Hayride Scandal

Forget—for just a moment—about the extensive drinks menu at Hayride Scandal, the recently opened “whiskey-forward” craft cocktail spot off Corporate Boulevard in Baton Rouge. You’ve got to choose your seat for the evening: Will it be the intimate couple of red velvet thrones? The low upholstered bench or the brown leather wingback chair? Or the regency sofa, complete with its own nook and white marble coffee table? It could be argued that the best seat in the house is the comparatively prosaic barstool. For what’s the craft cocktail experience if you don’t make conversation with your bartender?

“Probably seventy-five to eighty percent of the cocktails I make now, people are saying, ‘Just make me something,’” said Bar Manager Brea Frederick, whose own creations, along with those of the other Hayride bartenders, frequently land on the printed menu (alongside house standards, seasonal specials, classics and riffs, and Louisiana favorites) if the reception is warm enough. “Most of those people know me and I’ve made them drinks before. But this is the type of bar where we encourage patrons who don’t know much about what we carry or don’t know much about cocktails in general to say, ‘Hey, these are some of the flavors I go for. Could you make me something that you think I’d like?’”

I grabbed a barstool recently to talk with Frederick about her own cocktail education, ingredients that really should be refrigerated, and how Mr. Potato Head figures into alcoholic equations—all while enjoying three of her tastiest efforts. Find excerpts below.

We ... just did New Orleans for a night. Every bar that we went to, we played a game: “Spot the Ingredient That’s Supposed to be Refrigerated.”

On cocktail education:

Well, I thought I knew how to bartend. Then I learned about classic cocktails and craft cocktails. I used to work at Olive or Twist. I got there—and you’ve seen their wall of alcohol, right? I remember thinking even at that time, looking at the wall, "I’ve got a lot of homework to do." I didn’t know about the majority of those things until I started working there.

My coworkers were amazing. We educated each other. We tried new things. It was a lot of fun. I loved my job over there. I had nothing but good rapport, good people, good cocktails. Especially when I first started. I would pull the rookie card: “I’m sorry, I don’t really know … let me find out for you.” My coworkers had already been working with those ingredients long enough that they would be able to answer almost any question I had. I remember the point where I realized that I understood, in a general sense, how to balance a cocktail. That was a time frame in my career that was really fun for me because all of the sudden I felt I could do exponentially more.

On Mr. Potato Head:

My palate’s absolutely changed. If I’ve never seen a bottle before, the first thing I do is open it up, take a straw pull, and taste it. I read the bottle and wanna know what’s in it. Where does it come from and what’s it made out of? I’m constantly trying new things and new ways to put them together.

A fun thing to do is to take a classic cocktail and Mr. Potato Head an ingredient. Put something in there and see how it is. A good example is the Manhattan and the Black Manhattan. The Black Manhattan has Averna instead of sweet vermouth. Same exact proportions. It’s just one ingredient swapped out for the other. Averna is a Sicilian amaro. It’s got a really earthy, chocolatey flavor. Compare that to a less sweet French vermouth and it’s going to be a little sweeter.

On knowing your ingredients:

We’re continually learning new ingredients. I do the ordering, and I’m like “All right, guys, new ingredient! This is what this is, here’s how it’s been used before. Go have fun.”

Like vermouth—people can’t just have found out about vermouth, but it’s becoming more of a thing now. Well, once it’s open it needs to be chilled. It’s a fortified wine. If you ever go to a bar and you watch them pull an open bottle of vermouth off the wall … maybe order something else.

We’re continually learning new ingredients. I do the ordering, and I’m like “All right, guys, new ingredient! This is what this is, here’s how it’s been used before. Go have fun.”

Not too long ago, my girlfriend and I went to New Orleans. There was a group of us—my girlfriend and I, the other manager and his lady, and a couple of their friends. We all had an Airbnb, so we just did New Orleans for a night. Every bar that we went to, we played a game: “Spot the Ingredient That’s Supposed to be Refrigerated.” Cardamaro—that’s a fortified wine similar to vermouth in that sense. It absolutely should be refrigerated once it’s open. At a different place, a bartender made me a cocktail that included Cocchi Americano; it’s basically like Lillet. It’s a white fortified wine. He pulled it straight out of the rail. I was like, “Oh, no. Oh, God.” So Daniel [the other manager] and I played that game the entire night.

I get it. At a certain point I didn’t know either. I worked at bars when I was 24 and 25 that kept sweet vermouth on the shelf. I didn’t know better. We’re all learning! We’re all getting better at these things.

[You might also like: The Dark Days of Prohibition]

Three to Try:

Smooth Criminal: House Standard. Jameson, Glenfiddich, a saffron/black pepper simple syrup, Carpano Antica, and orange bitters. The housemade syrup is just rich enough to balance this cocktail that’s not too smoky and not at all cloying.

Corpse Reviver No. 2: Classic. The lip-puckerer begins with an absinthe rinse and incorporates gin (Frederick goes for an overproof saffron gin), Cointreau, lemon juice, and Lillet Blanc. It’s one of many traditional drinks done right on the Hayride Scandal menu. “We’re not wedded to any particular kind of drink,” said partner Lance Paddock. “But we do want to take advantage of the rich history of drinking in Southern Louisiana.” (This explains the abundance of fortified wines mentioned above.) "Fortified drinks and wines were the core of Southern Louisiana cocktails and drinks,” said Paddock. “Madeira and ports … they would last on the journey from Europe.”

Untitled: New Creation. At press time, the perfect name for this blend of three amari (Angostura, Caffe Amaro, Amaro Nonino), rye whiskey, Cocktail and Sons’ Oleo Saccharum (a coriander lemongrass syrup), and chocolate mole and orange bitters had not yet occurred to the Hayride Scandal staff. (Though I tried to weigh in: “The Three Amaros! Or how ‘bout He’s Not Heavy, He’s My Bitter ...”) But it’s quickly becoming one of Frederick’s most popular off-menu creations. With little prompting, she should be able to whip up this boozy, bitter, winter-friendly drink for you. Just tell her Country Roads sent you.

Look for the Corpse Reviver No. 2 and other dreadfully delicious cocktails at Hayride Scandal’s Day of the Dead celebration, November 1 from 6 pm–midnight at 5110 Corporate Boulevard, Suite B. The festivities also include bartenders with painted faces and a séance to raise Huey Long. hayridescandal.com.