The Merchant Hotel Bar Book
A 10% service charge will be added to all bills. Volume III
With the imminent release of Casino Royale, Belfast now has its own James Bond set in the form of a glamorous new bar which boasts the most expensive cocktail in the world and is set amid the opulence of the five-star Merchant Hotel.
Local man Sean Muldoon, who has a reputation for doing for bars what Gordon Ramsay can do for a restaurant, has taken the helm with the aim of securing global recognition for the bar. Muldoon used to run a consultancy business and has won awards in Ireland for best bar, best bartender, best drinks selection and best restaurant. UK awards under his belt include best drinks selection and best restaurant so it is safe to say he knows his trade. But it is the bar at the Merchant Hotel that is Muldoon’s big hope.
“This is the one that I think is going to clean up when it comes to proper bar awards,” he says. “For the people who live here it’s a place to be proud of - somewhere very special and different to have a drink. For the international visitor, I think they will find something they will identify with and really respect.”
So self-assured is Muldoon that one can’t help thinking his vision for the bar might just become a reality.
“I am very happy at the Merchant and I feel fully challenged,” he says. “I honestly feel that we are going to create a world class bar that will be talked about across the globe. It will take time - reputations aren’t built overnight - but we will get there. And I know I’ve got a team behind me who believe fully in the vision I have got.”
Shaking up the Belfast Bar Scene By Luke Ryan
Excerpt taken from The Irish News 31/10/06
Dedicated to Joe Gilmore 5th Head Bartender of the American Bar
at the Savoy Hotel and native of Belfast
“The Merchant Hotel Bar Book Volume III” By Sean Muldoon and Jack McGarry © 2009 Photography by kharapringlephotographic.com
Contents
** Denotes an original drink created at The Merchant Hotel
At a Glance (Our top 12 selling drinks)
Drinks of the Elegant and Refined Style
Drinks of the Rich and Fruity Style
DRINKS OF THE LONG AND REFRESHING STYLE
Drinks of the Sharp and Sour Style
Drinks of the Tropical and Exotic Style
Drinks of the Short and Potent Style
Drinks of the Soft and Creamy Style
Hot Drinks
Alcohol-Free Drinks
08 10 16 24 42 68 76 90 98 102The Southside
Plymouth Gin, fresh lime juice, fresh spearmint, cane syrup, aromatic bitters and chilled seltzer water
£ 9.95 See Page 33 Sloe Gin Ginger Sling
Plymouth Gin, Plymouth Sloe Gin, apricot liqueur, cherry liqueur, aromatic bitters, fresh lime juice, fresh ginger extract, cane syrup and chilled seltzer water £ 9.95 See Page 29 Pimm’s Cup
Pimm’s No 1, fresh lemon juice, fresh ginger extract, cane syrup and chilled seltzer water £ 9.95 See Page 23
Bramble
Bombay Sapphire Gin, blackberry liqueur, fresh lime juice, fresh blackberries and cane syrup £ 9.95 See Page 53 Blushing Lady ABSOLUT Vodka, fresh
pomegranate juice, fresh white grapefruit and lemon juices, house-made orgeat syrup and a dribble of rosewater
£ 9.95 See Page 59 Cosmopolitan Daisy Plymouth Gin, curacao, fresh lemon juice, house-made raspberry cordial and chilled seltzer water
£ 9.95 See Page 45
�t a Glance
Our top 12 Selling
Drinks:
Fog Cutter
Hennessy VS Cognac, Havana Club Anejo Rum, Plymouth Gin, Fino Sherry, orange and lemon juice and house-made orgeat syrup
£ 9.95 See Page 71 Champagne Cocktail
Moet & Chandon NV, cane syrup and aromatic bitters
£ 14.50 See Page 13 Mr Harrison
ABSOLUT Vodka, curacao, fresh lime juice, fresh kumquats, fresh basil, house-made orgeat syrup and chilled seltzer water £ 9.95 See Page 31
Finn McCool
Finlandia Vodka, Amer Picon, house-made passion fruit cordial, fresh lemon juice and chilled tonic water
£ 9.95 See Page 27 Gin-Gin Mule
Plymouth Gin, fresh lime juice, fresh spearmint, cane syrup, aromatic bitters, fresh ginger extract and chilled seltzer water £ 9.95 See Page 33
The Phoenix
Plum-infused Poitin, poire eau de vie, fresh lemon, local flower honey and pure County Armagh apple juice
Style:
ELEGANT
REFINED
Drinks of the
and
- Champagne Cocktail - Alfonso (NEW) - Jimmy Roosevelt (NEW)
Champagne
Cocktail
12
14
- Classic White Peach Bellini - French 71 (NEW)**
- Champagne Negroni (NEW)**
The first Cocktail to incorporate Champagne as an ingredient was accurately, if unimaginatively, named the 'Champagne Cocktail'. The first reference to this beverage appeared in 1850 when Frank Marraytt, who was travelling around San Francisco, stated, “More French wines are drunk in California, twice over, than by the same population of the United States”.
The Champagne Cocktail was seen during this period as a pick-me-up style drink. It became the drink of the sporting crowd and remained so until well into the twentieth century. The young ladies of America also
loved this drink and it went on to acquire the nickname 'Chorus Girl’s Milk.'
A recipe appears in Jerry Thomas’s 'How to Mix Drinks or The Bon-Vivant’s Companion' (1862). Jerry served his Champagne Cocktail over ice and poured the ingredients back and forth to achieve a 'foamy head'. We wanted to replicate this method so we make this drink over ice, although we don’t pour it back and forth, as that loses its bubbling sensation.
Many people also associate Cognac with this drink; however this was only added in 1898 by Delaware mixologist Joseph Haywood who simply advised: "Add one half glass brandy.” Different bartenders’ guides use different recipes; however for this volume of the bar book we wanted to get closer to the first Champagne Cocktail, the drink that was known as a Morning Bracer. We feel this drink is a beautifully refreshing Champagne tonic.
- Champagne Cocktail:
Into an ice-filled fizz glass add 7.5mls cane syrup, 125mls Moet & Chandon Champagne and 3 dashes aromatic bitters. Churn briefly with bar-spoon and ornament with lemon zest and fruits in season. Serve with a straw. - Alfonso:
Moet & Chandon Champagne, Dubonnet, Peychaud’s Bitters and cane syrup (NEW)
- Jimmy Roosevelt:
Moet & Chandon Champagne, Hennessy VS Cognac, Green Chartreuse, aromatic bitters and cane syrup (NEW)
Champagne
Cocktail
The
Variants and Mixology: All £14.50
The Bellini was invented sometime in the late 1930s by Giuseppe Cipriani, founder of Harry’s Bar in Venice. He named the drink the Bellini because of its unique pink colour, which reminded Cipriani of the colour of the toga of a saint in a painting by fifteenth century Venetian artist Giovanni Bellini. The drink started as a seasonal speciality at Harry’s, a favourite haunt of Ernest Hemingway, Sinclair Lewis and Orson Welles, situated right on the Saint Mark’s Bay waterfront area.
Later, the drink also became popular at the bar’s New York counterpart and, after an entrepreneurial Frenchman set up a business to ship fresh white peach purée to both locations, it became a year-round favourite.
The Bellini consists of puréed white peaches and Prosecco, which is an Italian sparkling wine. The original recipe was made with a bit of raspberry or cherry juice to give the drink its unique pink glow. Due, in part, to the limited availability of both white peaches and Prosecco, several variations exist today.
