This Classic featured in the January issue of Australian Bartender magazine

By Simon McGoram
Photography by Rob Palmer

Bartenders are always looking for the perfect quick Tequila serve, what many don’t realise is that they’ve been beaten to the post by an 88 year old bartender from the little town of Tequila in Jalisco, Mexico.

Don Javier Delgado Corona has presided over a tiny bar in Tequila, called La Capilla (the Chapel) for more than 70 years. Over time the man has become a living legend and his bar a place of worship for Tequila ‘true believers’.

“This is a true Mecca for those seeking the spirit of Tequila,” explains Tomas Estes, Bartender contributor, restaurateur and founder of Tequila Ocho. “…this is a no nonsense place - no frills. Don Javier stirs his drinks with a butcher’s knife, a fork or whatever is at hand.”

Don Javier’s creation, La Batanga, like his bar is a simple affair. Tequila, fresh pressed lime and cola served in a salt rimed glass. At La Capilla it’s made with a local ‘mixto’ brand, distilled only a couple of hundred metres from the bar, called El Tequileño. The El Tequileño company was founded in 1959 and Don Javier created his original Batanga recipe with El Tequileño Blanco in 1961.

As you’re unlikely to have a bottle of El Tequileño Blanco on hand I recommend that you go for a quality bottle of 100% agave blanco Tequila. Juice your lime straight into the salt rimmed glass, add a load of cubed ice a pour in a generous slug of your Tequila.

La Batanga

• 60ml Blanco Tequila
• Half a lime
• Bottled cola to top
• Flaky sea salt for rimming

*Rim a large highball with salt. Using a Mexican elbow; squeeze in the juice of half a lime. Add your Tequila, fill with ice, top with cola and stir with a large knife.

The January Cocktail Experiment was shot at the Bellevue Hotel, Paddington.

Address: 159 Hargraves Street, Paddington
Phone: 02 9363 2293
Web: bellevuehotel.com.au

The recently revamped Bellevue Hotel was the perfect backdrop for this month’s cocktail experiment on ‘whiskies’. We had a good line-up that included Jameson Gold Reserve, Dewar’s White Label, Bowmore Legend, AnCnoc and the Dalmore. Leading the experiment was Dan Woolley (Group Beverage Manager, Riversdale Group) and he was joined by a few of the Riversdale Group’s crew - Paige Aubort (LoFi), Kevin Peters (LoFi & the Standard) and Dean Sykes (bar manager of LoFi).

The consummate whisk(e)y educator, Woolley led the team through a tasting session that uncovered many of the wonderful characteristics, and potential cocktail styles, that each product was showing. The Jameson displayed delicate cereal notes and a light to medium body that was thought a good match to a spiced whisky sour, perhaps some agave or fig and cinnamon jam. The crew noted that the Dewar’s had a soft, creamy texture which would benefit from some orange zest or bitters - and ultimately it would end up served as a refreshing punch that incorporated tea and lemon curd.

The anCnoc, with its noticeable sweet malt characteristics, was tipped to benefit from some added acidity which could hold up to the sweet notes. A subtle addition of fresh grapefruit was one idea brainstormed and worked a treat. The Dalmore was certainly one of the more robust whiskies of the day, and Woolley - who has an obvious penchant for this dram - thought it would match additions such, marmalade, citrus and spice, vanillas and chocolate. The team agreed that too much port or sherry might overpower the natural notes that the whisky carried - a port rinse was favoured as a subtle way to compliment any drink.

Finally the Bowmore got a run, and it’s subtle mix of smoke and sweet lingered on the palate. This Islay malt benefits from younger malt stocks, and so has a lot of life, vitality and sparkle in the bottle. Matching suggestions were white caramel, cacao, even a red wine rinse. Light flavours, and citrus were agreed to be to soft and they would not hold up to the malt’s profile.

Dean Sykes

Pot of Gold

• 60ml Jameson Gold Reserve
• 30ml fresh lemon
• 10ml sugar
• 2 dashes grapefruit bitters
• 1 barspoon fig & cinnamon jam
• 1 barspoon spiced apple syrup
• Eggwhite
• Orange twist and cherry for garnish

*Add ingredients to a Boston, dry shake and then add ice and shake hard. Double strain.

What Dean says: “The grain and spiced notes stand up well with some spiced jam and lemon. Jameson’s Gold Reserve has an almost rye whiskey quality to it and works well in a cocktail.”

Kevin Peters

Highland Mist

• 60ml anCnoc
• 15ml Apricot brandy
• 15ml Orange marmalade water
• 5ml Agave syrup
• 2 dashes Angostura bitters
• White grapefruit foam-air for garnish (layer on top)

*Add ingredients to Boston filled with cracked ice, shake hard and double strain. Float foam-mist on top.

