eras, so should BMM (Before Mad Men) and AMM (After Mad Men) denote eras of cocktails. For American drinkers, the AMC show was a landmark that reignited our latent love for sweet, bitters-haunted whiskey drinks like Manhattans. At Pour, Mount Kisco’s moody wine and cocktail bar, James Bumbery’s drinks fall securely in the After Mad Men epoch: They’re as masculine, cool, and elegant as Don Draper’s impeccable suit.
But the elegance of these drinks doesn’t mean that there isn’t heavy lifting involved in their creation. Often, you’ll see Bumbery behind Pour’s candle-lit bar, literally bashing the flavor out of his ingredients with a muddler. This tool—essentially, a miniature bat—is used to extract juices and flavorful oils from fruits and herbs. It also blends, aerates liquids and pulverizes sugar.
One could spend lots of money on titanium, graphite, or stainless-steel muddlers, but Bumbery claims to be “tool neutral.” He makes do with a basic wooden muddler that sells for less than $10 at restaurant supply or kitchenware stores. Barring a special trip to purchase a muddler, Bumbery recommends that home bartenders get inventive. “Look, if you were stranded on a desert island, you’d make your drink with the cleanest-looking stick you could find. At Pour, I used to use a spoon. I’m not super-picky about tools.”
Sazerac
(Makes one cocktail)
Rittenhouse Rye is the baseline Pour whiskey, even though Pour’s owner, Anthony Colasacco, is a compulsive collector of aged, boutique, and rare whiskeys. Says Bumbery, “The Rittenhouse is just chuggable. When we have restaurant people in Pour, we just put the bottle on the bar. I’m lucky enough to be surrounded by all these amazing ryes. We’ve tried 21-year-old rye in this drink, which is unheard of, but we keep coming back to the Rittenhouse.” The good news for home drinkers is that Rittenhouse retails for only about $20 per bottle.
3 cubes sugar
3 dashes Peychaud’s Bitters
3 oz Rittenhouse Rye
2 dashes Pernod Absinthe
1 lemon twist
In a pint glass, muddle sugar cubes and bitters. Add ice and rye, and stir until the ingredients are well chilled. Meanwhile, pour the absinthe into a rocks glass and rotate the glass until its entire inside surface is coated with absinthe. Discard the absinthe and then strain the rye mixture into the absinthe-coated glass. Twist the lemon over the glass. Discard the lemon and serve neat.
Old Fashioned
(Makes one cocktail)
While Bumbery usually lets his customers choose whether rye or bourbon goes into their drinks, in the Old Fashioneds that he makes for himself, Bumbery prefers locally made Berskhire Bourbon from Berkshire Mountain Distillery. “We watched that distillery from the beginning: We’ve been with them the whole way. It feels good when people come into Pour and request Berkshire Bourbon. Chris [Weld, the Westchester-raised founder, owner, and distiller of Berkshire Mountain Distillers] is awesome.” To complete the drink, Bumbery serves it with a single large ice cube. Other bartenders have noted that a large cube results in less dilution, but Bumbery is less scientific, saying, “Bottom line: The big cube just looks cool.”
2 orange wedges
2 Luxardo cherries (plus one for garnish)
2 cubes sugar
2 dashes Angostura or Whiskey Barrel-Aged Bitters
2 ½ ounces Berkshire Bourbon.
1 2” ice cube (These can be made at home using Tavolo King Cube Ice Trays, available at Amazon for about $8.)
Cherry juice to garnish
In the glass part of a Boston shaker, muddle orange, cherries, and sugar until pulpy. Add ice, bitters, and bourbon and shake until the metal part of the shaker is frosty. Strain into a rocks glass that holds one large ice cube. Garnish with one Luxardo cherry and lace the drink with a few drops of Luxardo cherry juice.
Plum Collins Cocktail
(Makes one cocktail)
Bumbery has long been an advocate of Brooklyn-distilled Greenhook Ginsmiths Beach Plum Gin Liqueur, which is made with the fragrant Yankee fruit that one usually finds on seaside vacations, boiled into preserves. “It’s just tasty. Sometimes I offer the plum gin in shots. Even people who aren’t gin drinkers love this gin.”
3 lime wedges
3 lemon wedges
2 cubes sugar
2 ½ ounces Greenhook Ginsmiths Beach Plum Gin Liqueur
club soda (to fill glass)
1 orange slice
In the glass part of a Boston shaker, muddle limes, lemons, and sugar until pulpy. Add liqueur and ice, then cover with the metal part of the shaker. Shake the ingredients until the outside of the shaker’s metal cup is frosty. Strain the ingredients into an ice-filled highball glass and top with club soda to fill the glass. Stir, garnish with an orange slice, and serve.
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