#150: TenTen

The Bar

TenTen. 506 W 6th St, Austin, TX 78701

Visited 1/31/20 @ 9:30pm.

The Drink

Yuzu picante. Tequila reposado, sake, yuzu, grilled pineapple, serrano. $13.

Now this is a great craft cocktail, named after its star ingredient. The citrus family never ceases to impress with its diversity. The yuzu is a Chinese (by way of Japan) variety of citrus that brings a much more noticeably tart and floral scent to a drink than the more familiar citrus varieties like lemon/lime/orange/etc, although there are enough ingredients that it doesn't overwhelm everything else (you can't really see the dried yuzu slice in the picture but it's there). I foolishly did not ask for the exact brand of tequila that they used, but according to this guide on how to replicate the drink that I found, they infused the tequila with pineapple as well as having additional pineapple flavoring, so it would make sense to just use any reposado ("mildly aged") tequila as a base. You probably wouldn't normally expect a tequila drink to be Japanese-themed, but in a world where Beam Suntory moves over a hundred thousand cases of tequila a year, anything's possible. This is TenTen's most famous cocktail and it deserves its renown.

On another note, that drink guide also describes the serrano as being included in the form of a "tincture", a word I always associated with Final Fantasy 6, but to my surprise is actually the correct word to use in this instance:

A tincture is typically an extract of plant or animal material dissolved in ethanol (ethyl alcohol). Solvent concentrations of 25–60% are common, but may run as high as 90%.

Yet another educational trip to the bar!

The Crew

Sonali, Karen, Kathryn, Aaron, Neil, Ryan.

Notes

After the first phase of birthday celebrations at Buford's, we significantly classed it up by moving to TenTen, a modern sushi restaurant that's a much more high-end joint all around. Traditionally there has been a big divergence in the marketing of Japanese cuisine as high-end compared to the lower-end presentation of other Asian cuisines, but the interior of this place was just fantastic, even in the gloom of nighttime cocktails. Since we had just gorged ourselves on pizza we didn't eat, but I can attest that the food looked top notch; evidently the guy who developed the menu has also been doing the same for some other nicer newer places. I can say that even though all we did was stand at the bar and order rounds, the atmosphere was never less than inviting. After enjoying ourselves immensely here, it was almost with regret that we retired to Garage Bar, which is sadly not on Sixth Street so I can't review it here, for copious servings of Austin's official cocktail.

#149: Buford's Beer Garden

The Bar

Buford's Beer Garden. 700 W 6th St, Austin, TX 78701

Visited 1/31/20 @ 7pm.

The Drink

Claw eraser. Vodka, kahlua, White Claw. $9.

White Claw is definitely Having a Moment right now, so I wasn't surprised to run into this hard seltzer-filled take on a Mind Eraser, which is basically a carbonated Black Russian. Did you know that the White Russian is a variant on the Black Russian and not the other way around? Despite having seen The Big Lebowski seemingly dozens of times (or maybe because of that fact), I didn't until I just looked it up. The carbonation that the White Claw provided reminded me of the Coke in the Colorado Bulldog I was served at Trophy Club, but it was hard to taste any difference between the White Claw and say, club soda. Kahlua is a fairly overpowering although undeniably delicious ingredient, so perhaps White Claw would shine best (if it can be said to shine at all) by simply swapping it in for tonics and sodas in simpler cocktails. In any case, this was a fine drink, a great way to start the night.

The Crew

Aaron, Kathryn, Neil, Ryan (not pictured), Karen (not pictured), Sonali (not pictured), Travis (not pictured), Cristy (not pictured), Louis (not pictured).

Notes

Buford's Beer Garden replaced the ill-targeted Steampunk Saloon, which never quite caught on. Partially that was due to the bar getting relentlessly mocked by the populace due to steampunk as a concept being many years past its prime and firmly in the "ironic nostalgia" downward phase of popularity, and partially that was due to the bar just not being anything really noteworthy on a crowded stretch of Sixth.

Now that it has new life, though, I like its updated incarnation more. I wouldn't immediately associate it with the phrase "beer garden" in spite of its large patio, since the admittedly large and almost cavernous enclosed exterior isn't open-air enough, but it has plenty of room to sit and watch sports like Mavs @ Rockets like we were doing while we waited for everyone else to show up for some birthday shots (in a weird coincidence, I was visiting Buford's on my birthday in 2020, and I had visited Steampunk Saloon on my birthday in 2017). There's a ton of room to hold crowds but it doesn't feel like the bar's just cramming 'em in. best of all, its secret weapon is a Via 313 trailer in the back - few post-shots drunk foods can compete with some deep-dish pizza.