Anvil Bar & Refuge: Smarter Than Your Average Cocktail

With the exception of hangovers, I love absolutely everything about cocktails, beer, and wine.  I love bars, from the dive-iest dive to the classiest joint in town.  To me, there is nothing better than pairing the perfect glass of wine with a meal to enhance both the wine and the food; the same goes for beer which, in my opinion, often pairs even better with food than wine.  I’m willing to try anything once, and even if I know better I just might try it again.  From the aperitif to the digestif, my curiosity of the cocktail craft knows no bounds.

Anvil: The Cocktails

Anvil isn’t the kind of bar you walk into and order a dirty martini.  I know this because on my first visit I walked in and ordered a dirty martini.  They specialize in the true craft of cocktail mixing.  On that first visit when I ordered a dirty martini, the bartender also happened to be one of the owners, Kevin Floyd.  He offered to mix me up something, and I was happy to turn over my taste buds to their old-school philosophy.  The menu is peppered with fun, sometimes foreign words like “Fernet” (a bitter aromatic), “Creme de Violette” (violet flower flavored liqueur), and “absinthe” (high-alcohol content, distilled spirit) and their drink recipes range from classics like Manhattans and Singapore Slings to Anvil originals like the Lost In Siam (“Thai green curry in a glass”) and the Spindletop (Blackstrap & Jamaican rums, Falernum, Islay Scotch, Allspice, Angostura Bitters).  Several subsequent visits have impressed me with the attention to detail each drink receives – one drink can take several minutes to complete – and with the knowledgeable bar staff.  On each visit I have been educated and entertained by bartenders who take their craft seriously, and who enjoy sharing what they know with the clientele.

Tasting components: hops (background) and 3 types of malt.

Anvil: The Classes

On the last Saturday of each month Anvil offers spirit-based classes, and they recently added beer classes to the schedule.  I attended their “Beer 101: Beer Basics” class on Saturday, September 10 and was impressed with the comprehensive, 2-hour treatment of the basic components of beer (malt, hops, water, yeast) given by Anvil’s “beer guy” Kevin (partner Bobby Heugel covers the spirits side of things).  Our lesson consisted of a history of beer and a nine-beer tasting menu, as well as sampling hops and three types of malt: German Pilsner, English Dark Crystal and English Black Patent.  We kicked off the class with mead and then moved through a series consisting of a dopplebock, a pilsner, a few IPAs, and we finished with “Adjuncts”: a chipotle porter (porter/stout) and Lindemans Framboise Lambic (a sweet, sparkling raspberry beer, with which I have a sordid past).  A few selections I’d had before, like the Ayinger Celebrator Doppelbock and the Lindemans Framboise, but the discovery of Brooklyn Sorachi Ace-Saison was worth the price of admission.  My notes (which by this point in the tasting are slightly-less-legible than my earlier ones) say “lemon/spice/sauvignon blanc of beers”.  It was the highlight of the tasting for me.

Anvil: The Details

Anvil co-owner Kevin, gives us the skinny on all things beer.

Anvil Bar & Refuge is open seven days a week: Monday through Saturday from 5 PM to 2 AM and Sunday 11 AM to 2 AM.  Anvil recently added a Sunday brunch that runs from 11 AM to 4 PM.  They are located at 1424 Westheimer (map); lot and street parking are available.  Keep  up with their cocktail musings at Anvil’s Drink Dogma blog, and follow them on Twitter and Facebook.

Spirit classes are offered on the last Saturday of each month; beer classes will be held on the second Saturday of each month.  The upcoming schedule includes a 9.25 class on American whiskey, a 10.9 beer class on IPAs (India Pale Ale), and a 10.30 spirits class on brandy, cognac and armagnac.  Tickets for classes at Anvil are $50 each and can be purchased at the bar.

Photos from the author’s personal collection.