Week 2 of The Great Cocktail Hunt brought us to no. 246. A restaurant in the Decatur Square created by Chefs Ford Fry and Drew Belline. It was a chilly, rainy night and we were headed to another spot (to be explored at another date) and, despite the restaurant opening in 2011, we've honestly never noticed it! The bar looked appealing from the outside so we decided to stop in.
The cocktail list at no. 246 is seasonal, so we were excited to see a few "fally" drinks on the menu. We asked the bartender, Lindsey, what the most popular and favorite cocktails were. She pointed out a few good ones and mentioned that the Backyard Old Fashioned (Elijah Craig bourbon, brown sugar chai and chocolate bitters) was just named as one of Eater Atlanta's best old fashioned cocktails in the city. So we obviously ordered one of those. We also decided on a warm drink since it was so chilly outside - the Fireside Chat (Mercier Orchards apple cider, bourbon, vanilla and lemon.) We basically shared (because we switched halfway through), but we'll break it down the old fashioned way. ;)
Erica :
The Backyard Old Fashioned was a great version of an old fashioned. It was very spirit forward while still being smooth and not "punchy" with the bourbon. I didn't get a lot of the chai spice, which is what I was looking forward to. Adam and I switched halfway through and he gave this a 10/10. I give it a 9, so we're going to average it out to a 9.5.
Adam :
Erica actually picked the Fireside Chat, but I took it so she could also order the Backyard Old Fashioned. It was a nice drink on a cold night. A little on the sweeter side, so not as much of the bourbon taste. It came with a piece of star anise on top and you could taste all of the fall spices. Erica gave this one a 9.5 and I gave it an 8.5. Average score of 9.
Verdict :
We each liked different drinks, so no clear winner here, but they rank near the top of the cocktails we've tried so far with a 9.5 and a 9, respectively.
BONUS:
Everyone knows about lemoncello, but no. 246 has something on the beverage menu called "seasonal cello." Curious, we asked Lindsey what that was about. She said that they currently have several cellos - lemon, lime, orange, coffee, cucumber and red bell pepper. What?! That sounds crazy!
After we finished our cocktails, Lindsey brought us a glass of the lemoncello and red bell pepper cello. The lemoncello was fantastic (and we should know - we just went to Sorrento back in June!) But, the red bell pepper cello was insane. It was a mix of sweet with a teeny bit of spice. Lindsey made this herself (like she does all of the cellos) and I really think she could make a career of producing that red bell pepper cello. 10/10!
We're halfway through the month, so that's halfway through The Great Cocktail Hunt - Decatur Edition! We definitely have more research to do, but we don't mind. :)