Thursday, May 16, 2013

Center Field Sports Bar, Huntington Beach




Jim Beam is the house bourbon at Centerfield Sports Bar in Huntington Beach.  Did you know that Jim Beam has been making their standard bourbon for 217 years.  No, that's not a typo. 217 years.  It was originally bottled and sold as Old Tub and only changed to Jim Beam in 1943.

The female bartender on a recent Tuesday was pleasant.  When I order a manhattan, she inquires if I want sweet vermouth.  Any fruit? She offers orange. That could be interesting but something I think I'll experiment with at home.  I opt for sweet and dry vermouth since they have both and a lemon twist.  She pours the bourbon up to the 3/4 mark on a large tumbler filled with ice.  And this is when I am really impressed; she listens (not a skill that is very common amongst Orange County bartenders that I have met so far).  She pulls out both bottles of the standard Martini & Rossi and gives each a small pour just as I requested.  After a vigorous shake, she pours the drink into the appropriate cocktail glass (something that I don't always get).  She puts one of those red stirrers in the glass and puts her finger over the top and tastes the contents of the stirrer.  Her reaction, "Whoa!" Yup, I reply, that's exactly the reaction I want to have.  I take my own taste and yes, this is a good manhattan.  $6.75?  This is a very good manhattan.

The bar itself is not much to write home about.  It's a typical sports bar - several TVs over the bar.  There's an older clientele at the bar; in the dining room, the are some younger guys playing darts and a family at a table. Food is typical sport bar fare; burgers, sandwiches, comfort food (no opinion on that other than a companion complained the sliders were burnt).




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