Other sparkling wines are commonly used in place of Prosecco, though it has to be said that richly flavoured French Champagne does not pair well at all with the light, fruity flavour of the Bellini. The recipe for the Bellini served at Harry’s Bar today calls for one third fresh frozen purée and two thirds Prosecco.
At the Merchant we prefer not to use frozen purees of any nature, so we make our own peach mix by first draining off canned peaches and then steeping them overnight in a combination of light Italian white wine, limoncello, fresh lemon juice and lemon zest. We then take out the lemon zest and purée this the next day using a hand blender and strain the mixture through a colander to obtain the desired consistency.
The
- Classic White Peach Bellini:
Stir over ice 60mls house-made peach purée, 5mls cane syrup, 2 dashes peach bitters and 75mls Prosecco. Strain into a pre-chilled Champagne flute. Top up with fresh Prosecco from bottle.
- French 71:**
Plymouth Gin, Olorosso Sherry, fresh lemon juice, cane syrup and Moet & Chandon Champagne (NEW) - Champagne Negroni:**
Plymouth Gin, Martini Rosso, Campari, fresh lemon and ruby grapefruit juices, cane syrup and Moet & Chandon Champagne (NEW)
Variants and Mixology: All £14.50
Bellini
DRINKS
OF THE
RICH &
FRUITY
STYLE :
- Pineapple Pisco Punch Bowl - Seafarers Punch**
The Bowl
of Punch
18
20
22
- Sherry Cobbler - Chianti Cobbler - Rhine Wine CobblerThe Sherry
Cobbler
The Pimm’s
Cup
- Pimm’s Cup - Cider Cup - Claret CupDRINKS
OF THE
RICH &
FRUITY
STYLE :
Punch came to the English colonies in America from the English colonies in India. The word is from the Hindustani panch, meaning 'five'; referring to the five ingredients that are used in the drink, namely tea, arrack, sugar, lemons and water.
The English took very quickly to the new drink and soon the word appeared in English ballads, showing that Punch was well known. Every social gathering of the well-to-do soon had a punch bowl. Every dinner was prefaced by a bowl of Punch passed from hand to hand, while the liquor was drunk from the bowl.
Punch became popular in New England just as it did in old England, in fact, wherever English-speaking sea rovers could spread word of the new drink. In 1682 John Winthrop wrote of the sale of a punch bowl in Boston, and in 1686 John Dunton told of more than one noble bowl of Punch in New England. Punch was popular in Virginia, it was popular in New York, it was popular in Pennsylvania. William Black recorded in his diary in 1744 that in Philadelphia he was given cider and Punch for lunch; rum and brandy before dinner; Punch, Madeira, Port, and Sherry at dinner; Punch and liqueurs with the ladies; and wine, spirit, and Punch till bedtime; all in punch bowls big enough for a goose to swim in. The importation to England and America of lemons, oranges, and limes for use as Punch 'sowrings,' as they were called, was an important part of the West Indian and Portuguese trade. The juices of lemons, oranges, limes, and pineapples were all used in Punches, and were imported in demijohns and bottles.
The
Bowl of
Punch
- Pineapple Pisco Punch (Serves 10):
Pour directly into a punch bowl over 1 large block of ice, 1 Bottle Alto Del Carmen Pisco Brandy, 350mls fresh lemon juice, 175mls house-made pineapple syrup, 12 dashes aromatic bitters and 50mls cane syrup. Stir well with ladle and garnish with macerated pineapple chunks. - Seafarers Punch (Serves 10):**
Plymouth Gin, Noilly Prat Rouge, housemade blackberry and raspberry cordials, fresh lime, cane syrup and Jerry Thomas's Own Decanter Bitters.
Variants and Mixology: All £92.95
The Sherry Cobbler was the drink of its era. The first time this beverage appeared in print was in an article in 'The Gentleman’s Magazine' by William Burton and Edgar Poe during the year of 1837. They said: “...the 'cobler', a light vinous Punch, exceedingly well iced, and grateful to the delicate aesophagus.”
A Cobbler is as stated above, a light Punch; although the main point of difference between the Cobbler and the Punch is that the Cobbler is not spiced. However I will leave it to Richard Bonnycastle, who wrote Canada and Canadians in 1846, to describe what a Cobbler is: “...but he does. I am ashamed to say, admire a Sherry Cobbler.
Particularly if he does get a second-hand piece of vermicelli to suck it through. Reader, do you know what a Sherry Cobbler is? I will enlighten you. Let the sun shine at about 80 Fahrenheit. Then take a lump of ice; fix it at the edge of a board; rasp it with a tool made like a drawing knife or carpenter’s plance, set face upwards. Collect the rasping, the fine rasping, mind, in a capacious tumbler; pour thereon two glasses of good Sherry, and a good spoonful of powdered white sugar, with a few small bits, not slices, but bits of lemon, about as big as a gooseberry. Stir with a wooden macerator. Drink through a tube of macaroni or vermicelli.”
The Sherry Cobbler gained worldwide recognition due to the new device called a “straw”. This drink is believed to be the first that incorporated a straw and, as Dave Wondrich writes in his book Imbibe: “Sherry Cobbler was the killer app that brought it (the straw) into common use.” By the late 19th century this drink had achieved universal popularity and was drunk all over the world. Harry Johnson - the self-proclaimed “Don of Bartending” - spoke of the Sherry Cobbler in his New and Improved Bartenders’ Manual in 1888: “The Sherry Cobbler is without doubt the most popular beverage in the country, with ladies as well as with gentlemen.”
The
Sherry
Cobbler
- Sherry Cobbler:
Swizzle over cracked ice in a mixing glass 50mls Olorosso Sherry, 10mls fresh lemon juice, 10mls fresh orange juice and 10mls cane syrup. Pour everything into a pre-chilled punch goblet and garnish with fruits in season. Serve with a straw.
- Chianti Cobbler:
Chianti DOCG, house-made raspberry cordial, fresh berries and chilled seltzer water.
- Rhine Wine Cobbler:
Rhine wine, kirsch, house-made raspberry cordial, fresh lime juice, fresh berries and chilled seltzer water. Variants and Mixology:
All £9.95
Pimm’s No. 1 Cup, which is the main ingredient in the Pimm’s Cocktail, is a brown burgundy-coloured, gin-based, semisweet, fruity liqueur. The liqueur is so strongly associated with the Pimm’s Cocktail that the drink is often called the Pimm’s Cup.
The Pimm’s history begins in London in 1823, when James Pimm opened Pimm’s Oyster Bar in London’s financial district. He served oysters alongside the 'house cup'; a Gin Sling with a proprietary mix of liqueurs and fruit extracts. The drink was initially served as a digestive tonic in a tankard and was such a big hit that he expanded the
business to sell it by the bottle to other taverns. In 1859, he began selling Pimm’s No.1 commercially and the drink became a must-have concoction among the fashionable socialites of England. After the Second World War he followed with Pimm’s No.2 Cup, made with a Scotch base and Pimm’s No.3 Cup, with a brandy base. Eventually six Pimm’s Cup versions were released, with base-spirits of rum, rye and vodka completing the line. It is hard to find these Pimm’s today, as only No.1 and No.6 are produced any longer.
