COLUMBIABAR
End of the Trail
Public House Sour
Public house’s drink isn’t
what you’d expect
Not Your Standard Sour
BY RYAN HUME
3/4 ounce Hendrick’s Gin
I
t’s hard to imagine that I’ve been writ-
ing this Columbia Bar column for over
five years now. I have learned quite a bit
along the way while ducking into the region’s
numerous drinking holes and offering myself
up as a guinea pig to whomever happened to
be slinging sauce that day.
In no particular order, some half-truisms:
know that bartenders are some of the best
people in the world to talk to. Yes, you should
at minimum tip a dollar a drink. Not all simple
syrups are simple. Mezcal has more regula-
tions upholding its place of origin and quality
than its hermana tequila. And, sorry Kentucky,
but even Oregon can make a decent bourbon.
Writing this column has introduced me to
many creative spirits. It should come as no
surprise to say that the bar culture and local
distilling scene is thriving.
It seems appropriate then that I landed at
End of the Trail Public House in Seaside.
When quizzed, owner Sean McKeown
traces the origin of the sport pub’s name to the
plaque on the Lewis and Clark statue rising
above the roundabout where Seaside’s Prom
ends against the sand. Though, if you find
yourself staring at this statue, you’ve missed
the pub by a number of blocks.
McKeown has deep roots on the other end
of Broadway. His parents owned the Fire-
house Grill, Nonni’s Italian Bistro and McK-
eown’s Irish Pub. All three are (or were) in
spitting distance of End of the Trail.
McKeown cut his teeth in the family busi-
nesses before venturing out on the pub, which
is his first solo effort. The pub is located in the
old Moose Lodge, 733 Broadway St.
Having just celebrated its six month anni-
versary in January 2020, End of the Trail is
up and running as a proper sports bar, with an
array of flat-screen televisions reaching deep
into the ESPN multiverse. There’s also pool,
darts and a gigantic Connect 4 board that just
so happens to compliment the rest of the pub’s
décor. The bar top was moved across the
street from the closed McKeown’s Irish Pub.
When I first sat down at the bar, the bar-
14 // COASTWEEKEND.COM
3/4 ounce Maker’s Mark Bourbon
1 1/2 ounces freshly squeezed lemon or
lime juice
3/4 ounce simple syrup
A splash of grenadine
1 large piece of lemon or lime rind
1 Bordeaux Maraschino cherry
Ice
In a cocktail shaker filled with ice, add all
liquid ingredients and shake. Strain into an
old fashioned glass loaded with more ice.
Pierce the cherry with a bamboo skewer
and lay across the brim. Finish with a graft
of citrus.
tender was fielding a landline call from some-
one looking for an update on the score of the
Oregon Ducks womens’ basketball game. If
that doesn’t legitimize a sports bar, I don’t
know what will.
In true Oregon Coast fashion, everything
behind the bar and in the kitchen is scratch-
made, from the simple syrup to the whipped
cream that blooms off the head of each Irish
coffee like a cloud.
But for this column, we are looking past
tradition. This particular drink is a new arrival
to the bar menu. The Not Your Standard Sour
is just that.
American bourbon and English-style gin
are not exactly fast friends in an old-fashioned
glass, even if this particular gin, Hendrick’s,
very light with cucumber and herbaceous with
rose, is made in Scotland, and carries no hang-
over from the dust of the Revolutionary War.
This odd couple is melded with freshly
squeezed citrus — either lemon or lime will
work, McKeown says — and a splash of
grenadine stains the whole thing pink. Most
whiskey sours run queasy on the color wheel,
with a hint of green.
An impaled Bordeaux cherry and a graft of
lemon peel spruce up the finished product.
Enjoy and don’t forget to tip your
bartender.
Sean McKeown and ‘Not Your Standard Sour’ at the End of the Trail Public House.