What Kevin says: “I wanted to bring a subtle tartness by creating an ‘air’ to contrast the noticeable sweetness of the AnCnoc. Leaving the drink simple, but with a bit of a ‘wow’ factor works and showcases the malt as best possible.”

Dan Woolley

United Kingdom Cup

• 100ml Dewar’s White Label
• 30ml Cartron Caramle Liqueur
• 120ml Irish Breakfast tea
• 120ml English Breakfast tea
• 2 barspoons of lemon curd
• Lemon and orange zest for garnish.

*Shake whisky with lemon curd, liqueur and ice. Pour into a jug, add teas and stir. Serve in teacups.

What Dan says: “The combination of English and Irish tea, and the blended whisky, represents the United Kingdom in a cup.”

Paige Aubort

The Buck Hunter

• 60ml Dalmore
• 10ml crème de cacao
• 1 barspoon of brown sugar
• 2 dashes orange bitters
• Orang wheel for garnish

* Mix sugar, bitters and add spirit and liqueur, stir with ice. Strain into a fresh Old Fashioned glass and garnish with orange wheel.

What Paige says: “I wanted to make a drink that enhanced the beautiful texture of Dalmore and by incorporating crème de cacao and orange bitters as base flavours the spirit is enhanced and the cocktail balanced.”

Dan Woolley

Hansell & Gretel’s Islay Gingerbread Gettaway

• 60ml Bowmore Legend
• 10ml gingerbread syrup
• 10ml lemon juice
• 1 barspoon of marmalade
• Garnish with Morello cherry and drop a spoonful of cherry juice.

*Add ingredients to a Boston, shake and double strain into a chilled martini glass.

What Dan says: “Complimenting the characteristics of the Islay malt was easy, and the gingerbread, lemon juice and marmalade add sublte, yet complex, notes to this standout whisky.”

By Gary Regan
The Cocktailian is reprinted with the kind permission of The San Francisco Chronicle. Gary is the author of The Joy of Mixology (Clarkson Potter, 2003) among other cocktail and spirit related books. Visit his website ardentspirits.com and sign up for the free Ardent Spirits newsletter. You can contact Gary at: gary@ardentspirits.com

Not long ago, I wrote about inexperienced bartenders who have been creating nonsense cocktails and taking themselves far too seriously for my liking. I’ll stand by my words on that subject, but at the same time I’ve got to say that I’m so darned impressed at the innovations in the craft that I’ve seen coming from bartenders who understand how to put ingredients together in harmonious, ingenious ways.

Balsamic vinegar, for instance, is being used by more than a couple of cocktail masters. Brad Farran at the Clover Club in Brooklyn makes his Strawberry Blonde cocktail with a strawberry muddled with freshly ground black pepper, white rum, lemon juice, simple syrup, egg white, grenadine, and a bar spoon of white balsamic vinegar. It’s a brilliantly balanced drink.

Anthony DeSerio uses balsamic in the Bloody Marys at Aspen, a bar and restaurant in Old Saybrook, Connecticut, and Bradford Scott Knutson at the Swing Wine Bar in Olympia, Washington, adds it to Cognac.

In London, at Mark’s Bar in Hix Restaurant, bartender Francesco Turrini is being innovative in a different direction. He soaks porous pebbles in Pedro Ximenez sherry for a week, stores them in a freezer, then places two or three of the pebbles in the bottom of an old-fashioned glass, and covers them with 23-year-old Ron Zacapa rum. The name of the drink? On The Rocks, of course.

The use of porous pebbles in cocktails and mixed drinks, I discovered, is not a new trick at all. Turrini told me that he got the idea when he heard that people in the 1950s in search of the driest gin Martini possible, soaked stones in dry vermouth, placed them in the bottom of glasses and filled the glasses with chilled gin.

Turrini is also using very peaty Scotch in tiny quantities to add a fabulous accent to a Tequila cocktail that he calls Love in Jalisco. The drink also calls for orange curaçao, dry vermouth and orange bitters. Turrino describes it as a cross between a Margarita and a Tequila Martini, and he says that it works well as both an aperitif and as a digestive.

Love in Jalisco

• 45ml Reposado Tequila
• 30ml orange curaçao
• 30ml dry vermouth
• 1 dash orange bitters
• 1 dash Angostura bitters
• 3 drops peaty Scotch whisky (such as Laphroaig)
• 1 orange twist, as garnish

*Combine the Tequila, curaçao, vermouth and bitters in a mixing glass. Add ice, stir and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Top with the drops of whisky, and garnish with the orange twist.

