Bartender’s choice at Noble Experiment/Youngblood

I can’t tell you how to get here, exactly, but I’m inside Neighborhood’s speakeasy, Noble Experiment. And I can’t give you the exact name of the cocktail, but you could call it a tequila sour. Bar manager Eliza Hoar walks me through my first-timer experience, and begins peeling back the multilayered approach of Neighborhood/Noble Experiment/Youngblood. “Noble Experiment is a round-by-round dealer’s choice situation,” she explains. “Then this past year, we opened up Youngblood, which is a three-course cocktail experience. A lot of what we do here is based on established cocktails. In Youngblood, it’s total cowboy ‘Do whatever you want’ for the bartender’s side.”

Hence the nameless cocktail she’s about to whip up. “We don’t even have a menu; this is really bartender’s choice. This is like a deep dive of getting to know you, what you like to drink — and then we create.” Eliza typically starts by asking guests a series of questions: “‘Do you want something direct? Do you want something refreshing? What are you feeling tonight?’ That’s how this whole thing starts…” This personal touch is part of what she loves about bartending at the speakeasy. “We get to teach people about things they may not have known about. And test the flavor profile boundaries of what they’ve maybe tried, and maybe haven’t.”

Eliza lets the foam top settle on a beautiful coral-colored drink, which she describes as a riff on a traditional sour that uses tequila. “I really wanted to create something that has the tequila base but also that’s fruity, light, just really fun and kind of brings summer vibes. But just crushable, as well.”

Specifically, the cocktail is made with “Don Fulano Reposado, Lo-Fi Gentian — which is a hibiscus-ginger Amaro that’s made up in Napa — then lemon juice and simple syrup. Oh, and there’s also muddled strawberries in there,” she adds. The choice of tequila: she considers Don Fulano to be a “good-tasting, solid brand that’s middle of the range. It’s more vegetal; it has that caramel note to it but it’s not overpowering. It’s smooth but it also has a bit of a kick, just on the back end.”

According to Eliza, you’ll enjoy this cocktail if you answer “yes” to wanting “something a little sweeter, lighter, and just a little adventurous — that’s what this is.”

• Noble Experiment/Youngblood’s
• “Tequila Sour”
• 1 oz. Don Fulano reposado tequila
• .5 oz. Lo-Fi Gentian Amaro
• .5 oz. Giffard Abricot du Roussillon
• .75 oz. simple syrup
• 1 strawberry, muddled
• 1 egg white

• Combine ingredients in a shaker and dry shake. Add ice and shake again. Then strain into a sour glass. Garnish with an edible pansy flower.