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Anyone for Cocktails?
Surrealist film maker Luis Buñuel was a serious Martini aficionado. In the classic cocktail scene in ‘The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie’ we hear that “a classic cone-shaped glass is best” and that “a Dry Martini should be sipped like champagne.” Buñuel liked them very cold and he liked them very dry.
This is a nauseating concoction, an abomination in a glass and a sin against Tepoztēcatl though many disagree. Just don’t tell the banditos. They may get personal.
Mint Juleps are associated with the American South in general, the Kentucky Derby in particular. More than 120,000 have been sold over the two-day period. In his classic article, ‘The Kentucky Derby is Decadent and Depraved’, Hunter Thompson noted:
“By mid-afternoon they’ll be guzzling mint juleps with both hands and vomiting on each other between races.”
One of the worlds most popular cocktails and, probably, one of the most abused. That’s a great shame as, in the right hands, it can be a fine beverage. If you can, use authentic Cuban sugar cane rum. For greater depth of flavour use a dark rum. Do not over muddle the mint, you don’t want a shredded salad at the bottom of the glass, and go easy on the sugar until you taste it.
In 1941 John Martin, owner of Smirnoff at the time, met Jack Morgan at Jack’s bar, The Cock n’ Bull, on Hollywood’s Sunset Strip, along with Russian immigrant Sophie Berezinsk,i who wanted to sell her father’s copper mugs. Jack made his own ginger beer. Right then and there the Moscow Mule, originally the Smirnoff Mule, was born.
A less soporific alternative to the tradition of mulled wine at Christmas, baking the apples gives it a real festive feel. While you are at it you could do a couple of extra apples but for a shorter time and put a slice into each drink.
Another creation by George at Bar Gros, inspired by the unexpected discovery of a locally-made English Barley Wine from the Rondadora brewery in the Spanish Pyrenees and what a discovery it was.
Most bartenders default to be a red, sweet, Italian rosso. They should really try a Catalan vermut. This is a game changer. Catalans regularly drink it neat on the rocks. It is one of the most popular drinks, especially at Sunday lunchtime or as a general aperitif. It smells like a warm kitchen, not a visit to the dentist like the ubiquitous Martini & Rossi Vermouth which is never taken alone, and for good reason.
The Old Fashioned cocktail first appeared in the late 19th century, when bartenders didn’t get so uptight with their drinks. It was named for its simplicity, being from a class of ‘old-fashioned cocktails.’ Long out of fashion, it had a renaissance in the late 2000s, sparked by an inexhaustible thirst for them by TV show Mad Men’s tough protagonist Don Draper.
Another classic, created by George Mulholland with Patxaran, a herbal liqueur made from sloe berries in El País Basco and Navarra. Politely put, it is an acquired taste and could be pretty rough until we discovered the delightful Patxaran Gaizka, family-made in small runs in the Basque region since 1831.
In essence, a sort of classy Whisky Sour, it was created by Sam Ross, at Milk & Honey, NYC, in the early 2000s. The game changer, beyond the honey, was to float a slug of smoky Islay whisky on the top, exuding peaty aromas before the drinker has even got their lips to the glass.
Sometimes, when you are introduced to a new drink, you wonder if someone was highly inebriated when they invented it or just drunk it by accident, while pissed, and decided it was a good idea at the time. Case in point is the Pickleback, not even a cocktail in the true sense, just two shots, one of whiskey, originally bourbon, now often Jameson’s, followed by a shot of pickle juice.
It is questionable that you can even call this a cocktail, some insist that they should have at least 3 components, but it is a classic dating back to the Royal Navy in the 19th century when, oddly, Angostura was prescribed as a cure for sea sickness.
Pisco is a South American spirit, derived from the Quebranta, or a few other specified grapes, therefore technically a brandy. Chile and Peru, the sole source, both vigorously claim to be the originators, though the town of Pisco in Peru may offer us a clue.
CGA’s Mixed Drinks Report for last year ranked it as the UK’s biggest selling cocktail yet again. There really is no accounting for taste. Revolution Bars alone sold 364,000 of them. That’s a lot of hen parties. Let’s hope they sell a lot of condoms too.
It can make you feel like you’re in the Highlands on a snowy Christmas day with a breeze blowing up your kilt, but do, please, leave the Buckfast back in the monaster
Easily dismissed as ‘just a Bloody Mary with gin’ Red Snapper can gain from further delicate nuance.
First appearing in 1937, the Rusty Nail only came to the fore in the 1960s when it was said to be the Rat Pack’s favourite tipple and Frank Sinatra’s go-to when he frequented P.J. Clarke’s, NYC. Donald Sutherland endorsed it but, naturally for him, with Canadian rye, not Scotch.
Sazerac has its roots in 1850s New Orleans, home to Peychaud’s bitters. The original base was Sazerac de Forge et Fils, a cognac. However in the 1870s, when phylloxera struck French vineyards and it was in short supply, this was switched to local rye whiskey and it stuck although some bartenders have now reverted to cognac.
The Sea Breeze has, by now, certainly attained the status of retro, and may be close to being on the endangered list. However, in the heyday of Fred’s Club, in the 1980s, it was the drink of choice for hot summer afternoons or sweaty nights in the city.