**Adapted from a recipe by Francesco Turrini, Mark’s Bar, Hix Restaurant, London.

By Simon McGoram

The Sherry Cobbler - a tag with a familiar ring to it. No doubt a few of you are well acquainted with this beverage and even for those who have never compounded one must admit the name rolls comfortably off the tongue. You see this libation is in your bartending DNA - the Sherry Cobbler was the Mojito, the Caipiroska, the Lychee Martini (combined) of its day. During the 1850s there was simply no more famous mixed drink in the world.

The Sherry Cobbler, like many of the greatest potent potables, is an American invention. David Wondrich tells us in Imbibe! that a Victorian novelist by the name of Charles Reade in 1863 lists the Sherry Cobbler foremost in his list of American mixtures ahead of Gin Sling, Cocktail, Mint Julep, Brandy Smash, Sudden Death and Eye Openers. Wondrich adds: “If someone had waved Reade’s little list under the nose of the average drinking man in 1863 and made him choose one drink to stand the test of time, odds are heavy that he would’ve gone for the Sherry Cobbler”.

All well and good - but what exactly is a Sherry Cobbler? Well it’s a simple mix of sherry (a nutty oloroso or amontillado works a treat), sugar and crushed ice. Jerry Thomas writes in How to Mix Drinks or the Bon Vivant’s Companion that “The ‘cobbler’ does not require much skill in compounding, but to make it acceptable to the eye, it is necessary to display some taste in ornamenting the glass after the beverage is made”. Here’s how:

Sherry Cobbler

• 120ml dry Oloroso or Amontillado sherry
• 15ml sugar syrup
• 2 or 3 slices of orange

*Add ingredients to a shaker. Fill with shaved ice, shake well and pour into a fancy bar glass. Cap with a little more ice and ornament with berries in season. Imbibe through a straw.

INTERESTING FACT: Such was the Sherry Cobbler’s fame that in 1855 you could easily order one in Sydney, Australia. George Street’s Café Francaise (better know as simply ‘the Café’) was famed for theirs. An article in Bell’s Life in Sydney and Sporting Reviewer from Saturday 17 November, 1855 entitled ‘Thirsty Times’ explains that due to the unseasonably hot weather:

…Large quantities of ale,

porter, lemonade, ginger beer, &c., &c., were

disposed of; whilst among the more fastidious,

sherry cobblers, mint juleps, ice creams, fruit

ices, Catherina Hayes’s, &c., &c, were in great

request. The hotels and other similar establishments

had an unusually large number of visitors,

particularly the Cafe in George Street, which

enjoys quite a reputation for the compounding of

summer drinks.

The South Side may look all sweetness and light, but there’s every possibility that this summer tipple has a sinister history. One story on this potent potable’s origin is that it’s the brainchild of Frankie McErlane - a Chicago Prohibition era gangster who makes Al Capone look like a teddy bear.

Southside Fizz

• 60ml Gin Mare
• 30ml lemon juice
• 15ml sugar syrup (rich, 2:1)
• 6-10 Mint leaves
• Add all ingredients to a shaker. Add ice and shake briskly. Strain over ice into a highball glass (double strain if you must - though McErlane wouldn’t approve), top with a splash of soda and garnish with a fresh sprig or two of mint.

McErlane was a leader of the South Side Saltis-McErlane Gang and whilst he never quite achieved Al Capone’s infamy one of his lasting contributions to the gangland struggles was the introduction of the Thompson Sub-Machine gun (aka ‘The Tommy Gun’). McErlane was responsible for at least 10 murders and was famed for often slipping into alcohol fuelled psychotic states though he apparently could whip up a mean cocktail with his bootleg hooch. It’s rumoured that the South Side - a mix of gin, mint, sugar and lime was his way of hiding the rough bathtub gin he was flogging to Chicago’s speakeasies.

A conflicting story has it that the Southside (one word) was from New York - specifically that the drink originated at the Southside Sportsmen’s Club in the Hamptons. Indeed the drink was popular at the famed New York speakeasy the 21 Club which opened its doors in 1929. They promoted the Southside made with gin, mint, lemon juice and sugar as a house specialty - though they could have just as easily been handed the recipe by bootleggers and gangsters as by the country club set.

Whatever the devil the truth is one thing is certain. Spelled South Side or Southside, with lemon or lime - this is a tasty tipple. Over summer add a splash of soda for a Southside Fizz - a refreshing alternative to the Mojito.

Address: 235 Victoria Street, Darlinghurst
Phone: 02 9357 4488
Web: thevictoriaroom.com

 Cocktails created and styled by the team from The Victoria Room, Sydney

With Lee now heading overseas for the foreseeable future, it was a great opportunity to head down to TVR for this month’s cocktail experiment. At their creative best the team was able to whip up some cracking drinks on all but a moments notice. Suffice to say Lee, while you’ll certainly be missed, the Vic Room is in some great hands - and from everyone who you’ve ever served have a great trip!