In England, the beverage is almost as much a tradition as the cup of tea and the English down it by the gallon during the summer months. It has also become the drink of Wimbledon, enjoying a relationship similar to that of Mint Julep and the Kentucky Derby. Traditionally the drink is served long with lemonade or ginger ale and uses plenty of seasonal fruit.
At the Merchant, we have opted for a more concentrated version instead using fresh ginger extract and fresh lemon juice topped up with chilled seltzer water.
The
Pimm’s
Cup
- Pimm’s Cup:
Shake hard over ice 50mls Pimms No.1 Cup, 25mls fresh lemon juice, 10mls fresh ginger extract and 15mls cane syrup. Strain into a glass cup filled with cracked ice and top up with chilled seltzer water. Ornament with fresh cucumber, apple slices, mint and fruits in season. Serve with a straw.
- Cider Cup:
Hennessy VS Cognac, Calvados, curacao, fresh lemon, cane syrup, apple cider and chilled seltzer water. - Claret Cup:
Bordeaux Claret, maraschino liqueur, fresh lemon, cane syrup and chilled seltzer water.
Variants and Mixology: All £9.95
- Ultimate Gin and Tonic - Gincognito (NEW)** - Finn McCool (NEW)**
Gin and Tonic
26
28
30
- Sloe Gin Ginger Sling** - Rangoon Sling (NEW)** - Gin Sling (NEW) - Solomon Sling (NEW)
- The Sicilian** - Eton's Blazer (NEW) - Mr. Harrison (NEW)** - The Cincinnati Kid (NEW)**
The Gin Sling
The Collins
34
36
32
- The Southside
- The Fernet Side (NEW)** - Gin-Gin Mule
The Southside
- Moscow Mule - El Diablo (NEW)
The Moscow Mule
- Martinique Rhum Swizzle - Green Swizzle (NEW) - Queen's Park Swizzle
The RHum Swizzle
38
40
- Dark 'n' Stormy
- Melancholy Punch (NEW)**
Dark and Stormy
- Kentucky Mint Julep - Real Georgia Mint Julep
A Gin and Tonic is a highball style drink made with gin and tonic water and is usually garnished with a slice of lime, lemon or cucumber. This drink was introduced by the army and the British East India Company in India during the nineteenth century. They had been searching for ways to get their men to ingest quinine, which is used to treat malaria and has at times been thought to repel mosquitoes.
Because the tonic water consumed to prevent malaria in the eighteenth century was extremely bitter, gin was added to make it more palatable. The bitter flavour of quinine complemented the green notes of the gin really
well and soon the drink’s popularity was established.
Although today’s tonic water has no real medical role (the amount of quinine in modern tonic water is a fraction of what is needed for the treatment of malaria), the Gin and Tonic still remains a very popular drink. Tonic water available today contains less quinine and is consequently less bitter. Because of its connection to warmer climates and its refreshing nature, this drink is more popular during the warmer months.
We believe that this drink’s success really is dependent on the quality of the products that are used in its preparation. We use Oxley Gin and we mix this together with Fever Tree Natural Tonic Water because of its fresh, clean citrus flavour. We believe that these two products mixed together, served long over ice then garnished with a thin sliver of fresh cucumber, is the perfect way to enjoy this drink.
The
Gin AND Tonic
- Ultimate Gin and Tonic:
Build into an ice-filled highball glass 35mls Oxley Gin and top up with Fever Tree Natural Tonic Water. Garnish with a sliver of fresh cucumber and serve with a stirrer. - Gincognito:**
Plymouth Gin, fresh lime juice, fresh coriander, cane syrup, Peychaud’s Bitters and chilled tonic water (NEW) - Finn McCool:**
Finlandia Vodka, Amer Picon, house-made passion fruit cordial, fresh lemon juice and chilled tonic water (NEW) Variants and Mixology:
All £9.95
Originally Slings were made with any spirit such as rum, Cognac, or Oude Genever mixed with water, sugar, ice and perhaps some fresh nutmeg grated on top.
Slings have now become a bit misunderstood. Due to the creation of the Singapore Sling, people nowadays largely associate the Sling with tropical juices and grenadine, which is a travesty. The Singapore Sling was created during the early 1900s, in Singapore’s fabulous Raffles
Hotel.
The Singapore Sling is often touted as a 'pre-tiki' tiki-style drink, due to its use of fresh lime juice, pineapple juice and other ingredients and was created by Hainanese-Chinese Bartender, Mr. Ngiam Tong Boon. Cocktail historian Ted Haigh believes that the Singapore Sling concocted at Raffles these days bears no resemblance to the original recipe. The earliest reference anyone has found to a pineapple-based Singapore Sling is from 1977 and this is from the nephew of Ngiam Tong Boon.
Before the 1970s there were numerous variations cited in newspapers and Cocktail books all over the world, which led to claims that no-one knows the exact recipe for the Singapore Sling.
The recipe we use is based on one listed in Stanley C. Arthur’s book, 'Famous New Orleans Drinks and How to Mix Em' (1937). That recipe contains dry gin, apricot brandy, cherry brandy, lime juice and chilled seltzer. We tweaked this recipe and added Sloe Gin, fresh ginger extract, cane syrup and aromatic bitters - to make it a truly refreshing variation.
The
Gin Sling
- Sloe Gin Ginger Sling:**
Build in an ice-filled highball glass 20mls Plymouth Gin, 20mls Plymouth Sloe Gin, 7.5mls apricot brandy, 7.5mls cherry liqueur, 5mls fresh ginger extract, 5mls cane syrup, 25mls fresh lime juice, 2 dashes aromatic bitters. Stir briefly and top up with chilled seltzer water. Garnish with 2 speared raspberries and a mint sprig tip. Serve with a straw.
- Rangoon Sling:**
Plymouth Gin, curacao, house-made lime cordial, fresh lime juice, aromatic bitters, orange bitters and chilled seltzer water (NEW)
- Gin Sling:
Beefeater Gin, Martini Rosso, fresh lemon juice, cane syrup and chilled seltzer water (NEW)
- Solomon Sling (Chad Solomon):
Beefeater Gin, kirsch eau de vie, cherry liqueur, fresh lemon juice, cane syrup, aromatic bitters and chilled seltzer water (NEW)
Variants and Mixology: All £9.95
The Tom Collins is named after a great hoax that occurred in 1874 and was kick-started by people living in New York, Pennsylvania and elsewhere in the United States. Mr. Collins was an imaginary villain who was meant to be running around the cities bad-mouthing people. The people he was supposedly bad-mouthing were understandably upset and keen to know who this villain was. Newspapers encouraged the hoax by printing sightings and urging citizens to find the slanderer. More often than not, the attempt resulted in the ‘victims’ making
complete fools of themselves.
The recipe for the Tom Collins drink first appeared in the 1876 edition of Jerry Thomas’s 'Bartender’s Guide'. Since New York-based Thomas would have been well aware of the hoax, this is the most plausible source of the name for the drink.
By 1878, the Tom Collins was being served in the barrooms of New York City and elsewhere. It was identified as "a favourite drink in demand everywhere" in the 1878 edition of 'The Modern Bartender’s Guide' by O. H. Byron. In that book, the Tom Collins served with gin, whiskey and brandy were considered to be the fashionable drinks of the moment.
A Collins is essentially a built drink that is served in a collins glass (or large tumbler) over ice. It requires a base-spirit of any kind, fresh lemon juice, cane syrup and is topped with chilled seltzer water. Other components may be added but these are the basic requirements which constitute a Collins.
