IPA-mazing

by Lisa Elbert, Tastemaker in Residence

The IPA-mazing: Gin, IPA Syrup, Grapefruit, Passionfruit, Suze, and Bitters

Bartender Nick Bennett has devised the king of beer cocktails for his menu at Porchlight, Union Square Hospitality’s far west side bar. “I took all the flavors of a bitter IPA, and turned them into a drink that is both built on and topped with beer,” he says. For the drink, Bennet combines London dry gin, grapefruit, Suze, salt, and passion fruit. He incorporates beer in two forms: an Other Half IPA syrup with xanthan gum for body and a siphoned swirl of heady foam that tops the cocktail. The drink, dubbed the IPA-mazing, looks like a beer (in a Collins glass), tastes like a Chinook- or Cascade-hopped IPA, and has the essence and mouthfeel of a cocktail.