Sticky, unctuous and sweet – honey has been humankind’s sweet treat for thousands of years. Ancient cave paintings in Valencia, Spain give evidence of humans collecting honey as long as 9000 years ago with corroborative evidence pointing to ancient Egyptian, Middle Eastern, Chinese and Mesoamerican peoples all being sweet on the honeybee’s handy work…
Recipes
Drinks
I used to look quizzically at punters coming up to the bar asking for a wedge of lime in their Scotch and soda or bourbon and coke. I mean, who does that? Lime with whisky? You must be off your rocker! But take the time flick through some old recipes and you’ll find that there is indeed a historical, mixological precedent. The Mamie Taylor – a Scotch highball with lime and ginger ale – is a fine and delicious example and the Lion’s Tail, printed below, shows bourbon to be a simpatico partner to lime also.
Written and seriously well styled by Simon McGoram Cocktail photography by Rob Palmer Presented by…
Bartender headed down to Cohibar on a stellar afternoon with a line-up of good vodkas was something to envy, and the team of bartenders – Sam Bygrave, Ollie Light, Mike Sales, Daniel Noble and Mike Lowe – were keen as mustard to have a bit of hair of the dog. Check out the sensational cocktails that they whipped up – well done lads, a great job all round!
In this issue of Bartender we have the two great Gaelic spirits going head to head. A line will be drawn in the sand – on one side the ‘Mcs’ and on the other the ‘Macs’. Long has there been divisive debate on whether whisk(e)y should be served with or without an ‘e’ and to whom the invention uisge beatha rightly belongs.
You would be forgiven for thinking that bottled cocktails are a relatively new fad – a result of liquor multi-nationals trying to maximise profit. But cast aside the rash of premixed beverages filling liquor store shelves for minute a take a look back into the murky booze laced history of mixed drinks and you’ll see that the bottled convenience of pre-mixed beverages has long been popular.
If you’re a fan of peaty Scotch whiskies you’re going to love the drink that I’m featuring today. And, surprisingly enough, if you’re not a fan of peaty Scotch whiskies, then there’s a good chance that you’ll like this one, too.
These awesome Tequila cocktails featured in the May issue of Australian Bartender magazine Photography by…
Rye whiskey is here and boy howdy does it mean to stay! A flavoursome grain spirit that expresses more of a citric and pepper spice flavour profile than its sweeter cousin bourbon, rye has a touch more cowgirl in it than southern belle. We bartenders love it all the same, and so did American mixaturges from the early days of the cocktail.
The team here at Bartender, it is no secret, are partial to well construed rum cocktails. The Airmail is a delicious concoction that certainly fits this bill though it’s one we only came across but recently. We whipped one of these bad boys up after discovering it in The PDT Cocktail Book, but it first appears in 1941 in a book called Here’s How by W.C. Whitfield.
The RUm Cocktail Experiment – A big thanks to Glen Wheeler, John Toubia, Vanessa Hall, Bella Hallinan and Rhyley Wheeler showing up well before they should have been at work and taking part – and to owner Marty O’Sullivan for bending my ear and getting the team involved.
Malt whisky – nectar of the gods. There are few tipples its equal in terms of the devotion and fanaticism it incites in its followers. Many of malt whisky’s most ardent supporters scorn even the mere thought of adding ice to a wee dram let alone mixing a beverage with it. Perhaps that’s why historically there are relatively few malt whisky cocktails – that and the fact that single malts are a relatively recent addition (mid-20th century) to the bartender’s arsenal.