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VOLUME 05 JANUARY - MARCH

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH TOM SANDHAM & BEN MCFARLAND THINKING DRINKERS

THE DISTILLED GUIDE TO: CLASSIC CLASSIC COCKTAILS

WELCOME TO THE FIFTH EDITION OF 2019 SPIRITS SUPPLEMENTS FROM DISTILLED.

2019, a new year and onto edition five of our Limited Edition Guides from Distilled! 2018 saw four editions including American and Malt , , Rum and some winter 2 WELCOME favourites. 16 of the products that you loved so much made it 4 THE THINKING DRINKERS to the permanent Distilled range including Tanqueray Seville, 6 CREATING A CLASSIC Sipsmith Lemon Drizzle, Jinzu, Malfy con Limone, Warner Edwards Honeybee, Chase Pink Grapefruit Gin, Boë Violet, 8 DOUGLAS ANKRAH Bacardi Cuatro, Pampero, Barti Ddu, Baileys Almonde, Boë 12 MODERN CLASSIC Spiced Orange, Copper Dog, Cardhu Gold and Auchentoshan. 14 THE MARGARITA This year we want to bring you more choice and variety in the 18 THE range aswell as some useful tips and guides to creating some 22 THE OLD FASHIONED great experiences in your venue. Our four Distilled Guides to... 26 ON THE MENU: EDINBURGH will cover a range of topics this year and some great products from all spirits categories. 32 THE DAIQUIRI

Edition 5 (Jan to March 2019) includes some great advice 36 SEEDLIP NON-ALCOHOLIC from the Thinking Drinkers on DNA and how classic cocktails are really important to get right. Brands such as And finally I am really excited to bring a new spirits 40 HAYMAN’S DRY GIN Hayman’s London Dry gin, Our/London and Belsazar category into the range for edition 5 with 2 non- 42 GENEVER Dry White feature as great additions to creating a alcoholic spirits from Seedlip. As I am sure you 44 BELSAZAR classic Martini. Also look out for Belsazar Rose Vermouth in are seeing and hearing, consumers are becoming our permanent Distilled range to pair with the dry white on your more aware of what they are . We all know 46 OUR/LONDON VODKA back . We cannot talk about the classic Martini without a the stats around younger consumers that are 48 GREY GOOSE LA VANILLE mention of the serve that has been fighting for the number choosing not to , but alongside this 50 HAYMAN’S OLD TOM GIN 1 spot more recently – the Pornstar Martini! Grey opportunity, moderation is becoming increasingly Goose La Vanille is a great choice of vanilla vodka for both the important for a number of reasons including 52 CAZCABEL REPOSADO Pornstar and Espresso Martini serves. health, driving and wanting to extend the amount 54 BLOOD ORANGE of time we spend enjoying great experiences in 56 CHERRY HEERING This edition also features some interesting twists on the the on-trade. Fed-up with and no/low classics such as a Blood Orange Margarita using Cointreau alcohol , Seedlip really have cracked it when 58 TAILS COCKTAILS Blood Orange and Cazcabel Reposado. I am delighted to have it comes to a range of drinks that great and an Old Tom back in the range from Hayman and a fruity Danish make you feel like you are as involved in a great classic dating back to 1818 – Cherry Heering, an essential in the drinking experience as friends enjoying a classic Singapore Sling. cocktail or G&T.

Onto some further twists on the classics; a range of pre-batch We really hope you enjoy reading this guide from cocktails from Tails. Offering simplicity and consistency without Distilled and find some of our tips and selection losing the theatre and great tasting – the Classic Mojito of products in the range useful. Remember, if you CHECK US OUT CALL US FOLLOW US and Berry Mojito, Pornstar and Espresso Martini pre-batch are love the range in this edition they may well feature certainly ones to consider if you are looking to develop into in our permanent range for the year!. FOR FULL EXTENDED CALL 0845 072 7092 some simple cocktail serves. CONTENT PLEASE VISIT TO PLACE AN ORDER WITH YOUR  DISTILLEDUK DISTILLEDUK.COM SALES MANAGER  DISTILLEDUK CLASSIC COCKTAILS THE THINKING DRINKERS THE THINKING DRINKERS CLASSIC COCKTAILS

CLASSIC COCKTAILS

Welcome to our Classics to you in this supplement, but if your own interpretations and twists, the now ubiquitous Porn Star Elsewhere, Jesse Estes, The supplement is also packed Supplement, a booklet devoted to you take anything away from this helping you to sell it on your menu Martini, and offer some advice on and Ocho tequila ambassador with spirits suggestions for classics, helping you focus on the craft of publication, we hope it will be an with some added information. This how to approach your own attempt delves into the tall tales around the the likes of Cazcabel in the modern classic cocktails. enthusiasm for learning more. Rest helpful graphic is something we on creating a new classic. Margarita. Put some time aside to classic Tommy’s Margarita for assured, no bartender is a slave look forward to repeating with other enjoy the stories on this one. example, Grey Goose La Vanille Classics are a cornerstone in the to the classics, but the process classics in future supplements and We’ve also visited Edinburgh. Here for that Pornstar Martini, or some craft of cocktails and the bedrock of learning and perfecting many in our main brochure next year. is a classic city in every sense, the All classics are packed with quality Haymans Old Tom Gin to travel of a bartending business. This of these drinks will lead you down history, the architecture, the , conjecture, and you could write a down the classic gin route. is not hyperbole. Talk to any bar new creative paths and enable you No supplement about classics it’s a beautiful place with plenty book on the Margarita. Hopefully professional who has made it in this to build innovative drinks that are would be complete without of drinks heritage. You’ll discover Jesse’s devotion to the history This is not an exhaustive tome, industry and you’ll discover they grounded in the basic principles of reference to the Martini and Old great classics being served right of this classic will inspire you to there are many classics that won’t are devoted to the principles of the flavour and balance. Fashioned, and both get a full across the city, so we’ve provided explore further reading. be mentioned on the pages, but classic cocktails. Why? Because appraisal. But as well as flagging up some recommendations for use it as inspiration to seek them these are drinks that have endured Amongst the drinks we celebrate these fine drinks, we present them anyone embarking on a drinking And we also take a closer look at out, revive the drinks that have lost on menus for decades, that in the following pages then, is in ways to help them pop out of pilgrimage there. Amongst the the non-alcoholic spirit Seedlip and their way and use the epic history combine the flavours so perfectly the Daiquiri, one of the most menus in your bar. It’s important to many great bars there, we’ve the new revolution in non-alcoholic of cocktails to breathe new life into and resonate with consumers important classic cocktails for any respect the classics but keep your put a bit of focus on Tigerlily and cocktails. Once a novelty act at your menu. today. Whether it’s a Margarita, bartender and a true benchmark concepts fresh. bartender Andy Latta, whose menu the back of a menu, these are now or Martini, these your ability to balance sweet and maps out classic families and gives becoming innovative and creative classics deliver every time. . On pages 32 - 35 you’ll find It’s rare to create a classic, but consumers an easy instruction alternatives for non-drinkers, and an infographic devoted to the drink some have managed it, so we manual on flavours. Andy offers Seedlip suggests ways to use the You can’t put a number on how that will reveal how the drink came nod to a modern marvel as well. insights into his menu and explains classics as a starting point for many classics you should know to being, with some related drinks We caught up with the legendary why classics are important to him. some discerning drinks. and we can’t present them all and anecdotes to help you work on Douglas Ankrah, the man behind 4 5 CLASSIC COCKTAILS CREATING A CLASSIC CREATING A CLASSIC CLASSIC COCKTAILS

Taste Use your nose and tongue. Seems obvious, but taste the ingredients independently and regularly. Every day your palate is corrupted by something, you need to be tasting it all the time to be sure. Taste as you build and taste every How to create time you make it – make sure it is always as you expect it to be. a classic Occasion Trends The is the perfect pick-me- Don’t jump on bandwagons for the of it, There are no hard and fast rules That said, thanks to social media But how do you create a classic? up. The No.2 combines aperitif try every new and on trend ingredient, but don’t to what makes a classic cocktail, and global connections, we Well, the best bar professionals style with a great name – Harry Craddock opt for fads and gimmicks, consider whether or unfortunately. You could argue can now see truly great drinks acknowledge there are certain described it as a drink to raise the dead, and not this ingredient really is going to be around in that to earn ‘classic’ status, a being shared wider and faster guidelines to getting started, and a dash of really makes it stand out. 100 years. cocktail needs to be on menus for than ever before. The Espresso while the competition means it The Espresso Martini, meanwhile, fits the post a significant amount of time. But Martini started life in the 1980s really is one in a million, if you start dinner lull. For the majority of classics, there is a then, if you create an overnight when Dick Bradsell was making with the basics then you stand a moment associated with them, so think where Create a drink success and it evaporates a his original vodka espresso better chance than most. your cocktail could fit into the pantheon of year later, it can never earn the and pharmaceutical occasion drinks. you enjoy all-important mantel of ‘classic’. cocktails, and that drink is now on True classics have been around for menus around the world – so there For the last few years, strong, stirred, aged decades, and so chances are, you is hope. Maybe you don’t need to Location spirit drinks have been popular with may not live long enough to enjoy wait 100 years to see if your drink around the world, which is great, but don’t your own success. is a classic. Not essential, but if you can give a drink a explore this concept if you don’t enjoy this style local feel, a connection back to your bar and its of drink. You are the best ambassador for your physical location, that might help. Don’t add a cocktail, so create something you’ll actually local ingredient no one will be able to get hold enjoy drinking. of, but with drinks like a Bellini, the combines with a locally sourced puree to celebrate the romance of its Venetian Sell it surroundings. Assuming you’ve had positive feedback, make sure it’s high up on your menu. Then, Balance when customers ask for a recommendation, make them your drink. Stick with it, take it Mr Miyagi stressed this skill to Daniel-san in everywhere you go, suggest it to peers, enter Simple What’s in a name? the Karate Kid and he was right to. Balance is it into competitions. If you really believe in the crucial. Too strong and consumers won’t dig it. drink, it will only become recognised if you keep Simplicity is key, you want to make a drink all Quite a lot. The name is the brand. And to Too sweet and it might land with the disco kids, making it. bartenders can make, everywhere around the an extent, the brand is king. Try and make it but bartenders will dismiss it. Too sour and no world. Every bar needs to have, or be able to eye catching, and if it can help communicate one will want it. Hey, no one said it would be easy. quickly source or make the constituent parts. something about the drink then great. Take the Persevere The Espresso Martini can exist in the modern Bramble, an inoffensive and simple name that bar because most bars have coffee machines. also suggests a fruity drink, with blackberry Categorise Be prepared to be shouting about it for a while, The Penicillin included a house ginger , being the obvious main ingredient, but also it’s likely to take decades. interesting at the time, but something we all now spring and summer in the same stroke. It’s such It might help to identify some key flavour families consider easy enough to make. Think about a strong name that one of the best bars in the to then move around and combine in different what equipment every bartender around the world is named after it. Think about the entire ways. A core list would include: strong (spirit), world will have to hand – don’t expect them to concept rather than choosing a catchy name for bitter (), sweet (, , sweet don a lab coat to create a single drink. the sake of it – have a reason behind the name vermouth), sour ( ), dilution. But as and a story to tell. an extension also consider adding spicy, smoky and floral flavours into the mix. 6 7 CLASSIC COCKTAILS DOUGLAS ANKRAH DOUGLAS ANKRAH CLASSIC COCKTAILS

Do you remember when We’re sure you’ve been asked you first had the idea for this hundreds of times but what the Pornstar Martini? inspired the Pornstar name?

