While in Marseille we stopped by the one noteworthy bar we could find; Carry Nation. For those of you not familiar with the history of the US temperance movement, Mrs. Nation was a 6′ tall radical famous for her “hatchetations.” This is exactly as bad-ass as it sounds.
Hard to believe that underneath that demure exterior lies a woman ready to rampage for a cause.
Her axe-wielding mystique has led to a lot of modern bars like to reference Carry, be it in drink menus, throwback slogans on the wall (“All Nations Welcome Except Carrie”), or in this case, the name of the bar itself.
Ambiance
They take the US speakeasy style up a notch. You don’t get the address until you make your reservation. In addition to the address, they also give you a code to a locked door from a fake souvenir shop, then instruct you to “ouvrez l’armoire, écartez les vêtements (c’est une penderie), et traversez l’armoire.” Roughly: “Open the armoire, push the clothes aside, and proceed through the back.”
Me fidgeting with the electronic door lock.
Once inside it’s a pretty typical speakeasy interior, wood panels, old photos, dim light. Still, it was a neat extension of the more common “give the secret password to the doorman” protocol.
Drinks: Blended
Blended drinks have a bad reputation, probably because they’re most often dispensed from Slurpee machines in shitty coastal bars (See: Daiquiri, New Orleans). That doesn’t mean there’s no such thing as a good blended drink, but it’s hard; dilution becomes a serious problem when you’ve got that much ice in a drink, so you need to use potent flavors that can stand up to all the water.
Carry Nation was having a blended drink themed event, so we sampled two they had on offer:
Rum, strawberry, and bell pepper.
Rum, tomato, basil liqueur, ginger, and some citrus
We both started with a couple of daiquiris with assorted fruit and herb additions. The concept was cool, but I thought these drinks were so-so. I hated on Tiara’s a lot actually, but that’s because I can’t stand bell peppers. Mine was just sort of washed out tasting, which goes back to that dilution issue. These were miles ahead of those low brow soda daiquiri things, but still not enough to make me want another.
Drinks: Signature
Despite the middling first round, we decided to try a couple off the main menu. Results were notably better.
Bonus points for the hollowed out passion fruit garnish.
Tiara’s got the Planteur Zafran, which was thoroughly tiki’d out. Two kinds of rum (one with saffron), a house falernum, saffron syrup, pineapple juice, and passion fruit juice. This was excellent, nice balance of tropical fruit flavors. The saffron got lost a little in the mix, but still a really delicious and refreshing drink.
My “julep”, which was basically a tiki drink in disguise.
A mint julep is an American classic; bourbon, mint, and sugar. Carry Nation takes theirs in a distinctly island direction, adding Madeira (a fortified wine from tropical Portugal), nutmeg, fresh pineapple juice, and berries. Thoroughly delicious, I find no faults with this one. I also appreciate the ice-crusted julep tin.
Verdict
None of these drinks were as good as what we were having in Paris, and they were on the pricey side. That said, if you want a first-rate cocktail in Marseille, this is probably your place.
Menu pictures, for cocktail nerds
I was really tempted by the Mai Tai trio, but it sounded like a lot of drinks
