Spirited Pour
Atlanta’s Kimball House crafts a whimsical fall cocktail
By angela hansberger
A stately old oak guards the impeccably landscaped terrace and wraparound patio of a historic railway depot. Inside, large windows pour light onto tufted leather booths, damask wallpaper, bottle-filled shelves to the ceiling reachable by a library ladder, and curio cabinets fitted with childhood relics and vintage barware. Overhead, dangling pendant orbs glimmer as belt-driven ceiling fans whir. Kimball House feels like a cocktail emporium that has always been there, with timeless style and a nod to forward-thinking techniques.
Miles Macquarrie is the backbone of the bar, which, like the restaurant, has a focus on sourcing, sustainability, seasonality, and guest happiness. A kismet seasonal moment of a bushel of north Georgia Mutsu apples and local French sorrel availability sparked Macquarrie’s mind, and the Green Apple Negroni was born—but it took some ingenuity to bring forth.
Macquarrie is fond of the stirred and refreshing category. This take on a white Negroni is “very much like Georgia fall, bright and refreshing but deep and heady,” he says, “because of a bit of bitterness from Cocchi Americano and Suze.”
Using partially crushed ice instead of heat to purée the sorrel maintained its verdant hue. He put gin in the walk-in freezer overnight, puréed it with sorrel, passed it through a fine strainer, and ran it through a centrifuge. The sorrel-infused gin is stirred with a Mutsu apple cordial, Cocchi Americano, and Suze, poured over a large cube, and garnished with a fresh sorrel leaf. Presentation is part of the joy at Kimball House.
Green apple negroni
Ingredients
1.5 oz Sorrel-infused gin*
.75 Cocchi Americano
.75 oz Mutsu apple cordial**
.25 oz Suze
DIRECTIONS
Stir all ingredients with ice until chilled. Strain into rocks glass over a large cube. Garnish with sorrel leaf.
*Sorrel-infused gin
100 grams French sorrel leaves
1 liter London dry gin
Place gin in the freezer for at least 1 hour, as sorrel is very delicate. Pureé the gin and sorrel on high in a Vitamix or high-powered blender for about 1 minute. Pass through a fine strainer. Run through a centrifuge and then pass through a filter.
**Mutsu apple cordial
100 percent clarified Mutsu apple juice
25 percent sugar
10 percent apple eau de vie
2 percent malic acid
Blend all ingredients with a whisk, hand blender, or in a Vitamix.
Photography by Maleny Robinson (bar) and courtesy of Kimball House (drink); this story appears in our Fall 2024 issue.