Black Tail

Battery park is ''must see'' in New York and The Black Tail is ''must be'' in New York. Luckily for You, they are both at the same place. The Black Tail is a little brother of the The Dead Rabbit cocktail bar, however it is much more than just another bar of the same company. This bar situateted to prohibitional era of Cuba is the one, that You should keep an eye on. Without any doubts it will be on the spotlight soon or later...

You can find this bar right next to the Battery park, in the Pier A. Harbor House. When I arrived there, I was greeted by the ''receptionist'' of the bar at the door, who wanted to see my ID if I was over 21 years old. That's how You can by my endless amount of favor. Nah just kidding. After I proved, that I am a responsible adult I stepped in and went on the stairs to the second floor, where the actual bar is located. Only the way up made me feel special. The stairwell itself is a beatiful piece of desing and it reminded me some of those old american movies. Then on top I turned to the right and felt the Black Tail bar.

Yes I am talking about feeling the bar. Because You get to see the bar and hear the music and You immediatelly feel different. The atmosphere of this place devours You immediately. As I was walking towards to the main bar, I've noticed the huge amounts of details all around me. Vast majority of the interior is made with dark polished wood, there is a piano standing on your right, authentic pictures taken from Cuba and Havana city on the walls everywehre, flowers and furniture, massive selection of rum and cigars, very stylish clothing of the staff and the music of course - Jazz. No, it's not the slow jazz, that everyone is imagining when You say jazz. It's the cuban jazzy/funky - rather quick but not too fast music that makes You happy and gives You energy. All of it together makes You forget the reality and transfers You into another dimension and time. The contiouns design of the entire place together with these details make You feel the good vibe, the warmth of this place and the electrifying atmosphere...

Then You sit on the bar and You will get a menu. At this point it is not even necessary to mention, that it's matching the style of the bar, but it is important to say, that it's even situated to the same era. Usually You can find the cocktails sorted by the base, wether they are made from Rum, Gin, Tequila etc.. Here You have them sorted by category: Highball / Old fasioned / Punch / Sour / Cocktails...
And here from the first impression of this bar You know already, that Daiquiri will be excellent and this might be also the best place on the planet, to order El Presidente.

After a short talk with bartender Alan from Ireland who was serving me that night, El Presidente was even my choice. Now, as much as this bar is replicating the authenticity of a cuban bar, the recipies are very modern. We live in 21st century and closing ourselves into strict following of the classics would take away the creativity and therefore even the possibility of finding new combinations of  new and modern ways of how to make these classics. That's why, there is ancho chilli and mezcal in El Presidente cocktail or champagne and amaro and bitters in Rum and Cola...

My El Presidente? Absolutely phenomenal. Another cocktail, which makes You wonder. When You take a sip it makes You wonder how smooth it is and how well-ballanced the taste is. Then it makes You wonder how well crafted the actual recipe is and how did they even manage to find the right composition of the ingredients to make this work.

And I am not even talking about the way, Alan was working. His use of two jiggers at the same time in one hand was one of the best working flair I have ever seen. Yes, it actually is a flair. He had big jigger and a small jigger in between the fingers of the same hand at the same time, and as he needed different sizes through out of his work on the cocktails, he was rotating those jiggers between the fingers in and out of the use. His pouring was perfect, precise and quick. Then quick proper hard shake and double strain with finishing cut high above the glass to catch the rests of the liquid back to the shaker. Perfect patern and fantastic rythm. All over again and again. And the work with jiggers... It doesn't matter how many times you will see it. It is still fascinating me.

Another great point of this bar is the service. Yes, I know that it is a part of The Dead Rabbit cocktail bar which claims that their hospitality is the amazing. Well, 1st of all the hospitality and service are by my opinion 2 different things. Then In Dead Rabbit I didn't feel any of it. Maybe it depends who will be serving You in there, as many bartenders are rotating back and forth between The Dead Rabbit and the Black Tail. However, If You have the best cocktail bar in the plannet, this should be no excuse, You should make sure, that everybody is perfect. And then I don't like, when bars are saying that they have great hospitality. It is not up to them to judge themselvesin this case. Every single person working in customer service industry should be capable of ''great hospitality,'' and only guests should be allowed to judge, if those people have it or not.

In any case, it is the Black Tail, which has both of these things sorted out. For the service I have two examples. All bartenders were busy by preparing drinks for people sitting on the bar. Then another order from a waitress from some table comes in. All bartenders are still working for the guests sitting on the bar but in meanwhile they absorb the order for the table, distribute those drinks between them and they are finished with everything more/less at the same time, so nobody waits for long. Nobody waits thanks to the team coordination, the communication and cooperation. And in meanwhile You can have a chat with any of the bartenders. It is around 3 months and i still remember the laugh of Jesse, the head bartender of the Black Tail. The bar, which should have (and trust me - it will have) way more attention, than it has now.

Last comparison and word about these two bars. The Black Tail is still, somewhat in the shadow of it's bigger brother The Dead Rabbit, but that's almost over already and it was a necessary ''tax'' for the background which was provided by The Dead Rabbit. Who knows, maybe without it, The Black Tail would not even exist. But thank god it exists. Super stylish Black Tail now stands for me much higher, than the best bar in the world.