- The Sicilian:**
Build over ice in a 16oz collins glass 20mls Plymouth Gin, 20mls Campari, 10mls Cointreau, 15mls cane syrup, 25mls fresh lemon juice, 75mls fresh ruby grapefruit juice, 2 dashes orange bitters and top up with chilled seltzer water. Garnish with an upturned wedge of fresh ruby grapefruit and serve with a long straw.
- Eton's Blazer
Plymouth Gin, fresh lemon juice, house-made groseille syrup, kirsch and chilled seltzer water (NEW)
- Mr. Harrison:**
ABSOLUT Vodka, curacao, fresh lemon juice, fresh kumquats, fresh basil, house-made orgeat syrup and chilled seltzer water (NEW)
- The Cincinnati Kid:**
Hennessy VS Cognac, elderberry eau de vie, fresh lemon, housemade cinnamon syrup, allspice tincture and chilled seltzer water.
Variants and Mixology: All £9.95
The
Collins
Some people reckon that this drink was created out of Prohibition-era Chicago, as gangs battled for the control of superior alcoholic spirits. The Northside gang that was led by Dion O’Banion had secured the good spirits pipeline, leaving only hooch and swill for the Southside gang. Southside gang leader Frankie McErlane and his cohort, former bartender and wealthy bootlegger Joseph Saltis, mixed it with lots of sugar and citrus - and thus,
apparently, the drink was born. However there is no evidence that the Southside was ever served in Prohibition Chicago and it is well documented that Saltis and McErlane focused only on forcing saloons into selling their beer and beer alone.
Others reckon the drink originated at the Southside Sportsmen’s Club in the Hamptons, Long Island. This could well be the case as the men who fished and hunted at this club did their golfing, riding, and racquet sports at places such as the Rockaway Hunting Club, the Maidstone Club and Piping Rock, which might explain how the drink spread to become the definitive summer drink of the country club set.
The 21 Club in midtown Manhattan and a variety of other post-Prohibition era clubs also make a claim to the Southside’s birthright. However, once again, there’s been no direct chain of documentation produced to verify or deny these claims. It is argued that Americans fleeing Prohibition to go to Cuba brought the Southside recipe with them, which resulted in the development of the Mojito. There are accounts of a Punch-style Mojito being in existence since before this time, but the long, refreshing Mojito that we know today didn't actually show itself on a Cuban Cocktail menu until 1928. Sloppy Joe’s Bar in Havana first featured it on their menu at that time and it was made with either Gordon’s Gin or Bacardi.
The
Southside
- The Southside:
Muddle together in a highball glass 35mls Plymouth Gin (or light white rum), 8 spearmint leaves, 25mls fresh lime juice, 7.5mls cane syrup and 2 dashes aromatic bitters. Fill glass with cracked ice and add 50mls chilled seltzer water. Churn ingredients and garnish with a fresh lime wedge and a spring of fresh spearmint. Serve with a straw.
- The Fernet Side:**
Beefeater Gin, Fernet Branca, fresh lime juice, fresh spearmint, green cardamom tincture, cane syrup, Old Fashioned Bitters and chilled seltzer water (NEW) - Gin-Gin Mule (Audrey Saunders):
Beefeater Gin, fresh lime juice, fresh spearmint, fresh ginger extract, aromatic bitters, cane syrup and chilled seltzer water.
Variants and Mixology: All £9.95
John Martin would long claim that he invented the Moscow Mule along with his friend Jack Morgan, who owned an Olde English-style pub on Hollywood’s Sunset Strip, called the Cock ‘n’ Bull, which had a house brand of ginger beer bottled in stoneware crocks. Martin and Morgan said that a fit of 'inventive genius' led them to combine their respective products.
In 1939, Martin was president of Heublein Inc., the most important wine and spirit importer in the United States.
Only six years after Prohibition he made the biggest gamble of his career. He bought the rights to an unknown product called Smirnoff Vodka from a Russian émigré who had set up a company not too far from where Heublein was located. Martin was a man of vision and he was determined to get Americans to try his new vodka and so hit the road with it in tow.
Following a few abortive years, his big break came when he met up with his old friend Jack Morgan who suggested they try the vodka as a Cocktail base. Morgan had been trying to market his homemade ginger beer for some time and so they tried mixing it together with the vodka, chipped ice, a lime sliver and a twist of cucumber peel. Agreeing it was good, the men christened their libation the Moscow Mule and served it in a distinctive copper mug that wore the Moscow Mule brand and had a kicking mule inscribed on the side.
Martin’s marketing ploy of the Moscow Mule was ingenious. Using a Polaroid camera, Martin asked barmen to pose with a bottle of Smirnoff and a copper mug-filled mixture. Leaving one copy in the bar, Martin visited the next bar showing the competitors the sensational ‘secret Cocktail’. The secret spread fast, the Moscow Mule soon became the drink to call from New York to Los Angeles, kicking its way into Cocktail history.
- Old Mule Skinner:
Build in a Moscow Mule mug 50mls Smirnoff Vodka, 25mls fresh lime juice, 15mls cane syrup, 15mls fresh pineapple juice, 10mls fresh ginger extract and 2 dashes aromatic bitters. Fill mug with cracked ice and add 50mls chilled seltzer water. Churn ingredients and garnish with a fresh lime wedge, slice of cucumber and a sprig of fresh spearmint. Serve with a straw.
- El Diablo:
Cazadores Reposado Tequila, Crème de Cassis, fresh lime juice, cane syrup, fresh ginger extract, aromatic bitters and chilled seltzer water (NEW)
Variants and Mixology: All £9.95
The
Moscow Mule
Icy drink mixtures with rum, first identified as Swizzles and later as Rhum Swizzles, have been mentioned in literature in a variety of locations since the mid-eighteenth century. In these earliest versions, the drink typically consisted of one part of rum diluted with five or six parts water (sometimes with additional aromatic ingredients), which was mixed by rotating between the palms a special forked stick made from a root.
In his 1909 book, 'Beverages, Past and Present: An Historical Sketch of Their Production', Brotherhood Winery owner Edward R. Emerson asserted that Rhum Swizzles originated on the Caribbean island of Saint Kitts. American naturalist and writer Frederick Albion Ober noted in 1920 that the great drink of the Barbados Ice Houses was The Swizzle; a combination of liquors, sugar, and ice whisked to a froth by a rapidly revolved 'swizzle-stick' made from the stem of a native plant, or an allspice bush.
Rhum Swizzles were the drink of choice at what was purportedly the world’s first Cocktail party held in London in 1924 by novelist Alec Waugh. The Rhum Swizzle is also mentioned in Sinclair Lewis’s 1925 novel 'Arrowsmith', which is set in the fictional Caribbean Island of St. Hubert. In 1930, the drink was referenced in a book written by Joseph Hergesheimer, which refers to the drink containing Bacardi Rum and bitters, as well as a swizzle-stick made of sassafras.
- Martinique Rhum Swizzle:
'Swizzle' over cracked ice in a mixing jug 50mls Clement VSOP Rhum Agricole, 7.5mls falernum, 25mls fresh lime juice, 10mls cane syrup and 2 dashes aromatic bitters. Pour contents directly into a highball glass and top up with fresh cracked ice. Garnish with a spent lime wedge and mint sprig tip. Serve with a straw.
