Chilled Drink of the Week: Moonrise

By Chilled Magazine

All Natural Mixmasters with Bärenjäger Honey Liqueur.

My cocktail was inspired by Baltimore’s Moonrise Festival, an annual electronic dance music event coming up this year on August 12th and 13th, 2017. As we’ll be in the throes of a sizzling summer by then, this is a super refreshing cooler that I’ve perfected for the menu of The Elk Room, a new cocktail bar opening in Baltimore by The Atlas Group.

I love using fresh herbs in my drinks because I believe that you need to experience a scent while sipping a cocktail and Bärenjäger Honey Liqueur fits very well with the basil.

moonrise cocktail by rael petit

Moonrise

Photo by Rael Petit

Moonrise

By Rael Petit

Ingredients:

  • 1 oz. Bärenjäger Honey Liqueur
  • 1 oz. Tequila
  • 1/4 oz. Honey Infused Basil Syrup*
  • 3/4 oz. Lemon Juice
  • Malbec Wine
  • Edible Flower & Fresh Basil Leaf (for Garnish)

Preparation: Whip all ingredients and pour into a Collins glass with crushed ice. Add a float of Malbec Wine. Garnish with an edible flower and fresh basil leaf.

*Honey Infused Basil Syrup

Combine equal parts water and honey in a pot. Add 1 handful of clean, fresh basil and cook on high for 6 minutes. Let sit for 20 minutes to cool down, then strain.


Meet Rael Petit

CHILLED 100 Member, New York

Acclaimed mixologist Rael Petit came to New York City in 2003 from Switzerland for what was supposed to be a summer vacation. On his first day in the city he visited The Coffee Shop, the hipster café on Union Square where, after reminiscing with owner Caroline Benitez, he was offered a job and proceeded to learn every aspect of the restaurant business. It was his first job in the hospitality industry, and he immediately fell in love with it. Over the course of the next two years, he worked his way up from a bar back to bartender, waiter to maître d’.

In 2005, Petit was brought onboard as Bar Manager at both L’Orange Bleue and Brasserie Les Halles with Anthony Bourdain. At 22, he took a leap of faith and opened his first business, The Potato Cafe in Williamsburg. A couple years later, Petit was offered a bartending position at The Standard Hotel, where he met Jeremy Strawn who would become his business partner.

Rael Petit - CHILLED 100 Ambassador, New York

Rael Petit – CHILLED 100 Ambassador, New York

Photo by Lily Wokin

In 2010 Rael Petit created a cocktail and bar consulting company called Rebel Disco, creating drink menus for multiple bars in Manhattan and Brooklyn, including Trump Soho, MPD, STASH, Blackhound and Sub Mercer, lot 45, and the Gansevoort Hotel to name a few.

Three years ago, Petit and Strawn joined forces with Nick Boccio and opened Mulberry Project together, which he co-owns and manages. In 2013, Petit added to his enterprises when he opened the art gallery ROX on the Lower East Side.

When Petit is not serving up some of the nation’s finest cocktails, or running day-to-day operations at his multiple venues, he can be found running marathons and triathlons with no sign of slowing down!

Check out Rael’s article in the Village Voice HERE.

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