Polite Provisions' Ocean Side

While Noble Experiment is the worst kept secret among San Diego saloons, its sister ship, Polite Provisions, has a number of secrets yet to be discovered.

“Here at Polite Provisions,” says bartender Aaron Zieske, “we’re trying not to go the route of being overdiluted with different techniques and tons of ingredients. We wanted all the ingredients to be expressed in a manner that’s not confusing.”

The Ocean Side is just such a drink, Zieske claims. It’s a variation of a variation of a gimlet and something startling and different based on simple addition and subtraction.

“I think it’s a drink that encapsulates everything I’m looking for in a cocktail,” Zieske says. “It’s refreshing, easy to drink, versatile, and simple to make but with a complete depth of flavor. The simplest cocktails are always the best — and if you can execute them correctly, you’ve really got something.”

According to Zieske, the Ocean Side is bar manager and menu-architect Erick Castro’s gimlet-inspired answer to the Chicago-spawned South Side cocktail. It provides a gamut of flavors that work together, it seems, despite themselves.

“At the front, you’re going to get that citrus and the bright, herbaceous gin flavor,” Zieske says, “and sweetness on the mid-palate. Then it’s going to end with that savory herbaceous aspect from the bitters.”

To a cocktail shaker, add:

• 2 oz. Beefeater London Dry Gin
• ¾ oz. fresh lime juice
• ¾ oz. simple syrup
• 1 pinch kosher salt
• 2 dashes celery bitters
• 1 pinch fresh mint leaves

Shake with vigor (to bruise mint leaves) and fine strain into cocktail glass, garnish with mint leaf.