Shake It Up

Return to Red for a Decidedly Quaffable Autumn Season

Whiskey aficionados, cocktail lovers and tipplers alike, step this way: The East End in Providence has it just right. Sidle up to the bar and sip through flights of an extensive whiskey library or sit back and enjoy the flicker and crack of bar tools in motion, the rosy glow of the copper bar and the sonorous ring of conversation and general revelry. Bar manager Kayleigh Speck encapsulates the essence of the bar in one sumptuous drink, The Scofflaw. It’s her take on the Prohibition-era sour that’s at once burly, tart and bashfully fruity.

The original 1924 Scofflaw recipe called for rye whiskey, dry vermouth, fresh citrus and grenadine but most likely used a blended Canadian whiskey—the production of American spirits was outlawed through 1933. In homage to the original recipe, Speck employs Mad River Revolution Rye, a rye whiskey distilled in Vermont with locally and regionally grown rye, brimming with toasty malted cocoa notes. And Portsmouth’s own Greenvale Vineyards’ dry vermouth makes its debut with a rich bouquet of fresh herbs. It adds the ideal astringency to leaven the grenadine and curb the acidity of fresh lime juice, reminding you that this is anything but your average sour.

Autumn arrives with Speck’s Spiced Collins. It begins with crisp clean notes of juniper, lemon and pink peppercorn in the Bullyboy Estate gin. It continues with the soft earthy notes from fresh beets and the warming spice of ginger, fennel and chili. Speck’s fresh beet syrup is the perfect elixir to up the ante of your next cocktail party, too. It’s all you need to dress up your favorite highball or send a sparkling lemonade soaring. Catch the beet wheel garnish in the fading daylight to enact a radiant red sun setting on the glass—a joyous way to end the day.