A Bright Sip for Summer

July 15, 2015

Scott Mowbray,

When beloved bartender Marcel Templet, 38, flew his long-time perch at the Capital Grille in 2014, he landed in one of Colorado’s most elegant spots: the Cooper Lounge, located on a sort of balcony space over the Great Hall in renovated Union Station.

Like the great Campbell Apartment bar in Manhattan, the Cooper has a tucked-away-in-plain-sight intimacy that’s perfect for interesting but not overwrought cocktails such as the one that Templet cooked up for Colorado Homes & Lifestyles.

All Kooped Up is an updated version of the Prohibition-era drink called The Last Word, swapping white whiskey for gin. Lime and orange provide refreshing acidity for a summer drink, balancing the sweetness of two liqueurs. Alpine herb flavors in the French Génépy marry with the cherry notes in the Italian Luxardo. Templet likes Génépy because it’s “half the price and just as complex” as fashionable Chartreuse. The cocktail’s alcohol backbone comes from the intriguing Luna White Dog Whiskey, which is distilled by Peak Spirits in Hotchkiss, Colo., using beer mash from the Wynkoop Brewing Company. Hence the cocktail name: Wynkoop + Cooper Lounge = All Kooped Up.