- Green Swizzle:
Rhum Agricole, fresh lime juice, house-made orgeat syrup, falernum, Absinthe and chilled seltzer water (NEW) - Queens Park Swizzle:
Havana Club Anejo Rum, falernum, fresh spearmint, fresh lime juice, cane syrup, aromatic bitters and chilled seltzer water.
Variants and Mixology: All £9.95
The
RHum Swizzle
A Dark and Stormy (or Dark ’n’ Stormy) is an alcoholic highball style drink that is popular in many British Commonwealth countries, such as Australia and Bermuda. It consists of dark rum, ginger beer and fresh lime served over ice. The local rum is usually used, for example, 'Bundaberg' in Australia or 'Goslings' in Bermuda. In Bermuda, Dark ’n’ Stormy is a registered trademark of Gosling’s Brothers Limited. It is described as “Bermuda’s National Drink”, a description that is often applied to the Rhum Swizzle as well.
The Dark ’n' Stormy has its origins in the ginger beer factory that was run as a subsidiary of the Royal Naval Officer’s Club. The sailors soon discovered that a splash of the local Gosling’s Black Seal Rum was a great enhancement to ginger beer. The name is said to have originated when an old sailor, looking through the liquid as he held his glass aloft, observed that the drink was “the colour of a cloud only a fool or dead man would sail under”.
Gosling’s holds the trademark on the Dark ’n' Stormy, so making the drink with any other brand of rum is actually “unlawful”!
- Dark 'n' Stormy:
Into a ice-filled highball glass, pour 50mls Goslings Black Seal Rum, 10mls falernum, 25mls fresh lime, 10mls fresh ginger extract, 15mls cane syrup and top up with chilled seltzer water. Stir briefly and garnish with a spent lime wedge. Serve with a straw.
- Melancholy Punch:**
Havana Club 5yr Rum, Havana Club 3yr Rum, falernum, fresh lime, fresh ginger extract, fresh pineapple juice, black cardamom tincture, aromatic bitters and chilled seltzer water (NEW)
Variants and Mixology: All £9.95
Dark
and Stormy
Mint Juleps were probably first served in the early to mid- 1700s in Maryland, Virginia and North Carolina. 'Mint Julep' first appeared in print in a book by John Davis that was published in London in 1803. In it he described the Julep as a “dram of spirituous liquor that has mint in it, taken by Virginians in the morning”.
The French word 'julep' is derived from the Arabic word 'julab', which was a drink that was made with water and rose-petals. The beverage had a delicate and refreshing scent that people thought would instantly enhance the
quality of their lives. When the julab was introduced to the Mediterranean region, the native population replaced the rose-petals with mint, a plant indigenous to the area. The Mint Julep, as it was now called, grew in popularity throughout Europe.
The first Mint Juleps were made with rum, rye whiskey and other available spirits. Kentucky Bourbon whiskey wasn’t widely distributed until later in the nineteenth century. The drink's popularity came to rest in the agricultural regions of the east and southeast, where farmers awakened at dawn. The Julep was originally served as a morning drink - the spirited equivalent of coffee in today’s society.
The tradition of sipping Mint Juleps migrated westward to Kentucky, and soon became associated with horse racing. In 1816, the Kentucky Gazette mentioned Mint Julep Cups being awarded as prizes at horse races in the Commonwealth.
Mint Juleps became Churchill Down’s signature drink in 1938 when they started to serve the drink in souvenir glasses for 75 cents a drink. Today the Kentucky Derby serves more than 80,000 Juleps over the two-day event.
- Kentucky Mint Julep:
Muddle hard in a pre-chilled stainless steel julep cup 50mls Woodford Reserve Bourbon, 12 mint leaves, 15mls cane syrup, 10mls still water and 1½ scoops cracked ice. Churn ingredients thoroughly using spoon-end of bar-spoon. Top up with more cracked ice and garnish with a bouquet of fresh mint. Serve with a long straw.
- Real Georgia Mint Julep:
Hennessy VS Cognac, Georgia Peach Whiskey, fresh mint leaves, cane syrup and still water.
Variants and Mixology: All £9.95
The
Mint Julep
Drinks of the
Style:
- Pegu Club Cocktail - Gimlet
- Satan’s Whiskers - Cosmopolitan Daisy
The Pegu Club
Cocktail
- Daiquiri Naturale - Hemingway Daiquiri - Companero (NEW)** - Vava Voom (NEW)** - Mulatta Daisy (NEW)
The Daiquiri
44
- Caipirinha - Whiskey Smash - The Elixer (NEW)** - El Draque (NEW)
- Brandy Crusta - Sidecar
- The Supernatural (NEW) - The Pheonix (NEW)** - Champs Elysees
THE Caipirinha
The Brandy
Crusta
- Bramble (Dick Bradsell) - Mabel Berra (NEW) - French Canadian (NEW)** - Holland’s Gin Fix (NEW)
- Clover Club - Maiden's Prayer - Celery Sour (NEW) - Aviation
- The Last Word
The Bramble
The Clover Club
52
48
50
54
- Ramos Gin Fiz(z) - Sloe Gin Fiz(z) - Fiz(z) de Violette
- Pisco Sour - Whiskey Sour - Dizzy Sour (NEW)
- Jack Rose - Aviator (NEW) - Eureka (NEW)
- Penicillin - Presbyterian - Sour de Campo (NEW)
The Ramos Gin
Fiz
(z)
The Pisco Sour
The Jack Rose
The Penicillin
60
- Margarita - Armilitta Chico - Pinky Gonzalez (NEW)
- White Lady
- Blushing Lady (NEW)** - Corpse Reviver #2
- Twentieth Century Cocktail (NEW)
The Margarita
The White Lady
56
58
62
64
The Pegu Club Cocktail received its first mention in Harry MacElhone’s 'Barflies and Cocktails' (1927). It was a drink that was served at The Pegu Club in Yangon, Myanmar (formerly Rangoon, Burma). As the British Empire expanded throughout the 1800s, The Pegu Club was set up as a 'Gentleman’s Club' to offer the British people who had settled there a relaxing environment that was far from home. The club may have been established as early as 1866, as has been suggested in Daniel Mason’s book 'The Piano Tuner'. It was well regarded by its patrons. These included people like Rudyard Kipling, who wrote
about it in his book 'From Sea to Sea' (1899):
“The river of the lost footsteps and the golden mystery upon its banks. The iniquity of Jordan shows how a man may go to the Shway Dagon Pagoda and see it not, and to the Pegu Club and hear too much. A dissertation on mixed drinks.” It’s up for debate whether or not the original recipe used Rose’s Lime Juice, or fresh lime juice, since the original recipe did not specify. Printed recipes after the drink’s 1927 debut in Harry MacElhone’s book specifically mention fresh lime juice, though. But it should also be stated that gin and Rose’s Lime Juice were the perennial colonial favourites.
Harry Craddock observed in his 'Savoy Cocktail Book' (1930) that “the Pegu Club Cocktail has travelled, and is asked for, around the world.”
Today, the original Pegu Club acts as a barracks for the Burmese Army.
The
Pegu Club
Cocktail
- Pegu Club Cocktail:
Shake together over ice 35mls Beefeater Gin, 15mls curacao, 25mls fresh lime juice, 5mls cane syrup, 2 dashes orange bitters and 2 dashes aromatic bitters. Strain into a pre-chilled 5oz coupette and garnish with a lime wedge. - Gimlet:
Plymouth Gin, house-made lime cordial, fresh lime juice and aromatic bitters.
