The Ginger Snap at Rasika.

Drink of the Week: The Ginger Snap
Where: Rasika

A few weeks ago, the Post profiled some of the hot new mixologists in town. But that article was missing one person who should be on any list of promising cocktail-makers, Jason Strich of Rasika.

Strich, a former event promoter and flare bartender, certainly knows how to put on a show. His cocktails verge on the culinary with numerous syrups and infusions, as well as inventive garnishes. Some of his inventions border on “molecular gastronomy,” but rather than trying to capitalize on fashion, these elements function as a way to play with flavor, texture and temperature.

The Ginger Snap is a great combination of these elements. Featuring a base of rye whiskey, Domaine de Canton and Guinness scorched ginger and molasses syrup, the drink is topped with a heated, sweet, spice-infused foam made with xanthan gum and garnished with a thin toffee-like shard of ginger snap. The foam provides the ginger snap-like fragrance as you bring the drink to your mouth. There’s something pleasing about how, at first hit, the foam warms your mouth before getting to the cool rye, and how the two elements combine to create a liquid ginger snap. And as you make your way through the drink, it has an even balance of bitter and sweet, rather than becoming increasingly cloying as you might expect.

By the way, don’t forget that December 5th is the 77th anniversary of Repeal Day — so drink up, and party like its 1933! Cheers!