A lot of people mistakenly think Ha ha. I have been asked this a lot and every that I invented the drink at LAB but time I have to make it clear that the name has it was actually an idea I had when NEVER been anything to do with porn! When I I was putting together the menu was writing my book “Shaken & Stirred” in South at Townhouse in Knightsbridge, Africa, the solitude often got a bit much so I which I opened in 2002. Back would occasionally frequent a rather then, people were gradually louche gentleman’s club called Mavericks in IT’S BEEN moving away from things like the Cape Town. Cosmopolitan and were looking for something a little different. When I got back to London, I wanted to add a cocktail to the menu that was a bit naughty, NEARLY I knew it was a great drink but I and initially called it the Maverick Martini (which didn’t know quite how big it was is the cocktail’s more suitable pseudonym if going to be. I’m a massive music you are wanting to order it in the presence of fan so I compare it to writing a great parents or elderly relatives!). I then described it TWENTY YEARS song, you have a strong feeling that as the kind of cocktail that would be ordered by you’ve created something special a pornstar and the name stuck. It’s really more but you don’t really know if innocent than people think. it’s going to be a hit – but then SINCE DOUGLAS people immediately embraced it. Can you set the record straight and What was the drinking specify what the measurements, ANKRAH OPENED THE occasion and the ‘drinker’ ingredients and method are for the you had in mind? original Pornstar Martini? ICONIC LAB BAR (London I don’t think you can be too With pleasure. Here’s how to make it properly. prescriptive about the drinker or the occasion because, regardless The ingredients are 40ml of vanilla vodka (either of your intentions, the customer ‘Cariel’ or ‘Grey Goose La Vanille’); 15-20ml Academy of Bartenders) will ultimately decide for Passionfruit liqueur (Passoa); and 2 x flat bar themselves when they want to spoons of homemade vanilla sugar (I have my drink it. own secret formula to making this that I can’t possibly share!). When I was designing it, I wanted IN SOHO, BUT ITS to create a cocktail that could be *Editor - “You can use Teissiere consumed a few times over an Gomme instead!” evening. It’s a liquid dessert and a great after dinner drink, but people Shake all the ingredients for between 15-20 LEGENDARY LEGACY order it throughout the evening. seconds; fine strain into a chilled 7oz martini It’s got a that people glass; garnish with half a passion and have really embraced – some provide a teaspoon for eating the passionfruit. drinks serve a particular purpose Then serve a 60ml glass of chilled LIVES ON. or period of the evening, but the next to it. Pornstar Martini hasn’t been pigeonholed in that way. The way to drink it is to eat a bit of the A cornerstone of the capital’s thriving cocktail scene throughout the noughties, LAB not only launched passionfruit by scooping out the flesh using the careers of an array of illustrious industry figures (including Dre Masso, Alex Turner, Tim Stones, the teaspoon, then sip the martini and then sip Andrea Montague and the late Gregor de Gruther) but also popularised the legendary Pornstar Martini, the Champagne – and then go back and forth a modern classic cocktail first invented by Ankrah back in 2005. between the three experiences. 8 9 CLASSIC COCKTAILS DOUGLAS ANKRAH DOUGLAS ANKRAH CLASSIC COCKTAILS

Do you have a preference When you see a Pornstar Martini on when it comes to the the menu in bars that you visit, do Champagne? you always order it?

Good question! Any Champagne Not really. Now and again. Some bartenders will do. A lot of bars serve it with When you first created get nervous when serving me my own drink and Prosecco now but back in 2005, the Pornstar Martini, did you think others try and introduce a . It’s interesting Prosecco was seldom seen outside but it’s a bit like redesigning a two-piece suit; it’s Italian . In fact, the it had the potential to become a been done already! Pornstar Martini has been a major modern classic? factor in driving sales of Prosecco No. I liked it, but never dreamed it would become as it’s a cheaper alternative – it’s what it has. I’ve created thousands of drinks and my gift to the world! I wouldn’t say this is one of my favourites – it’s like when Nile Rogers from Chic talks about “Let’s Dance” by David Bowie, he’s always surprised that it was such a big hit. If you look at What is the most common the Rolling Stones and The Beatles, their most What do you believe constitutes mistake bartenders make successful songs are seldom the best ones. a ‘modern classic’? when mixing it? Taking shortcuts. I’ve seen bars Why do you think the Pornstar using apple , lime juice and Martini captured the imagination IT HAS TO BE orange juice instead of passion fruit liqueur but that makes it a and became a classic? totally different drink. It’s often at SIMPLE, EASY TO REP- the behest of the bar owner rather The ritual, the theatre of the serve and the than the bartender so I don’t blame simplicity of the flavours. People just embraced LICATE AND IT HAS TO the guys behind the bar, they are it during what was a very magical time for the just trying to make it cheaper. But London cocktail scene. Every bartender looks HAVE A MEMORABLE if you’re not going to do it properly, back at his 20’s and thinks those were the best don’t do it at all. Like all classics, days of their lives but when we were running LAB it’s a beautiful drink when done and Townhouse, they truly were beautiful times NAME. THEATRE IS properly – but an awful one when to be in bars – and I really enjoyed myself! Now, done badly. Don’t take shortcuts. the Pornstar Martini has become my nemesis! IMPORTANT People call me the Pornstar guy when I walk into bars and that’s not always a good thing! TOO – IT NEEDS TO STAND OUT. MAKE A Why do you think there have been so few ‘classics’ created in the last DRINK THAT decade or so? So, what is the drink you’re most proud of creating? PEOPLE WILL TRY TO It’s really difficult to create a classic in this age of the internet. But I also think that the role of bartenders has changed – so many are working MAKE AT HOME… BUT I THINK THAT WOULD BE THE as consultants, for big hotel groups and in close association with the big spirits companies. This CAN’T EASILY. “RUBY TUESDAY” AND THE “BLACK is fine but there’s not the freedom of creativity that you get with actually owning and running your own bar. If you own the bar you can happily STAR LINER”. CHECK THEM OUT. break the rules. There’s no-one telling you what you can or can’t do – I did what I wanted to do, that’s for sure.

10 11 CLASSIC COCKTAILS MODERN CLASSIC MODERN CLASSIC CLASSIC COCKTAILS

Can you name a classic cocktail created in the It’s a similar issue with themed menus. By last ten years? It’s difficult isn’t it? We posed this continually evolving and innovating with the look, exact question to a number of leading figures in feel and tone of the menu, bartenders don’t give the industry, a lot of head-scratching ensued. themselves the time to perfect a cocktail or the patience to play around with the formula to a For many, the most recent drinks that could truly point that it can potentially achieve greatness. be considered classics dated back to 2005. These were “The Penicillin”, a peaty Scotch And then, of course, there’s the scourge sipper by Sam Ross of Milk & Honey in New of social media. Michael Butt, founder of York; and the “Pornstar Martini” a drink originally Soulshakers and creator of the “Pieces of Eight” designed by Douglas Ankrah in London – yet aka “Treasure Chest” while at Mahiki, blames now widely available in canned form on the the rise of the phone camera for stopping his shelves of major supermarkets. brilliant idea becoming a modern classic. Butt was responsible for breathing life back into Other industry folk had to cast their minds back the classic “Fish House ” but its fame, to the 80’s when the renowned Dick Bradsell spread globally by the proliferation of pictures created both the Bramble and the Espresso on social media, meant bars could simply swap Martini – currently enjoying quite phenomenal the treasure chest for a different vessel – and popularity in bars up and down the country. the move to ‘modern classic’ was made all the more unlikely. MODERN CLASSIC

But why is it that during the last fifteen years, That said, any original drink that captures no cocktails have been ushered into the the imagination of both fellow bartenders and unofficial cocktail hall of fame? Well, perhaps customers, one that is easy to replicate, served time is a factor. There may be contemporary with charm and theatre, and priced in a way that drinks being drunk out there that will only be is affordable for the customer yet profitable confirmed as classic as time passes and with for the bar still has the potential to be a the benefit of hindsight. ‘modern classic’.

Perhaps it’s because everything has been done What’s more, just like the old school classics, before. After all, there’s only so much you can modern classics such as the Espresso Martini do with a drink – playing around with different and the Pornstar Martini; the Bramble and the proportions of alcohol, sweet, bitter and sour. No Penicillin, are reassuring markers on the menu matter how great a drink or how original and proven profit generators – but only if they’re it appears, there will be a historian of hooch done well. that will blow the dust from a weighty cocktail tome and reveal that, actually, something very ESPESSO similar was created some centuries before. In MARTINI short, we’re simply using the same notes but in a different order.

12 13 CLASSIC COCKTAILS THE MARGARITA THE MARGARITA CLASSIC COCKTAILS

Jesse Estes is one of the world’s Danny Herrera claimed to have leading tequila experts. As well as a invented the Margarita in the late London-based bartender and author he 40’s at the Rancho La Gloria Hotel, is a brand ambassador for Tequila Ocho located about seven miles south of Tijuana in Baja California. that has spent years learning about the As the story goes, he created the spirit. Here he gives us his take on the drink for Marjorie King, a showgirl and star of the silent screen. fabled story of the Margarita, a drink She had claimed to be allergic that’s drenched in mystery. to every type of alcohol except tequila, although she couldn’t drink it straight or with lime and This storytelling goes hand in hand . Herrera mixed three parts with a classic cocktail, and while there tequila, two parts Cointreau and one part fresh lemon juice, serving isn’t always time to regale the it in a stemmed glass rimmed with customers with tall tales, every now rock salt, and named the drink ‘Margarita’ – Spanish for Marjorie. and then, a bit of historical context can When, later in his life, Herrera make a drink more compelling when was asked when exactly he had introduced for the first time. first mixed this drink, he thought it would have been in October or November of 1947 or 1948, adding that: “Three things happen when you get old. You lose your memory, and I can’t recall the other two.” The Margarita The Margarita is indisputably south of the Mexican border – or One story goes that Margarita Sames, a Texas socialite, tequila’s most famous incarnation at a Texas socialite’s house in originally came up with the Margarita during the 1948 as a , and arguably Acapulco; that it was named after a Christmas holiday at one of her in Acapulco, Mexico. one of the most widely – and bartender’s girlfriend who had her She was attempting to mix tequila with Cointreau and wildly – popular beverages of the head shot off; and that it was made eventually added lime and a salt rim. According to Sames, second half of the 20th century. for a silent movie star who simply the drink remained unnamed or was simply referred to Yet for such a ubiquitous libation, couldn’t stomach her tequila any as ‘Margarita’s drink’ until her husband gave her a set of the Margarita’s true origins remain other way. As the publication Texas champagne glasses with her first name engraved on them, largely uncertain, though many Monthly put it memorably in an and the drink’s name was born. The cocktail’s recipe was theories, conjectures, and legends issue: “Who created the Margarita, spread by many of the social matron’s influential friends, prevail. They range from its and when? It would be easier to among them John Wayne and the Hilton family. This is the creation taking place in different identify the missing link between inception story that the French producer Cointreau hotels or bars – on, north, or man and ape.” has officially adopted, and frequently included in their advertising and marketing campaigns.

