Before he landed at the new Esther’s High Dive in Providence, mixologist Max Karlin logged lots of years working in establishments from Palm Beach to Nashville to Martha’s Vineyard. But Providence, he says, “really aligns with my background and interests.” The cocktail menu at Esther’s is very culinary-driven, while still leaning into nostalgia. “Alongside the more technique-forward cocktails, we also incorporate playful elements like boilermakers, shooters, and mind erasers, which keep the menu fun and approachable,” Karlin says.
Our OF Highball is a force-carbonated, on-tap cocktail that’s a riff on a Pornstar Martini. We force carbon dioxide directly into the keg and use a separate regulator on the draft system to maintain that high pressure. The goal is an extremely lively, highly carbonated drink. The build includes vanilla vodka, passionfruit liqueur, champagne acid, and a small amount of vanilla syrup, finished with a passionfruit foam. The champagne acid acts as both the acidity and the “champagne” component.
Then, our Split Personality is an old fashioned-style cocktail built around brown butter- and peanut butter-washed bourbon, with fresh banana elements. The bourbon is fat-washed (a technique that infuses spirits with savory, rich flavors – like bacon fat – by mixing them, letting them sit, and freezing the mixture to remove the solidified fat) with brown butter and peanut butter, sous vided for several hours to maximize flavor extraction, then frozen overnight and strained through a coffee filter. The banana component comes from a house-made banana syrup that uses the entire fruit. We finish the drink with banana bread bitters, made in-house from equal parts Fee Brothers Aztec Chocolate, Black Walnut, and Angostura bitters.
What I love about these drinks is the level of care and precision behind them. At the end of the day, I’m making drinks I personally want to drink: fun, flavorful cocktails that either surprise you with a flavor you can’t quite place or deliver exactly what the description promises.
I always recommend the smash burger and the Caesar salad.
I’m still relatively new to the area, and since I don’t live in Providence (and have a baby arriving any day now), I don’t get out as much as I used to. That said, I’ve visited several local cocktail bars, including The Eddy, Club Frills, and East End. At the top of my list to visit next is Loma. 191 Dorrance Street; EsthersHighDive.com; Instagram: @EsthersHighDive @Max.Karlin
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