By Kristin Butler
Sasha Petraske, the late founder of Milk and Honey, was widely considered one of Manhattan’s modern masters of mixology. But he always insisted he wasn’t creative. “My background is as a barista—I’m very enamored with something simple done properly,” he told me in 2013.
Petraske most often drank an old fashion, but the list only starts there. “My desert island cocktail—if I was stuck on a desert island—would be the Sazerac, which needs no introduction. The Pisco Sour is probably the shaken drink that I drink most frequently. Pisco is the national spirit of both Peru and Chile. I won’t make any friends by saying this, but the Peruvians invented it, and the Chileans perfected it. And the Caipirinha is my other favorite. I drink Caipirinhas constantly. …I try to make a Mojito that will please a Cuban and a Caipirinha that will please a Brazilian. I don’t change things for every palate,” he said.
Of the staff originals at his once infamous bar Milk & Honey, the High Horse with both tequila and mezcal topped his list.
High Horse
1 ounce Aperol
1 ounce fresh lime juice
1 ounce Reposado tequila
½ ounce pomegranate grenadine
Shake with ice, strain over new ice in chilled rocks glass
Top with roughly half an ounce of mezcal
Kristin Butler 