Hey - and check out Lee’s massive blazing efforts as well. Nice job!

Lee Potter-Cavanagh

London’s Calling

• 40ml Fernet Branca
• 30ml Beefeater 24 gin
• 10ml beetroot reduction
• 10ml raspberry syrup
• 1 star anise
• 1 lemon twist

*Blaze all in a vintage teapot, add ice and stir briefly. Pour into teacup with a large ice block and garnish with a mint sprig.

What Lee says: “Fernet to me is super fresh, and marries perfectly to the product of where I will soon be calling home. I heard that beetroot is an ingredient in Fernet - it works well regardless!”

Jessica Arnott

Flip him Off

• 30ml Bittermans Xocolatl Mole Bitters
• 30ml Talisker Scotch malt whisky
• 15ml quince paste
• 5ml raw sugar syrup
• Whole egg

*Place ingredients into a shaker and dry shake. Add ice, and shake hard. Strain into a cocktail glass and shave curls of dark salted chocolate over the top for garnish.

What Jessica says: “I am obsessed with salted chocolate at the moment, and thought the saltiness of Talisker would provide a great backbone to the bitters. The Flip’s richness carries the cocoa flavours through the cocktail, and the quince provides some tang.”

Luke Hanzlicek

Pott-Work Orange

• 30ml Bitter Truth Orange Bitters
• 20ml Mozart Dry
• 15ml Antica Formula
• 10ml sugar syrup
• 1 large orange peel
• 1 small lemon peel

*Muddle lemon, orange and sugar syrup, build remaining ingredients, fill highball with crushed ice and churn. Garnish with an orange slice, mint sprig and fresh raspberries.

What Luke says: “I wanted the bitters to be the hero here, so used a generous pour. The dryness of the Mozart gives a great chocolate flavour without adding sweetness and allows the bitters to lead. Antica adds some herbaceous sweetness to round the drink out.”

 Alec Hearfield-Brown

Moustachioed Lady

• 40ml Aperol Aperitivo
• 30ml Gabrielle Boudier Saffron gin
• 30ml white grapefruit juice
• 15ml eggwhite

*Add all ingredients to a shaker and shake hard. Strain into a chilled coupette and garnish with saffron and a wink.

What Alec says: “I wanted to twist up a white lady, and I have always loved Aperol drinks. It’s got a big mouth feel and so for this drink I’ve paired it with saffron gin, white grapefruit and eggwhite. We all love a moustachioed lady!”

Maximiliano Guntler

Café Mo

• 25ml Angostura Bitters
• 40ml El Dorado 12 Demerara rum
• 10ml Grand Marnier
• 10ml muscovado syrup (1:1 muscovado/ water)
• Orange, lemon zest studded with cloves, vanilla and cinnamon.
• 1 long black coffee

*Cut citrus peel leaving it attached to fruit and stud with cloves. Add all ingredients except cinnamon to a pot and heat. Pass flaming liquid over orange and lemon from a height. Extinguish with coffee and serve with grated cinnamon.

What Maximiliano says: “A twist on a popular Café Brulot we serve here at TVR. Angostura is nice and spicy; complimented with the other ingredients it works wonderfully well and shows through in the drink.”

3 Lime Street, King St Wharf
02 9299 4770
theloftsydney.com

Cocktail created and styled by the teams from theLoft, Sydney

Some might say that flavoured vodka has come, gone and long had its day - but after seeing some of the cocktail creations that theLoft team whipped up recently it’s obvious that a bartender’s heart can still beat for this flavoured tipple.

Firstly, what a bunch of troopers theLoft crew are, turning up at 10am to taste a range of, as yet, unknown spirits. They were straight into it however and their mentor Jason Williams (2010 Bartender Magazine Bartender of the Year) ran them through the range with a highly clinical approach.

Williams focused on the getting the team to think about complimentary flavours, contrasting flavours and ways to improve and enhance each spirit’s characteristics. Not only did they discuss the range of aromas and scents that they picked up, but they also brainstormed ideas for cocktails and how best they would work. This hard work paid off, and the crew was well rewarded by some fantastic cocktails being made later on.

It was especially pleasing to see such a great coaching technique taken by Jason when having his team assess the products, and goes to show just how influential a good trainer can be when learning about new, or obscure, spirit categories.

Bridget Haughton

How to get drunk at grandma’s house 

• 45ml TMD Lemon Myrtle Vodka
• 15ml Domaine de Canton
• 90ml of French Earl Grey
• 20ml Lemon Juice
• 20ml Honey
• 1 Heaped teaspoon of lemon butter

*Add all ingredients to a metal jug and steam using coffee steamer. Fine strain into insulated glass. Garnish with sage leaves.

