South By Southwest (SXSW) is a collection of film, interactive and music festivals that occur every march in Austin, Texas. This year, the music festival kicks off on March 17th and wraps up on March 22nd. SXSW was founded in 1997 and has consistently grown every year.
“Keep Austin Weird” is the official slogan of the city. For Texas standards, Austin is pretty weird. The capital of Texas, Austin is home to the University of Texas, and is the perfect setting for SXSW because of its long history of art, music and film within that community, and for being just a little bit different from the rest of the State.
Music and drinks are basically made for each other. Cocktails, like music, are an art form, the kind of art that encourages love and comradery, emotions that are intertwined with music. “There’s a reason why you’ve never been in a dead silent bar. You just can’t truly enjoy one without the other in my opinion,” says award-winning Austin-based bartender Aisling Gammill. A musician herself, it makes sense that her other craft is behind the bar. “Wherever there is music, there will be drinks. Wherever there are drinks, there will be music.”
Gammill is a Sixth Street bartender. That means that she will make her living engulfed by SXSW when it takes over Austin this week. One of her cocktails, “The Lady Gaudalupe” was inspired by the East 6th neighborhood where she works. The drink is a sour featuring Ketel One® Vodka, Dolin Blanc, thyme, and fresh lemon juice. “The Lady can be seen everywhere in murals, shop windows, stores, candles, etc. She is one of Austin’s patron saints and brings protection and good fortune.”
Gammill refers to 6th street as a mini mecca of art and music. “To pick the right cocktail for SXSW, I suggest being artistic and do whatever the music and the moment dictate.”
Austin is home to a rapidly growing cocktail scene. In the past few years, a strong community of excellent craft cocktail bars has started to spring up. “Part of why I moved to Austin from Las Vegas was because of the promise of being part of a growing creative and innovative scene,” Gammill says.
For the most part, spirit supremacy is split between Vodka and American Whiskey (Rye and Bourbon) in Austin. “Vodka drinks are most popular in the form of refreshing, not too sweet, sours,” says Gammill. “Grapefruit is the number one flavor, followed by ginger and lemon which is steadily becoming one of the more in demand flavors for the summer.” Usually, she pairs these sour drinks with a hint of something herbal. “Mint is a classic, thyme and basil will be big this spring.”
For whiskey, simplicity is preferred and most whiskey drinks are either neat, rocks, or served in the form of a classic cocktail. “The Old Fashioned is the number one drink I make,” says Gammill. She spends a lot of time creating different, unique riffs on the classic cocktail. “The kind of sugar and bitters used are important to guests. Lately I’ve been using a lot of raw sugar and tiki bitters.”
The two foods that really define Austin are BBQ and tacos, and Gammill says some of the best cocktails in Austin compliment those flavors. Smokey spirits that have a lot of complexity and attitude like American whiskey and mescal are highly popular in the area. “We tend to reflect our foods when drinking.” She adds. “If the dish is very simple, like barbeque, we go for whiskey or smoky mescal usually neat or as an old fashioned. In the case of a more complex taco, you’ll see us reaching for tall, sour, citrusy, or gingery drinks with like spirits like vodka or gin.” No matter what they are eating or drinking, Austinites pair it with Top Chico, a Mexican mineral water that is perfect for cleansing the palette for that next amazing bite.
Three Austin-Inspired Cocktails For SXSW
Lady Guadalupe
The patron saint of Austin’s Eastside neighborhood, Guadalupe is also known by her more common name Virgin Mary. The street named for her is one of the most famous streets in the city and runs through the center of the University of Texas. The city is dotted with mosaics, murals and sculptures paying tribute to Lady Guadalupe. This cocktail was designed as a blend of crisp vodka, aromatic thyme and vermouth to mirror the beautiful, bright and myriad works of art in her honor that are scattered throughout Austin.
Ingredients
1 oz Ketel One® Vodka
.5oz Dolin Blanc
¾oz Thyme Syrup
¾oz Fresh Lemon Juice
Directions: Shake ingredients, strain over ice into rocks glass, add a sprig of thyme for the garnish.
The National Republic of Texas
The capital building in Austin is considered to be one of the most artfully constructed pieces of architecture in the history of the US. When people think of Austin, they think of SXSW, bats flying out from beneath the Congress Avenue Bridge and the capital building. The cocktail is named to pay homage to the famed building and as a tribute to Texans’ belief that Texas is its own republic, sometimes separate from the United States.
The drink pairs Citroen vodka with Amontillado Sherry and Texas ruby red grapefruit to create a fresh, light cocktail that is the same color as the Texas capital building.
Ingredients
1oz Ketel One® Citroen Flavored Vodka
½oz Amontillado Sherry
½oz Honey Syrup (1:1)
1oz Fresh Grapefruit Juice
Directions: Shake ingredients, strain over iced rock glass, and garnish with grapefruit and lemon.
Blackberry Barton
This cocktail was created to honor Austin’s famous Barton Springs, a well-known attraction where friends and family can take a dip and get a respite from Austin’s sweltering summers. The pairing of orange flavored vodka with smoked blackberry demi-syrup and Mexican mineral water goes well with BBQ, tacos and other Mexican fare. The drink is as simple and refreshing as an afternoon soak at Barton Springs.
Ingredients
1.5oz Ketel One® Oranje Flavored Vodka
2oz Blackberry syrup
3oz Topo Chico
Directions: Build in iced Collins glass and add a blackberry garnish.