Johnnie Walker Black, apple brandy, chaat masala bitters & ginger ale highball
The Scotch and soda was India's default mixed drink through the colonial era and the decades that followed — Johnnie Walker Black the permanent fixture on every hotel bar back bar. Ambassadors Clubhouse takes that tradition and upgrades it by adding apple brandy (which brings a fruity roundness that bridges the Scotch with the ginger ale) and chaat masala bitters — a house-made tincture of amchoor, cumin, coriander, and black salt that turns a simple highball into something with genuine depth.
Chaat masala bitters: dissolve 1 tsp chaat masala in 30ml Angostura bitters and let sit for 24 hours, then strain through a coffee filter. The resulting bitters carry the amchoor-cumin-coriander notes of chaat with the bittering agents of the Angostura. Q Ginger Ale has a drier, less sweet profile than standard ginger ales — this is the right choice for a whisky highball.
Ambassadors Clubhouse brings an aristocratic sensibility to Indian cocktail culture — drinks that draw from the era of Indian diplomatic gatherings, colonial-era clubs, and Mughal court traditions. The menu is sophisticated without being austere, featuring regional Indian ingredients in cocktails designed to be talked about as much as drunk.
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