What Bridget Says:

“Having always been a fan of hot buttered rum I couldn’t help but dabble in the idea of a hot drink after tasting the TMD spirit. I have tried to combine the intense flavour of the vodka with the comforting notes of the tea, the sweet notes of the lemon butter and honey. A sure way to cure any left over winter blues!”

Cian Stafford

Vanilla Sky

• 40ml Stolichnaya Vanilla Vodka
• 15ml Talisker single malt Scotch whisky
• 15ml Vielle liqueur de noix du perigord
• 2 Barspoons orange breakfast marmalade
• 3 Dashes Bittermans burlesque bitters

*Add to boston shaker and stir thoroughly. Strain over large chunks of cracked ice. Garnish with orange wrapped cinnamon stick.

What Cian Says:

“I really wanted to emphasise the strong orange notes that came through with the vanilla and used the malt whisky to pick up on the subtle caramel and toffee notes I found. The spicy tartness of the bitters and richness of the black walnut link it together nicely.

Jason Williams

RnB

• 50ml Smirnoff Raspberry Vodka
• 10ml Banana liqueur
• 2 Dash Bittermans tiki bitters
• 20ml Peach puree
• 15ml Lime juice

*Add all ingredients to a blender and blend until consistency is even. Pour into tall tube glass. Garnish with mint sprig.

What Jason Says:

“A raspberry flavoured vodka shouldn’t be taken too seriously so I wanted to make a fun, light and exciting drink. Blended drinks are always a good fun way to serve a cocktail, and so are flavours such as banana and peach - this is a poolside cocktail for sure!”

Dean ‘Deano’ Bornstein

All Things Açaí

• 50ml Absolut Berry Açaí
• 10ml Aperol
• 15ml Lime juice
• 10ml Sugar syrup
• 30ml POM pomegranate juice
• 30ml Eggwhite

What Deano Says:

“Absolut’s latest Berry Açaí rekindled a few childhood memories on the nose with scents such as grape hubba-bubba, musksticks. With hints of musk mingling with blueberries on the palate I decided a martini style drink was the best way to compliment its flavour. Aperol adds some tartness, and a dash of eggwhite adds some texture.” 

Sergio Bernal 

Passion A Kiwi

• 45ml 42 Below Passion Vodka
• 30ml Fresh lemon juice
• 15ml Almond syrup
• 15ml Gorgeous Geisha Tea
• 10ml Sugar syrup
• 10ml Pinot Gris wine
• Dash orange bitters
• 1 whole kiwi fruit

*Peel kiwi fruit and muddle with lemon and sugar. Add remaining ingredients and shake hard with ice. Strain into vintage cocktail glass filled with shaved ice. Garnish with kiwi slice, mint sprig and cherry.

What Sergio Says:

“The passion fruit flavour mixes very well with the kiwi fruit and the other ingredients all compliment and extend the cocktail’s flavour profile. The tea gives a romantic sensation when you drink it - a perfect, refreshing drink for the summer ahead.”

By Simon McGoram
Photography by Rob Palmer
*Drink shot at Dry Land Bar (Sydney) and excellently styled by Simon McGoram

Queen Victoria remains the longest reigning British monarch and indeed the longest reigning female monarch the world has ever had the pleasure to see. During Victoria’s tenure the British Empire was at its strongest with India, Canada, Australian, New Zealand and more under Britain’s Dominion. But as bartenders we also know of another benevolent power that was spreading its influence at this time from across the Atlantic - a power that influenced the heir to the throne himself. It was of course the cocktail.

Albert Edward, The Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII) was heir apparent to the throne for longer than any of his predecessors - his dear old mum just wouldn’t cark it. With little to do, but womanise and wile away his time it was inevitable that he would develop a taste for drink - the Queen be damned if she wasn’t amused!

Berty wasn’t any old imbiber, however, he also had a penchant for mixing drinks as is evident with this potation bearing his title.  David Wondrich goes as far as to muse in his book Imbibe! that “If circumstances had been different, Albert Edward, Prince of Wales, would have made a hell of a bartender.”

The genius of the prince’s invention lies in the addition of Champagne which by the 1880s was being splashed about in almost every potion in bar rooms with any pretension of refinement. At any rate here’s how to whip up this royal number which first appeared in print in 1901 in The Private Life of King Edward VII:

The Prince of Wales

• 45ml Straight rye whiskey
• Dash of maraschino liqueur
• Dash of Angostura bitters
• 1 tsp castor sugar
• 1 Piece of fresh pineapple
• 30ml Brut NV Champagne

Muddle a small piece of fresh pineapple in the base of your shaker. Add your other ingredients excluding the Champagne. Shake as if the Empire depends on it and strain into a chilled coupette. Sabre off the top of a Champagne bottle and add a splash to your creation. Raise a toast to the Queen and enjoy.

