The Bar
Midnight Cowboy. 313 E 6th St, Austin, TX 78701
Visited 2/24/17 @ 11:30pm.
The Drink
Mesmer. Gin, crème de cassis, Cappelletti aperitivo, sparkling rosé, lemon. $12.
A beautiful choice by our server. I didn't even hint to him about my love for gin, but he must have seen into my soul regardless, and known that I needed to get that gin in my system. This drink was really well-balanced despite being extremely strong - the blackcurrant taste of the crème de cassis (familiar to fans of murder mysteries) played off the mild herbal bitterness of the Cappelletti, with the rosé and lemon giving it a bit of sparkle and citrus. Some people sneer at craft cocktails, either due to the high price tags or out of simple confusion over what exactly they have over a good old G&T, but this is an excellent example of what you get for your money: a strong gin drink with a nice supporting cast of flavors that you can sip and enjoy. It even looks nice. And as luck would have it I got to finish off my sister's as well, so it was twice as nice in the end.
The Crew
Travis, Aaron, Kathryn, Nick.
Notes
Midnight Cowboy is a speakeasy, that much-maligned modern-day revival of the classic refuge for beleaguered drinkers in the Twenties. I'm of two minds about the hipster-ization of everyday activities like having a drink. On the one hand, there's absolutely no reason why you should have to jump through hoops to go to a bar, because even the smug sense of superiority you get by figuring out how to patronize a bar that's exclusive for the sake of being exclusive is fairly minimal. Having to get a reservation is a hassle (we had to visit this bar hours after I called, at the very end of our night), and the thrill of getting into a not-so-secret club isn't even all that thrilling.
On the other hand, the results speak for themselves. Midnight Cowboy is owned by the Alamo Drafthouse, and their trademark attention to detail is everywhere; even the chairs hail from the Ritz location down the street. They used to be a massage parlor, if you know what I mean, and an atmosphere of disrepute still lingers, aided by the old-school brickwork and tiling, which conjure up memories of happy endings from older times. Even the keypad at the entrance nods to the history of craft cocktails, as the names on the buzzer are all legendary bartenders like Harry Craddock, who wrote The Savoy Cocktail Book. Read the excellent cocktail history A Proper Drink for more.
So for your money, you get phenomenal cocktails, a great atmosphere, and some history. Sometimes hipsters know what they're doing.
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