Blueprint

Blueprint
196 5th Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11215.

The Source and Vibe magazine initially gave Jay-Z's Blueprint 5 stars; I'll be the first to review the Blueprint in Park Slope and give it 2 stars.

Blueprint attempts to be an elegant cocktail bar, but its execution falls off the mark. It adopts Weatherup's philosophy of sticking to the basic cocktails and listing the primary ingredients; however, for the cocktail enthusiast, although the menu reprises many cocktail classics, they aren't particularly inspired, nor are they any good.

For a bar that recently opened, I want to give it the benefit of the doubt. However, all the cocktails I had on the menu lacked balance and had noticeable faults. I would attempt to attribute it to an off night, but my drinks were made by two separate bartenders.

The Oaxacan (Los Nahaules mezcal, buckwheat honey, fresh lime, cinnamon) left my mouth with an acidic tang: too much lime juice overwhelmed any smokiness of mezcal, spiciness from the cinnamon, and earthy sweetness from the buckwheat honey.

The High and Dry (Rittenhouse Rye, Vya dry vermouth, fennel bitters, Ricard, burnt orange twist) was even worse, with the spicy, alcoholic sweetness of the Rittenhouse rye whiskey left as an initial afterthought the old cocktail stand, Rittenhouse Rye, overpowered by the bitter herbalness of too much Pernod Ricard and fennel bitters.

The Swedish Monk (Beefeater gin, Kopparberg pear cider, Chartreuse, soda, and lime was the worst of all. Too much soda water stifled the delicate interplay of sweet pear cider, delicately pungent Beefeater 24 gin, and herbal chartreuse.

As an afternote, they have a modest, but ridiculously overpriced selection of wines by the glass. Do as one should do in Park Slope, and stick with the bottled and draft beer.