{"id":21670,"date":"2020-11-29T08:34:20","date_gmt":"2020-11-29T16:34:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/hi-lo\/?p=30000017012"},"modified":"2020-11-29T08:55:42","modified_gmt":"2020-11-29T16:55:42","slug":"pour-excuse-for-a-holiday-taking-flight-with-the-hawks-liquid-thanksgiving","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/hi-lo\/pour-excuse-for-a-holiday-taking-flight-with-the-hawks-liquid-thanksgiving","title":{"rendered":"Pour excuse for a holiday: Taking flight with The Hawk’s ‘Liquid Thanksgiving’"},"content":{"rendered":"

There\u2019s a story that Kyle Flavin<\/a>, proprietor and alchemist of alcohol at The Hawk, the watering hole on the northern edge of downtown Long Beach, keeps a bottle of Jeppson\u2019s Malort prominently displayed behind the bar.<\/p>\n

A Chicago export, Malort is a Swedish-style bitter spiced liquor made from wormwood, and yes, it\u2019s as evil as it sounds. The name literally translates as “moth herb,” the Swedish name for wormwood. Other ingredients? Perhaps the bittering agent in cans of compressed air to prevent kids from huffing.<\/p>\n

That a bottle of Malort lurks in the dark corners of The Hawk and the darker corners of Flavin\u2019s imagination, should hint at what he concocted for a Thanksgiving holiday cocktail program. Soon after the pandemic forced the closure of bars and breweries around the city, Flavin and his team shifted to offering jugs and jars of take-out cocktails, with the crescendo arriving this week: a tasting flight of nine holiday-themed offering<\/a>s dubbed “Liquid Thanksgiving.”<\/p>\n

\"TheHawkKyle\"
The Hawk’s Kyle Flavin.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

With “Green Bean Casserole” and “Smoked Turkey Dinner Slushee” on the menu, how could this opportunity be passed up? Being a non-traditionalist media organization, we purchased the entire flight, pulled up to The Hawk\u2019s drive-thru takeout line and were handed two bags of non-traditionalist cocktails and garnishes.<\/p>\n

The whole flight is somewhere north of one fluid gallon of green, orange and brown mash-ups\u2014sometimes literally\u2014with garnishes. In all, it works out to something like 37 cocktails total, averaging a little over $4 apiece\u2014a great deal.<\/p>\n

Quick! To the tasting lab!<\/p>\n

Everything is unpacked and arranged with ice on standby. The Hawk team did a great job. Things are clearly-labeled and thoughtfully-organized. Time to pour.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Long Beach Post product and technology director Dennis Dean puts the finishing touches on a liquid thanksgiving dinner from The Hawk bar.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

First up, \u201cCranberry Sauce.\u201d Gin, cranberries, lemon, two bottles of prosecco for a top-off. Festive garnish. Delightful! Bright, refreshing, a great introduction.<\/p>\n

Next, it\u2019s \u201cBaked Carrots,\u201d a presidential-hued tipple of vodka, fresh carrot juice, cinnamon, ginger and lemon. Our tasting notes indicate this one is excellent, cinnamon-forward, heavy on the autumnal spices. Delicious. And healthy too, right? My vegan drinking partner on this journey remarks the world doesn\u2019t have enough carrot-based cocktails. I agree. It\u2019s good for you and pretty too.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Baked Carrots cocktail<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

You remember that first time you ordered the wheatgrass shot from Jamba Juice and you thought, \u201cIt\u2019s not bad, but it\u2019s also not really that great?\u201d That\u2019s our next course, \u201cGreen Bean Casserole.\u201d The color is lovely. It smells like summer, like a fresh cut lawn. Gin, green beans, celery, onions, lemon\u2014I swear this is real\u2014and a garnish of french fried onions. Overall, more interesting than good.<\/p>\n

On to \u201cGinger Rosemary Glazed Margarita.\u201d This is terrific. I could drink these all day. Tequila, ginger, rosemary, lime\u2014perfection.<\/p>\n

