Sometime late last year when COVID cases were surging in Maine and there appeared to be no end in sight to all of this madness, I became very nostalgic of my favorite bars. Without knowing when I would again step foot into a loud, busy bar on a Saturday night, I wanted to recreate one of my favorite cocktails from a beloved bar of mine. The place that I had in mind at the time was The Thirsty Crow, an awesome spot located in the Silver Lake neighborhood of Los Angeles. I had spent many a night at The Thirsty Crow, whether sitting at the horseshoe-shaped bar, or outside on the patio looking out onto Sunset Blvd, and sadly couldn’t remember the last time I had gone.
It was at this bar where I discovered my love for a whiskey cocktail that shares the same namesake as the bar itself. Like I’ve mentioned before, I am genuinely not a fan of whiskey and will always be a tequila/vodka person through and through. On the other hand, Alex loves drinking an Old Fashioned or a Manhattan, and actually prefers to drink it straight on the rocks, which looks very unappealing to me. So, years ago when Alex and I went to The Thirsty Crow for the first time, we were told by my sister that we had to order their signature cocktail because it was an absolute favorite of hers. Without being aware that there was whiskey in the cocktail until after I had ordered the drink (I’m too trusting sometimes), I was highly skeptical on whether I’d enjoy it or not, but *spoiler alert*, I really liked it.
The cocktail is pretty basic and consists only of rye whiskey, lemon juice, ginger beer, maraschino liqueur and “magic” - according to their website. On the particular night in Maine when I had a hankering for The Thirsty Crow, I happened to have most of the ingredients to make the cocktail and pretty much improvised the rest: instead of rye whiskey, I used the Bulleit bourbon that was sitting on our bar cart (bourbon has a sweeter taste than rye whiskey); I didn’t have maraschino liqueur but instead had a jar of maraschino cherries for when Alex makes Manhattans; and just for fun, I added Angostura bitters because I honestly just felt like it would round out the drink and maybe make up for the bitterness that was lost when replacing rye whiskey with bourbon. Oh, and no magic was added because I’m not exactly sure where I would purchase that. Maybe Costco sells it in bulk?
Needless to say, the drink was a success and I had never been more proud of myself for 1) actually enjoying a whiskey drink (other than a hot toddy!), let alone one that I had made at home and 2) successfully creating a cocktail that tasted pretty damn close to the original. I know this cocktail requires zero skill level and no crazy ingredients, but the whole point was to recreate the feeling that I had while at The Thirsty Crow, and I think I did just that. So until I can walk into that bar and experience a night that feels like pre-COVID times, I will gladly make these cocktails at home.
The Thirsty Crow Cocktail (Whiskey Ginger)
Makes 1 cocktail
Recipe inspired by The Thirsty Crow bar in Los Angeles, CA
Ingredients
2 oz. bourbon whiskey
1 oz. fresh lemon juice
1-2 dashes of Angostura bitters
4-6 oz. ginger beer (Reed’s or Fever Tree are my favorite brands)
Maraschino cherry/juice
Directions
Add ice to a rocks glass (or whichever glass of your choosing - a mason jar works too) and pour in the bourbon and lemon juice. Top the drink off with ginger beer: start with 4 ounces, but you can add 1-2 more ounces if you want a weaker cocktail. Stir with a spoon.
Finish with a couple dashes of the bitters and a maraschino cherry. I like to add a bit of the liquid from the maraschino cherry jar to give the drink a bit more sweetness as well, but that’s optional.
Drink immediately and enjoy!