You won’t find a menu at Drink, the renowned bar from the Barbara Lynch Gruppo that makes cocktails based on guest requests. But there are more than a few house classics you can ask for by name. One of those is the Palmyra, a surprisingly simple cocktail first served in the early 2000s at Lynch’s No. 9 Park.

“It’s kind of the cocktail that built Drink,” says the bar’s general manager Ezra Star. “[Its] success started bringing people to No. 9 Park, which was really the first home for cocktails in Boston. It got people drinking cocktails instead of wine for the first time at the restaurant.”

Drink’s version of this four-ingredient sipper is slightly different than No. 9’s—and even easier to prepare. While No. 9 makes use of a mint simple syrup, Drink adds the flavor by shaking the cocktail with six mint leaves.

Minty, cool, and refreshing, the Palmyra is typically served neat, though Drink puts theirs on crushed ice during the warmer months. It’s finished by a fresh mint garnish, which comes with some very specific instructions.

“We try to keep everything as open as possible so we can adapt to the guest,” says Star. “We usually just say ‘garnish with some mint’ or ‘garnish elaborately,’ which is actually on a lot of our recipes.”

Palmyra
2 ounces vodka
½ ounce fresh lime juice
½ ounce simple syrup
6 mint leaves
Mint sprigs, to garnish

Combine all ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake until chilled and strain into a rocks glass. Garnish “elaborately” with mint sprig to serve.