14 15 CLASSIC COCKTAILS THE MARGARITA THE MARGARITA CLASSIC COCKTAILS

‘King Cocktail’ Dale DeGroff identifies the roles of Sames and Herrera as being the most “key or instrumental”, if not in the My preferred Margarita’s creation, then at least almost certainly in MARGARITA its proliferation.

Next there’s the story told by Vern Underwood Sr., then president of Young’s Market Co., which 50ml Tequila Ocho Blanco had acquired the Californian distribution of Jose Cuervo in the 1930’s. Underwood credited Johnnie Durlesser, at the time a bartender at the Tail of the Cock in Los Angeles, as 25ml freshly squeezed having created the Margarita, after he asked Durlesser to recreate a drink he had tried in lime juice Mexico. Durlesser allegedly named the drink he created after his wife Margaret (hispanicised to Margarita). Underwood began marketing 25ml Ferrand Dry Curaçao this “new-found’ drink, taking out full-page advertisements made famous by the slogan “Margarita, more than a girl’s name.” Regardless of whether Johnnie Durlesser actually created Glass: Rocks the first Margarita, Underwood’s ad campaign helped to boost the drink to superstardom and possibly even had an influence in propelling the Garnish Cuervo brand to the market leader position it now enjoys. Half salt rim (ideally Maldon An earlier theory surrounds Danny Negrete, brand salt flakes) and optional who claims to have invented the Margarita in 1936. The story goes that Negrete created the lime wedge drink for his girlfriend at the bar he had opened Looking to the earliest mentions of the Margarita with his brother in the Garci Crespo hotel, in in print, we find the December 1953 issue of Puebla, Mexico, naming the drink after her – Esquire proclaiming “She’s from Mexico, and her Method comprised of equal parts tequila, triple sec, and name is the Margarita cocktail,” with the recipe lime juice, served in a rocks glass over crushed quoted as one ounce of tequila with a dash Shake all ingredients vigorously ice. However, according to Salvador Negrete, of triple sec and the juice of a lime or lemon. Daniel’s son, his father created the drink in However, the article doesn’t credit anyone as before double straining into honour of his sister-in-law at his brother David’s being the original creator of the Margarita. wedding (you can probably guess her name). It is Long story short, will we ever know the rocks glass over cubed ice also noteworthy to add that Danny Negrete went Margarita’s true origins? Like all the best on to work at a number of other bars in Mexico, legends, it is probably best to take these one of which being the Agua Caliente racetrack different accounts of the drink’s alleged creation in Tijuana – yet another venue claiming to be the like you would a nice cold Margarita – with a birthplace of the drink. generous pinch of salt.

16 17 CLASSIC COCKTAILS THE MARTINI THE MARTINI CLASSIC COCKTAILS

No other drink captures that The Martini may have had more moment, when the short arm twists than a Chubby Checker strikes six (or indeed five if you’ve tribute night but in its most had a really horrible day) more classic configuration, the key is to magnificently. Staggeringly simple capture the conversation between yet deceptively difficult to master, the gin and the vermouth while the Martini is unashamedly brazen simultaneously striking the right in its booziness, transparent in both balance between dilution and appearance and intention; clean- temperature. lined yet complex, a v-shaped salute to the tribulations, trudge Keep it cold. As cold as possible. and tyranny of modern life – and The shaker, the gin, the vermouth rightly considered as the king of the and the glasses. Everything. classic cocktails. Freshness, as ever, is fundamental. As American essayist Bernard Steeped in a colourful history, DeVoto contests in his book “The the memoirs of the Martini are, as Hour: A Cocktail Manifesto” - “You ever, the topic of much contention can no more keep a Martini in the among cocktail historians. Some refrigerator than you can keep a contend the cocktail’s beginnings kiss”. In this current era of ‘mindful date back to the Martinez during drinking’, it is worth noting that the goldrush in the 19th Century DeVoto warns against making while others claim the forefather Martinis too strong – drinking How can you do business without to the Martini was the Marguerite – one should give you the belief booze? After all, alcohol has been first mentioned in 1900. that “at any moment we may see oiling the wheels of commerce the unicorn. But it would not be a for more than a century, drink is Over the years, the Martini has Martini if we should see him”. the driving force behind modern become progressively drier and Capitalism and, let’s be honest, no developed into a drink that, today, other cocktail has fuelled the free- deftly dovetails with the current market economy more famously ‘gin-aissance’. No other cocktail THREE MARTINI and fervently than the Martini. captures the true character of LUNCH a gin, or indeed vodka, more Back in the 1960s and 70s, the concisely than a Martini - gently Last year, Lloyds of London, one “Three Martini Lunch” was a regular laying botanicals bare and of the oldest and most iconic ritual for those working on Wall ruthlessly revealing the spirit’s of British insurance institutions, Street and Madison Avenue in New flavour and, indeed, flaws. announced it was forbidding its York. It was an American imbibing employees from indulging in the institution when business folk iconic ‘liquid lunch’. would go out for lunch and have a Martini before the meal, a Martini A couple of bottles of clarets with during the meal and a Martini after clients? A swift half with Susan the meal. Clients would become from Finance? Not anymore. companions, any devil in the “Drinking alcohol affects individuals detail of prospective deals would differently,” announced an internal magically disappear, and binding email sent to its 800 staff. “A contracts would be drawn up zero limit is therefore simpler, and signed on bar napkins. And more consistent and in line with the best thing about it? It was tax the modern, global and high- deductible. performance culture that we want to embrace.” In the late 1970s, President Gerald Ford said, “The three-Martini As news of its outright ban on lunch is the epitome of American boozing between nine and five efficiency. Where else can you get spread, pints were spluttered onto an earful, a bellyful and a snootful pinstripes throughout the City. at the same time?” 18 19 CLASSIC COCKTAILS THE MARTINI THE MARTINI CLASSIC COCKTAILS DIRTY MARTINI WITH OYSTERS

This is, apparently, how Franklin D Roosevelt Alas, times have changed, preferred his Martini – made using a special set of and asking the taxpayer to silver shakers and famously sipped after he signed subsidise a liquid lunch is no the 21st Amendment that ended . Made longer deemed acceptable with a of brine, this is ideal with the on either side of the Pond. sea-swept saltiness of a fresh oyster. It really works, DUKES MARTINI But of all the ways to reduce shuck it and see. the UK’s trillion-pound Drinking a Martini at Dukes Hotel in Mayfair is an deficit, breathing life back Martini glass unforgettable imbibing experience. The hotel bar, into the iconic “Three Martini whose renowned regulars included Ian Fleming of Lunch” is certainly the most 60ml gin James Bond fame, has become synonymous with a enjoyable – much more signature, old-school serve. fun than austerity (albeit 5ml olive brine arguably less effective). At Dukes, the martini is brought to the customer on 7ml vermouth a classic Rosewood drinks trolley. Its preparation Of course, given the harks back to the fifties and was created originally sensible sipping times in Method by the legendary Salvatore Calabrese. A huge, which we now live, drinking Stir the ingredients with ice and strain into the glass. frozen V-shaped Martini glass is thinly coated

three Martinis over lunch SOME ARE HERE SUGGESTIONS: SIMPLE Garnish with an olive with very little vermouth and then filled with either is no longer considered freezing cold vodka or, preferably, freezing cold acceptable. But that doesn’t CLASSIC MARTINI juniper-led London dry gin. There’s no stirring. And prevent bars bringing it certainly no shaking. back – why not spread To be enjoyed alone without any interference from anything three different Martinis edible, the Classic dry martini is the ultimate aperitif, capable Crucial to the classic at Dukes is the Amalfi lemon across smaller serves and of stimulating salivary glands from a hundred yards and the twist – introduced by Duke’s esteemed head accompany them with ? perfect way to prepare your palate for the food ahead. bartender Alessandro Palazzi. A big slice of the large citrus fruit is gently squeezed between finger A great way to showcase Given that customers will most likely have experienced a and thumb which creates a thin layer of oil atop of the versatility of the Martini classic Martini before, why not serve up a softer and sweeter the chilled spirit. As the gin becomes more viscous is by celebrating its kinship version to start? Swap the dry vermouth for the acutely when almost frozen, the citrus oils don’t sink and with cuisine. Cocktail and aromatic and eye-catching Cocchi Vermouth di Torino, a the temperature also numbs the smell of the spirit food pairing can often be dark violet-hued vermouth more readily associated with – allowing the Amalfi lemon to really come through contrived but it can really Negronis and Manhattans. Rich in autumnal fruit, orange zest on the nose. work when done well. and warming spice but with all the bitter appetite-inspiring essentials you’d expect from an aperitif, it works wonderfully You need large lemons too as there are five shots Even when confined to in a Martini and contains enough character to simply sip of alcohol in a Dukes Martini. And they cost £19.50. using the core ingredients over ice. Hence the house rule that no-one can have more in a Martini, the bartender MARTINI than two. has the tools to tailor it to a Martini glass specific dish. With a glass of Martini glass , for example, there’s not 60ml gin Instead of an olive or lemon twist, this robust relation that same level of freedom of the classic Martini calls on the face-contorting A few dashes of white, dry vermouth to play around with flavours. 3 teaspoon dry vermouth/Cocchi Vermouth di Torino pickled onion as its garnish. This is superb with steak tartare, slicing through the meat and lifting the A few drops of Amalfi Coast lemon oil By pairing the following Ice cubes fatty texture off the palate with ease. Martinis with different 1 slice lemon rind from lemon dishes, and in less potent Olive or lemon zest twist Martini glass quantities, customers Frozen gin or vodka can experience the iconic Method 60ml gin “Three Martini Lunch” yet Stir the ingredients in a mixing glass with ice still be able to walk out of the and strain into a martini glass. Garnish with an 15ml vermouth venue unaided. olive or lemon zest twist Method Stir all the ingredients with ice and garnish with a pickled onion 20 21 CLASSIC COCKTAILS THE OLD FASHIONED THE OLD FASHIONED CLASSIC COCKTAILS

The Old Fashioned is a classic cocktail that should really adorn every cocktail menu. Not content with a whole heap FA SHIONED of history behind it, arguably more than any other classic, a competently made Old Fashioned is a reliable rubberstamp of quality for customers. If a bar can make an excellent Old Fashioned, The simplicity of the Old Fashioned chances are that the other drinks may open itself up to interpretation, on the venue’s list can be deftly but it certainly doesn’t suffer delivered too. OLD foolishness and frippery gladly. The past has proven that frivolous It’s a badge of honour among The search for the origins of the But now the Old Fashioned is in twists that depart dramatically modern bartenders. In fact, the Old Old Fashioned has remained a the midst of a revival, revelling from its core components are Fashioned has been consistently frustratingly futile exercise for in a renewed respect among rarely well-received. named as the most asked for cocktail historians – no-one knows bartenders who, in a wider quest cocktail among the venues that or perhaps will ever know where it for authenticity, and inspired by Muck about too much with this make up the “World’s Top 50 Bars” was first served - but the earliest a revival in , have cornerstone of the bartenders art – proof that it truly is a calling card written appearance of the recipe returned to the original recipes that and your customers, just as they of quality. comes from a chap in Chicago first earned it its reputation as a did after Prohibition, will soon be called Theodore Proulx, who true classic. asking for a “Whisky Cocktail” the As arguably the oldest recorded having bartended at a drinking Old Fashioned way. cocktail, first appearing as the establishment called Chapin & As well as making it the way it is “Whisky Cocktail” in Jerry Thomas’ Gore, wrote a cocktail book in 1888 meant to be made – a combination Bartenders Guide back in 1862, the called the “Bartenders’ Manual”. of water, Whiskey, sugar and Old Fashioned has a whole load of bitters – bartenders have riffed history behind it and its origins, as While a staggeringly respectfully on the classic without ever, is the topic of much debate. straightforward serve in theory, demeaning it as a drink; playing the Old Fashioned has sadly around with different bitters and been subjected to all manner , substituting whiskey with of unnecessary interpretations other spirits including reposado since its inception more than 130 tequila, aged rum, single malts years ago. Silly squirts of soda and blended Scotch, water, insufficient and inferior ice, and , or even muddling of fruit and less than genever. The Old-Fashioned recipe wonderful whiskey have all too is a template that one can apply to often reduced it from a wonderfully most spirits. austere, unembellished drink to a rather silly concoction undeserving In fact, the Oaxaca Old Fashioned, of the Old Fashioned name. created by Phil Ward in New York, is a cocktail that opened bartender’s eyes to spirits while the Benton’s Old Fashioned, designed by Don Lee of “Please Don’t Tell”, was the first drink to introduce fat-washing spirits.

