Harlem's Sugar Monk Gets Bitter (and Even Better) In Brooklyn
Bitter Monk jazzes up Industry City with deliciously artistic cocktails and a bitters tasting room.
I think it’s possible for a bar to be both upscale and laid-back. Some of the most enjoyable bars in the world are pricey, but the experience isn’t just about their well appointed digs and delicate glassware. The drinks are unique and zingy, and the people who run the show make visitors feel welcome no matter the occasion, whether or not they have the PR to be on one of those “top” lists. A good bar draws the crowds, and compels them to return for another round.
Last week (before the pestilence) I visited Bitter Monk, the newest member of the growing bar/tasting room family at Industry City in Brooklyn, and I look forward to a return visit. It joins Fort Hamilton (where I will be a judge in the finals of their first ever Battle of Brooklyn Cocktail Competition on Tuesday, June 11), Barrow’s Intense, and Standard Wormwood as an on-site maker of spirits with its own bar. These are in addition to the various breweries with taprooms (BIG aLICe Brewing, Brooklyn Kura, and Gun Hill Brewing) that are all located at this shopping and eating complex at the waterside edge of Sunset Park.
Bitter Monk opened earlier this spring by married business partners Ektoras Binikos and Simon Jutras as an extension of Atheras Spirits, which consists of various liqueurs, digestifs, and a line of cocktail bitters. It is the younger sibling to Harlem’s Sugar Monk, one of my favorite upscale-yet-welcoming bars in town. I included that bar as one of the featured destinations in my book Drink Like a Local New York because of the way it manages to be what feels like an unforced balance between aesthetic beauty and functional informality.
The drinks at Sugar Monk feature various proprietary infusions and bitters, but they’re not for sale. Binikos tells me that Atheras had been in the works for years as a way to make those sorts of creations more official. As the name “Bitter Monk” suggests, liqueurs made on site in a space adjacent to the public space skew toward the bitter and aromatic with flavors like Bergamot, Lemongrass, Fig Leaf, and Yuzu. Speaking to both the owners’ Greek heritage and love of botanicals, there is also a Shiso/Mastiha and an amaro called Palatine. The “monk” part? After all, some of the most sought-after liqueurs in the world are made by them.
I gotta tell you, and if you know me, you know I don’t say such things flippantly—all of them are superb. My pal Mike Vacheresse, owner of the acclaimed Travel Bar, came along for the ride. As we were tasting the lineup in the tricked out “lab” area adjacent to the bar, after the third time I declared “No, wait that’s my favorite” he started making fun of me. “You just said that about the last one!”
Well, it was hard to choose. The flavors are admittedly esoteric, but the intention is evident. None of the liqueurs are too floral, woodsy, or sweet. The Yuzu and Lemongrass taste like those ingredients without the soapiness that similar products can have. I really liked the cocktail bitters too (yes, I tasted all of them), even the Patchouli one, which somehow doesn’t taste at all like a melted Grateful Dead poster from a senior year college dorm room because the floral aspects are so well integrated.
Balance of flavor extends to the cocktails in the bar, which is probably the loungiest looking of the spaces in the entire Industry City complex. The Medieval monk-ish stained glass back bar motif says “shhhhhh!” but the cocktails (ranging from $14 to $21) showcasing the Atheras goods are the chatty sort—none of them could be described as “quiet”.
Clarified cocktails include Between the Devil & the Deep Blue Sea, a mix of the more botanical-forward spirits in the portfolio and that patchouli bitter, all of which becomes more fruity as it dilutes around the big block of branded ice it’s served with, and not overly perfumey. Marie Laveau is a smoked Manhattan variation that isn’t so much served as it is released (from a bell jar). Atheras Kelly takes up the goth monk theme as a vampirish purple drink that gets its intense coloration from flower petal extract (not clarified charcoal, even though it has that look to it). A couple of Sugar Monk favorites like ‘Round Midnight (rum, citrus, ginger, cinnamon, and clove) and the house sour cocktail Thelonius (here it’s made with Fort Hamilton Double Barrel Rye) make an appearance too.
There is a menu of spirit-free cocktails (ranging from $4 to $16) as well, including a version of a Negroni Spagliato made with Bitter Monk’s own zero proof sweet vermouth and tonic water for bubbles. A menu of NY state wines and Bitter Monk/Gun Hill Brewing collaboration beers are available too.
Admittedly, $20 and over is on the splurgey side for a cocktail in a Brooklyn warehouse complex. There is a reduced cost happy hour each day (more on that below), but most of Bitter Monk’s presentations come with a price. There are places where I can’t help but question such an expense for a quickly stirred Martini made with a couple of ingredients one can acquire anywhere served in a miniscule $2.99 wholesale glass diluted with basic ice. At Bitter Monk, you’re paying for art (including custom etched glassware), and while the churchey theme is there, it ain’t no velvet Jesus painting. And they are served in adult-sized glassware.
Tasting spirits and drinking cocktails require ways to line the stomach. A savory menu of bites includes olives, edamame, chips, and a cheese board as well as hummus, various vegetarian optional dumplings and empanadas. There are desserts too—macaroons, cakes, and rose cardamom pistachio pudding. Although my favorite were the chocolate truffles made by local chocolatier extraordinaire Roni-Sue Chocolates that incorporate Atheras spirits.
Bitter Monk
Industry City
68 34th Street, Building No. 6
Second Floor
646-257-1011
Open Thursday - Sunday
Walk-ins allowed first come, first served and reservations available
To coincide with the bar community in the complex, Bitter Monk has a limited discounted happy hour menu available Thursdays and Fridays from 3 - 6 and Saturday and Sunday 1- 4.