Drink This Now: Sex Work Is Real Work at Northside Social

Photo courtesy Northside Social

The way my schedule works out, I consider Tuesdays my Fridays, and about a year ago, I started going out on Tuesday evenings to have a cocktail or two, rather than my very standard “cheap beer and a shot of whiskey” going-out beverage regimen.

In an effort to expand my palate, my trips would take me across the bridge into North Lawrence, where resides two of the finest purveyors of mixed drinks in Lawrence: Chesha Frager at Gaslight Gardens and Northside Social’s Corrie McLean. Both bar owners and cocktail creators make prominent use of local, seasonal ingredients, and frequently change their menus to reflect the changing weather.

Being as how Northside offers $2 off classic cocktails on Tuesdays, I’m usually prone to indulging myself in a Negroni or Manhattan, but as the weather’s gotten hotter and more humid, I’ve found myself leaning into their summer menu with greater frequency, as my go-to drinks are a little heavier than I might otherwise enjoy. Savings be damned, I want something that’s going to take my mind off the sweltering hellhole that is Kansas in late summer.

Northside’s specials are always worth checking out, be it a perfectly smoky and balanced Oaxaca Old Fashioned made with mezcal for Cinco de Mayo or the Winnie’s Wildflower, created in honor of country musician Ryan Manuel’s Country for the Pets in memory of McNeal’s beloved dog, Winnie (with dandelion and chamomile-infused gin, lemon, honey, orange bitters, and a dehydrated hibiscus rim), and it’s hard not to want to try something which will likely only exist for one night.

That said, the drink which has quickly become my favorite is called Sex Work Is Real Work because, as the bar states, “Porn star martini is not the proper nomenclature.”

Made with gin, vanilla, vodka, carrot juice, lemon, pink peppercorn, passionfruit, and a sidecar of sparkling wine, it might be hyperbole to say it’s the best cocktail in town at the moment, but Sex Work Work is Real Work has rapidly become my go-to whenever I’m at Northside lately.

Even if I’m trying to keep it cheap with beer specials when I’m there for a show, I will find myself having one more often than not. It’s fruity without being cloyingly sweet, and the vegetal aspect of the carrot gives it a kind of terroir fullness. The gin complements and contrasts everything well, and the vanilla and passionfruit combination makes it feel like you’re at a party, regardless of whether there’s a band or DJ on the patio stage.

The peppercorn spiciness is mellow, but as an acquaintance who ran an Indian restaurant once pointed out, you want a little heat when it’s this miserable outside: “It makes you hot inside, so the outside feels more cool, and then you sweat, which makes you feel better.” It’s by no means that spicy, but just a touch of bite keeps me from draining my coupe glass like a double shot. The crisp sidecar of sparkling wine offers a refreshing way to cut through whatever residual sugars might be on your tongue, making every sip from the cocktail proper feel like the first one.

I’ve definitely become a Sex Work Is Real Work evangelist since it debuted at the beginning of June, and I suggest you find a way to become one of the converted before the fall menu makes its appearance.

Northside Social is located at 444 Locust St., Lawrence, KS, 66044.