Properly Sauced: BOKA's Scorched Earth
By Roger Kamholz in Food on Dec 2, 2010 4:20PM
Poll local barkeeps and you're likely to find widespread support for Chicago's ban on smoking in their establishments (which turns 3 in less than a month, by the way). And yet ironically, amongst their ranks are the ban's most brazen scofflaws. You see, they've uncovered its ultimate loophole, finding increasingly clever ways to sneak smoke into our drinks.
Graham Elliot's Smoke Monster, available during the heyday of Lost, immediately comes to mind. It paired Knob Creek with lapsang souchong, a smoked black tea. But perhaps the most ingenious smuggling job to date is the new Scorched Earth cocktail at BOKA. This dusty, enigmatic newcomer to the drink menu - courtesy of head bartender Benjamin Schiller - earns its name from the inclusion of Del Maguey mezcal and a lone, oversized piece of smoked ice. Mellow sweetness, citrus and earthy smoke all hang in a delicate, ever-changing balance.
Schiller has toyed with the idea of smoking cocktail ingredients since his days at In Fine Spirits. At BOKA earlier this year, he used a pro kitchen tool called The Smoking Gun to smoke Evan Williams bourbon for a drink dubbed the Smoking Jacket. With the Scorched Earth, his idea was to create a cocktail that started out bright like tequila and, after some thawing, ended smoky like mezcal. Developing it took about two months, he says, with much of the trial and error directed at creating the perfect smoked ice.
The ice recipe Schiller settled on calls for The Smoking Gun, smoke powder, and charred oak chips made from the staves of Buffalo Trace bourbon casks. Yeah. So, does the home bartender have any hope of re-creating BOKA's smoked ice? Schiller says yes, but it won't be cheap. (Buy oak chips online; char in a cast-iron skillet; buy $100 Smoking Gun online; etc., etc.) In other words, this may be one best left to the pros.
The burnt-orange color and shifty flavors can be mesmerizing; judging by our napkin scribbles - "A meditation on the promise of climate science!" - it got us waxing philosophic. Warning: it might also be addictive.
Scorched Earth
1 1/2 ounce Olmeca Altos Tequila
1/2 ounce Del Maguey Chichicapa Mezcal
1/4 ounce Maria a la Monte Amaro
3/4 ounce Lime Juice
1/2 ounce Agave nectar
Combine all ingredients, shake with ice, strain into a double rocks glass with one piece of smoked ice. Finish with dashes of Peychaud's bitters and garnish with orange peel (optional).
BOKA is located at 1729 North Halsted Street.