68 LONGISLANDPRESS.COM • JANUARY 2019
LOLA’S BUTTER ME UP:
DRINKING TO REMEMBER
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BY CJ ARLOTTA
One of the reasons many people
enjoy winter cocktails is that the flavors
can bring back warm and cozy
memories from childhood.
With its hints of apple cider, warm
spices, and a buttery, slightly savory
finish, Butter Me Up, a craft cocktail
devised by Lola, a Mediterranean
restaurant on Middle Neck Road in
Great Neck, does just that.
“Coming from a home where baking
during the holiday season was an
everyday affair, I wanted something
that was reminiscent of the butter
cookies browning in the oven, and
warm spices of mulled cider and
apple pies,” says Lenny Messina,
executive chef at Lola.
It isn’t unusual for Messina to feel
a bit of nostalgia when crafting a new
cocktail menu for Lola. Typically,
when developing a new cocktail, he
begins with a primary component,
which could be a unique new liquor,
a peak season fruit, or a seasonal
staple.
“Once we have a primary flavor
profile we begin testing ancillary flavors
and pairings,” he says, “testing
and fine tuning an array of recipes
until the cocktail is refined and balanced.
Even then, we will continue
to make minor edits as the drink
progresses on our
menu.”
Among Butter
Me Up’s core ingredients,
one stands
out among the rest:
butter-washed rum.
“ T he bu tter
washed rum adds a
savory complexity to the
cocktail that we all fell in love with,”
Messina says.
Besides the obvious, elements
to the butter-washed rum include
pumpkin pie spice, star anise, and
cinnamon sticks.
While the process
behind the making
of the butter-washed
rum takes time, the
“result is a rum with
subtle flavors of toasted butter,”
he says.
To make Butter Me Up, pour
the butter-washed rum, amaretto
and cider into a shaker tin, add ice
and shake. Strain the cocktail into a
chilled rocks glass (a cinnamon
and sugar rim is optional) after
it becomes slightly frothy.
Then garnish with a cinnamon
stick.
“The Butter Me Up
cocktail provides a comforting
and familiar presence
of apple cider, followed with
subtle hints of barrel-aged rum
and rounding out with a buttery,
nutty and slightly savory finish,”
he says.
Lola is located at 113A Middle
Neck Rd., Great Neck. It can be
reached at 516-466-5666 or
restaurantlola.com
MAIN DISH
The Butter Me Up brings warm memories at
Lola in Great Neck.
/restaurantlola.com
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