A Tribute to Speakeasy Style Spirits

As the decade winds down, and we prepare to enter the “roaring 20’s” of the Twenty-first century, it’s only fitting
that prohibition-era cocktails would come back in style. Over the past year, more and more bars have added
Old-Fashioneds and Aviations and other Fitzgerald-esque cocktails to their bar menus as a tribute to the decade
of decadence, opulence, and overall joie de vivre that ruled the age of flappers and gangsters. Here at Roanoke, we’ve wholly embraced the resurgence of Jazz-Age inspired cocktails by crafting an aromatic Old-Fashioned that would make any speak-easy owner proud.

The process of crafting our perfect old-fashioned  begins with our bourbon. Using a Japanese tea-drip, we infuse
Old Forester bourbon with an assortment of aromatic flavors. We layer dehydrated cherries, dehydrated orange
peels, wood chips coated in vanilla bean paste, and cloves delicately within our tea-drip in a way that allows each flavor to be fully absorbed into the bourbon without one overpowering the other. As the bourbon slowly drips through the contraption, it absorbs the flavor of each component creating a unique spirit bursting with aromatic complexity. The entire process takes around two to three days to complete and so at any given time our bartenders are infusing a total of five bottles.

As well as infusing our own bourbon, like many craft cocktail lounges, we also make all of our syrups in house, including the turbinado syrup we use to accent our old fashioned. We take brown sugar and mix it with hot water
to create a temptingly sweet syrup that is meant to accent our bourbon, not mask it. If that weren’t enough, we
even freeze our own ice cubes in house ensuring nothing waters down this incredible cocktail. It’s important to
us that the bourbon stands out, so when mixing our old fashioned we only accent it with two dashes of angostura
and orange bitters, and a bar spoon of turbinado. 

After lightly stirring these accents into our bourbon, we pour it into a crystal rocks glass and garnish it with a fresh orange peel expression and a rich luxardo cherry. Elegant, sophisticated, classic, this is the perfect drink to slowly
sip and enjoy while relaxing in our luxurious lounge space, or pair with our savory glazed short rib and truly give
your tastebuds something to sing about. Whether you’re stopping in for a nightcap, or pairing a drink with one
of our artisanal dishes, one sip of our signature old fashioned will leave you feeling like Jay Gatsby. Just try not to fixate on the green light. ​