Connecticut’s Best New Cocktail Bar: The Port of Call

No matter how wonderful a cocktail tastes, it’s always improved by a good story. A frigid martini is better when paired with a Hemingway quote: “I had never tasted anything so cool and clean: it made me feel civilized.” A Ramos Gin Fizz feels more decadent when you learn its iconic foam used to be achieved through an assembly line of “shaker boys.” Hearing that eggnog provoked a riot at West Point gives it extra punch. And it’s the setting and storytelling that sets Connecticut’s best new cocktail bar apart. The Port of Call (recently named one of Esquire‘s best bars in America) understands the importance not just of what you’re drinking but also the context in which you drink it: the intentional menu, bar design, and overall concept makes the great drinks shine more brightly.

Harkening Back to the Region’s Past

The Port of Call is a collaboration between 85^th Day Food Community and Real McCoy Rum. It opened in March, 2022 to join the ranks of other excellent bars in Mystic, CT. Mystic was originally a shipbuilding town, and the Port of Call takes inspiration from this aspect of the town’s nautical history. Like the ships built in Mystic, the bar has the power to transport you to exotic ports of call around the world (giving it a bit of a Charles H. Baker vibe). Each drink on the menu is associated with a port of call (Seattle, Habana, and Marseilles for example) and each employs flavors evocative of the region.

The Port of Call nods to Mystic’s shipbuilding past in another way too: the bar itself was constructed from the hull of an old whaling ship previously housed in the Mystic Seaport Museum. This whaling ship traversed the world’s oceans for 180 years covering more than a million miles in its day. It may be the closest I’ll ever get to drinking on a ship without throwing up.

The Cocktails

Jade Ayala (who came from the neighboring Oyster Club) and Sebastian Guerrero (of Dante) developed the cocktail menu. It’s characterized by thoughtful infusions, distinctive textures, and fine-tuned ingredients made exclusively for the bar. Some of these ingredients are crafted in the Real McCoy Lab: an experimental facility nearby in Stonington that allows the bar to customize specific ingredients for the program.

Here are a few of our favorites.

La Jardinerx

Port of Call: MANZANILLO

The La Jardinerx is a culinary cocktail that combines tangy, spicy, and vegetal elements. Its star is Guerrero’s Greenhouse Cordial (almond, mint, jalapeño, thai green chili, lime, and agave: pictured below). Guerrero was inspired to make the cordial after working a shift where he grew tired of muddling peppers for spicy margaritas. He looked in his fridge, found this this assortment of ingredients, threw them together, and immediately saw potential for this nuanced spicy mix. It’s delicious.

Curry Barbados

Port of Call: BRIDGETOWN

This Barbados-themed cocktail is an intriguing spin on a Dark n’ Stormy. It combines Real McCoy 3 Year not just with ginger and lime, but also with curry, bitter chocolate, and fennel bitters.

Organic Woodland Matter

Port of Call: SEATTLE

This elegant manhattan riff leans savory rather than sweet thanks to the addition of house-made umami bitters and shitake mushroom.

Kind and Generous

Port of Call: BOSTON via TOKYO

Deceptively bitter and bracing for a cocktail that looks so soft and pink, the Kind and Generous drinks like a slightly milky twist on a negroni.

Thank you for having us, Port of Call!