- Satan’s Whiskers:
Beefeater Gin, Martini Dry & Rosso Vermouths, Cointreau, fresh orange and lemon juices and orange bitters. - Cosmopolitan Daisy:
Plymouth Gin, curacao, fresh lemon juice, house-made raspberry cordial and chilled seltzer water.
Variants and Mixology: All £9.95
The Daiquiri was supposedly invented around 1898 in the mining town of El Cobre, about 12km north west of Santiago de Cuba on Cuba’s eastern side. It was created by an American mining engineer called Jennings Cox and a Cuban engineer called Pagliuchi.
Legend states that the men mixed white Bacardi rum with lemons and sugar to help quench their thirst after a hard day’s work. The drink was shaken over ice in a cocktail
shaker and served straight up. It was named “Daiquiri” after the beach - Playa Daiquiri - where American troops disembarked during the Spanish-American War at about the same time.
The drink became very fashionable at the Venus Hotel in Santiago de Cuba, where both American and Cuban engineers would turn up each evening especially to order it. Consumption of the drink remained localized until 1909, when Admiral Lucius W. Johnson, a US Navy medical officer, tried the drink and subsequently introduced it to the Army and Navy Club in Washington DC.
The drink soon made an appearance at the Plaza Hotel in Havana before making its way into the hands of Constante Ribalaigua Vert, a bartender at the Floridita Bar on the Calle Obispo. He added maraschino and cracked ice to the original recipe and blended everything together in an electric blender, thus creating the more commonly known frozen version of the drink in 1912.
- Daiquiri Naturale:
Shake hard over ice 50mls Bacardi Superior Rum, 15mls fresh lime juice and 7.5mls cane syrup. Double-strain into a 3oz coupette and garnish with a fresh lime wedge. - Hemingway Daiquiri:
Havana Club Blanco Rum, fresh lime juice, fresh grapefruit juice and maraschino liqueur.
- Companero:**
Havana Club Anejo Rum, white Crème de Cacao, fresh basil leaves, fresh lime juice and cane syrup (NEW) - Vava Voom:**
Havana Club Anejo Rum, apricot liqueur, dark Crème de Cacao, fresh lime juice, cane syrup and aromatic bitters (NEW)
- Mulatta Daisy (Agostino Perrone):
Bacardi Superior, dark Crème de Cacao, Galliano L' Authentico, fresh lime juice, ground fennel seeds and cane syrup (NEW)
Variants and Mixology: All £9.95
The
Daiquiri
The Caipirinha is the national Cocktail of Brazil, and is enjoyed in restaurants, bars, and many households throughout the country. Once almost unknown outside Brazil, the drink has become more popular and more widely available in recent years, in large part due to the rising availability of first-rate brands of cachaça (the base-spirit used in its preparation) outside of Brazil.
Cachaça is Brazil’s most common distilled alcoholic beverage. Like rum, it is made from sugarcane; or rather, it’s made from sugarcane alcohol, obtained from the fermentation of sugarcane juice which is afterwards distilled. It has a much stronger flavour and aroma than rum because its distillation process retains more impurities.
The word 'caipirinha' is the diminutive version of the word 'caipira', which refers to someone from the countryside, the equivalent of the American English hillbilly. Its exact translation is ‘little countryside drink’ in Portuguese. However, a native Brazilian hardly ever thinks of a 'country person' when ordering one, for in the mind of a Brazilian, the word 'Caipirinha' is mostly associated with the drink itself.
It seems likely that the Caipirinha evolved as workers on Brazil’s sugarcane plantations looked for a palatable way to drink the cachaça they were helping to produce. An alternative story has it that Portuguese slave traders returning to Europe would use limes to prevent scurvy, which they added to the cachaça they’d picked up in Brazil and combined with sugar for sweetness.
- Caipirinha:
Shake over cracked ice in a steel flask 60mls Leblon Cachaca, 1 whole lime cut into small chunks, 1 teaspoon golden sugar and 5mls cane syrup. Empty contents directly into a pre-chilled whiskey tumbler, then top with fresh cracked ice and garnish with a lime wedge. Serve with a short straw.
- Whiskey Smash:
Woodford Reserve Bourbon, fresh lemon wedges, fresh mint and cane syrup
- The Elixer:**
Sazerac 6yr Rye Whiskey, Green Chartreuse, fresh lemon juice, fresh pineapple juice, fresh mint and cane syrup (NEW)
- El Draque (Drakes Mojito):
Cane Aguardiente, fresh lime juice, fresh mint leaves and cane syrup (NEW)
Variants and Mixology: All £9.95
The
Caipirinha
Like the Sazerac, the Brandy Crusta is a product of New Orleans in the mid-nineteenth century - and more precisely the product of Joseph Santini who took over the City Exchange Bar in New Orleans (right in the heart of the French Quarter) around 1850. The Crusta builds on the traditional 'Cocktail' of spirit, sugar, bitters and water by adding citrus juice to the mix and also introduces a rather elaborate garnish, which no doubt helped with its popularity in those days.
The aforementioned 'garnish' is a sugar-rim on the outside of a glass with the skin of a lemon around it acting as a second lip to the glass. This was purely a local drink until the advent of Jerry Thomas, who must have met Santini and/or had his drinks when he was in the Crescent City during the 1850s. Thomas first documented it in his 1862 book as a drink containing brandy, curaçao, fresh lemon juice and simple syrup.
Seventy years later Harry Craddock included a version in his 1931 'Savoy Cocktail Book' which gained maraschino liqueur and omitted the sugar syrup completely; resulting in a much sourer version of the original drink. This appears to be the recipe most modern interpretations of the Crusta come from.
The Crusta is widely considered to be the drink that planted a seed of change in the Cocktail world; a seed that would lay dormant until the 1890s, when suddenly everyone started putting lemon juice and lime juice and even orange juice into their Cocktails.
- Brandy Crusta:
Shake over ice 35mls Hennessy VS Cognac, 15mls curacao, 5mls maraschino liqueur and 20mls fresh lemon juice. Strain into a small sugar-rimmed wine glass. Garnish with a long spiral of lemon zest perched upon the rim of the glass.
- Sidecar:
Hennessy VS Cognac, Cointreau, Grand Marnier and fresh lemon juice.
- The Supernatural:
Calvados, Strega, fresh lemon juice and dashes of orange bitters (NEW)
- The Phoenix:**
Plum-infused Poitin, poire eau de vie, fresh lemon, local flower honey and pure County Armagh apple juice (£9.95) - Champs Elysees:
Hennessy VS Cognac, Green Chartreuse, fresh lemon juice, cane syrup and aromatic bitters.
Variants and Mixology: All £9.95
The
Brandy
Crusta
The Bramble is one of the most popular drinks created since the start of the current Cocktail renaissance. Seen on most Cocktail lists all over the UK and known across the world, this drink epitomises a modern classic. It’s simple, fresh, fruity and utterly delicious and was created by Dick Bradsell whilst working in Fred’s Bar in Soho during the mid 1980s.
