Thankfully, theatre is not dead. I recently propped up the bar at Cinco Lounge in Lisbon, solo. I had brought a book of crosswords but needn’t have worried – the bartender kept up a string of friendly patter and magic tricks to amuse me.
Tag: Cara Devine
I want this to be a one-stop shop – more than just a list of recipes. This book deconstructs cocktails to their constituent parts and helps you understand how to put them back together again through the use of the ‘Taste Triangle’.
Head up the brightly painted staircase to Botanik and the real fun (for bartenders, at least) begins. A carefully curated selection of glassware and bar equipment would leave any reader of this magazine lusting
Just as we no longer baulk at the idea of using a high-end single malt or artisanal mezcal in a cocktail designed to showcase the unique attributes of that particular bottle, perhaps we should approach sherry cocktails in the same way – allowing them to be the star of the show.
There are also advocates for simply salting your sugar syrup. Geoff Fewell, a long-time bar wizard who is currently working at Golden Age Cinema suggests using 1% salt to sugar, as well as 1% citric acid for citrus drinks to make them pop – your Daiquiri will never be the same again.
“There’s something magical and very cool (or maybe I’m just very simple!) about taking this absolute mess of a liquid and through the clarification/milk-washing process ending up with a silky and plush liquid that can be a finished drink or an ingredient in another drink. It’s also an easy way to wow your guests…” – Darren Leany, Capitano
It’s International Women’s Day today, so let’s take a moment to acknowledge the wonderful women…
Andy Chu & One or Two: The journey From Royal Dornoch in Scotland to some of Melbourne’s finest bars
“Hospitality, for a while now, has forgotten to say ‘no’, especially through Covid times…my aim is to be a small bar that people are coming to for a reason. You wouldn’t go to a pizza shop and ask for the best Indian rice they have. I have to pick what I can do, and provide quality over quantity.”
It is generally accepted that Sour cocktails are essentially individualised versions of the progenitor of cocktails, the Punch, and the Fizz is yet another variation on that spirit/citrus/sweetener template, with the addition of, well, fizz, by way of soda water.
‘Amaro’ means bitter in Italian (‘amari’ is the plural), and covers an incredibly wide category of bitter herbal liqueurs made by steeping botanicals in spirits or wine, and adding sugar. Amari were originally made by monks and thought to be medicinal (where would we be without those tonic-touting monks?! Living in a much less flavourful world, that’s for sure).
Brandy’s raisiny richness has always been something to return to in the colder months; a comforting hug. You can drink it neat, of course, but when it comes to mixed drinks there are really only two seminal brandy cocktails: the Brandy Crusta and the Sidecar
Ask any bartender about their sherry selection and their eyes will light up with a feverish passion. And port, once the preserve of red-nosed captains of industry straight out of a Dickens novel, has finally taken its rightful place on cocktail lists alongside the vermouths and quinquinas who have reigned as undisputed champions of the fortifieds for far too long.