22 23 CLASSIC COCKTAILS THE OLD FASHIONED THE OLD FASHIONED CLASSIC COCKTAILS

Sazerac

The is the strong, strapping sibling to the Old Fashioned. For enthusiasts, or indeed those with a fondness for a spicier Rye whiskey, both these classic cocktails will put a smile on your face - but only the Sazerac will put hairs on your chest… and also other parts of the body where you wouldn’t normally expect them.

It’s the rinse of absinthe that sets this short and stirred spirit-forward cocktail apart from the Old Fashioned. The wild Green Fairy liquid from France may only make a Benton’s fleeting appearance but it lifts the drink wonderfully and is a nod (or perhaps a Gallic shrug) in the direction of its New Old Fashioned Orleans’ roots.

40ml bacon fat-infused bourbon* There’s considerable conjecture as to whether the Sazerac 5ml maple syrup was first conceived using Cognac instead of American 2 dashes Angostura aromatic bitters whisky, with New Orleans bartenders swapping the for bourbon after the pesky phylloxera bug laid waste to Method French vineyards. Stir the bourbon and maple syrup in a mixing glass with ice. Then add the bitters and stir. But what is beyond doubt is that other essential ingredient Strain into a chilled Old Fashioned glass filled to a classic Sazerac - Peychaud bitters. Invented by New with ice. Garnish with an orange slice. Orleans resident Antoine Amedee Peychaud back in the 1830s, these slightly sweet bitters, adorned with a lovely *To make the bacon-infused bourbon: anise aroma, are an indispensable, unwavering element of a Take four strips of smoky bacon and fry in a true Sazerac. pan. Take 30ml of bacon fat and strain it into a container filled with 70cl of bourbon. Old Fashioned Leave it to steep in the whiskey for 6-8 hours or overnight at room temperature before placing 1 teaspoon of sugar syrup the bottle in the freezer. Once the fat has 2 dashes of Angostura bitters congealed in the bottle, strain the bourbon into a 75ml new, clean bottle. Orange zest to spritz

Method Place the sugar syrup and bitters in a glass, 60ml Bourbon add one ice cube and stir. Add some of the Sugar cube bourbon with another ice cube and continue 1 x Peychaud’s bitters stirring. Keep adding ice and bourbon 10ml Absinthe alternately, while stirring, until all the bourbon 1 x Lemon zest has been added. Stir again, then squeeze the oil from the orange zest over the drink, drop in the Method zest and continue stirring. The whole process Fill the glass with ice. In a mixing tin, soak the sugar cube with should normally take a few minutes, but if the ice four decent dashes of Peychaud bitters, then crush the cube is wet make sure you taste as you go to avoid and add the Rye Whiskey. Empty the ice from your glass, add over-dilution. the absinthe, swirl around the glass and discard. Stir your whiskey mix on ice to chill then strain into to the glass and spray lemon zest on the top of the glass.

24 25 CLASSIC COCKTAILS ON THE MENU: EDINBURGH ON THE MENU: EDINBURGH CLASSIC COCKTAILS

BRAMBLE If you need evidence of its brilliance then note EDINBU RGH that Bramble regularly features on industry polls and picks up the top bar gongs. The team’s unwavering integrity and commitment to a grounding in skills like the classics, earns the plaudits. A Martini is often a benchmark for the Edinburgh is one of the Thinking Drinkers, and whenever we’ve had one great drinking cities on here, it’s been immaculate, so we recommend the planet. Tourists pour in you start any classic cocktail tour here. from the four corners and shelter from weather with Jason Scott and Mike Aikman, the legends whisky or local gin in hand. behind Bramble, also launched The Lucky once offered the Co., another excellent bar within walking safest of havens, and they distance, and once again, you’ll discover bar still provide a welcome staff well versed in the classics. But after a retreat, but today the classic, try one of the Lucky Liquor menu city also boasts some of drinks - their approach provides an interesting the best cocktail bars on experiment in learning all you can from every the planet. Exceptional bottle on the back bar. “We’ve always worked ingredients, an eye for from this idea - we select thirteen bottles, design and a pool of create a menu with thirteen drinks, and run it for talented tenders all thirteen weeks,” they say. This is some feat, but ensure this is an essential they pull it off. pilgrimage for anyone hoping to learn more Mike and Jas also run the in the about cocktails, Stockbridge neighbourhood, again named after particularly classics. a great classic. The bar’s Last Word Revisited is a stunning cocktail, but the bar also excels Take Bramble for with it’s simple serves. It’s Quiquiriqui Matatlan example, a bar that even with Chartreuse goop and adopts its moniker from Ting grapefruit soda is an inspired . a great modern classic cocktail. The alumni of bar professionals makes for a long and impressive list, BON VIVANT amongst them the renown Ryan Chetiyawardana Elsewhere you’ll learn plenty from the Bon vivant, for example, but every the creation of Stuart McCluskey, another time one leaves, another splendid stalwart of the scene. Sours, cobblers, superstar takes their place. fizzes and mules all make it onto the menu in Edinburgh is like this, a a twisted form, there’s even a Scotch Colada fertile breeding ground for to show how classics have informed modern brilliant bartenders, and interpretations. Stuart also launched The Devil’s as the city’s spirits scene Advocate, a fantastic bar in Edinburgh’s Old continues to evolve, Town that is perfect for an Old Fashioned; El the numbers of bars Cartel, a great place for a frozen Margarita; and achieving the highest in 2019 he will have a new bar in the form of standards grows. Lady Libertine. 26 27 CLASSIC COCKTAILS ON THE MENU: EDINBURGH ON THE MENU: EDINBURGH CLASSIC COCKTAILS

COCKTAILS ATTAINABLE SUNSHINE 9.5 Glenmorangie whisky, Rinquinquin, basil, bitters & London Essence tonic WALK OFF THOSE BLUES 34.5 & FIZZES Johnnie Walker Blue whisky, Champagne syrup & bitters EASTSIDE IRIS 8.5 Hendricks gin, lime, sugar, cucumber, mint & egg white

BUZZ THE TOWER 10 Grey Goose vodka, Briottet Fraise, Solerno blood orange liqueur, lemon juice & sugar syrup 8.5 Bombay Sapphire gin, lemon, sugar & soda THROUGH THE GRAPEVINE 10 MORNING GLORY FIZZ Ciroc vodka, Briottet Banane, Aloe Vera water & soda, topped with Prosecco 9 Dewars 12 whisky, lemon, GREATESTlime, sugar, ADVENTURE Absinthe, soda & egg white 8.5 Whitley Neill Rhubarb gin, Cointreau, Cherry Heering liqueur, lemon juice & coconut cream, topped with bitter lemon TheMAMIE Tigerlilly TAYLOR menu is a 8.5 Copper Dog, lime & gingerNO TURNING BACK 8.5 perfect example of how a Roku gin, plum wine, lemon, Cocchi Barolo, bar can draw attention to Vida Mezcal, topped with bitter lemon A PLAIN OLD BISON 8.5 classics cocktails. As well as theirZubrowka own creations, vodka, Stolichnaya Salted Caramel vodka, thelemon, menu clearly ginger, dissects apple, soda SOURS& egg &white DAISIES

classics styles and families,OLD CUBANso that Sours 15 Flor de Caña 7 rum, lime, sugar,DAIQUIRI bitters, mint & Veuve Clicquot Champagne 8.5 & Daisies are packaged Bacardi Carta Blanca rum, lime & sugar together in one section, whileLIVENER Highballs & Fizzes WHISKY SOUR 108.5 areWild in another. Cat gin, lemon, raspberryNaked syrup,Grouse whisky, bitters lemon, & Veuve sugar, bitters Clicquot & egg white Champagne COSMOPOLITAN 9 Stolichnaya citrus vodka, Cointreau, lime juice & cranberry juice 9 El Jimador Blanco tequila, grapefruit, lime, sugar & soda QUEEN STREET 8.5 Bacardi Carta Blanca rum, Martini Ambrato, DARK ‘N’ STORMY lemon, sugar, bitters & Islay whisky spray 8.5 IGERLILLY Goslings rum, lime, sugar syrup,CLOVER CLUBAngostura bitters & ginger 9 Edinburgh gin, lemon, raspberry & thyme syrup, vermouth & egg white JIM BEAM HIGHBALL JIM BEAM SOUR 8.59 Panda & Sons stands out for its fantastic But when it comes to an exhibition Jim Beam bourbon & GrandDisaronno Marnier Amaretto, liqueur, Jim Beam Double Oak whiskey, lemon, sugar, bitters & egg white topped with orange & Pandan soda classics section, including a Bamboo, Angel of classics on a menu, Tigerlily PENICILLIN 9 Face, Brown Derby and Between the Sheets. takes some beating, and provides Copper Dog, Lagavulin 16 whisky, lemon, honey & ginger Meanwhile the twist on the Red Snapper is a useful example of how to present STAR HILL SPRITZ 9 Makers Mark bourbon, Aperol,SIDECAR lime juice & sugar syrup, 9 worth checking out mixing Tanqueray Gin, these drinks in the bar. Courvoisier VSOP Cognac, , lemon & sugar , kaffir lime leaves, lemon juice, topped with Prosecco & soda Worcestershire sauce, sriracha sauce and The bar at the hotel is another

Guinness foam. Then there’s the Voodoo with an impressive list of past Rooms, which has an excellent twist on the Mai bartenders, amongst them is Tai with it’s Rye Tai - a mix of Bols Genever, blue Jamie MacDonald, who now FIXES & SWIZZLES There isn’t masses of information available for curaçao, lime and orgeat housed in crushed runs the excellent Black Dahlia in the cocktails, this is a high volume bar after

ice, then topped with a prized layering of Edinburgh – yet another must-see. all, but by taking this approach the menu is Rittenhouse Rye. Jamie is one of the leading voices subtly leaving the customer with an insight into in the bar industry, with decades MOJITO classics. More importantly, the menu helps the 9 Bacardi Carta Blanca rum, lime, sugar, mint & soda And the recently opened Hawksmoor is also a of experience working and running bar understand what drinks actually perform. must-visit, again, the staff here have been drilled bars, he is also mentoring Andy Should the highball classics consistently in anything classic. The menu itself is based on Latta who now runs the bar at perform then the team knows to draw inspiration9 Bulleit bouron, sugar, mint & bitters a very classic concept and stands out as one of Tigerlily. Andy meanwhile, is an from this family of classics when creating our favourite menus of all time. emerging star of Edinburgh and something new. indeed potentially a future star of CAIPIROSKA 9 Ketel One Citreon vodka, lime & sugar the world cocktail scene, so he seemed like the perfect person to provide some insights into putting QUEENS PARK SWIZZLE 8.5 Appleton Rare Blend rum, lime juice, , demerara, mint & bitters classics on the menu. 28 29 CLASSIC COCKTAILS ON THE MENU: EDINBURGH ON THE MENU: EDINBURGH CLASSIC COCKTAILS

