Photography & Video by Christopher Pearce @christophernpearce
Cocktails presented by Angostura Rum featuring Angus Power, Bartender at Piccolo Bar, Sydney
This month we headed to Piccolo Bar to showcase the Rum Old Fashioned to showcase some of the amazing Angostura products with the team from Proximo Spirits. The Old Fashioned is a simple drink, with just the spirit base (in this case the delicious Angostura 1919 Rum), sugar and bitters (Piccolo uses a 50/50 blend of Angostura Orange Bitters and Angostura Aromatic Bitters), so this is a drink where the spirit really shines.
If you’re really into your cocktail history, this drink harks back to the first recorded definition of the word cocktail from 1806 by The Balance and Columbian Repository of Hudson, New York as “a stimulating liquor composed of any kind of sugar, water and bitters.” It hits all those notes and is considered by many to be the benchmark classic.
The Old Fashioned is a simple drink, with just the spirit base (in this case the delicious Angostura 1919 Rum), sugar and bitters (Piccolo uses a 50/50 blend of Angostura Orange Bitters and Angostura Aromatic Bitters), so this is a drink where the spirit really shines.
In this video, Angus demonstrates an old-school technique that takes a little bit more time but it’s worth the wait. He starts by adding a few drops of Bitters to a La Perruche pure cane sugar cube and muddling in the bottom of the glass, with a dash of soda to help break it up. He then adds the Angostura 1919 Rum and Bare Bones ice cube. Then he stirs to dissolve as much sugar as possible and to get the perfect chill and dilution. Finally, we garnish with an orange peel and a Luxardo maraschino cherry.
It’s an old technique that the team at Piccolo learnt from some well-known bartending names: Mr Dale De Groff, one of New York’s finest old-school bartenders who rose to fame at the Rainbow Room in Manhattan; and a Mr Marco Faraone, an award-winning Italian import who help to set up many local Sydney bars including the now closed Lotus in Potts Point.
THE RECIPE: 60ml Angostura 1919 Rum 3-4 dashes Bitters (50/50 blend Angostura Aromatic Bitters & Angostura Orange Bitters) Dash soda La Perruche Sugar Cube Large Bare Bones ice cube Garnish with orange and maraschino cherry
About Angostura 1919 Rum
Angostura 1919 has a pretty unique story. In 1932, following a catastrophic fire, hundreds of charred casks filled with rum were found at Trinidad’s Government Rum Bond. The casks which were filled in 1919 had been ageing for 13 years.
Named for the year it was casked, Angostura 1919 is a light golden rum aged in charred, used bourbon oak casks and distilled in Angostura’s multi-column continuous still. It was produced using the unique blending techniques developed by the Fernandes family in the 1800s, the same blend which was salvaged from charred casks from the fire in 1932.
An amazing blend of rums aged between 5 and 14 years, Angostura 1919 is a true Trinidadian rum, oaky on the palate, with exotic spices, vanilla, a hint of honey and dried fruits.
For more information about all the Angostura products, reach out to your Proximo Spirits rep.