Conspiracy
350 Main Street
Middletown, CT
Conspiracy Co-owner Mark Sabo with the Old Kentucky Home.
Walking up the stairs to Conspiracy, located on the second floor of the historic 1920s building that once housed The Capitol Theater, evokes a Prohibition-era, speakeasy vibe. Co-owned and managed by husband-and-wife team Mark and Jen Sabo, the craft cocktail bar specializes in pre-Prohibition era drinks such as The Last Word, a mix of gin, Chartreuse and Luxardo maraschino cherries, and Black Widow, a concoction dating back to 1895 featuring apple brandy, yellow chartreuse, Benedictine and Angostura bitters. Newer flavor trends along with modern twists to the classics round out the creative cocktail menu. The Sabos also serve a variety of absinthes, New England beers and fine wines alongside cheeses, charcuterie, soups and small plates.
Co-owner: Mark Sabo
Cocktail: Old Kentucky Home
Recipe:
- 1 ½ oz. Bulleit Bourbon
- ¾ oz. Cynar, infused with orange peel
- ¼ oz. Port wine
- 2 Luxardo maraschino cherries
- 1 bar spoon of cherry syrup
Old Kentucky Home cocktail.
“When we were devising cocktails, we realized that this [cherry syrup] is delicious and … we’d never seen it in a cocktail before,” Sabo said. “It works really well as a sweetening component like you would have in an Old Fashioned, but then it interacts very well with the port. They’re two very complimentary flavors. Port and whiskey go very well together and that’s what makes this cocktail really sing.”
