Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Capogiro Katie's Crazy Cocktail Planet

Who knows from where inspiration springs? For famous bartendrix Katie Loeb, from Philly's Oyster House, she draws her muse from ingredients and a very wry sense of humor. Her latest collaboration with the Penn campus outpost of Capogiro gelateria seems to have pushed all her creative buttons. For her excursion into gelato cocktailing she took familiar flavors and well know known tipples and twisted them up a bit. Maybe even more than a bit.

"The products that Capogiro puts out are just so good, it was pretty easy to play with them," said Loeb in an e-mail. This past Friday night, a bunch of us got to watch Katie play.


Her Tiramisu (above) messes with your senses, putting all the familar tastes from the dessert (lady fingers, espresso, cocoa, mascarpone) into a silken sip built around Capogiro's mascarpone gelato, rum and truaca. It's a stunner.


She even playes with the traditional Planters Punch (above), using the tang of Capogiro's lime and grapefruit sorbetti to create this airy potent punch

Loeb's famous Corpse Reviver is brought to life here as the Mr. Disney (above), using gin, Lillet, Triplum and absinthe (!!) and Capogiro's lemon sorbetto. All that's missing are a frozen paior of mini mouse ears or a tiny severed head garnish.


And Katie Loeb takes her recipe for the Aviation cocktail and turns it into Ice On Wings with more lemon sorbetto, Creme de Violette and gin. "Capogiro's audience here is primarily college kids, "said Loeb. "They might not know what an Aviation is, but that's a pretty good 'Intro to Gin' cocktail." Just one word of caution: WAY to easy to drink.


Spend about five minutes with Katie Loeb at the helm of the bar at Oyster House (or vicariously at the Penn campus Caporgiro) and one can't help but feel creatively inspired. And her crazy cocktail creations take you to a very happy place, her very own cocktail planet. No place like it in Philly.

Capogiro
3925 Walnut St.
Philadelphia, PA
215-222-0252
Mon-Thurs & Sun 7am-12pm
Fri-Sat 7am-1am
Oyster House
1516 Sansom Street
Philadelphia, PA
215-567-7683
Mon - Sat 11:30am - 11pm