Notable Mixologists Serving Some of KC's Favorite Cocktails

The W

 

It’s no secret that Kansas City loves barbecue and whiskey. So Mike Strauss, one of The W’s original bartenders, decided to distill that love into cocktail form. Head bartender Taylor Dumsky calls the speakeasy’s Smoked Vanilla the “comfort food of cocktails.”

Made with vanilla bean and burnt sugar syrup, it’s balanced with bourbon and house-made walnut bitters to create a flavor profile that isn’t cloying. Smoked Vanilla is one of The W’s signature cocktails and should be any first-timer’s first order.

Smoked Vanilla

• 2.5 oz Four Roses Yellow Label Bourbon
• .75 oz burnt sugar syrup
• 2 dashes house walnut bitters
• 1 vanilla bean stalk

The Monarch Cocktail Bar & Lounge

 

During a vacation in Mexico, The Monarch’s bar manager, Brock Schulte, noticed a recurring ingredient in his drinks, tamarind, and quickly decided he wanted to use it.

Schulte returned to Kansas City prepared to create a drink that incorporated the tropical fruit. The result? A smoked daiquiri that balances apple-smoked rum with bright citruses.

TAMANDAQUIRI Black Coupe

• 2 oz Applewood-smoked J. Wray Silver Rum
• .75 oz Tamarind-vanilla syrup
• .5 oz Pineapple juice
• .5 oz Lime juice

Combine all ingredients into a shaker tin with ice and hard shake. Double strain into a coupe glass. Garnish with a lime wheel and pineapple wedge sprinkled with tajin.

Swordfish Tom's

 

It’s easy to assume that a drink as outlandishly named as the Main Street Exorcism exists solely to grab your attention, but owner Jill Cockson’s recipe has interesting religious ties, making it a conversation starter in more ways than one.

The drink is given heat with a hibiscus and cubeb pepper syrup. Cubeb peppers are notable for their use as a tool in exorcism rituals in different parts of the world. Before the drink is poured, the glass is swirled with Green Chartreuse, a liqueur that has been produced by Carthusian Monks since the 1700s.

A sleeper hit, the drink proved to be so popular with guests that it was promoted from Swordfish Tom’s seasonal menu to the permanent roster.

Main Street Exorcism 

• 1.5 oz Tom’s Town Gin
• .25 oz Violet liqueur 
• .75 oz Hibiscus and cubeb pepper syrup
• 1 oz Lemon

Shake and double strain into glass lined with flamed Green Chartreuse. Garnish with candied hibiscus flower.

Story

 

Self-taught bartender Daniel Purdue has been at Story since 2014, often incorporating cooking techniques into his cocktails, such as using a sous vide to make turbinado syrup for the spring cocktail list.

Local produce and seasonal ingredients are often the catalysts he uses in creating a new drink like the Strawberry Breeze, which contains a homemade strawberry shrub. One of the area’s more lighthearted cocktails, the drink leans on fresh fruits and is tied together with elderflower liqueur.

Strawberry Breeze

• 1 oz Tito's Vodka
• .5 oz St Germaine
• .5 oz Cointreau
• .75 oz fresh squeezed lemon juice
• .5 oz house made strawberry shrub
• 3 dash Fee Brother's Peach Bitters

Shake all ingredients and strain into a chilled cocktail shell. Garnish with some fresh mint. To make the strawberry shrub, heat up 1 cup of water and 1 cup of white sugar on the stove until the sugar is dissolved, then add 2 cups of sliced strawberries and let simmer over low heat for about 15 minutes and strain out the strawberries.

Purdue likes to add 1/4 cup of a mild white wine vinegar, but it can be left out. Store it in the fridge and it will stay fresh for a couple of weeks. It also makes a great strawberry lemonade: just mix 1.75 oz strawberry syrup and 1 oz lemon juice with 4 oz of water.