We tried a cocktail bar’s new Philly-themed menu, from the HitchBOT to the Crum Bum

When Aaron Deary, partner and general manager of R&D cocktail bar in Fishtown, began formulating his “liquid love letter” to Philly in honor of our nation’s 250th anniversary this year, he set out to challenge his bartenders in a new and novel way.

Seems appropriate, given that Philadelphia finds new and novel ways to challenge each of us every day.

Typically the mixologists at R&D receive cocktail projects that are flavor-focused, but for the bar’s latest themed menu, “Ripoff & Duplicate,” Deary asked them to create 13 drinks based on the stories, legends, and places that make Philadelphia Philly — from the murder of a meddling Canadian robot to the city’s long history of choking in big moments.

The concoctions are presented in a 10-page glossy magazine-like menu designed by Deary that features cheeky Philly tidbits, tips, and neighborhood recommendations.

“We obviously had to put some funny things in there, too, because that’s our city and we wanted to show off some of the more ridiculous sides of Philadelphia that we all love,” Deary said.

While the new menu is the first of its kind for the bar, Deary said they plan to do other iterations throughout the year featuring different Philly neighborhoods and events. So while a dumpster pool drink didn’t make the cut this time, there’s still hope yet.

“There were a few of them that came up and ones that I was a wee bit too scared to jump into, but you never know, you might see them in summertime,” Deary said.

Can Philadelphia’s stories be conveyed in a cocktail glass, and, if so, do they taste good? Inquirer food writer Kiki Aranita joined me at R&D last week to find out. We chatted about our experience the next morning. — Stephanie Farr

Kiki Aranita, food and dining reporter

Looking at some of the cocktail descriptions, I won’t lie — I was initially skeptical. There was nutmeg paired with watermelon, cream cheese paired with white chocolate. It takes a sort of mad genius (or 10 of them) to come up with those flavor combinations and have them be good.

I believe the technical term is “wackadoodle.”

Stephanie Farr, Philly culture columnist

Agreed. What I loved was how the drinks were created. Aaron told us they came up with the Philly reference for the drinks first and then created different challenges for the bartenders to invent them. For the HitchBOT, the rule was to create a drink made with ingredients from each of the countries HitchBOT went to before being murdered in Philly. So there’s a gin from Holland, a German herbal liqueur, a Philly orange liqueur, and Canadian maple syrup.

For the Art of the Choke, an ode to all the times Philly’s choked in major moments over the years, the rule was to create a drink using ingredients that spelled out J-A-W-N, so there’s Jamaican rum, artichoke amaro, watermelon, and nutmeg.

The best analogy I can think of is it was like these bartenders were given amazing writing prompts and came up with great liquid stories.

Kiki Aranita

HitchBOT was made blue by blue Curacao. It was the most visually stunning of all the drinks, which showed shocking restraint in terms of garnishes and presentation.

It’s one of the less sweet sours I’ve had and it had Jagermeister in it, which gave it a surprising, herbaceous balance.

Stephanie Farr

I think the Crum Bum was really interesting. It’s listed on a menu page that tells about Philly’s history with pretzels and baseball, but it’s a pretty clear nod to the infamous incident where KYW reporter Stan Bohrman approached a then-retired Frank Rizzo to ask why city police were acting as his private security detail. In turn, Rizzo called him a “Crum Bum.” I love getting to introduce that legendary Philly moment to people who haven’t seen it yet. And as I said, as a reporter, it’s good to be hated by the right people, and Rizzo is definitely someone you want to be hated by.

Also that drink came with a sidecar of pretzels, and it smelled like pretzels and Philly and love. It was a little strong for me though.

Kiki Aranita

We had to ask for seconds of pretzels at this point.

Stephanie Farr

I mean, that is a Philly drink. I want all my cocktails to come with a sidecar of pretzels from now on.

Kiki Aranita

I have to say — a lot of the drinks sounded weird but didn’t taste weird. They were straightforward, balanced, and really lovely.

Stephanie Farr

As you noted, there was a lack of garnishes overall, aside from a few twists. Do you think that was the right call? I don’t know why I was expecting them to come with a Tastykake on the rim or something. That being said, I did not miss the garnishes once I dove into the drinks.

Kiki Aranita

I’m not a native Philadelphian ... and I’ve never had a Tastykake. I’m glad my first one didn’t have to be shoved into a cocktail last night.

No component was ever too much. Longing for Awnings, an ode to South Philly, had lingering spice (but not too much!) from serrano pepper and beautiful body from tomatillo (but also not too much! It didn’t taste like salsa).

I also loved the Kompleta martini, which I found really smart and a great way of using Polish bison-grass vodka (not the easiest to find and rarely seen except in Polish restaurants) with Italian Nonino bitters. It tells the story of major immigrant groups coming to Philly in a really thoughtful way.

We also found that embedded in all the Philly history, there were personal stories, the fingerprints of previous bartenders and bar managers who left their mark on R&D. For instance, Resa Mueller, who used to run the bar there — her citywide is a pet-nat and room-temperature gin. You can go and order that off this Very Philly Menu.

Stephanie Farr

And how about that menu? It’s beautiful and cheeky — part neighborhood guide, part Philly history, part urban legend and also still a menu.

In a small guide to Bella Vista in the menu, for instance, it says to go to Angelo’s but “don’t pee on the street” and it also reads “Magic Gardens, mushrooms,” without any context. I’m pretty sure they don’t sell mushrooms at the Magic Gardens, so I can only assume what they’re talking about here.

Kiki Aranita

They self-deprecatingly describe these cocktails as gimmicky, but they’re really not. They lead with flavor and balance first, and gimmick second.

Reading through the menu (it’s basically a graphic novel) and tasting through the cocktails that were odes to different neighborhoods (though unfortunately not mine), made me feel a lot of Philly pride. You really see how vast our bank of flavors, spices, produce, and dishes is.

And in the hands of nerds, it was so much fun to see what they came up with.

I do have to recommend for our readers, though, that they should not attempt to try all the cocktails solo. Bring a group. There are so many cocktails.

Stephanie Farr

I think the menu also illustrates how vast our stories are but also how we have a shared sense of culture as Philadelphians — moments we all remember and some we can never forget, like when Philadelphians caught babies thrown from the window of an apartment building fire, “unlike Agholor.”