The response to the menu has We start the menu with simple been really positive, people like highballs because opening with an how it’s laid out into sections. accessible drink always helps, no We’ve found customers can one likes to feel stupid reading find what they are looking a menu with ingredients they’ve ANDY’S ESSENTIAL for, regardless of whether they never heard of, the simplicity of a CLASSICS LIST: are seasoned cocktail drinkers highball provides a perfect starting or complete newcomers who have point. If customers are familiar with never picked up a menu before. almost every element of these MY FAVOURITE CLASSIC GOES BACK TO RUM AND IS THE PIÑA COLADA, Customers in general have a better drinks they are more likely to try BUT HERE’S A LIST OF CLASSICS EVERYONE SHOULD KNOW: base of knowledge than ever something new. ANDY before, because cocktail culture has had such a huge resurgence LATTA in recent years. While our SOURS – WHISKY SOUR customers are interested in classic OLD FASHIONED – OLD FASHIONED Learning the classics cocktails they are also hugely gives everyone the same interested in our originals as they MARTINI – MARTINI foundation to work from. allow people to try something new Classics also give you a starting that they can only get in Tigerlily. HIGHBALL – TOM COLLINS point when you are training new bartenders. Once you get the FIX – MOJITO fundamentals down it gives you a greater understanding of PUNCH – FISH HOUSE PUNCH how different flavours and ingredients work together.

The first cocktail I ever made was a Treacle. I am a big fan of Rum and one of my friends wanted to introduce me to cocktails so Then we run the “House originals”, In terms of the information we put If you’re reading this trying to showed me how to make one, and these are important because it onto our menu, that has also been create your own classics, I this learning about all the classics allows us to showcase what we given plenty of consideration. We suggest you find a combination has subsequently helped inspire are doing as a bar. Although are a high-volume bar that sells of flavours you like and build other drinks. For example, one classics are very important to lots of cocktails every week and it from there. After that it’s all of our cocktails at Tigerlilly is the our menu we wanted to lead because of that we wanted to about ensuring it reads well Eastside Iris, which is just a simple with the concepts that make us give customers all the information on a menu and making sure it twist on a classic Eastside that we different to everyone else. they needed in the simplest way, is presented in a unique and added egg white to and paired with by doing this we can maximise interesting way. For example, the Hendricks, which works well with Then we’re into classics. It’s efficiency. We find it’s not really addition of ginger and a peated the flavour profile for the drink. important to keep an eye on these necessary to explain every detail whisky to the classic whisky sour drinks, even though classics have in Tigerlily, because the menu is completely changes the drink into The Bramble is our best seller, it endured. So, there are variations already broken down into different something that is unmistakably sells so well because we have been of Manhattans that don’t seem sections. This means people see a penicillin. experiencing a huge gin boom in to sell as well on our menu at the drinks they are familiar with which recent years and with the drink moment. I think this is maybe gives them an understanding for being a simple fix with fruit flavours because classics go in waves of most of the other serves. If they its accessible to most palates. popularity and Old Fashioneds are are interested in specifics we find what most people are drinking just they are quick to ask because But the main aim of the menu now – they’re looking for something they already have that basic was to break down what can be stirred down and boozy. Also flips understanding of drinks in that a challenging/ intimidating list of have never taken off as people category. And we don’t price drinks in a way that was easily get put off by the idea of a whole classics or originals any differently. approachable. It paired some egg. But you keep learning as you For us it is important to keep lesser known classics with drinks go and adapt. price consistency through our people are familiar with, to give whole menu. them an ability to try some new things but in a way that they would know what they can expect. 30 31 CLASSIC COCKTAILS THE DAIQUIRI THE DAIQUIRI CLASSIC COCKTAILS DAIQUIRI SPIN OFFS FAMILY Frozen TREE Daiquiri Corpse Aviation Reviver If we follow the lineage of a classic cocktail we serve in bars today, we can invariably trace it back to a different concoction, or the family of drinks No.2 that inspired it. Very few of the great classics have a precise invention moment, they are an accumulation of tried and tested ideas, refined and perfected by bartenders through the ages. El Dorado So, conversations about the origins of classics will always evoke a bit of conjecture from the purists. 3-Year-Old Still, it’s a fun way to talk about where a drink comes from, since stories of the past and people who Daquiri served these drinks always engage the customers and enable bartenders to think about flavour and inspire modern interpretations. 50ml El Dorado 3-year-old 20ml fresh lime juice Take the Martini, arguably the king of cocktails, 10ml sugar syrup and a perfect example. Some attribute the Martini - creation to the Martinez, served up in the early Add ingredients to a shaker This frozen (blended) Daiquiri Credited to Hugo R. Designed to raise the dead. It 1800s. The Martinez would sit in a family of drinks glass and fill with cubed ice. is also taken from Bar Florida Ensslin, appearing in his 1916 won’t. This recipe was made called ‘bittered slings’ – see or indeed the Shake and fine strain into Cocktails and is referred to as book, “Recipes for Mixed famous by Harry Craddock Old Fashioned, popularised during the early 19th a glass. ‘Florida Style’. Drinks”. His specs, as they in the 1930 “Savoy Cocktail century. But the bittered sling itself follows on from appeared: Book”. The constituent parts the slings, a family of drinks that date further back Glass: Martini of a sour are being adapted to the 18th century, and include juleps, gimlets and The El Dorado 3 year-old, a - Glass: Cocktail here with Lillet and triple sec. sours. Meanwhile the slings are predated by the premium pouring rum, has 60ml/2fl oz white rum - punch, which dates all the way back to the scooped silver at the 2018 IWSC 1 tsp liqueur 1/3 lemon juice Glass: Cocktail 17th century. awards and also scored 93/100 Juice half a lime 2/3 El Bart gin - at the Chicago Beverage Testing 1 tsp caster sugar 2 dashes Maraschino 25ml gin All of this is pretty confusing when you read it in Institute – the joint highest scoring 300ml/10 l/2fl oz crushed ice 2 dashes Crème de Violette 25ml Cointreau a block of text. So, in a bid to simplify the story, white rum ever tasted. , to garnish - 25ml Lillet Blanc and at the same time provide inspiration on your - Stir and strain in to glass 25ml fresh lemon juice menu, we’ve created a lovely infographic for you. It’s a sensationally smooth and Add all the ingredients to a Dash of absinthe This cocktail family tree follows the journey of the balanced charcoal-filtered with the crushed ice Feel free to twist this up – it’s Maraschino cherry, to garnish cocktail to the point of the Daiquiri, but also some of white rum. While tropical tones and blend briefly. Pour into heavy on the citrus! - the twists on drinks and their relatives, which might of pineapple, mango and citrus a glass and garnish with a Shake well with ice and strain help inspire your own interpretations and on appear on the nose – and a touch maraschino cherry into a existing drinks. of vanilla too, the palate plays to white chocolate, crème brule and bruised bananas. 32 33 CLASSIC COCKTAILS THE DAIQUIRI THE DAIQUIRI CLASSIC COCKTAILS

PUNCH SOURS GIN, BRANDY, RUM DAIQUIRI First there was darkness, then The first sours were served in the Brandy, gin and rum all featured Essentially a rum sour. The Navy The most significant step towards Daiquiri and the notoriously potent there was punch. Emerging in mid 19th century, stirring sugar, in the first sours, and still can be. had a big role to play in the Daiquiri, fame for the Daiquiri occurred incarnation requested by resident the 1600s when seafaring types water, gin and lemon juice. To try Indeed, any spirit can be tried in they were mixing lime with sugar in the early 20th century when barfly, Ernest Hemingway. were trying to stomach strong a rum sour, simply swap the lime a sour. Whisky sours came a little spirits as early as the era of Sir Constantino Ribalaigua Vert Today the Daiquiri is seen as a and strange spirits from abroad, for lemon juice. later than the first sours, but Francis Drake in a bid to fight scurvy. started mixing them in his El benchmark for a bartender, the punches were a simple mix of remain the most recognisable American Jennings Stockton Cox Florida, or Floridita bar, in Cuba. balance being key. How sweet spirit, spice, sweet and citrus, sours to date. is also credited with their creation. During Prohibition, or sour you mix depends on a diluted down. In 1828, Cox was working near the poured into Havana and gulped customer’s preference, but never Cuban mining town of Daiquiri this gorgeous beverage, inspiring go too sweet – this is a light aperitif and the locals reputedly drank Floridita to experiment with the drink, sour and bitter to prepare the Cancháncharas – sugar cane concept and give us a host of palate for food. alcohol, lime and cane honey. Cox variations, including the blended was a gin drinker, but swapped gin for rum in his sour and the drink took the name of the town.

MARGARITA CRUSTA SIDECAR DAISY The perfect example of evolution. A fancy sour. This is spirit, lemon juice and sugar, Once described as a Daiquiri gone wrong this Again, spirit, lemon, sugar, dilution, but also A 20th century creation mixing spirit (tequila), usually , but most importantly, served early 20th century twist on the Sour theme garnished with seasonal fruit. So popular during sweet (triple sec orange liqueur) and citrus (lime with a lemon or orange peel lining the inside of was originally equal parts brandy, triple sec and the mid 1800s, the Daisy appeared with brandy juice), and with salt (rather than sugar) on the the glass and with sugar on the outside rim. lemon juice, producing a tart taste experience and gin, but when the Tequila Daisy emerged it rim. Built on the foundations of both the Sour to say the least. Head to Harry’s New York Bar in gave rise to the Margarita. and Crusta, with a name taken from the Spanish Paris and you’ll still find them made in a way that word for Daisy. challenges your predilection for sour flavours. The Savoy went with 2 parts brandy, then 1 each of triple sec and lemon juice.

