September 9, 2022 – Far from the dancing cobras and monkeys on leashes, the booming restaurant barkers and silent cloaked women, across town from the maze of stalls called the Medina—with aggressive vendors pushing things like bronze talismans, leather goods, spiced teas, fancy carpets, colorful spices, porcelain plates, silver swords, and big baskets of dried fruit—sits a bar called Baromètre Marrakech.
It’s an amazing place in an amazing city. At Baromètre, tinctures, fresh herbs, apothecary jars, hand-pump perfumes, brewery-style pipes and mysterious potions occupy the bar area.
It’s also not the type of place I expected to find in a majority Muslim place like Marrakech, Morocco.
Surprise, surprise.
The plot twists proliferate from there.
There they serve a Bloody Warhol, a Mediterranean take on a Mary served in a Campbell’s Soup can. They also deploy an impressive eco-consciousness: Every scrap of unused farmers-market fruit and veg there are dried, pickled or go into macerations, while leaves and seeds are saved to smoke the glass barware with botanical aromas, and the kitchen uses only transparent trash bags, so staff can easily spot unnecessary waste.
But the real revelation was clear: a drink called the Marrakech Market, a flavor kaleidoscope of cinnamon whisky, muddled saffron, fresh orange, and Moroccan date syrup that all harmonize, flanked by dried fruit and served in a tall clay cylinder that matches the look and feel of the Medina.
Why am I telling you this? (After all, Marrakech is 6,089 miles from Monterey Bay.)
For one, I love sharing travel tales in hopes of inspiring more to do it. But it also came to mind because I was thinking about how a place’s cocktail culture can open up a whole new dimension of experience and understanding that wasn’t apparent previously.
In putting together Edible Monterey Bay’s first ever cocktail issue—which arrived this week—our publication’s editor-publisher Deborah Luhrman navigated exactly that.
“We were so impressed by how talented and creative the bartenders are in this community,” she says. “We know about chefs being creative and using local produce, but this issue opened my eyes to a wealth of talent behind local bars.”
I’d like to think every one of our issues is worth keeping around for a while, but this one feels particularly worthy.
That’s because the 18 cocktails featured aren’t just fun to look at, but collectively work as an imagination infusion for any home mixologist.
The atypical ingredients (charred grapefruit!), the intuitive combinations (dark chocolate and fresh mint!) and seasonal awareness (watermelon margarita!) at work open the imagination and summon motivation.
Here go three quick examples from that list, each dripping with intriguing inputs:
• The Surfer Rx with Four Roses Single Barrel bourbon, apricot liqueur, lemon juice, Campari, orange zest, Luxardo cherry and edible flowers, from Pangaea Grill in Carmel.
• The Asian Persuasion with tumeric-infused vodka, carrot juice, lemon juice, orange bitters and elderflower lemon foam from Jacks Monterey at the Portola Hotel & Spa.
• The Pfeiffer Fizz with Venus Spirits Gin No. 01, Scrappy’s lavender bitters, Meyer lemon juice, aquafaba vegan “egg whites,” and lavender syrup, courtesy Pour Girl’s roving Bar Bella.
The recipes come in concert with a mini library of (ahem) stirring videos on project partner Event Santa Cruz’s YouTube page.
Another interesting drink in the issue bears mentioning. I photographed the Birdie Thyme at Links Club in Carmel Plaza, and in the process was blown away by how much the venue has going on.
Yes, there are golf simulator set-ups that are pretty slick.
But the spot also brings a hefty wine and cocktail program, craft draft beers, a food menu featuring things like Buffalo chicken lettuce cups, classic Chicago dogs and a “Knee Knocker” tempura-fried peanut butter-and-jelly with maple bacon ice cream.
Meanwhile, the event schedule is outright aggressive, with karaoke every Saturday, Monday and Wednesday; bottomless mimosas Saturday and Sundays; Locals Mondays with discounts on simulator rentals and more; Taco Tuesday with $2.50 tacos and a ping pong tournament; Wednesday Ladies Night; $20 Sim Rentals & Thursday Trivia; and Free Live Music Fridays (7-10pm).
The unexpected action reiterates a theme that stretches from Morocco to Monterey: The pursuit of impressive adult liquids can unlock some delicious surprises.
More at Monterey Bay Cocktail Week.
About the author
Mark C. Anderson, Edible Monterey Bay's managing editor, appears on "Friday Found Treasures" via KRML 94.7 every week, a little after 12pm noon. Reach him via mark@ediblemontereybay.com.
