Creating a delicious and special menu for this month only.
The month of March is famously Women’s History Month which aims to celebrate the amazing accomplishments that women have had throughout the years. And to kick off this incredible month, RT60 Rooftop Bar & Lounge, located at the top of the Hard Rock Hotel New York, invited guests to experience their new cocktail menu inspired by Women’s History Month. And helping them celebrate this is beverage industry veteran and talented actor, Joanna Carpenter.
With some of her amazing accolades such as being named one of the Wine Enthusiasts’s Future 40 Honorees in 2023, having a Broadway debut in “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street” and founding 86 the Barrier, a grassroots program providing free English language learning, Joanna is someone who deserves all the recognition that this month aims to give. And with her help, Joanna has crafted a menu of four custom cocktails for the occasion.
The first drink on the menu is Thee Pickled Lychee 50/50 which is a riff off the classic dirty martini. The 50/50 name comes from the ratio of gin and vermouth giving it a wetter feel than a typical dry martini. And while the idea of a pickled lychee might seem strange, it adds an incredible acidic vinegar note that heightens the botanical taste from the gin.
The second drink is called Hug in the Snug and is a take on the classic Old Fashioned. The nuance here is the addition of lapsang which is a smoked black tea from China and brown butter honey mixed within. This drink has a beautiful warming sensation from the whiskey that pairs beautifully with the lapsang with every sip. And the addition of the brown butter honey adds a luscious decadence that wraps around your palate. This drink was by far our favorite (but we may be biased since we are brown spirit lovers).
The next drink is the Aunt Pearl’s Trunk Grenade, which is a specialty cocktail that has a personal story for Joanna. This drink was named after her great aunt Pearl Call Gettard who was a bootlegger during the Prohibition Era. She was selling illegal gin between Detroit and Chicago and during one of her trips her car stopped working and she had to abandon it. And when folks went back to get her car, they found four live grenades in the trunk because she didn’t want to get caught selling illegal spirits during this time. And with that in mind, this drink has a delicious marriage of dryness from the vermouth, sweetness from the elderflower liqueur, and enough bubbly to blow you up. A well balanced cocktail perfect for the start of your night.
And the last drink on this special menu is the Daylight Savings which is a riff on a vodka soda of sorts but with more character. The matcha infused Macchu Pisco has a nice earthiness to it that marries into a sweet kiwi shrub. Finished with lime, salt, and soda, this bubbly drink has a lot of flavor and flair in what initially looks like a simple cocktail.
And with March wrapping up, we highly recommend heading to RT60 Rooftop and Bar to check out these delicious drinks before they leave the menu.