Harry Craddock’s 'Savoy Cocktail Book' (1930) lists a drink called a Mississippi Mule, which is a simple drink composed of 2/3 Dry Gin, 1/6 fresh lemon juice and 1/6 Crème de Cassis. Another comparison is called the Blackberry Beauty, which consists of 1 part lime juice, 2 parts blackberry liqueur and 5 parts gin, which pops up in David Embury’s 'Fine Art of Mixing Drinks' (1948). The Bramble relates very closely to one particular family of Cocktail, the Fix. The Fix was a Sour-style drink that used a fancy syrup or cordial and many bartenders employed the use of raspberry of blackberry cordials. Jerry Thomas opted for raspberry in his Holland’s Gin Fix in 1862. Dick Bradsell is the godfather of the modern Cocktail era. He’s the reason there is now a string of professional bartenders all over the UK creating elegant and sophisticated drinks. He pioneered simplicity with all his drinks and believed fantastic drinks should not be overly complicated, as drinks which are hard to make don’t have longevity. He created a whole string of modern classics but The Bramble is by far the most famous of these.
- Bramble (Dick Bradsell):
Shake over ice 35mls Bombay Sapphire Gin, 25mls fresh lime juice, 15mls Crème de Mure, 10mls cane syrup, 2 fresh blackberries. Strain into a pre-chilled rocks glass over cracked ice and garnish with a speared lime wheel and whole blackberry. Serve with a short straw. - Mabel Berra
Plymouth Gin, Plymouth Sloe Gin, Swedish Punsch, fresh lemon juice and cane syrup (NEW)
- French Canadian:**
Canadian Whisky, fresh lemon juice, cane syrup, Crème de Mure and dashes Absinthe (NEW)
- Holland’s Gin Fix:
Bols Genever, fresh lemon juice and house-made raspberry syrup (NEW)
Variants and Mixology: All £9.95
The
Bramble
The Clover Club was an organization that met at the Bellevue Stratford Hotel Bar in Philadelphia from the late 1800s until about the start of the First World War. It was a club dedicated to fine eating, drinking and all round general revelry and its members were mainly lawyers, actors, writers and business types.
No-one knows for sure when the drink bearing the same name was created or who it was that created it, but it is thought to have originated quite late in the club’s history - some people suggesting around 1910.
Some recipes call for Vermouth in the drink and some don’t; some recipes call for the use of fresh raspberries and some call for raspberry syrup; some suggest using fresh lime juice instead of lemon juice - it’s all down to personal preference really. We use Sweet Vermouth in our version because we feel it complements the raspberry syrup really well and lends this drink a lovely richness that it doesn’t otherwise have.
A Clover Club Cocktail that has been garnished with a mint leaf is called a Clover Leaf.
The
Clover
Club
- Clover Club:
“Dry-shake” 30mls Plymouth Gin, 30mls Martini Rosso, 15mls house-made raspberry cordial, 20mls fresh lemon juice, 2 fresh raspberries and the white of half an egg. Shake again over ice and then strain into a 7oz coupette. Garnish with (or without) a mint leaf.
- Maiden's Prayer:
Beefeater Gin, Cointreau, fresh lemon and orange juices, cane syrup and egg-white.
- Celery Sour:
Plymouth Gin, fresh lemon juice, house-made pineapple cordial, celery bitters and egg-white (NEW)
- Aviation:
Beefeater Gin, Creme de Yvette, fresh lemon juice and cane syrup.
- The Last Word:
Beefeater Gin, Green Chartreuse, maraschino liqueur, fresh lime juice and cane syrup.
Variants and Mixology: All £9.95
Salvador Negrete claims his son Danny created this drink. The family story goes that Danny got his own bar which was part of the Garci Crispo Hotel. During this time his brother was getting married and for his wedding present Danny created a special drink which he called Margarita - after the lady David was marrying. This all took place in Puebla Mexico in 1936. The salt rim explanation comes from Margarita supposedly liking salt with whatever she ate or drank and, therefore, she salt-rimmed the glass!
Another story comes from Sara Morales who is an expert in the field of Mexican folklore. She claimed the drink was created by Dona Bertha, who owned a place called Bertha’s Bar which was located in Taxco, Mexico. She apparently created this potion in 1930. She makes an appearance in Charles H.Baker’s 1946 edition of 'The Gentleman’s Companion' and he says: “Tequila Special a la Bertita, garnered, among other things, in lovely Taxco, in February of 1937. This is a shocker from the place of Bertita, across the cathedral steps in Taxco… It is a cooler as well and Americans find it very unusual. Take 2 ponies of good Tequila, the juice of 1 lime, 1 tsp sugar, and 2 dashes of orange bitters. Stir in a collins glass with lots of small ice, then fill with club soda.”
The last story is about a wealthy Dallas socialite called Margarita Sames. She claimed she came up with the drink for her friends at her Acapulco summer home in 1948. The friends happened to be “famous hotel and restaurant people” who included the likes of Tommy Hilton. Her formula was 2 parts Tequila, 1 part Cointreau and 1 part lime juice and she apparently added the salt rim due to her guests liking their Tequila with a lick of salt. Regardless of who first created this drink, the Margarita has since become one of the most popular Cocktails in the world today.
The
Margarita
- Margarita:
Shake over ice 40mls Cazadores Blanco Tequila, 20mls fresh lime juice and 20mls Agave Sec. Strain into a pre-chilled salt rimmed 5oz coupette and garnish with a lime wedge.
- Armilitta Chico:
Cazadores Blanco Tequila, fresh lime juice, house-made grenadine, cane syrup, orange flower water and chilled seltzer water.
- Pinky Gonzalez (“Tequila” Mai-Tai):
Cazadores Reposado Tequila, curacao, fresh lime juice and house-made orgeat syrup (NEW)
Variants and Mixology: All £9.95
This fine drink is essentially a gin Sidecar. However, despite being such a simple twist on a Sidecar, the White Lady has a very controversial history. Harry Craddock of the American Bar at the Savoy Hotel in London and Harry MacElhone of Harry’s New York Bar in Paris have both said they created this drink and both men have plausible theories behind its creation.
Harry MacElhone created his first version of the White Lady Cocktail in 1919 whilst working at Ciro’s Club in London. His version there was a horrid mixture of Cognac,
Dry Gin and Crème de Menthe. Harry then took over a bar in Paris in 1923 and renamed it Harry’s New York Bar. It was while here that Harry wrote a book called 'Barflies and Cocktails' (1927), which contained the recipe for his 1919 White Lady. It took a further two years before he changed that recipe by substituting the brandy and Crème de Menthe for fresh lemon juice and Cointreau - and thus the White Lady we know today was born.
However, Harry Craddock’s 'Savoy Cocktail Book' (1930) also has a White Lady listed in it and it was MacElhone’s second White Lady recipe that was featured. Many people argue that it was Craddock himself who created the second version of the drink but to this day, no-one knows for sure. Although it should be said that the White Lady was extremely popular in the Savoy during those days and according to Belfast bartending legend Joe Gilmore - who was the head bartender in the Savoy from 1955 to 1976 - it was the favourite drink of Laurel and Hardy.
The
White Lady
- White Lady:
Dry shake 25mls Plymouth Gin, 25mls Cointreau, 25mls fresh lemon juice, a dash of Absinthe and the white of half an egg. Shake again over ice and strain into a pre-chilled 7oz coupette. Garnish with a star-anise.
