Enjoyed: Tuesday, June 15, 2021

Listed on the menu: Yes, as Burnt Orange Old Fashioned.

Ingredients: Bulleit bourbon, spiced bitters, vanilla brown sugar syrup, brulée orange

The occasion: Today was the last day of the 2020-21 school year, so my colleague DK and I decided to celebrate with a late afternoon drink.

My rating: ** out of 5. The cocktail was tasty, probably because of the fine Bulleit. However, I cannot recommend this particular drink because I did not receive the cocktail that was listed on the menu! After we waited for a substantial amount of time, our sweet server placed my order in front of me and announced that she was just beginning as a bartender, and she wanted to know my opinion of the drink. I tasted it, and the orange zest was pleasantly evident, but I detected no burnt flavor. “What do you use to get the burnt flavor?” I asked. “Usually we use a torch to burn an orange wedge, but the torch hasn’t been working for a while, so we haven’t been doing that,” she replied. So, why didn’t she tell me that when I ordered? AND, would she have confessed to that if I hadn’t asked? AND, why oh why can’t the restaurant simply purchase a torch that works? I felt duped, and hence the low rating, and hence my reluctance to ever again return to this establishment.

Final thoughts: My experience with today’s cocktail is actually a fitting metaphor for the school year we just completed. I was hoping for a burnt orange cocktail, but ended up with a modified version. I was hoping for a productive school year, but ended up with a modified version. I felt cheated out of a positive experience, and I don’t want to place myself in that situation again. And my students no doubt felt cheated out of a positive experience, and they almost certainly don’t want to place themselves in that situation again. I did drain my cocktail glass, you know, since coming to the end felt so good.