By Simon McGoram

Few mid-twentieth century Polynesian pop potions come close to achieving the legendary status of the Zombie. And this potent potable has achieved cult status despite being one of the most mysterious mixes in the annals of tropical drinks. Created by the Tiki pioneer, Don the Beachcomber, this beverage is infamous for its intoxicating powers.

The mix on this page is certainly not the original Zombie served up by Don Beach during the 1930s era - but that’s no surprise since Don kept the formula secret even from his own bartenders. The barkeeps at Don’s restaurants had to pour ingredients from bottles only marked by numbers and letters - they only knew the right combination which is just one part of the Zombie code.

Quick Angostura Facts

• Angostura Bitters was created by a German scientist called Dr Johann Gottlieb Benjamin Siegert in Venezuela 1824.
• The name ‘Angostura’ is derived from the Venezuelan town where Dr. Siegert was appointed Surgeon-General of Simon Bolivar’s army.
• In 1870, following Dr. Siegert’s death, his sons Carlos and Alfredo decided to leave Venezuela and chose the nearby island of Trinidad as their home.
• Angostura Bitters and Rum have been produced there ever since.

The recipe printed here is adapted from Jeff ‘Beachbum’ Berry’s Intoxica! - a must have manual for Tiki enthusiasts - and according to the author this formula is  one contributed by the Beachcomber himself for a 1950 barbeque manual. Appended to the recipe was this caveat from Don: “I have originated and have served this ‘thing’ since 1934… Anyone who says otherwise is a liar!! Signed: DON”.

Don the Beachcomber’s Zombie

• 30ml Pineapple juice
• 30ml Fresh lemon juice
• 30ml Fresh lime juice
• 30ml Passionfruit syrup
• 1 teaspoon brown sugar
• 2 dashes Angostura bitters
• 30ml Angostura 5 year old Caribbean rum
• 30ml Angostura 7 year old Caribbean rum
• 30ml 151 proof rum

*Add all ingredients into a shaker. Shake briskly with cracked ice and strain into a Collins glass or Tiki mug. Garnish with a pineapple wedge, a cherry, mint sprigs and half a passion fruit filled with 151 rum then ignited.

**One would do well to heed the Don’s second caveat: “One only to a customer.”

Adapted from Jeff Berry’s Intoxica! , 2002

By Edward Washington

‘Modern’ and ‘Classic’ - an interesting pair of words to fit together for this month’s cocktail feature as the classic in a cocktail often refers to its date (long past), and it’s ability to have stayed the test of time as an identified social trend.

Like the old question ‘when does something become history?’ this month the Bartender team found themselves asking the question when does something become classic?

By definition a classic cocktail should be one that is a ‘perfect example of a particular style, something of lasting worth - or with a timeless quality’. Hard to know when you’re trying to make the distinction yourself, as most ‘classics’ were trend or style setters, and touted as such by the bartending generations that followed long after.

Can you walk into a bar and order one of these creations without yourself having to know the ingredients? Is there a certified creator - if so who? Most importantly perhaps, where did these modern classics get their inspiration from and is it obvious or subtle?

Subjective at best, our list of modern classics is a good showcase of ranges and styles, spirits and techniques - so enjoy, and let the arguments flow.

#1 Treacle

Dick Bradsell has had a marked impact on the London, and indeed the international, cocktail scene and his creations are now most certainly part of the modern cocktailian lingua franca. “Like the Bramble (no. 5) the Treacle is a simple affair,” says Gary Regan - but he means this in the most flattering of manners, and a simple cocktail is often the key to a drink’s longevity.

The Treacle is a tipple that’s not too far removed from a rum Old-Fashioned with this particular cocktail sporting a float of apple juice across the top - a fine addition to any rum based tipple. Top quality ingredients like fresh pressed, or organic apple juice are going to make this drink live up to its creator’s vision, so don’t skimp out when it comes to ‘the what goes in’ side of things.

Treacle

• 60ml Bacardi 8 Rum
• 10ml Sugar syrup
• 15ml Apple juice (cloudy)
• 2 dashes Angostura bitters

*Stir the rum, simple syrup and bitters together in an ice-filled old-fashioned glass for at least 20 seconds. Pour the apple juice over top of the drink.

#2 Vodka Espresso

Looking more like a Guinness served in a fancy cocktail glass the espresso martini needs to be made with a good quality shot of espresso, first and foremost. This drink also comes from Bradsell’s satchel of established tricks and was said to be inspired by a customer needing, “a drink to wake me up, then f*#k me up”. Enter ingenious and lightning speed creativity.

