Like a Blueberry Pancake

Chances are, if you’ve been to Datsun, you’ve had the pleasure of trying one of Stan Reyes’ creations. He’s the cocktail menu designer at one of Ottawa’s late-night steamed bun, dumpling and drink spots. “They allow me to express full creativity,” says Reyes, an important ask when called out by another bartender to concoct something new. His challenge was to produce a drink flavoured with nutmeg, the aromatic baking spice reminiscent of Christmas cake and colder months. “I’ve loved food and cooking since I was a child, and I think that translates to my bartending,” he says, marking a lifelong trajectory that comes in handy when creating a unique drink.

Datsun’s food skews Asian, as do the drinks — well, kind of. There are Japanese whiskies, sake and ingredients, but there’s also an underlying tiki vibe to most drinks on the menu. Lots of rum, lots of booze and lots of garnishes.

“My first goal was to make something like a carrot cake, and clarify that, but I moved on to something more like a blueberry pancake,” he says of his inspiration. Nutmeg’s dark and warming property plays a huge part in many colder-month desserts, bringing that sensation of fireside warmth to the fore. Reyes’ focus was to highlight the spice without letting it take over. “It’s very aromatic and I didn’t want it to overpower the spirits and everything else involved.”

He was careful not to overuse the nutmeg. In amounts over two tablespoons, the spice can trigger dizziness and nausea. “I had to stop myself as I started getting headaches from tasting too many.” He tried out nutmeg essential oils but, as they aren’t graded food-safe, he soon omitted them.

Once he figured out a way to tame the spice’s tendency to dominate, the rest came quickly.

When creating something based on a pre-existing dish, the goal is to stay true to the original fare while exploiting other elements for complexity and vibrancy. Reyes created a blueberry syrup spiked with grated nutmeg, which added a note of warmth. His nip of choice was Alberta Premium’s Dark Horse rye, a nuttily sweet but well-rounded whisky with an ABV of 45 per cent. This gave the drink great backbone, which Reyes considers essential. “When I make cocktails, I like them to be more booze-forward,” he says. 

He included a ginger liqueur, whose flavour is a beautiful foil to the sweetness of the blueberry syrup. Egg whites added a creamy reminder of a fluffy stack of flapjacks, though vegan tipplers, he suggests, will find that aquafaba works just as well.

The garnish, a skewer of blueberries and a brown sugar crumble, really amp up the appearance as well as the pancake vibe. The colour is great too — a beautifully vibrant violet, reminiscent of one of those summer night skies. Not to be lulled, though. Under its layered and complex surface, the drink packs a subtle but real punch. The finish lingers.

You find Vaccinium on Datsun’s menu. An unusual name, of course, that calls up the genus of fruit-bearing shrubs that includes the cranberry, lingonberry and, yes, the blueberry. 

Datsun doesn’t do brunch, but you could order this drink for a foretaste of what that meal, at this restaurant, would be like.

Stan Reyes has challenged Supply & Demand’s cocktail designer Camille Hopper-Naud with using Siling Labuyo peppers, also known as Filipino bird’s eye chili.

Datsun 
380 Elgin St, Ottawa, Ont. 
eatdatsun.com| 613-422-2800

Vaccinium

1.5 ounces Dark Horse Whisky
¾ ounce Blueberry nutmeg syrup
¾ ounce lemon juice
½ ounces Domaine de Canton Ginger Liqueur
½ ounces egg whites or aquafaba

Shake all ingredients without ice to froth up the egg whites. Add Ice and shake again. Fine strain into a coupe. Garnish with blueberries and brown sugar, lemon zest and grated nutmeg.

Blueberry nutmeg syrup

1½ cups frozen blueberries
1 cup water
1 cup brown sugar
3 halved nutmeg pods
¼ teaspoon citric acid  

Heat all ingredients until the sugar is dissolved, remove from heat and strain into an airtight vessel. Will keep for a week.