- Blushing Lady:**
ABSOLUT Vodka, fresh pomegranate juice, fresh white grapefruit and lemon juices, house-made orgeat syrup and a dribble of rosewater (NEW)
- Corpse Reviver #2:
Plymouth Gin, Cointreau, Lillet Blanc, fresh lemon juice and a dash of Absinthe.
- Twentieth Century Cocktail:
Beefeater Gin, white Creme de Cacao, Lillet Blanc and fresh lemon juice (NEW)
Variants and Mixology: All £9.95
The Ramos Gin Fiz(z) was a take on the more common Gin Fiz(z) variety and was not known until 1888 when Henry C. Ramos came to New Orleans and purchased The Imperial Cabinet Saloon from Emile Sunier. The Cabinet was located at the corner of Gravier and Carondelet Streets and above it, on the second storey, was a popular restaurant called The Old Hickory. It was there that Henry Ramos served the Gin Fiz(z) that departed so radically from the other frothy gin mixtures served in New Orleans saloons of that time. For it was only at the Ramos
establishment that one could one get what tasted like a real Gin Fiz(z). Visitors and locals alike flocked in their droves to the Ramos dispensary to down the frothy draft that Ramos alone knew how to make to perfection. One poetical sipper eulogized it thus: “It’s like drinking a flower!”
The Ramos Gin Fiz(z) had remained a secret until the enactment of Prohibition in the US. As Charles H. Baker stated in 'The Gentleman’s Companion' (1939): “The Original Gin Fiz(z), which was long a secret of the Brothers Ramos, and which was given out by them, in a fit of generous aberration during our alleged and ridiculous drought of the Prohibition era. Thinking that the formula, like any history dealing with the dead arts, should be engraved on the tablets of history, it was given to the world after the now rejuvenated Ramos Bar closed for the 'dry' era. The main secret of excellence was the platoon of 8 or 1 doz blacamoors who passed the shaker one shoulder to the next, after each had literally shaken his heart out chilling the drink...”
The Ramos Gin Fiz(z) was different from the regular Gin Fiz(z) in that it incorporated vanilla essence, orange flower water and cream – however, the signature of the drink was that it required a very vigorous shake in order to achieve the appropriate 'ropey' texture.
The
Ramos
Gin Fiz
(z)
- Ramos Gin Fiz(z):
“Dry-Shake” 50mls Old Tom Gin, 15mls fresh lemon juice, 10mls fresh lime juice, 15mls single cream, 4 dashes orange flower water, 15mls cane syrup and the white of half an egg. Shake again over ice and strain neat into a pre-chilled fiz(z) glass. Top up with chilled seltzer water and garnish with a lime wedge. Serve with a straw. - Sloe Gin Fiz(z):
Plymouth Gin, Sloe Gin, fresh lemon juice, cane syrup, chilled seltzer water and the white of half an egg. - Fiz(z) de Violette:
Plymouth Gin, Creme de Yvette, fresh lemon juice, cane syrup, chilled seltzer water and the white of half an egg. Variants and Mixology:
All £9.95
Politics, religion, genocide, division of land, and prejudice are well known reasons for conflict over the last few centuries, but alas two countries have found something new to fight over - a Cocktail, or more specifically, the Pisco Sour. Pisco is the national spirit of both Peru and Chile and the Pisco Sour is the national drink of both nations. Both these countries have claimed the spirit and drink as their own invention and creation. Pisco generates
a lot of discussion in both countries and both take their heritage of this drink very seriously indeed. Peru holds a national Pisco Sour Day on the first Saturday of every February and Chile holds its on 15th May. The two countries have accounts of how they created the spirit but it’s the mixed drink that we shall focus on.
The Peruvian story is quite simple: an American called Victor Morris created the drink in his own bar called The Morris Bar in the capital city Lima. He created the drink in 1920 as a twist on the Whiskey Sour and his drink became very popular with the locals - so popular in fact the major hotels of the city began serving the drink to their guests from all corners of the world.
The Chilean version of events predates the Peruvian story by 50 years but has yet to be substantiated. A Peruvian paper called 'El Comericedo de Lquique' proposed in 1872 that an English sailor called Elliot Stubb be granted leave to disembark his ship Sunshine and stay in the portside town of Lquique to settle and open his own bar. Once he got his place he started to experiment with his beloved whiskey.
He added Limon de Pica and a dribble of sugar and he obtained perfection. The drink spread to all social clubs and bars of the area and it was absolutely adored. It was said that he often swapped whiskey for the native Pisco in his beloved drink and therefore created the Pisco Sour. Lquique became a Chilean city in 1884.
The
Pisco Sour
- Pisco Sour:
Dry shake 50mls Pisco Brandy, 15mls fresh lime juice, 10mls fresh lemon juice, 10mls cane syrup and the white of half an egg. Shake again over ice and then strain neat into a small pre-chilled wine glass. Add a dash Amargo Bitters and garnish with a lemon twist and fresh cherry. - Whiskey Sour:
Woodford Reserve Bourbon, fresh lemon juice, cane syrup and egg-white.
- Dizzy Sour:
Havana Club 3yr Rum, Sazerac 6yr Rye Whiskey, Benedictine, fresh lemon juice, cane syrup and egg white (NEW)
Variants and Mixology: All £9.95
The Jack Rose was one of the biggest drinks around from its inception in 1905 right through until the start of Prohibition. It is made of Applejack, citrus and grenadine. There are many conflicting beliefs as to how this drink came about. Some say it’s due to the fact that Applejack is used and it is rose coloured. Another story is documented by Albert Stevens Crockett, who authored the 'Waldorf Astoria Cocktail Book' (1931). He stated in this book that “it is so-called because of its pink colour, the exact shade
of a Jacqueminot rose, when properly concocted”.
Then there is also the tale of Jacob 'Bald Rose' Rosenzweig who was a famous gambler and underworld figure during the early 1900s. One of the most important books ever published regarding Cocktails again proved its worth with new evidence published on the Jack Rose. That book is 'Imbibe' by Dave Wondrich and in it he unearths a paper from 1905 called the Police Gazette, which states: “Frank J. May, better known as Jack Rose, is the inventor of a very popular Cocktail by that name, which has made him famous as a mixologist.” Frank May was believed to have been employed at Gene Sullivan’s Café in Jersey City and it’s also believed that it was here he created the Jack Rose - which would make sense, as the home of Applejack is indeed New Jersey.
The Jack Rose is variable in that it can be completely different depending on what recipe you follow. In Robert Vermeire’s 'Cocktails and How to Mix' (1922), he says that a Jack Rose can be made with raspberry syrup or grenadine. In his book 'Famous New Orleans Drinks and How to Mix ’Em' (1937), Stanley Arthur states that it should only be made with lemon juice and Peychauds bitters. The recipe we follow however is quite similar to Jacob Straub’s version from his book 'Drinks' (1914), and which, coincidentally, is one of the first Jack Rose recipes to be documented in a bartenders’ guide.
The
Jack Rose
- Jack Rose:
Shake over ice 35mls Applejack Bonded Proof, 25mls fresh lime juice, 15mls house-made grenadine, 5mls cane syrup. Strain into a pre-chilled 3oz coupette and garnish with a green apple slice.
- Aviator:
Havana Club Blanco, Applejack Bonded Proof, fresh lime juice and house-made grenadine (NEW)
- Eureka:
Calvados, Plymouth Sloe Gin, fresh lime juice and cane syrup (NEW)
Variants and Mixology: All £9.95