34 35 CLASSIC COCKTAILS SEEDLIP NON-ALCOHOLIC SEEDLIP NON-ALCOHOLIC CLASSIC COCKTAILS

There is an inescapable truth at the bar right now: more customers are demanding non-alcoholic options. This is not to say fizzy pop sales are skyrocketing, in fact the current backlash over sugar ensures the appeal of some soft drinks are distinctly flat. No, this references the growing number of drinkers who want a discerning drink but are taking occasional Much of this change in ethos “We’ve had great success with our breaks from alcohol, or indeed not touching it at all. has been driven by Seedlip, the NOgroni for example, in fact at the world’s first NA spirit. Seedlip’s Petersham Nurseries in Covent creator Ben Branson recognised Garden, it was in the top five the increased demand for a sellers of any cocktails, including discerning no abv alternative, but alcoholic. The drink was created also felt that while satisfying this for World’s 50 Best Bars Awards customer, a bartender should still and took eight months to create in be able to utilise his or her creative Ben’s garage. There was no fancy energy. In Seedlip he created a equipment just a kettle and 22 botanical spirit that’s as complex ingredients.” as any alcoholic beverage, and equally versatile, but without the The NOgroni is a fascinating drink abv attached. With this in mind, and well worth having a go at, it’s easy to see how Seedlip works but there’s not space to write the as an alternative to a spirit in an recipe here. The team at Seedlip interpretation of a classic cocktail, understand this, which is why which is something the team has they’ve set up an email address, if been keen to explore. you drop a line to Nogroniplease@ seedlipdrinks.com you’ll get a reply Stewart Howard is the European with the full recipe specs. brand ambassador for Seedlip and has enjoyed watching bartenders Why does it work? Well not work with the product. because Seedlip is a non alcoholic gin, which is a common “Seedlip is very new, in a misconception. But certainly completely new category so because its charged with fresh and understandably we had a little vibrant botanicals. SEEDLIP push back at the beginning, but as bar professionals learn more Creator Ben Branson launched about what the product is, they are the brand after experimenting with creating great drinks. NA distillates. He had discovered John French’s 17th century book “When I started as a bartender, The Art of , and in it I was told to learn at least 50 learned about the practice of using classics, and these drinks are very botanicals in NA distillates. The The danger is, if you can’t reach these Which is where non-alcoholic (NA) cocktails familiar to most customers. Since story follows that this was nothing customers through your menu, you’ll lose come in. The idea of a NA cocktail has most customers don’t respond more than intrigue on Ben’s part, them. If a bars devotion to consuming massively evolved in the last two years. well to huge changes on a menu, but when he was served a terrible alcohol comes at the expense of the non- Once commonly referred to as ‘mocktails’, it makes sense to bring Seedlip mocktail, he took the endeavours drinker, they will look elsewhere for a social this term has become hugely unfashionable into the classics, then you give more seriously. He developed a experience. That might be another bar, but and bartenders distanced themselves the customer something they bespoke method of distillation and eventually, it could mean an entirely different from the terminology. Having seen the rise understand. And when it comes worked with an extraordinary range environment, so the industry needs to in non-drinkers, the best bar professionals to menu creation, having an of botanicals to create a NA spirit welcome this emerging customer base. now understand there is a need to change accessible NA option similar to now being poured in bars around the conversation, and innovation and a classic is great way to offer a the world. creativity must be applied to any cocktails sophisticated alternative for guests without alcohol. who are not drinking. 36 37 CLASSIC COCKTAILS SEEDLIP NON-ALCOHOLIC SEEDLIP NON-ALCOHOLIC CLASSIC COCKTAILS

Seedlip’s botanical blends have enabled bartenders to create NA twists on everything from Negroni and Espresso Martini to mules, SEEDLIP sours and spritzes, and with some of the world’s leading pioneers SPICE 94 in bartending engaged, it’s only a matter of time before every bar will £15.00 70CL SEEDLIP want to offer something similar. GROVE 42 How to present these drinks on NON-ALCOHOLIC the menu is the next challenge. £15.00 70CL As Stewart explains, some of the bar professionals have Seedlips spicy variant, been particularly clever with Spice 94 is brimming with NON-ALCOHOLIC their approach, including Ryan botanical brilliance that Chetiyawardana at Dandelyan. makes it ideal for a simple As well as a non alcohol mule or a complex creation spirit, this contains zero “Ryan takes an inclusive approach like the Espresso MartiNO. calories, is sugar and of non-alcoholic options Jamaican allspice berry sweetener free, and has no throughout the menu. So, you’ll find and cardamom distillates artificial flavours. Instead some cocktails that work with an combine with barks and it’s a mix of water, natural alcoholic drink but can be ordered a bright citrus finish. Try a botanical distillate and by simply substituting the alcoholic simple serve with Seedlip, extracts, with an emphasis element with Seedlip. The problem tonic and red grapefruit peel on citrus, using orange, with having all the NA options are garnish, or try the two NA blood orange, mandarin, at the back of a menu is that non cocktails on the lemon, ginger drinkers head straight there and next pages. and lemongrass. miss all the work that has gone into ESPRESSO the menu. By placing them through the menu, everyone can enjoy MARTI-NO something a bar team has spent months working on.” 50ML SPEEDLIP SPICE 94 50ML SANDOWS COLD This is a very smart move because BREW CONCENTRATE by placing the NA with the alcoholic drinks, you don’t alienate anyone Peppering the menu with 10ML SUGAR SOLUTION from the wider conversation at occasional NA options is an GLASS: COUPE the bar. If one in five customers at excellent tip, it ensures those the bar doesn’t drink, the only way ordering NA drinks don’t have to X3 COFFEE BEANS they’ll keep coming back with the make a big point of not drinking four drinkers is if they feel part of and allows them to be part of the the experience. conversation around cocktails.

NA drinks are undoubtedly part of the bar’s future now, but the conversation doesn’t have to be predictable, and the job of the LIGHT & BREEZY bartender doesn’t need to be boring. This isn’t about mixing fruit 50ML SPEEDLIP GROVE 42 juices or serving a G&T without the TOP WITH FEVER-TREE G. With a product like Seedlip there GINGER ALE is genuine scope to explore the same flavour parameters set out GARNISH LIME WEDGE by spirits and create a discerning cocktail you can be proud of and GLASS: COPPER MUG the customer will enjoy. 38 39 CLASSIC COCKTAILS HAYMAN’S DRY GIN HAYMAN’S LONDON DRY GIN CLASSIC COCKTAILS

41.2% HAYMAN’S HAYMAN’S DRY ABV MARTINI

£16.34 PER 70CL GIN MARTINI 50ML HAYMAN’S DRY GIN 10ML DRY VERMOUTH 1 DASH ORANGE BITTERS

1. ADD ALL INGREDIENTS TO A MIXING GLASS AND STIR WELL 2. STRAIN INTO A CHILLED MARTINI GLASS 3. SNAP OVER THE OILS FROM LEMON ZEST AND GARNISH WITH A GREEN OLIVE FOR THE BEST OF BOTH FLAVOURS

For a classic gin cocktail, it seems For every deftly distilled flavoured cassia bark, the botanical line-up churlish not to use an authentically gin, there are several that are a is deliberately traditional and classic gin. bit silly, lacking juniper character delightfully balanced. Rather than entirely and undermining rather having one botanical fighting for While there’s much to admire than invigorating the gin scene. attention over the rest, the ten about the envelope pushing, If you’re after an authentic antidote botanicals work together to create entrepreneurial verve currently to all of this then look no further a sum greater than its parts. catalysing the gin category, there than Hayman’s True English is a growing concern that some London Dry, a gin whose fidelity to Voted the best London Dry Gin brands are losing sight of what the the approach and recipes of at the “World Gin Awards 2018”, it spirit should be. its 19th century founders has is complex, subtle and beautifully been unwavering for more than balanced with a distinct juniper Juniper, lest we forget, has 150 years. flavour broadened out by citrus historically been the predominant character, delicate spice and flavour in gin. Of course, there’s It’s a traditional English gin in the flint-dry freshness. always been other botanicals in the truest sense – with Hayman’s mix but the taste of juniper berries controlling every element of A genuine, juniper-forward gin with has, until relatively recently, seldom production from botanicals to heaps of history, it’s a style that been overshadowed. bottle. A neutral spirit is distilled suits the classic cocktails of the HAYMAN’S NOTE: using 100% English to 19th and early 20th century such A WARM GLASS IS THE MARTINI’S But amidst the current ‘ginvasion’ create a blank canvas on which as the classic Martini. ENEMY, SO MAKE SURE TO FREEZE YOUR MARTINI GLASS FOR UP TO of new brands, each desperate ten botanicals, steeped in the spirit AN HOUR BEFORE MAKING YOUR to create a point of difference for a whole day, are allowed to DRINK. THIS WILL NOT ONLY GIVE in a cluttered and competitive express themselves. THE GLASS A FROSTED FINISH, BUT category, juniper has been MORE IMPORTANTLY WILL KEEP jettisoned in favour of Boasting juniper, coriander seed, YOUR MARTINI PERFECTLY CRISP alternative flavours. lemon peel, Angelica root and AND CHILLED. 40 41 CLASSIC COCKTAILS BOLS GENEVER BOLS GENEVER CLASSIC COCKTAILS

42% BOLS GENEVER ABV

£19.59 PER 70CL GENEVER MARTINI

We were lucky enough to be at Many still identify Dutch genever Bols offers an excellent 100% malt the launch of Bols Genever back as a forerunner to the gin we enjoy in the range, as well as an aged in 2008, a triple distilled Dutch today. This juniper forward spirit genever, but it’s the original variant spirit that was created when Bols is unlike a London dry in that the that proves particularly useful when revived a 19th century genever base is malt, this is closer to a it comes to cocktail creation. recipe. David Wondrich was on whisky, rather than other grains hand to talk us through it, after he that feature in the neutral base in Leaf through the pages of classic had worked with the legendary English . In the 17th century the cocktail books and you’ll find Bols master distiller Piet van malt base was often re-distilled in many gin drinks will have used Leijenhorst. They had come a pot with juniper and botanicals, genever, so it makes sense to together to consider and craft and aged in casks. New distilling try and rediscover some of the something new from the ancient techniques changed its nature forgotten cocktails. Employ a bit recipe, and their ambition was to slightly, and today you’ll find two of reinterpretation and a classic present bartenders with flavours jonge (young) and oude (old), the could be revived in your bar. Take to take them back to the golden former with additional neutral spirit, the Holland House, based on the age of cocktails. They achieved the the latter high in malt. theme of an Aviation. This strong HOLLAND HOUSE ambition and the product is going and dry drink really showcases MARTINI from strength to strength. Bols is one of the truly epic the spirit, but was in part revived distilleries, having started in thanks to the work of people like 25ML BOLS GENEVER As a master of cocktail history, genever’s early success in the 17th David Wondrich and Bols Gevener. 25ML LUXARDO MARASCHINO David Wondrich was the century and its global distribution ideal collaborator, and has an through the Dutch shipping trade It was originally the signature drink 25ML BELSEZAR DRY VERMOUTH encyclopedic knowledge of put it at the forefront of the gin of Holland House, a New York bar classics – check out any of his cocktail revolution, particularly with and the former workplace of Harry 25ML FRESH LEMON JUICE books to widen your own horizons. its export to the . Craddock before he moved across His work with Bols Gevener helped to the Savoy in London. 1. SHAKE ALL THE INGREDIENTS the distillery forge something As a result, you’ll discover many WITH ICE that now offers an ideal choice early gin mixes would have used a 2. FINE STRAIN INTO A GLASS for anyone trying to improve their sweeter style of gin like genever. 3. GARNISH WITH A LEMON ZEST classic cocktail knowledge. 42 43 CLASSIC COCKTAILS BELSAZAR DRY BELSAZAR DRY CLASSIC COCKTAILS

