Harlem’s Sugar Monk debuts celestial menu
Sugar Monk in New York City has created a new cocktail list called Orion, which is based on the connection between the body and the cosmos.
Divided into five ‘celestial chapters’, the menu explores the idea that the energies of the body mirror the movement of the stars. The 20 cocktails reflect ‘how these forces shape behaviour, instinct, and identity’, with each inspired by a story from art, folklore, music, memory, or the lives of individuals.
Many of the drinks make use of Sugar Monk’s spirits line, Atheras Spirits, which is created at the bar’s micro distillery in Brooklyn and includes amari, liqueurs, and bitters.
The Sugar Monk team worked with forager Tama Matsuoka Wong and ethnobotanist Elizabeth Kontou of Ikaria to source ‘often overlooked’ botanicals for the cocktails.
Highlights from the ‘Setting out on a Fresh Journey’ section, which features ‘bright, enlivening’ cocktails, include the Queen of the Desert. This is made with habanero-infused Patrón Tequila, Atheras lemon verbena liqueur, pineapple, lime, cucumber and elderflower.
The ‘Stars in the Night’ section offers ‘vigorous’ cocktails such as the clarified Potters Field, made with Ilegal Mezcal Joven, Atheras Sweet Annie Liqueur, lemon, black and green cardamom, elderflower, yuzu and absinthe spray.
‘Wonder as my Compass’, meanwhile, features ‘seductive, intriguing, playful’ cocktails such as the Original Sin, a carbonated serve made with Santa Teresa 1796 Solera Rum, Atheras Sykophilos Liqueur, lime and demerara sugar.
The ‘Boundless Horizons’ chapter is dedicated to ’slow-sip, sensual’ cocktails. From here, guests can opt for the Crepuscular Martinis, a changing trio of seasonal mini cocktails made with Fords Gin, Altamura Vodka and Atheras Spirits liqueurs.
The final chapter is titled ‘Follow the Gleams’ and features exclusively non-alcoholic cocktails. The Negroni Sbagliato is made with Pathfinder, Atheras zero-proof sweet vermouth, grape, bitter orange, allspice, juniper, wormwood mastiha and tonic water.
The menu also features an exclusive industry range of Highballs in collaboration with Badger Bevs, served after 10pm only. The Shifuku, for instance, features Iichiko Saiten Shochu, Atheras shiso and mastiha liqueur, and club soda.
The food offering features small dishes like baked spinach empanadas, steamed chicken lemongrass dumplings and hummus with pitta.
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