Need a new signature drink as your summer of frosé becomes a very distant memory? Ramona’s bar manager Jeremy Wilson takes this tricky life decision off your plate in this week’s installment of our winter survival guide. Check out our previous winter guide interviews here, here, here, here, here, here and here.
COCKTAILS: RAMONA | 113 Franklin Street
Jeremy Wilson, Bar Manager
Greenpointers: Is there a favorite cocktail that you have on the menu that you could recommend if you want to feel more uplifted in the winter months?
Jeremy Wilson: We usually come up with a couple of hot drinks for the winter. We have the hot toddy that we always do called Elsa’s Toddy, named after our sister bar. Especially when it’s snowing, people come in and ask for it. It’s rye whiskey, lemon juice, maple syrup that’s cut with water, fresh mint, hot water and angostura bitters on top. It’s pretty clean and refreshing and just makes you feel better.
GP: What are some other drinks that you’d recommend at this time of year?
JW: The other drink would be the Black Book which is bourbon, honey, lemon, cinnamon, cardamom, nutmeg and jalapeño. The cinnamon really comes out in the forefront and the jalapeño lingers at the end. A lot of people think it tastes like Christmas. We also have a cocktail called Painting the Daybreaks which is for the relief fund for Puerto Rico and it’s coconut, tequila, cinnamon, cassis, orange rind, lime juice, and coconut La Croix on top. It’s a very big, loud drink and it’s really good. When you use cinnamon, coconut and tequila with other ingredients, you can make a pretty great holiday cocktail.
GP: Do you find that there are different people coming into the bar in the summer versus the winter?
JW: In the winter, we see more of our regulars and I get to spend more time with the regulars who have now become my friends. In the summer, a lot of people are taking the ferry over from Manhattan for the day. In the winter, the bar fills up with a lot of locals who we’ve gotten to know which is really nice. We also have a lot of holiday parties here in the winter, but most of the time it’s people from the neighborhood.
GP: What’s your favorite thing to do in Greenpoint in the winter?
JW: Whatever the time of year, I like to go to Transmitter Park. In the summer, I like watching the sea planes taking off. In the winter it’s usually pretty dead and if it’s snowing, it might be windy, but watching the snow fall on the river is just a very tranquil thing to do.
GP: If you just can’t face leaving your house in the winter, what are your favorite things to do inside at this time of year?
JW: I know it sounds nerdy, but I love crossword puzzles and I have five going at all times. I have a subscription to New York magazine and I really like their crossword puzzles. I started doing them a long time ago with my Dad. I always have a bottle of scotch at home, something smoky and peaty like Laphroaig. It really warms you up in such a nice way. Then some podcasts like This American Life and a lot of comedy podcasts. I really like listening to Uhh Yeah Dude which has been around for about 11 years.
Nice space but the servers at this place spoil the experience. There are bartenders and waitresses who can work a crowded room, make quick eye contact and make customers feel taken care of. At Ramona’s they seem to have mastered the art of treating their clientele as if they are invisible, even when they aren’t very busy.