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Note: these are not done yet, and are still being compiled by me. If you by any chance find this before I remove this chunk of text, then… please be patient with me, my goal is to flesh these out as I go, and this Shard would be a running diary/journal of sorts to keep track of my adventures within this passion. I already have notes on the majority of these roasters, along with their coffee sources and roast philosophies, I just desperately need to reorganize them into a coherent stream of thoughts for a complete blog writeup section. Thank you for supporting me on this little adventure of mine.
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Austin Cocktail Community Archive Shelf
Below are the showcases crafted by the Papercut team that I have had the fortune to experience:
3/21/25:
Bright, herbal, lively. Mint tinctures very stable & reinforced. Citrus & acidic notes very well-controlled & balanced, and plays in harmony incredibly with the subtly bright herbal notes from the mint and the fennel seeds. The botanicals from the Gin Mare punches through and complements the lively mint tincture quite nicely. The mint notes are tamed down by the dominance of the tequila, and brightened up again by the citrusy notes. Marta told me it was more herbal tequila than gin. Some potential yuzu discovered in the midtaste/body of the experience, which was the unidentifiable citrus that pairs superbly nicely with the herbal main vision of the cocktail.
The passion in Eddie's eyes talking about the drinks is quite impressive. The pride he had talking about being able to accomplish certain infusions and the wide variety of tinctures & bitters they currently have on bar is exceptionally infectious.
Nothing Strange (secret menu item cocktail with a main showcase of a clarified horchata):
Eddie rounded out the evening for me by offering me a shot of his horchata liqueur to enjoy with him. He mentioned that the liqueur took him so long and way too many trials to accomplish, and even as someone who grew up in San Antonio and being oh so familiar with horchata and quality horchata, he almost gave up on it. He said the trick, at the end of the day, was to soak the rice overnight, make the horchata, and reinforce it with an elongation of the rice notes by using awamori, playing into the richness of the main theme of rice. He said he was extremely proud to have finally accomplished it, and that it was many years in the making to finally have gotten it to that point. The liqueur was exceptionally grounded, full-bodied, and incredibly smooth, thanks to the rice, and the complementing punchy spirit of awamori.
In the mixing and showcasing of this cocktail, Eddie had left me with a note that I found incredibly profound and have taken to heart and incorporated into my mixing philosophy diligently:
"Don't be a tourist. Don't limit yourself to the country of origin, or the too-general of a theme surrounding something when designing a drink.”
4/19/25:
Cocobe:
Light, slightly dry and astringent towards citrus notes in a very pleasant way, smoothened out by the milk and toasted coconut powder wash fat notes. Very tempered notes from the spirits, not sure if the base spirits were doing much work. But slightly mellow shochu spotted, but very classic toasted milk wash flavor notes from this cocktail.
Nothing Strange:
Very lovely successful horchata liqueur as main flavor profile. The owamori reinforces the rice theme perfectly well. The aftertaste was INCREDIBLE - I had a realization that the long grain rice Eddie mentioned that went into the making of the horchata base was toasted, and it contributes to the toasted aftertaste incredibly perfectly. Eddie and Dragan were rightfully prideful of their successful creation, because it contributes to the amazing lingering bold body of the horchata liqueur. It was an absolutely spectacular cocktail creation, motivated by Eddie's backstory of growing up in San Antonio with every execution of horchata possible, and understanding what makes a good horchata.
Izakaya:
More delightfully spirit-forward cocktail, but very well-executed. The rice starch notes from the owamori gives the prickly pear acidity a nice body to stand on, and lifts the acidity from the drink nicely. The acidity pronounces itself more thanks to the yuzu from the house yuzu liqueur. Overall the spirit-forwardness is complemented amazingly by the citrus acidity beautifully.
The Nightlight:
Forefront taste is the sweetness of the pisco, complemented by the house grape liqueur. The main flavor driver was sweet grapes, with an extremely light grip of acidity. The riesling gives the rest of the drink a light, spritz-y, and sugary sweet body for the grape flavors to stand on. This would be perfect as a champagne build, or a highball build. Garnish was a cotton candy clipped side. In my opinion, the garnish choice would be more perfect with a sour grape, or a sour, malic-acid-based fruit or candy. Overall great build for a sweet entry cocktail for non-drinkers.