Mixology Report: Seven Grand’s Big Mak
Deborah Schoeneman
April 04, 2008
On a recent Friday night, I headed to downtown LA bar Seven Grand with some friends in the know who swore by the cocktails. I was surprised to see a velvet rope and line outside—it was almost enough to make me turn around and go home. I’m of the strong opinion that patience is a virtue best untested when it comes to nightlife. My cohorts convinced me stick around, and after about five minutes (what was the point?), we were granted access. It was worth it after all. Seven Grand’s exceptional cocktails fit right in with the bar’s gentlemanly hunting club theme: strong, classic, distinct. There’s nothing girly about the combos of fresh fruit, top-tier liquor, and expert mixology. It doesn’t come cheap, though. The cocktail menu includes $10 juleps plus a $15 deposit required for the silver cup, crustas, punches, fizzes, and sours.
Sammy Ross from New York’s Little Branch and Milk & Honey bars—which seem to be emerging as a kind of Montessori school for the country’s best mixologists—created the Big Mak, a mix of blackberries and bourbon that manages to be both sweet and sour, girly and manly. I can’t think of a season or occasion where this drink wouldn’t be appropriate, even perfect. It seems like the right idea at a bar downtown, but could also work at say, at a polo match in the Hamptons or apres ski in Aspen. “He let me borrow and simplify the recipe,” said bartender Damian Windsor. You’ll need a drink to deal with the potential line outside the door, particularly on the weekends.
Seven Grand’s Big Mak
• 4 blackberries
• 2 oz Makers Mark
• 1 oz Cranberry Juice
• 0.75 oz. fresh lemon juice
• 0.75 oz. simple syrup
Muddle blackberries at the bottom of a mixing glass. Add rest of ingredients, shake and strain over ice into an old-fashioned glass. Garnish with blackberries on a pick. $12.
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