The Broken Shaker Opens

All photos by Laine Doss

Elad Zvi, Gabriel Orta, and Sydell Group's Roy Alpert preparing for opening.

The Miami cocktail scene has just gotten a little more interesting with the opening of the permanent edition of the Broken Shaker.

Read also:
- Best Pop-Up Bar: Broken Shaker
- Best Bartender: Gabriel Orta

Bar Lab's Gabriel Orta and Elad Zvi opened Miami's first pop-up cocktail lounge last January. It quickly became the place to go to get sophisticated cocktails at reasonable prices, and the little lounge inside the slightly-faded Indian Creek Hotel soon became the go-to place for locals, tourists, and industry insiders. Then, a short six months later, the pop-up closed, as intended.

Now, after much anticipation, the Broken Shaker is back inside the same property, though it's been renovated and renamed. The Indian Creek has been turned into Freehand Miami, an upscale hostel by the Sydell Group and the Broken Shaker has refreshed their lounge and expanded the outdoor area.

The small herb garden has become a major focal point of the patio. Young fruit trees have been planted around the property. Orta pointed out the starfruit that was already starting to appear, destined for some cocktail glass in the near future.

Broken Shaker's agave fairy.

Unlike most establishments that renovate a space and pass the costs on to the consumer, the price of a signature cocktail has been lowered to $8. Many of these libations reflect the experiences Orta and Zvi had this past year while traveling both as guest mixologists and on exploration trips to New Orleans, New York, and Oaxaca. One such trip, a visit to Sean Brock's Husk in Charleston, proved especially enlightening. Orta told Short Order, "Here's this guy and he's making his own vinegars and he pickles everything. He's got one room just filled with animal parts. He's the real deal." That trip is the inspiration for the Agave Fairy, made with homemade pineapple vinegar and tequila, dressed with a pickled radish.

The garden negroni.

Other offerings include a garden negroni, a classic that gets added depth from fresh herbs from the Broken Shaker's garden; and a holy grail, and old-fashioned made with pumpkin reduction, toasted pecan bitters, and bourbon. A rye cider is made with thyme honey and lemon plucked from their own trees.