#123: Hen House

The Bar

Hen House. 1012 E 6th St, Austin, TX 78702

Visited 11/3/18  @ 12am.

The Drink

Sophia. Vodka, elderflower liqueur, champagne, grapefruit juice. $11.

The drink is flanked by the intensely and impressively inked fingers of the bartender, who also happens to be the owner. As you might expect, this VIP attention meant it was excellent. Vodka cocktails are a nice break from Old-Fashioneds, and I have always thought that champagne gives drinks a nice touch. What was most distinctive about this drink was the elderflower liqueur (possibly St. Germain, the heavy hitter of that category, but I didn't ask). Elderflower is a rarer ingredient; one of those floral derivatives that brightens up anything it's added to. I hadn't thought of this comparison, but I read a comparison of elderflower to lychee and I think it makes total sense to consider elderflower an Alpine relative of that flavor. Combine that with the grapefruit, and this cocktail was superb, although it was served in my least favorite of all possible cocktail glass form factors. What kind of moron designs a glass that spills when you try to cheers someone else? I love cheersing! My enduring grudge against the martini glass, the worst of all glasses, continues unabated. All of the cocktails have girl's names, and they all looked great.

The Crew

Aaron, Karen.

Notes

Hen House is one of those interesting success stories on Sixth Street that I love to see: Gabrielle, the owner (and crafter of my cocktail), worked at Rhino Room, the previous bar in this location, and eventually decided to buy it out to start her own place. It's great to see someone be able to follow their passion and open up their own bar; the transition from working at a bar to running one is hard, and it's nice to see that there's still a constant stream of new faces bringing their own ideas to Sixth. Hen House keeps what I liked about Rhino Room - the wood interior, the sense of intimacy - and simplifies it a bit by removing some of the knickknacks and adding some fun flair like ceiling lights. It's cozier than the old layout was, somehow, yet you still feel like you could sit here peaceably drinking quality cocktails for a while. I'm also glad that the tree-lined upstairs patio remained intact; we went upstairs to relax with our drinks and enjoy a bit of quiet. I don't know if the "hen house" name refers to anything in particular beyond being a place that shouldn't be guarded by a fox, but the chick who owns it did a good job.