Imbibe Your Hometown Pride

We journalists have a reputation for drinking. But with New Years Eve only one night away, we felt it simply our duty as the torchbearers of local journalism to visit a bar in Fanwood, Scotch Plains, Springfield and Westfield, and ask each establishment to craft a cocktail that would represent the character of that particular town.

Hence, we present to you four cocktails that you can use to both wow your friends and represent your hometown pride:

FANWOOD
Drink: "The Betty"

Where You Can Find It: , located at 200 South Avenue. $8.

Creator: Louis Bock, the pub's bar manager.

Ingredients:

• Skyy Citrus Vodka
• Cointreau
• Sweetened lime juice
• Cranberry juice
• Grapefruit juice
• One wedge each of lemon and lime
• Served in a martini glass

Directions:

1. The first thing you need is a cold martini glass: fill it with ice water, then let it chill as you prepare everything else.
2. Squeeze a wedge of lemon and a wedge of lime into a shaker
3. Add to the shaker one part Skyy Citrus vodka, and one part Cointreau.
4. Add a splash of sweetened lime juice
5. And just enough cranberry juice to make the mixture pink, then "the faintest whisper" of grapefruit juice.
6. Shake vigorously until condensation coats the outside of the shaker
7. Empty the martini glass, cut the peel from a lime, then twist the peel above the martini glass, so that it sprays drops of oil onto the glass, adding a "citrus essence."
8. Leave the peel in the glass, then pour the contents of the shaker into the glass
9. The finished product should have a light-pink color, and contain some pulp and crushed ice.

Flavor: "It's cold and citrusy, with a punch that's not overpowering."

Origin: "The women I made the drink for wanted a modified Cosmo. I played around with the ingredients, and came up with this." 

Why Fanwood: "When I made the drink, Betty lived in Fanwood…. Like Fanwood, it's friendly and it's different."

SCOTCH PLAINS
Drink: Stage House Lemonade

Where You Can Find It: , located at 366 Park Avenue. $8.

Creator: Unknown. Mixed for Patch by bartender Tommy Diaz.

Ingredients:

• Absolut  Citron
• Lemonade
• Sugar

Directions:

1. First, sprinkle sugar on the rim of a martini glass.
2. To a shaker filled with ice, add 3/4 ounce of Absolut Citron and 1/8 ounce of lemonade
3. Shake vigorously, and pour into the glass.

Flavor: "It's very light, it's refreshing."

Why Scotch Plains: "When it's summer in Scotch Plains, and we're outside, it's summery, it's fresh."

SPRINGFIELD
Drink: Green Sour Apple Martini

Where You Can Find It: Just about any bar. But for the purpose of this piece,McLynn's, located at 250 Morris Avenue.

Creator: Unknown. But a McLynn's bartender named Steven, who declined to provide his last name, mixed the drink for Patch.

Ingredients:

• Ketel One Vodka
• De Kuyper "Sour Apple" liqueur
• Triple Sec liqueur
• A cherry

Directions:

1. Add the Ketel One, De Kuyper and Triple Sec to a shaker filled with ice.
2. Shake vigorously, then pour into a martini glass.
3. Add the cherry for garnish.

Why Springfield: "We like it cause it's a popular drink. People like it. It's green, and we're an Irish pub."

WESTFIELD
Drink: Lillet and Champagne

Where You Can Find It: 16 Prospect, located at 16 Prospect Street. $9.

Creator: Tim Boyle, owner of 16 Prospect.

Ingredients:

• Lillet, a French apertif made from citrus fruit skins steeped in white Bordeaux
• St.-Germain elderflower liqueur
• Brut champagne
• A wedge each of orange and lemon
• Fresh branches of oregano, rosemary and thyme
• Served in a champagne flute

Directions:

1. In a champagne flute, place one twig each of oregano, rosemary and thyme.
2. Add a twist of orange and a twist of lemon, then place the peels on the side of the glass.
3. Next, in a shaker filled with ice, pour one part of the Lillet and add a dash of the St. Germain liqueur.
4. Shake vigorously, then pour the mixture into the champagne flute until the glass is half full.
5. Finally, fill the remaining half of the glass with the brut champagne.

Flavor: "It's very different. There are a lot of floral notes. But it blends the two top notes in a cocktail: floral notes and herbaceous notes. Neither, though, overpowers the other. There's a lot going on, but the taste is completely natural – there are not a lot of artificial flavors."

Origin: "I invented it about a year ago. We experiment a lot here."

Why Westfield: "For Westfield, it's a little refined. An elegant drink that's now overpowering. It's understated. It's definitely different. In a town like this, we definitely have people that are willing to experiment."

Patch contributor Maryrose Mullen provided reporting.