Reportedly concocted in 1984 at Fred’s Bar (Soho, London) the tipple was initially penned as The Pharmaceutical Stimulant, however with the coming of international fame and notoriety the drink adopted a slightly more neutral moniker that survives today. The cocktail’s creation and longevity no doubt benefited from the rise in the popularity of espresso that had grown since the late 1980s and as espresso bars popped up throughout London and the USA and became part of mass social culture.

For a cocktail garnish, grab a couple of coffee beans and drop attentively onto the creamy head - one each for, health, wealth and happiness.

The Pharmaceutical Stimulant (aka The Vodka Espresso)

• 45ml 666 Tasmanian Pure Vodka
• 15ml Kahlua
• 5ml sugar syrup
• 30ml chilled espresso

*Shake with vigorously to create a creamy foam. Garnish with three coffee beans.

# 3 Breakfast Martini

“You can’t drink all day if you don’t start in the morning,” goes the famous line and this morning glory is a modern day classic that has a lineage linking it to the days of the Roaring Twenties.

The Savoy Cocktail Book (1930) lists the Marmalade Cocktail created by Harry Craddock a man who had tended bar since the ’20s. Craddock’s mix included a large slug of orange marmalade, and the juice of a squeezed orange. It was suited to a serving of six guests, and he described it as “especially suited to be a luncheon aperitif” - presumably the inclusion of marmalade made up for the late night before, thus missing breakfast. The modern take and contemporary popularity of this now adapted cocktail is attributed to Salvatore ‘The Maestro’ Calabrese a man whose cocktailian reputation is internationally renowned.

Efforts should be made to procure the finest and freshest of marmalade for this treat and of course, make sure you change out of your morning slippers before ordering one at the bar.

Breakfast Martini

• 50ml Larios Gin
• 15ml Cointreau
• 15ml Lemon Juice
• 1tsp medium-slice orange marmalade

Adapted from salvatore-calabrese.co.uk

*Pour all ingredients into a shaker with ice. Shake. Strain into a cocktail glass. Squeeze a thin twist of orange on top and drop it into the drink.

# 4 Nuclear Daiquiri

The original Daiquirí created in Cuba towards the end of the 19^th century is a classic tipple we’re all well versed in. Over time this beverage has be tinkered and toyed with; it has been blended, jellified, solidified and re-liquefied, but very rarely has it been improved. One bar genius, who has unfortunately shuffled off this mortal coil, by the name of Gregor De Gruyther, however, did manage to bring the Daiquiri into the nuclear age with this potent variation. Created by Gregor in London’s Lab in 2005, the beverage can now be ordered around globe and is oft drunk in his memory or just because it’s actually mighty tasty.

Nuclear Daiquiri

• 25ml Wray & Nephew Overproof Rum
• 25ml Green Chartreuse
• 25ml Lime Juice
• 10ml Falernum

*Shake as if a radioactive holocaust is nigh and strain into a cocktail glass.

*There is no garnish for this drink because as Gregor used to say: “No garnish can withstand the awesome power of the Nuclear Daiquiri”.

# 5 Bramble

Jerry Thomas’ 1862 edition of The Bartender’s Guide lists amongst its ardent tipples, The Gin Fix: sugar, lemon and gin stirred and served with crushed ice and ornately garnished with ‘fruits in season’.  According to David Wondrich, Fixes and Sours were the “two earliest classes of a category” he describes as ‘lesser Punch’ - drinks that took inspiration from Punches but were served short (a 19^th century drinking phenomenon that Wondrich is yet to fully decipher, but attributes in part to fast paced consumer life, and the growing popularity of the cocktail).

Fast forward to the booming 1980s and Dick Bradsell’s Bramble cocktail is quite unmistakably a fancy sour, with a strong connection to the early Gin Fix.  Both drinks took advantage of the addition of seasonal fruits and Bradsell (in the modern age) is able to call upon the easy access to top notch Crème de Mure for his tipple, giving it the customary dark and luscious drizzle that we watch in fascination as it inks its path slowly through the ice.

Bramble

• 50ml Millers Gin
• 20ml Fresh lemon juice
• 10ml Sugar syrup
• 15ml Massenez Crème de Mure

*Shake and pour over cracked ice. Pour Crème de Mure over the top. Garnish with a blackberry.

# 6 Paloma

The recipes for this cocktail are as abound as the range of Tequilas used to make it. While not having a researchable history (as far as can be found) the Paloma is firmly established as a contemporary classic, and one that is continuing to grow on the back of two modern trends; greater production of high quality Tequila and the trend of house-made soda being used in cocktail bars. As Mexico’s favourite tipple, the Paloma cocktail relies on the use of fresh grapefruit in its delicious mix.

The grapefruit is a citrus hybrid that originates from Barbados and is the bitter hybrid of the pomelo (the largest species of the citrus family in south-east Asia), and the sweet orange. Many modern cocktail recipes call for agave nectar and fresh lime juice to be included in the drink, and a stock of good quality sea salt to rim your glass and a quality Tequila will make all the difference too.

