The Lowdown
Buddha's Hand Bitters, Wonton Chips at Sal Tang's, Phil Ward’s Cornwall Negroni, An Elevated Boilermaker, Staff Meal Pozole, Irish Soda Bread...
Welcome to The Lowdown, a regular Paid Subscriber exclusive featuring what (and where) I’ve recently been eating and drinking.
On today’s The Lowdown…
Damon Boelte’s Buddha’s Hand Bitters
An elevated Boilermaker at Pitt’s
A first-time visit to Sal Tang’s (those Wonton Chips!)
Phil Ward’s Cornwall Negroni
A hearty staff meal Pozole
Irish Soda Bread
And more!
Drinking
King Floyd's Buddha's Hand Bitters
One of the first new friends I made when I moved to Brooklyn in the spring of 2010 was Damon Boelte, bar owner, bar tender, musician, radio show host, wearer of many hats (literally), and all around good guy. But I first met Damon in January of that same year, when I was in town from Seattle doing research for my first book, Bitters. Peter Meehan advised me to make my way to Carroll Gardens to visit the recently opened Prime Meats and ask for Damon. Back then only the front half of the restaurant was open and it was still a standing bar with no stools. I spent four hours posted up at the corner of the bar (the spot that would become my favorite seat once I became a regular) talking with Damon and tasting many of his cocktail creations, including the Prime Manhattan, made with Rittenhouse Rye, Dolin Rouge Vermouth de Chambery, and a few dashes of his own housemade Buddha’s Hand Bitters (Damon also made a delicious Bartlett Pear Bitters that was employed in the PM Old-Fashioned).
Just a few months later, after an emotional pile-up of a sudden job change, the end of a relationship, and the terror of a looming book deadline (sound familiar?), I added moving cross-country to my list of Severely Stressful Things to Deal With All At Once, and traded eleven years in Seattle for a fresh start in Brooklyn. Soon after moving into my apartment, I returned to Prime Meats. It was packed and I eased into the crowd and waited to order a drink. Damon paused when he saw me, smiled, gave me a finger-gun salute and said, “Hey, the bitters guy!”
Damon went on to co-found the award-winning cocktail bar Grand Army in Boerum Hill, Brooklyn, and now lives in Marin County in Northern California where he keeps busy working in the spirits world, plotting additional projects, and making music with his twin brother Dylan and their band the Lone Wolf Coyotes.
And now former Prime Meats devotees can rejoice and take their own House Manhattan or favorite cocktail to new heights with the launch of King Floyd's Buddha's Hand Bitters, a collaboration between Damon and King Floyd’s Bar Provisions limited to approximately 1,000 bottles that they intend to make available as a special annual release. King Floyd's Buddha's Hand Bitters captures the essence of this unique and vibrant fingered citron, using California-grown Buddha’s Hand to impart a distinctive profile of orange, meyer lemon, and grapefruit. I plan to break into my bottle with a Manhattan (2 ounces rye, 1 ounce sweet vermouth, 3-5 dashes King Floyd's Buddha's Hand Bitters, garnished with a lemon twist) and looking forward to swapping it in for the usual orange bitters in my favorite Martini.
House Boilermaker, Bullseye Margarita (Pitt’s)
347 Van Brunt Street, Brooklyn, New York 11231
