Gather

 

This was not the first time I've gathered at Gather... but it was the first time that I ordered a brandy old fashioned sour w/olives. The bartender, Dee, insisted that she made a pretty dang good one.
I'll be the judge of that.

She grabbed a highball and started with a packet of sugar, followed by large, red, fresh (can they be fresh?) maraschino cherries and an orange slice. She then added Peychaud's aromatic cocktail bitters.

Wait, what?

According to Wikipedia, these bitters are gentian-based bitters, comparable to Angostura bitters, but with a lighter body, sweeter taste, and more floral aroma... which, of course lead me to figuring out what gentian-based meant...a type of flower. So, what have we learned today? Dee likes to add flowers to her old fashioneds.

So back to the cocktail making. Dee added the special flower bitters, followed by the traditional Angostura bitters, and then muddled all the items together. She carefully smelled the drink and added more bitters. That is a good sign!

She then added a tall pour of Korbel and squeeze in two lemon slices and topped the drink with seltzer water.

 

I wanted to love this cocktail. I didn't love it. The lemon over poured the nuance of the bitters—both the floral type and the bark type. Still, the drink was tasty, very light and not sugary. It was a wonderful time with my good friend and Dee and watching the local crazies gather. The drink was expensive at $6 for what it was.

Ultimately, I want to give Dee a 5 olive review, but my past experiences at Gather have not been worthy of that. So average it is. If Dee sticks around for awhile and other areas improve, this might be the first place I change a rating.

Rating (out of 5 olives)


Gather
213 S Nicolet Rd, Appleton
gathereat.com