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Johnny's Fire & Berry Old Fashioned

Johnny’s Fire & Berry Old Fashioned
Johnny’s Fire & Berry Old Fashioned
Place

Tractor Room

3687 Fifth Avenue, San Diego

According to bartender Faith Taylor, the Tractor Room offers high-quality cocktails with a low-altitude attitude.

“It’s kind of like Manhattan meets Montana,” she says.

But if the restaurant tries not to take itself too seriously, words apparently aren’t enough to express how serious it is about tractors.

Faith Taylor

“We have tractor photographs and tractor paintings with all different brands of tractors represented,” she says. “The signage here is small, but you know the place is the Tractor Room because there’s a huge antique tractor sitting out front.”

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As for the fierce contentions of the tractor wars — John Deere vs. International Harvester vs. Farmall vs. Case vs. Oliver vs. Ford vs. Allis-Chalmers vs. Massey-Ferguson vs… — Taylor declares ambivalence.

“Well, let’s just say I’m an equal-opportunity tractor advocate,” she says with a laugh.

And it’s not just tractors pulling in the crowds, Taylor says — as the Tractor Room’s cocktail menu also demonstrates some considerable torque of its own. For instance, reliable as a three-point hitch on an old Ford-Ferguson, Johnny’s Fire & Berry Old Fashioned is nothing but sweet burn in a glass.

Created by Tractor Room co-owner Johnny Rivera, the tractor-red cocktail’s “Berry” comes from the mulled raspberries, Taylor explains, while caramelized cara cara oranges and Buffalo Trace bourbon lend the drink its “fire.”

“You’re definitely going to taste the bourbon, which is very direct,” Taylor says of the Fire & Berry’s point of ignition, and the torched cara caras and raspberries “add a viscosity” that is both pleasant and surprising.

“By themselves, cara caras are sweet, juicy, and bright,” Taylor says. “But once they’re caramelized, they offer a rich variation by releasing natural oils when you add heat to the peel and pulp.”

How to make it

In an Old Fashioned glass, muddle:

  • • 4 quarters of a cara cara orange dusted with fine sugar and caramelized*
  • • 4 fresh raspberries
  • • 1 sugar cube
  • • 3 dashes Boker’s Bitters

Fill glass with ice and add:

2 oz. Buffalo Trace bourbon

Top off with soda water and garnish with a pair of raspberries and a cara cara orange slice.

*propane or brûlée torch required

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Johnny’s Fire & Berry Old Fashioned
Johnny’s Fire & Berry Old Fashioned
Place

Tractor Room

3687 Fifth Avenue, San Diego

According to bartender Faith Taylor, the Tractor Room offers high-quality cocktails with a low-altitude attitude.

“It’s kind of like Manhattan meets Montana,” she says.

But if the restaurant tries not to take itself too seriously, words apparently aren’t enough to express how serious it is about tractors.

Faith Taylor

“We have tractor photographs and tractor paintings with all different brands of tractors represented,” she says. “The signage here is small, but you know the place is the Tractor Room because there’s a huge antique tractor sitting out front.”

Sponsored
Sponsored

As for the fierce contentions of the tractor wars — John Deere vs. International Harvester vs. Farmall vs. Case vs. Oliver vs. Ford vs. Allis-Chalmers vs. Massey-Ferguson vs… — Taylor declares ambivalence.

“Well, let’s just say I’m an equal-opportunity tractor advocate,” she says with a laugh.

And it’s not just tractors pulling in the crowds, Taylor says — as the Tractor Room’s cocktail menu also demonstrates some considerable torque of its own. For instance, reliable as a three-point hitch on an old Ford-Ferguson, Johnny’s Fire & Berry Old Fashioned is nothing but sweet burn in a glass.

Created by Tractor Room co-owner Johnny Rivera, the tractor-red cocktail’s “Berry” comes from the mulled raspberries, Taylor explains, while caramelized cara cara oranges and Buffalo Trace bourbon lend the drink its “fire.”

“You’re definitely going to taste the bourbon, which is very direct,” Taylor says of the Fire & Berry’s point of ignition, and the torched cara caras and raspberries “add a viscosity” that is both pleasant and surprising.

“By themselves, cara caras are sweet, juicy, and bright,” Taylor says. “But once they’re caramelized, they offer a rich variation by releasing natural oils when you add heat to the peel and pulp.”

How to make it

In an Old Fashioned glass, muddle:

  • • 4 quarters of a cara cara orange dusted with fine sugar and caramelized*
  • • 4 fresh raspberries
  • • 1 sugar cube
  • • 3 dashes Boker’s Bitters

Fill glass with ice and add:

2 oz. Buffalo Trace bourbon

Top off with soda water and garnish with a pair of raspberries and a cara cara orange slice.

*propane or brûlée torch required

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4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
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