19% BELSAZAR DRY ABV

£14.75 PER 75CL DRY VERMOUTH MARTINI

Having long stagnated amid the Belsazar is made with some To sweeten the blend, natural shadowy recesses of the back bar, wonderful base – something , refined with oak-aged resigned to its supporting role in which is all too often the vermouth brandy to check in Martinis, Manhattans and Negronis, category’s Achilles heel in terms the barrel, is then added before vermouth is currently enjoying a of ingredients. Unlike other a three-month maturation in remarkable global resurgence. , great quality stone casks. The result? A nicely have been deliberately placed balanced, amber-hued, bone dry Vermouth has become a at the forefront of what Belsazar vermouth with a touch of drink about which bartenders do – hence the use of a blend on the nose and furnished with passionately pontificate, obsess of six elegant yet accessible phenomenal fruity and floral even, and this enthusiasm has Markgräflerland and Kaiserstuhl notes – juicy orange, honeysuckle, crossed over onto the consumer wines courtesy of the Weingut elderflower and a touch of old- side of the bar. Life has been Zähringer winery, established back fashioned lemonade. But the breathed into iconic brands that, in 1844. finish has a lovely, gently bitter THE MARTINI not so long ago, were on the brink bite, thanks, one imagines, to the of fading away and the category A fifth-generation fruit brandy wormwood, cinchona and gentian 50ML BELSAZAR DRY has been further buoyed by the distiller Phillip Schladerer then in the macerate. arrival of new vermouth brands of provides the all-important eau 30ML GIN genuine quality. de vie and macerates – blossom, This is made for a Martini. spices, husks and herbs steeped Classically ‘dry’, where the one 1. POUR BELSAZAR DRY Perhaps the most impressive in carboys filled with spirit. The part vermouth is outnumbered by AND GIN INTO A MIXING of this new breed of vermouths beautifully balanced fruit , the five parts gin, the Belsazar Dry GLASS FILLED WITH ICE is Belsazar from Germany, a distilled on-site, are created using is noticeable without interrupting CUBES four-strong range of outstanding the finest fruit with the highest the spirit. It’s when the Martinis 2. STIR AND STRAIN INTO A fortified wines sourced from the natural sugar content – lifting the get wetter, however, when the CHILLED MARTINI GLASS fringes of the Black Forest in the base wine without compromising vermouth’s woodier, herbal and 3. SERVE WITH AN OLIVE region of South Baden. its character. savoury characteristics deftly OR LEMON ZEST dovetail with the gin. 44 45 CLASSIC COCKTAILS OUR/LONDON VODKA OUR/LONDON VODKA CLASSIC COCKTAILS

40% LONDONTINI OUR/LONDON VODKA ABV 50ML OUR/LONDON VODKA £16.35 PER 70CL 20ML DRY VERMOUTH LEMON OILS 1 GREEN OLIVE

1. ADD CRUSHED ICE TO A MARTINI GLASS TO CHILL 2. ADD VODKA AND VERMOUTH TO MIXING GLASS, FILL 2/3 FULL WITH ICE AND STIR FOR 20 SECONDS 3. EMPTY ICE FROM MARTINI GLASS 4. DOUBLE STRAIN MARTINI INTO GLASS 5. SQUEEZE OILS FROM A LEMON ZEST OVER THE TOP OF THE COCKTAIL THEN DISCARD 6. ADD ONE GREEN OLIVE TO GARNISH

Something’s distilling in East Today, Our are being It’s an incredibly clean vodka, London. Beneath two non-descript distilled by locals in Berlin, Detroit, with a smooth and silky, minerally arches, to the sound of trains Amsterdam, New York, Miami and mouthfeel, nuanced notes of rumbling in and out of Hackney Los Angeles. While the DNA of pepper and fennel and a flint-dry Downs station, you’ll find the the brand provides every micro finish. It’s clean-lined character capital’s only distillery dedicated distillery with a technical template, lends itself beautifully to the entirely to boutique vodka. each city has the freedom to Londontini – the perfect classic create a bespoke version of the cocktail to showcase the subtlety Our/London Vodka is genuinely vodka using as many locally- of the liquid within. unique with an intriguing approach. sourced ingredients as possible Made and marketed by local – as long as it doesn’t compromise independent micro-distillers, it’s the quality. part of a worldwide ‘family’ made up of similar city-based brands, Hand bottled, labelled and boxed and teams of micro-distillers, in Hackney, Our Vodka/London scattered all over Europe and is distilled using English wheat the USA. and a strain more readily associated with . It This collaborative project, initiated boasts a strength of 40% ABV, and and still overseen at arm’s length by comes in very cool looking 70cl , began in 2011 when size bottles which gives it genuine a group of Swedish entrepreneurs stand out in a notoriously cluttered decided to create a global vodka vodka category. brand but with local roots. 46 47 CLASSIC COCKTAILS GREY GOOSE LA VANILLE GREY GOOSE LA VANILLE CLASSIC COCKTAILS

40% GREY GOOSE LA VANILLE ABV

£29.95 PER 70CL VODKA ESPRESSO & PORNSTAR MARTINI

A lot happened in 2003. Concorde of both bartender demand and classic flagship Grey Goose vodka, flew across the Atlantic for the last renewed consumer interest in made using single origin French time, an 18 year-old Ronaldo made flavoured vodka. wheat from Picardie and natural his debut for Manchester United, spring water from Gensac-la- Lance Armstrong won his fifth Tour While vodka may have been Pallue, and then blends it with the de France, Apple launched iTunes usurped by gin in terms of growth essence of vanilla beans sourced and those German magicians and ‘noise’ in recent years, it still from Madagascar. almost got eaten by their own tiger. remains the biggest selling spirit GREY GOOSE in the UK, representing almost a With no sugar added and no LA VANILLE It was also the year that Grey third of all spirit sales and said to be artificial vanilla essence involved, Goose La Vanille was originally worth an estimated £1.87bn. this is a nuanced, natural vanilla ESPRESSO released into a hugely vibrant vodka with a complex yet clean- MARTINI vodka market as the first super- Within the huge vodka category, lined character. There’s soft notes 45ML GREY GOOSE LA VANILLE premium 100% natural vanilla which is twice the size of whisky - of crème brulee on the nose, white variant. After a successful run, the second-best selling spirit, it is chocolate and fudge on the palate 30ML SINGLE ORIGIN ESPRESSO during which it gained a strong flavoured vodka which is showing and a pleasant peppery finish. following on both sides of the bar, the strongest value growth – up 25ML PREMIUM COFFEE LIQUEUR it was discontinued soon after 6.3% in the last year. Furthermore, While La Vanille is recommended OPTIONAL: FLEUR DE SEL Bacardi bought the brand from buoyed by the popularity of in the Pornstar Martini by its Sidney Frank Importing Company modern classics such as the inventor Douglas Ankrah, Bacardi in 2004 for a reported $2bn. Pornstar Martini and the Espresso is encouraging its use in the 1. ADD ALL INGREDIENTS Martini, vanilla is the second fastest Espresso Martini and La Vanille TOGETHER IN A SHAKER AND But bartenders kept it on their growing variant within the Spritz – Grey Goose La Vanille and SHAKE VIGOROUSLY back bar as a cult flavour and flavoured sector. lemon juice, lengthened and stirred 2. STRAIN AND SERVE IN A CHILLED never stopped asking for it. More with ginger ale over ice and served MARTINI GLASS than a decade since its withdrawal, Francois Thibaut, the Grey Goose in a . 3. ADD A GARNISH OF VANILLA Bacardi is breathing life back into cellar master, has retrieved the BEAN RESTING ON THE RIM the iconic offshoot on the back original recipe which takes the 48 49 CLASSIC COCKTAILS HAYMAN’S OLD TOM GIN HAYMAN’S OLD TOM GIN CLASSIC COCKTAILS

41.4% HAYMAN’S OLD TOM ABV

£18.44 PER 70CL GIN TOM COLLINS

TOM COLLINS 50ML HAYMAN’S OLD TOM 25ML FRESH LEMON 10ML SUGAR SYRUP

1. BUILD IN HIGHBALL OVER CUBED ICE AND TOP Sprightlier, sweeter and stylistically drinkers could drop a coin. Patrons – its current custodians being WITH SODA sitting somewhere between 16th would quietly call “puss” then James and Miranda (brother and 2. LEMON WEDGE TO GARNISH century Dutch genever and classic place their mouth over a discreetly sister), the fifth generation to distil London dry, Old Tom is a style of positioned lead pipe. Bradstreet, great gin. gin that, having all but disappeared on receiving the coin, would reply by the mid 20th century, is now “Mew” before dispensing a shot of It’s Old Tom gin, at 41.4% ABV, is enjoying a genteel revival. sweet tasting gin. a faithful resuscitation of a recipe from the Hayman 18th century Old Tom began life back in the This ritual rapidly became rife all archives and was released in early 18th century when London over the City and although hooch response to bartender demand for was in the grip of an unsavoury historians have questioned this an Old Tom gin that can accurately gin craze. Having been driven etymology of Old Tom gin, it’s a recreate drinks from its heyday – underground by tighter distilling great story and true if you believe namely the Martinez and the Tom regulations, and with supplies of it. As part of the wider ‘ginaissance’ Collins. genever becoming scarce, distillers we’re currently enjoying, an array began cutting their illicit spirits with of different Old Tim gins have been The juniper, citrus and coriander unsavoury ingredients (such as unleashed onto the market – yet come through cleanly but even turpentine) and disguising them few can boast a history like that of when mixed in a Martinez or using sweeter botanicals. Hayman’s. lengthened with tonic, the soft liquorice-laced light sweetness The new regulations tightened Hayman’s is the oldest gin distilling lets itself be known. It’s a natural, the way shops could trade gin too dynasty in the UK, dating back five nuanced sweetness that is – imposing a £50 licence on gin generations to the 1860s when a particularly tailored for a Tom sellers (more than £7000 today). distilling business was founded on Collins a gin cocktail that tickled This, according to legend, spawned Cale Street in Chelsea, just 3 miles fancies in Gin Houses during the a secretive feline-themed loophole down the road from where the new early 1800s and was thought to be created by Captain Dudley Hayman’s Distillery was opened first served at the Coffee House Bradstreet, who placed a painting back in 2018. bar at the Limmer’s Hotel London. of a black cat (known as a ‘Tom’) on the front of his gin shop. While the distillery may have moved about a bit over the last 150 A slot was inserted beneath the years, it has steadfastly remained cat’s paw into which thirsty gin in the hands of the Hayman family 50 51 CLASSIC COCKTAILS CAZCABEL REPOSADO CAZCABEL REPOSADO CLASSIC COCKTAILS

