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Al Sotack head shot - Epicurious

Al Sotack

Contributor

After graduating from New York University in 2003, Al Sotack landed his first barback job. It took a few years of hustle on the dishwasher, but after a while, someone needed a bathroom break, and he was promoted to bartender. In 2009, he was picked to open Philly’s Franklin Mortgage and Investment Company, where he worked as head bartender until 2013. While there, Sotack was the recipient of an Eater Bartender of the Year award and StarChefs Rising Star. Back in New York, he served a long stint at Death & Co (many of his drinks can be found in their newest book Welcome Home), messed around at Pouring Ribbons and Donna for a second, wrote a lot about all kinds of stuff, and finally opened Jupiter Disco, Bushwick’s fancy cocktail meets nightlife venue in 2016, with partner Maks Pazuniak. He currently lives in Manhattan with his wife, Jade, their two daughters, and two huskies. His writing has appeared in Vice, Playboy, Plate, Fatherly, and others.

Brooklyn

The Brooklyn cocktail is an original riff on the manhattan that sparked many modern variations.

This Vintage Soda Fountain Ingredient Packs a Sour Punch

When you want pure sour without the lemon flavor, acid phosphate is your friend.

Japanese Thirst Killer

This soda fountain drink, which leans on acid phosphate for its tartness, can be traced back to 1915.

Bushwick Thirst Killer

An acid phosphate with coconut water and raspberry.

No-Sleep-Till-Santa Eggnog

A touch of coffee balances the flavor of this modern spin on eggnog.

Fireplace Eggnog

This modern eggnog recipe adds a vanilla bean and a smoky tea to the classic formula, evoking that yuletide feeling without drifting into Christmas spice.

You Can Teach a Whiskey Sour New Tricks

This whiskey sour may be more than 150 years old, but it’s more flexible than you’d think.

Amethyst Sour

This twist on the whiskey sour adds blueberries—plus a touch of amaro and funky rum.

Whiskey Daisy

A daisy is essentially a sour in which the sweet stuff is a liqueur (instead of just sugar). This whiskey daisy recipe is pretty classic—and totally delicious.

Classic Whiskey Sour

The whiskey sour, a simple combination of whiskey, sugar, and fresh lemon juice is one of the most important developments in cocktails.

Take Your Next Cocktail With a Grain of Salt

When it comes to bitter cocktails, a tiny pinch of salt can curb bitterness and bring out herbaceous, fragrant, punchy flavors.

Black Angel

Take a martini, but use bitter Averna instead of the vermouth.

How to Make Raspberry Syrup, the Original Summer Grenadine

These four refreshing drinks are just the beginning of what you can shake up with fresh raspberry syrup—the original summer grenadine.

Redheaded Saint

A compelling combination of mezcal, tequila, fresh lime, ginger beer, and raspberry syrup.

Applejack Fix

This is a perfect sipper for a warm day. The boozy sour is tempered by lots of ice and brightened by tart and tender raspberry.

Raspberry Syrup

Raspberry syrup appears over and over in some of the most influential historic cocktail books. 

Clover Club

While the Clover Club cocktail may have originated in the 1890s at the Bellevue Hotel in Philadelphia, where the social organization that lends the drinks its name would carouse, it’s very much a drink of the 20th century. It was then that the famously pink drink became a cultural phenomenon beyond a small set of Philly-area lawyers and business folk. It arrived in New York perhaps thanks to hotelier George Boldt, who operated both the Bellevue and the new Waldorf-Astoria. His other culinary cla.…

Raspberry Lemonade

The most refreshing pitcher of raspberry lemonade starts with homemade fresh raspberry syrup.

Bring Back the Bizzy Izzy Highball: Why This 100-Year-Old Cocktail Deserves a Revival

Made with pineapple, sherry, and rye whiskey, this forgotten cocktail feels remarkably modern.

Bizzy Izzy Highball

This cocktail with rye whiskey, pineapple, and sherry sits right at home with the way we drink now, but it dates back to 1917.