First Look: Candy Bar in Detroit Previews Its New Cocktail Menu | Eater Detroit

"There’s something classic about this stunning, pink cocktail lounge at the base of Detroit’s Siren Hotel: its Eater Award–winning 2018 design feels timeless thanks to details like the gorgeous curved marble bar top, massive curled glass chandelier, and flaring white palms. The cocktails have aged well too — staples like the Bubble Rum remain hits more than a year after debut — but the team is finally ready to stretch the menu this summer after holding steady since opening. The tiny, 28-seat lounge proved far more popular than its owners expected, and much of the staff comes from Williams’ hit Corktown restaurant, giving bartenders an additional avenue to show off cocktail skills. The drinks lean heavy into vintage vibes, nostalgia, and candy: Jonathan Shock’s Dark Arts is a high-octane espresso-martini riff with reposado tequila, amaretto, a coffee amaro from Long Road Distillers and Madcap Coffee, Populace Coffee espresso, and a cream float; Andrew John’s Elvis’s Nightcap riffs on peanut butter-and-banana sandwiches using dried peanut butter and banana-infused white rum (centrifuged and served over a king ice cube) with plans to reuse the booze-infused peanut butter in garnishes or pastries; John’s Lady Diana uses pistachio-infused Norden Aquavit clarified in a centrifuge, Lady of the House gin (a Detroit City Distillery collaboration), yellow Chartreuse, and bay leaf tea honey, finished over crushed ice with a candied bay leaf; Some Like It Sage features dried sage–infused gin washed with olive oil, pineapple, Peychaud’s bitters, and Aperol; there’s a milk-clarified punch blending three rums with Rémy Martin 1738, Cointreau, spiced tea and floral aromatics; and Jesse Cottongim’s Werther’s-inspired Old Fashioned uses bourbon, Werther’s caramel bitters, and Long Road Distillers nocino walnut liqueur, garnished with a retro orange peel and cherry skewered on a flamingo-topped toothpick. Management expects to refresh the menu while keeping beloved staples intact." - Brenna Houck