Mountain Top

As refreshing as a mountain breeze

A staple on the bar menu at the Glorietta Baldy bar in Brooklyn, this cocktail is best described as “invigorating”. But one word simply doesn’t do it justice.

“The peppercorns bring that black pepper arousal rather than a red hot heat from hot peppers” described owner Ben Wiley, “The Germain brings in its own sugar which rounds everything out.”

He emphasized how this drink is an exercise in simplicity: it’s an exceedingly easy drink to prepare, but the strong flavors complement each other so well, the drink is definitely greater than the sum of its parts.

The Inspiration:

I asked Ben if he’d share his inspiration behind the cocktail. Here’s what he said:

Glorietta Baldy, as all my bars are, is definitely a beer-centric bar but I wanted to have a strong, focused cocktail menu to cater to the changing dynamics of the neighborhood.

I have always enjoyed St. Germain as a behind-the-scenes ingredient. Like rose water it can be gross when used too much but it is a softer element to mellow out harder ingredients. At any rate, I have always liked it.

Infusing peppercorns in vodka is a straight forward way to bring a little customization to a low-cost ingredient where the customer wins by getting a curated, custom product and the house wins by keeping cost low.

I’m pretty into healthy food and lifestyle and so ginger has always been a go-to for me. Not many people dislike the flavor either. An added bonus was and is that healthier and all-natural cocktails are all the rage so this fits that wheel house, too. We are located directly across the street from a juice bar so getting fresh ginger juice was a no-brainer.

Finally, lime makes pretty much everything better. We do press this in-house. It works out better financially than going to the juice bar for this one.

Worth a Visit

With its simple preparation and great flavor, this cocktail quickly found a permanent place on the menu. So if you make your way to Brooklyn soon, definitely stop by Glorietta Balty to check it out!  Thanks again to Ben for sharing the recipe behind this popular (and delicious) cocktail!