When bartender Riki Taiga hands you a cocktail in a miniature porcelain bathtub, you sip it. Then you Instagram it. The Bathtub Fizz ($14), as it’s called inside the Underground—the hidden speakeasy inside the Mob Museum paying homage to Prohibition—is Taiga’s modern take on the sloe gin fizz. “I realized we didn’t have a gin drink with egg whites in it, so it’s a twist on that classic,” he says.
The refreshingly tart and creamy summer drink is made with gin, sloe gin, Aperol, sugar, lemon, egg whites, bitters and topped with crystallized basil. It’s a cheeky nod to the Prohibition-era distilling process, when bootleggers made illegal spirits at home in their bathtubs.
The Ginger Jake ($10) is another modern remix. The original Ginger Jake was a highly potent over-the-counter medicine in the 1920s, and it was normal for the tonic to be as strong as 180 proof. Made with moonshine, ginger, lime, jalapeño and spices, the Underground’s version is similarly strong. For imbibers who like their drinks with a kick, this balanced cocktail is approachable but fiery, starting off sweet and then delivering a punch of heat before quickly simmering down.
The cocktail list just keeps getting more creative at the Underground, which recently celebrated its one-year anniversary. The bar, which doubles as a moonshine and vodka distillery, celebrates National Moonshine Day on June 6 with specials on drinks and souvenir bottles, plus tastings and cocktail demonstrations. Can you think of a better way to commemorate the once-illicit spirit than in a speakeasy at the Mob Museum? We didn’t think so.
The Underground at the Mob Museum 300 Stewart Ave., 702-229-2734. Daily, 9 a.m.-midnight
