I Drank Through Seed Library’s Entire Menu

These are the cocktails I’ll keep ordering again and again.

More Ducks

Words fail me to express how thrilled I am that there’s finally a Lyan bar in NYC. That is to say, a bar overseen by Ryan Chetiyawardana, also known as Mr. Lyan.

His bars are renowned for their science-y approach to cocktails, producing approachable riffs on well-known classic cocktails that are, in terms of ingredients and techniques, anything but simple or classic. His drinks often involve an focus on local terroir. More than a few involve fermentation or other methods of transforming flavors in unexpected ways, digestive enzymes among them.

I’ve been, in the past year and a half, to the Lyan bars in London (Lyaness, Seed Library) and Washington DC (Silver Lyan); there’s one in Amsterdam (Super Lyan) I haven’t gotten to yet, but it’s on my list.

And now, finally, as of earlier this month, Seed Library NYC is open in a subterranean space under the new Hotel Park Ave (formerly The Mondrian) in NoMad. It’s a sister bar to the Seed Library in London’s Shoreditch neighborhood, and folks who’ve visited that bar will find this one quite similar.

The space feels a bit like your rich friend’s Tribeca loft: equal parts ’70s and modern, sleek but not minimalist, dark and textured, a bit louche, even kind of sexy. Jazzed-up Bill Withers and other remixes of soul and R&B tunes will likely be playing. It’s a place where you can bring the coolest person you know, the one who’s been everywhere and seen everything. The most coveted table is secreted behind a red velvet curtain, off to the side of the room.

Rhubarb Alexander

It’s nice to finally have a Lyan bar in the city where I live. Previously, it’s been a problem when I would visit Silver Lyan or the others, in other cities: All of the drinks are so interesting and delicious that I would desperately want to try all of them. Which is a terrible desire when you have only one night in which to attempt it.

But here in NYC I could now accomplish that, having the luxury of making multiple visits. Over the course of this bar’s first two weeks, I drank through all 17 cocktails on the menu.

A Lyan bar can be a complicated place to have a casual drink. There’s always more than meets the eye: generally science-driven ingredients and techniques far beyond those described on the menu.

Even for those who love the style of and intent behind the cocktails (and, to be clear, I’m one of those people), it can be a real thing to navigate. Sometimes you might be in the mood for something relatively familiar-seeming and you get hit with a drink containing an ingredient processed via sheep pancreas, with a texture that reveals unusual origins. Or vice versa.

So to help make the drink list easier to navigate on an initial visit, these are the cocktails on the opening menu I consider to be the must-trys—the ones I myself plan to return to again and again and again—listed in approximate order of light to nightcap.

C.R.E.A.M. Margarita

Pear + Apple + Tonic: Christian Drouin white calvados, pear brandy, sonic water

It’s a highball like I’ve never had it: crisp and refreshing yet full of the most autumnal flavors, elegant yet eminently crushable.

More Ducks: Roku gin, lemon, crème d’escargot, blackberries

I’m a little hazy on the escargot component (a snail-infused vodka that adds a textural element, I’m told; questions remain), but that aside, this simply is a delicious bramble, bright and autumnally fruity.

C.R.E.A.M. Margarita: Lalo tequila, mezcal, passionfruit & cream ATOM, pickled chile, lime

It drinks basically like a spicy margarita—albeit a particularly tasty one—but it’s so much more: Fermented passionfruit takes the place of Cointreau; it’s stirred rather than shaken. It’s an odd one, yet so familiar. And utterly delicious.

Unfiltered Martini: Haku vodka, “really great potato”

During my first visit to the bar, I overheard this drink described as incorporating “digested potato.” I asked the obvious question: What, exactly, digested the potato? Science, apparently: enzymes and bacteria that replicate the digestive process.

If you’re looking for an uncomplicated martini, this is not the drink you want. It’s almost opaque and a bit sweet; the flavor is potato-y…but not; creamy, kind of. Not everyone will love this cocktail, but I sure did.

Coriander Seed Gimlet: Beefeater gin, coriander seed cordial, white grape

There’s no lime in this gimlet; the punch of intense citrusy flavor instead comes from an acidified coriander infusion. It’s an ideal example of a Lyan drink: familiar-tasting and simple-seeming but produced via the magic of science.

Beeswax Old Fashioned: Michter’s whiskies, bitters, New York State beeswax

This is the cocktail that could turn me into an Old Fashioned drinker. It retains the soul of the classic cocktail, with the beeswax element adding a hint of flavor but also, it seems, a certain viscosity that feels, for lack of a better word, comforting.

Koji Hardshake: Johnnie Walker Black, miso, koji and cream sugar, lemon

This Dandelyan throwback is my very favorite drink currently on offer. The menu describes it as “a whisky sour exploded out” but I think it’s more accurately described, flavor-wise and texturally, as the froth on an egg-white whiskey sour that’s been shaken harder than I ever imagined possible, with the tiniest umami element. If this isn’t the ultimate crowd-pleaser, I don’t know what is.

Rhubarb Alexander: Patron silver, rhubarb cream, smoked vanilla, lemon

A twist on a Brandy Alexander (or, hell, a Gin Alexander, the predecessor to the brandy version and a drink that originated in NYC), this cocktail is a real drink-your-dessert situation. It’s as rich as you’d imagine, yet bright with tart fruits; the tequila shines through surprisingly well. This drink feels decadent, like sinking into a deep bubble bath.

Koji Hardshake