Paloma

• 45ml Patron Blanco 100% Agave Tequila
• Juice of half a lime
• Schweppes Pink Grapefruit & Apple Natural Mineral Water

*Build in a highball. Garnish with a lime wedge.

# 7 Penicillin

“Scotch is a difficult base to work with,” said Gary Regan recently when commenting on the growing trend of Scotch cocktail bases. If used correctly he continued, “it can prove to be a very sturdy host in a cocktail shaker”. Aussie ex-pat Sam Ross (Milk & Honey, London) has proved what a host it indeed is with his contemporary creation, the Penicillin, and in the process he has secured himself an everlasting position in the ‘cocktail histories’ - hallowed ground when you consider who else has come before.

Ross credits the invention to some experimentation he did on a Gold Rush cocktail (bourbon, lemon and honey) back in 2005. Using a Scotch as the ‘meat of the drink’ the results were good, but once he’d drizzled a splash of an Islay single malt whisky over the top he knew that history was born. “People were very tentative in using single malt Scotches in cocktails previous to this,” Ross said, “I think this fact did help the Penicillin gain some modest recognition.”

Penicillin

• 60ml Chivas Regal blended scotch
• 20ml fresh lemon juice
• 20ml ginger-honey syrup
• 10ml Elements of Islay Lp1

*Combine blended scotch, lemon juice and syrup in a shaker, fill with ice and shake well. Strain into an ice-filled rocks glass and float Islay scotch on top.

# 8 Cosmopolitan

While the ‘cosmo’ is undoubtedly best associated with the Sex in the City TV series and is proudly flouted by groups of high-priced princesses who ‘know a thing or two about drinks’, the cocktail’s evolution is about as clear laying blame for the GFC. In the 1950s Ocean Spray made a big point of pushing their cranberry juice as a great mixer in cocktails and with the trend of fruit juices and spirits we got drinks like; The Cape Codder, The Salty Dog and the Grey Hound, all based primarily on juice and a spirit.

The 1970s saw a big rise in the popularity of these refreshing, fruit juice style drinks and so the scene was set for one or more to take the international stage by storm. Without delving back into the morass of claims, it’s enough to take Dale DeGroff’s word that by his own admission he did not ‘invent’ the cocktail (as often cited), rather he “popularised a definitive recipe that became widely accepted as the standard”.

Cosmopolitan

• 50ml Belvedere Citrus
• 20ml Lime juice
• 15ml Cointreau
• 10ml Cranberry juice

*Shake and serve up. Garnish with a flamed orange zest.

# 9 Lagerita

The tradition of mixing other ingredients into a beer has been around since the 17^th century and well known numbers as the Ale Flip and the Black Velvet (stout and champagne) have been popular brews even in today’s contemporary market.

The Lagerita cocktail takes a good hunk of brown sugar, some muddled lime and a big slug of good quality Tequila mixed with your beer of choice, making for a refreshing (and potent) tipple enjoyed year round.

UK bartender Ben Reed is credited with this particular beer cocktail and says that a Mexican dark beer is his tipple of choice for this number. Be warned though, “you’re off your head after one of them!” Reed states. Most significantly perhaps is that the Lagerita represents a bit of a trend that’s making a comeback on the bar scene and with boutique brews now doing the rounds bartenders have far greater flavour profiles to play with.

Lagerita

• 40ml Herradura Blanco Tequila
• Juice of half a lime
• 10ml agave nectar (cut 1:1 with water)
• Lager

*Shake first three ingredients and strain over chipped ice in a tankard or beer mug. Top with lager and garnish with a ½ lime husk.

# 10 Tommy’s Margarita

Julio Bermejo created this particular version of the already iconic Margarita cocktail in the 1980s when he started serving it at his father’s restaurant Tommy’s Restaurant in San Francisco. Contrary to what is contemporary cocktail practice, this version of the Margarita is made in a blender as when the drink was invented it was still socially acceptable to order and serve the Margarita as a slushy type of beverage.

For those who think that it’s high time the ‘Tommy’ stepped out of the past and into the future, hold your thought because those that demand the Tommy’s Margarita often say that it be served to its traditional style. Today at Tommy’s Restaurant you will still see this reinvented age-old classic served up as it was in the 80s.

Eschewing the more traditional way you might use a blender, the method utilised often sees the ingredients rolled between two blenders, instead of blitzed as you might have thought.

Tommy’s Margarita

• 60ml José Cuervo Reserva De La Familia Platino 100% Agave Tequila
• 30ml Freshly squeezed lime juice
• 15ml Agave nectar (cut 1:1 with water)

*And all ingredients into a shaker, shake briskly and pour into an ice filled rocks glass.