Things are getting serious. The \u201cRoasted Butternut Squash\u201d is vodka-infused squash (or squash-infused vodka), brandy, Benedictine, and Amaro Averna. Remember the Malort? This cocktail has not one, but two different herbal liqueurs\u2014both Southern European cousins to Malort. One is a Sicilian secret recipe<\/a>, the other a French blend<\/a> of twenty-seven flowers, berries, herbs, roots, and spices.<\/p>\n

And now, it\u2019s time. The roller coaster has reached the top of the hill; anticipation and danger have peaked. It is time for \u201cSmoked Turkey Dinner Slushee\u201d a stone soupy blend of mezcal, vodka, turkey gravy, powdered mashed potatoes\u2014again, this is real\u2014celery juice, rosemary syrup and chicken broth, the whole thing garnished with cornbread stuffing and a mini turkey baster.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Smoked Turkey Dinner Slushee<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I don\u2019t feel good.<\/p>\n

Kyle, you may have taken this too far.<\/p>\n

I applaud the effort, but glistening turkey fat in the bottom of my empty cup was shocking. Still, you know, an empty cup. I drank it, all of it, and applaud the effort and would sum up by saying tha \u2026 what? There are still three more to go? Oh, of course. Dessert!<\/p>\n

We took our time with \u201cPecan Pie Old Fashioned,\u201d with pecan-infused bourbon, maple, vanilla and bitters. It\u2019s rich, smooth and complex. Good stuff.<\/p>\n

On to the pumpkin pie, another Slushee. Actually, it\u2019s \u201cFrozen Pumpkin Pie Dole Whip\u201d with rum, pumpkin, cinnamon, pineapple, coconut and spices, topped with meringue. Fantastic! It\u2019s Minnesota meets Maui. (\u201cOh<\/em> you betcha<\/em>,\u00a0brah<\/em>.\u201d) Get yourself five or six bags of this one. Dab a little behind the ears and drift off to the tropics.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Pumpkin Pie Dole Whip Slushee<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Finally, who doesn’t love apple pie? The journey is wrapping up with \u201cHot Rum Apple Pie Cider.\u201d Served warmed up, you\u2019ll need a mug, microwave and comfortable chair by an open fire with this final offering. Rum, fresh apples, spices, maple, ginger, it\u2019s a great way to tuck in for the night.<\/p>\n

All in all, “Liquid Thanksgiving” far more peaks than valleys, kind of like Actual Thanksgiving. If you\u2019re inclined to take on a liquid lunch, this is a solid way to go. With Thanksgiving now behind us, it\u2019s onwards to Christmas cocktails and whatever The Hawk concocts next. Gin and Giblets? Mistletoe and mezcal? I\u2019m ready.<\/p>\n

The Hawk is located at 468 W. Anaheim St. Online takeout orders from the Hawk <\/i>are available online<\/i><\/a>. Give Kyle and his crew some love.\u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The bar concocted nine holiday-themed cocktails including ‘Smoked Turkey Dinner Slushee.’ And yes, this is real.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":209,"featured_media":71383,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","inline_featured_image":false,"newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":"","_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_":"","_author_alias":"","cap-aim":"","cap-description":"","cap-display_name":"","cap-first_name":"","cap-jabber":"","cap-last_name":"","cap-linked_account":"","cap-newspack_employer":"","cap-newspack_job_title":"","cap-newspack_phone_number":"","cap-newspack_role":"","cap-user_email":"","cap-user_login":"","cap-website":"","cap-yahooim":"","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_email_html":"","newspack_email_type":"","newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_hide_page_title":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_show_share_buttons":"","newspack_sponsor_byline_prefix":"","newspack_sponsor_disclaimer_override":"","newspack_sponsor_flag_override":"","newspack_sponsor_only_direct":"","newspack_sponsor_url":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_show_updated_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[829,599],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"coauthors":[4524],"class_list":["post-21670","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-hi-lo","tag-craft-cocktails","tag-thanksgiving","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21670","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/209"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21670"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21670\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/71383"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21670"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21670"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21670"},{"taxonomy":"newspack_spnsrs_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newspack_spnsrs_tax?post=21670"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=21670"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}