1906 offers not only an extraordinary dining menu featuring seasonal ingredients grown just steps away in our garden, but also delivers a modern mixology experience that is as thoughtful, artful, and inspired as the cuisine. Our approach to mixology highlights timeless cocktails that blend structure and spontaneity, craft and memory, garden and glass. With the debut of our new summer cocktail menu and the recent honor of a Wine Spectator Award of Excellence, now is the perfect moment to share a behind-the-scenes look at all that goes into crafting our seasonal drink selections … and what to sip this summer.
When it comes to cocktails at 1906, we showcase our masterful take on the classics, mixed with signature 1906 innovation. Guided by Beverage Director Greg Carozzo and Restaurant Associates Regional Director Gareth Tootell, we craft seasonal beverage menus that stir the senses and complement the immersive dining and garden experience.
Our 1906 beverage selections draw from the Gardens themselves. Photo by Laurie Carrozzino.
Carozzo brings a deep understanding of Longwood and our guests—he’s been behind the bar here since 2015, shaping drink menus with the Gardens in mind. Tootell brings experience steeped in excellence, ranging from sommelier at world-renowned The French Laundry to overseeing operations at The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs. Alongside the 1906 culinary team, they create seasonal drink menus where every sip is meant to be savored. “At 1906, every cocktail is built with the same care and intention of a dish,” shares Tootell. “It’s a method that pays close attention to flavor, timing, and structure.”
This level of technical precision allows for another layer of complexity—feeling. The cocktails at 1906 are built on memories of tastes and scents. They align with the seasons and mirror the tones and moods of the Gardens. The Summer Bree’s, a smooth and fruit-forward cocktail, is light and bubbly, echoing the flora-inspired dishes of summer. Other offerings, such as the Basil Collins and Siesta, channel the essence of refreshing summer days.
The Siesta, popularized by New York City bartender Katie Stripe in 2006, features tequila blanco, lime, grapefruit, and Campari. Photo by Adelyn Duchala.
Color especially plays a starring role in each glass. Autumn selections are a celebration of deep hues and warmth. Winter drinks soften into cool hues. Spring brings lightness. And our summer drinks are soaked in sunshine, radiating with vibrant rays and cheerful citrus. The seasonal themes carry through every element, from flavor and mouthfeel to garnish and glassware.
These choices are subtle, but intentional. Carozzo explains the drink experience begins with sight. Then scent. Then taste. “The layering is quiet and deliberate,” he says. “The drinks are made to connect and designed to deliver a flavorful and fleeting moment.” This approach, combined with a patient and precise process, is what makes the drinks at 1906 stand out. Our team follows a five- to six-week process of tasting and fine-tuning, refining each drink recipe until the result is just right.
One of the 1906 summer cocktail offerings, The Basil Collins brings the garden to the glass by combing vodka, lemon, basil, and club soda. Photo by Adelyn Duchala.
Fancy an Old Fashioned? Cosmo? Or looking for a classic with a twist, such as the Carajillo, a tequila-based take on an espresso martini? The classics and moderns collection celebrates timeless cocktails that have shaped the art of mixology, with each drink honoring the tradition and craft of classic cocktail making.
The same care shapes our Wine Spectator award-winning wine list of more than 300 unique selections. Curated to be world-class yet approachable, we offer something for every palate—whether a guest arrives with a deep cellar of knowledge or just wants to try a wine from a new region.
Showcasing more than 300 unique wines, the 1906 wine list is carefully curated to include a range of high-quality selections. Photo by Becca Mathias.
Our zero-proof herbal elixirs are crafted with equal creativity and dedication to showcasing the Gardens’ essence. “That throughline, linking what’s in the glass to what’s in the Gardens outside, extends from our cocktail and wine list to the beer and non-alcoholic offerings as well,” shares Tootell. The Berries & Tonic (featuring a house-made tonic that takes three days to perfect) is a guest favorite that embodies the essence of fresh botanicals. The Peaches & Cream, Carrozo’s current favorite, amplifies decaf peach tea with peach puree and freshly whipped peach cream foam.
As you might suspect, this kind of mixology requires tools beyond the essential shakers and jiggers. In the kitchen, a centrifuge—a piece of equipment more often found in a lab—is used to clarify ingredients, elevating texture and flavor. This summer, we’re getting creative and using it with one of summer’s most popular harvests—sweet corn. Spinning at extremely high speeds, the centrifuge separates the corn’s juice and pulp into distinct layers. By extracting its naturally sweet and light buttery elements, we create smooth layered drinks like the Elote cocktail (tequila blanco, mezcal, nixta, ancho reyes, and sweet corn) and the Chai Tea Tai Chi herbal elixir (vanilla chai tea, sweet corn, and club soda).
The pear-forward Whitetail cocktail is perfected by using a centrifuge to clarify the pear juice. Photo by Evan Sung.
Beer selections also showcase local and seasonal flavors. In a special collaboration with Victory Brewing Company, we’ve introduced seasonal releases that draw from the Gardens themselves—including this summer’s featured Citrus Shandy, a limited release beer brewed with Oro Blanco grapefruits from our East Conservatory and Longwood-grown kumquats. It’s the second year Victory has crafted this special brew, and the first time we’re able to offer it to guests at 1906.
At its heart, the beverage menu at 1906 is about more than what’s in the glass. It’s about mixing moments. A drink here is a connection, a conversation, a moment in time—and we look forward to sharing those moments with you.
