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Zero Proof Sunshine
Written By: Luke Osteen | Issue: 2021/10 – October
If you’re looking to push Fall back and hang on to the tastes of Summer for one more sip, visit Four65 at 465 Main Street and treat yourself to a Four65 Absolute Summer (without the Absolut). You can taste the sunshine and the subtle blending of tartness and strawberry sweetness.
Although we’ve been covering the Plateau’s restaurant scene for our 19 years of existence, with occasional surveys of the boîtes serving booze, there’s one glaring omission that I’m embarrassed to say never occurred to me until this very moment.
I’m the guy who hands out assignments for everything that’s featured on these pages. I’m the anonymous fellow who shows up at these places and partakes of their offerings.
And I’m the writer who relies upon his friends to sample the brews and pours and surprising libations.
You see, I’m a tee-totaler and have never developed a sophisticated palate for the stuff, be it the local craft beers that’ve sprung up like dandelions in a June meadow, or the storied labels of Ristorante Paoletti, or the carefully-calibrated concoctions served up nightly at 4118.
And that’s despite the wise wine tastings offered by the patient Carolyn McCall of Horse Cove, or the generous counsel of Chad Boswell at The Orchard in Cashiers.
They tried, but ultimately it was like reading John Keats to a water buffalo.
Finally, finally, it hit me – why not spotlight those mocktails that have been served up to sober folks like me for decades?
There’s a vast field of sweet and bitter and endlessly surprising drinks out there, begging to be sampled and savored.
So we’ve started this experiment with a visit to the bustling Four65 on Highlands’ Main Street.
First of all, let me acknowledge the poise demonstrated by our server who, without a trace of condescension, steered me away from ordering the Four65 Old Fashion. It would, she explained, be a cocktail glass filled with an undrinkable slurry of Orange Bitters and Chocolate Bitters, delivered with a couple spoonfuls of syrup.
I ended up with the Four65’s Absolute Summer (Without
the Absolut).
Well, it turns out that it’s a relentlessly cheerful postcard from a summer memory. A fun blend of Strawberry Juice, Iced Tea, Lemonade and Fresh Strawberry Purée.
I savored it like my table companions, who were stoked by ginned up drinks that couldn’t have been any more sweetly fulfilling.
It all means that if you’re like me, you can venture beyond the safe waters of club soda or Coke to enjoy the concoctions devised by a clever bar (and served up by an understanding waitress).
Four65 Absolute Summer (without the Absolut)
Combine three ounces of Lemonade, three ounces of Unsweetened Tea, and one ounce of Strawberry Purée. Shake, strain, and garnish with a Strawberry.
by Luke Osteen