38% CAZCABEL REPOSADO ABV

£19.39 PER 70CL TEQUILA MARGARITA

The margarita is a quintessential been awarded Gold at the World a Tommy’s Margarita. This take classic all bartenders should know, Spirit Awards and International on the Margarita was created but for anyone looking to take it up Spirit Awards gives it the kudos to by Tommy Bermejo, tequila a notch, then adding a reposado back it up. ambassador for the Mexican tequila to the mix gives it a rich National Chamber of Tequila and luxury finish. Cazcabel is a fine Cazcabel’s reposado has been and the man who runs the iconic exponent of a reposado, made with rested in virgin American oak Tommy’s in San Francisco, an 100% blue agave and crafted in for anywhere between nine and essential bar pilgrimage for any Arandas in the Jalisco region 11 months, with regular tastings bar professional. By serving his of Mexico. to ensure it’s in peak condition. Margarita on the rocks and with TOMMY’S The process imparts the spirit agave syrup, he helped present MARGARITA Like all the best brands, Cazcabel with a dose vanilla and rounded tequila as a discerning drinks comes complete with plenty of viscosity, the essential assets for option, and the Tommy’s Margarita 50ML CAZCABEL story telling opportunitie to help any reposado, and ensures you’re is now a bona fide modern classic. REPOSADO TEQUILA the pitch to a curious customer. left with a sweet agave profile. As Based around the legend of Don you’d expect, this is one that can When using the Cazcabel in this 25ML LIME JUCE Cazcabel, a healer from the hills be enjoyed neat but will also assert serve you really appreciate the of Jalisco, famous for his natural itself in the best cocktails. agave notes, and that touch of 15ML AGAVE SYRUP tonics, the links to Aztec, Toltec eucalyptus. The white pepper and Olmec heritage should give And while we urge all budding gives it a bit of a spicy, rustic edge, 1. SHAKE ALL THE INGREDIENTS plenty of inspiration for any new bartenders to add the classic something you don’t ever want to 2. POUR INTO ROCKS GLASS cocktail names. Meanwhile the Margarita to the repertoire, lose with tequila and the caramel OVER ICE packaging is eye catching for the the Cazcabel does lend itself and toasted oak works in tandem 3. GARNISH WITH A LIME WEDGE punters and the fact that it has beautifully to the modern twist, with the agave syrup. 52 53 CLASSIC COCKTAILS COINTREAU BLOOD ORANGE COINTREAU BLOOD ORANGE CLASSIC COCKTAILS

30% COINTREAU BLOOD ORANGE ABV

£15.97 PER 70CL LIQUEUR MARGARITA

It’s been a hundred years since Edouard embarked on a selfless Mediterranean island of Corsica, Harry MacElhone created his White mission to not only find the finest the “l’ile de beauté”, where the Lady cocktail at London’s Ciro Club fruit but also achieve the ideal balmy climate and the rich, rugged – a three-part triumph of gin, lemon distillation process. It was all about Corsican soil furnish the fruit juice and Cointreau. the orange peels. Eschewing with phenomenal flavours and an the sickly-saccharine approach intense aroma. Cointeau, the archetypal triple-sec adopted by other producers at launched in 1875 in the French town the time, Edouard achieved the The blood oranges are harvested of Angers in the Loire Valley, is a ideal orange-flavoured equilibrium just once a year between February crucial component in a cannon by using both sweet and bitter and March when their peels of classic cocktails. Three years peels (Citrus Sinensis and Citrus contain high concentrations of after MacElhone’s , Pat Aurentium respectively) sourced the essential oils that are then McGarry reached for the orange- from all over the world. captured by distillation. flavoured liqueur’s iconic square, amber-coloured bottle to make the While the regions from where The resulting liqueur, lying within a THE BLOOD Side Car while Margaret Sames, the oranges are sourced rotate, rose gold finished square bottle, ORANGE a tequila-loving Texan, is said to the simple, all-natural recipe has is phenomenally fresh, MARGARITA have first made the ‘Margarita’ remained steadfastly loyal to tremendously tangy, using Cointreau whilst on holiday Edouard’s original version and, acutely-aromatic, crisp and 50ML BLANCO TEQUILA in Acapulco, Mexico, back in as well as rigorously selecting complex. The addition of the 1948. And then, of course, sales of the finest fruit, the role of Maison Corsican blood orange peels 25ML BLOOD ORANGE Cointreau soared on the coat-tails Cointreau’s Master Distiller is to builds on the original with a bigger COINTREAU of the Cosmopolitan - a cocktail achieve the right fruity and fresh bouquet and a character that is 25ML FRESH LIME JUICE created by Dale De Groff in New blend of bitter and sweet peels. audacious and unashamedly York and further made famous by er….orange. the TV series “Sex in the City”. Having focussed entirely on its 1. SQUEEZE 1 FRESH LIME TO core product for more than a Yet it remains just as versatile as ENSURE YOU HAVE 25ML OF Not bad going for a brand that was century and a half Cointreau the classic Cointreau. It can be LIME JUICE originally designed as a digestif launched a blend of Remy Martin served up as an alternative to 2. ADD ALL INGREDIENTS INTO A back in 1875. Cointreau was first Cognac called Cointreau Noir in a Spritz in the Cointreau Rouge 3. ADD A COUPLE OF CUBES OF made by Edouard Cointreau 2012 and followed this up in 2017 (equal parts cranberry juice and ICE TO SHAKER & SHAKE WELL who, disillusioned with overly- with the unveiling of Cointreau served over ice in a large wine 4. RUN A LIME OVER THE RIM sweet, insipid curacao liqueurs, Blood Orange, a vibrant, intensely glass) but can also shine in the OF THE GLASS (COUPE GLASS noted a growing appetite among aromatic expression made using classic cocktails synonymous with IF POSSIBLE) consumers for exotic oranges – a Corsican blood orange peels. the original Cointreau l’unique – we 5. DIP RIM INTO A PLATE OF SALT phenomenally fashionable fruit that found it worked magnificently in 6. STRAIN INTO THE was notoriously hard to get hold of. The blood oranges grow amid a Margarita. CHILLED COUPE groves on the mountainous 54 55 CLASSIC COCKTAILS CHERRY HEERING LIQUEUR CHERRY HEERING LIQUEUR CLASSIC COCKTAILS

24% CHERRY HEERING LIQUEUR ABV

£17.57 PER 70CL LIQUEUR SINGAPORE SLING

RAFFLES Last year, the global cocktail- distinct almond edge. The cherries Queen Victoria is rumoured to making community raised a glass in are then soaked in neutral grain have enjoyed the rich red liqueur as SINGAPORE SLING honour of one of the most enduring spirit along with a blend of herbs a digestif but its success over two 15 ML HEERING and iconic staples of the back bar and spices before being aged in centuries owes much to its key role CHERRY LIQUEUR – Cherry Heering. oak casks for three years. in a number of classic cocktails including Remember the Maine 30 ML GIN In 2018, the hugely venerable and Cherry Heering is rightly revered and Blood & Sand – the whisky versatile cherry liqueur celebrated as the original cherry liqueur – not drink that was first featured in 120 ML PINEAPPLE JUICE 200 years since Peter F Heering, least because it actually tastes like Harry Craddock’s Savoy Cocktail 15 ML LIME JUICE a 26 year-old shopkeeper, first cherries. This real deep intense yet Book back in 1930. produced and sold it from his small balanced cherry flavour is what 7.5 ML COINTREAU grocery store in Copenhagen. distinguishes Cherry Heering from But the cocktail with which Cherry the huge array of other cherry Heering is most synonymous is 7.5 ML DOM BENEDICTINE Peter had inherited the recipe from liqueurs on the market - which all of course the Singapore Sling, 10 ML GRENADINE Mrs Carstensen, whose husband too often taste awfully artificial with created in 1914 by Ngiam Tong ran the shop where Peter served a flavour profile more akin to cough Boon in the Long Bar at the Raffles A SPLASH OF as an apprentice. The recipe, which sweets than orchard . Hotel, a colonial-style haunt ANGOSTURA BITTERS has remained intact ever since, frequented by many famous faces takes Danish Steven’s cherries - It also has a rich heritage including Ernest Hemingway. 1. SHAKE ALL THE INGREDIENTS grown in Dalby and picked every behind it. In 1876 the company WITH ICE August - and crushes them was appointed official supplier to While the exact ingredients of 2. STRAIN INTO A SLING GLASS together, including the stones. the Danish court and it still the Singapore Sling has been the 3. GARNISH WITH FRESH supplies the royal households of subject of much debate over the PINEAPPLE AND A Destoning the fruit prior to crushing the UK, Sweden, the Netherlands years, the Raffles Hotel serves it FRESH CHERRY would deny Cherry Heering of its and Denmark. as follows: 56 57 CLASSIC COCKTAILS TAILS COCKTAILS TAILS COCKTAILS CLASSIC COCKTAILS

14.9% TAILS COCKTAILS ABV

£16.25 PER 70CL PRE-BATCH TWISTS

ESPRESSO MARTINI A CLASSY CAFFEINE- FUELLED COCKTAIL BEST ENJOYED SHAKEN WITH ICE AND SERVED IN A MARTINI GLASS WITH COFFEE MOJITO BEAN GARNISH. AWARDED A CUBAN CLASSIC THAT A SILVER MEDAL AT THE FOUND ITS FEET IN THE “INTERNATIONAL WINE AND 19TH CENTURY – WHEN SPIRITS CHALLENGE 2017”. COPPER AND AGEING PROCESS BEGAN Over the last few years, one of While they may lack the same Tails Cocktails, which was TO PRODUCE BETTER the most significant drinks trends muddling and shaker-rattling first launched back in 2010 in PORNSTAR RUMS. SOME INSIST THE in the UK on-trade has been the “theatre of dispense”, the benefits association with Bacardi, is one of MOJITO’S NAME COMES emergence of pre-batched, of pre-mixed cocktails are quite the main premium players in this MARTINI FROM ‘MOJO’, A CUBAN SEASONING MADE FROM bottled cocktails. clear. Firstly, they are extremely burgeoning category. Last year, A SPIRITED COCKTAIL convenient. When the bar is ten- to coincide with London Cocktail LIME AND USED TO BEST SERVED SHAKEN Some of the industry’s most deep in card-waving customers, Week, it recently underwent a FLAVOUR DISHES. PERHAPS WITH ICE AND SERVED IN illustrious bars and bar-owners, and the staff are under pressure, it’s handsome revamp with new AS A REFERENCE TO ITS A MARTINI GLASS WITH A from JJ Goodman of the London never a good time to be muddling a branding featuring a rooster LIME INGREDIENT, THE PASSION FRUIT OR LIME Cocktail Club and Dandelyan’s mojito or queuing up at the coffee (believed to have been used to DRINK BECAME KNOWN GARNISH AND A SHOT Ryan Chetiyawardana to the machine to make an espresso. stir alcoholic mixed drinks), the AS THE COCKTAIL WITH ‘A PROSECCO ON THE SIDE. award-winning Bar Termini, have balance scales (to reflect the LITTLE MOJO’ - IN SPANISH, invested and innovated in this Equally important is consistency. precision and science behind AWARDED A SILVER MEDAL ‘MOJITO’. BEST ENJOYED growing arena with ranges of By using pre-mixed cocktails, you batching cocktail recipes) and the AT THE “INTERNATIONAL OVER ICE IN A HIGHBALL ready-made classic cocktails. can be reassured that the cocktails classic Martini cocktail glass. WINE AND SPIRITS GLASS WITH A WEDGE OF will taste the same every time you CHALLENGE 2017”. A world apart from the ready-to- serve them – even when the bar is The range included two versions LIME AND A SPRIG OF MINT. drink RTD products that proved bursting at the seams. of the Mojito, a classic cocktail so popular in the nineties and that remains hugely popular yet BERRY the noughties, these new pre— As well as improving speed of notoriously time-consuming to MOJITO batched premium products are service and consistency, it also make. It also includes the Espresso designed to be stylish substitutes delivers other benefits such as Martini and the Pornstar Martini THIS IS A FRUITY TWIST ON for cocktails shaken, stirred and reducing the cost and hassle of - two of the biggest cocktail bar- THE CUBAN CLASSIC. FRUITY served from scratch. both training and wastage whilst calls in the UK. AND CRISP, BEST ENJOYED also making stock-taking and OVER ICE IN A HIGHBALL sourcing of esoteric ingredients GLASS WITH A WEDGE OF less problematic. LIME AND A SPRIG OF MINT. 58 59