My Birthday @ Milk & Honey

Well... It’s my birthday, and Cara being the amazing woman that she is, has organised a gathering of our friends in a cocktail bar which I’ve been dying to go to since we arrived in London. “Milk & Honey” is an exclusive members only bar located in Soho. This bar is well known all over the world for it’s high level of service and of course amazing drinks. I’d heard of “Milk & Honey” back in Australia some time ago, so my expectations of this bar was high.  So exclusive is “Milk & Honey”, the entrance is a challenge to find in itself. Hidden behind a single unmarked door, we were half expecting to have to give the hostess a secret password to enter.  

The bar opened in April 2002. It is the sister bar to the original “Milk and Honey” based in New York. Its design is cozy and intimate. Dim lighting with several booths, which make you feel like you’re the only people in the bar. Another feature worth mentioning are the house rules. Rules that were written to be a little “tongue-in-cheek”, but you can’t help but take them semi seriously. Rules such as “All gentlemen must remove their hats” seems reasonable, but then rules like “Gentlemen must not introduce themselves to ladies. You must get the bartender to introduce you” seems a little far-fetched, not to mention hard to enforce. 

So once you’ve found the secret door, gotten a table and understood the house rules, It’s time to check out the menu.  The cocktail menu was designed by cocktail guru and a bar legend in the business, Dale DeGroff.  It’s a simple menu, with a good mix of classics, variations on some classics and unique drinks to “Milk & Honey”.  They also offer quite a good selection of wines, with many French champagnes, followed by a selection of red and white wines from all over the world. 

My first order for the night was an “Aviation No. 1”. This consisted of Calvados (apple brandy), Cassis (black-current liqueur), Absinthe and Lime juice. It’s not a drink for everyone, the Absinthe cuts through the other flavours, but it doesn’t over power them. It’s a complex drink which is refreshing, but still needs to be drunk slowly.  Take out the Absinthe and this drink would be far more appealing to the masses, but then it would be boring and lack flavour.  I loved it. Absinthe is a hard spirit to work with, but this cocktail was balanced perfectly. 

Our second drink for the night was the under-rated classic, a drink called the “Last Word”. It’s a mixture of Gin, Maraschino liqueur, Chartreuse and Lime juice. I chose this drink for similar reason as the “Aviation No 1”. Like Absinthe, Chartreuse is a hard spirit to work with and it’s interesting to see how a bartender can balance this strong flavour amongst the other ingredients. Once again it was served to perfection. This is another cocktail that is not for everyone, but even if you don’t like Chartreuse, you can appreciate how well the bartender has mixed this classic. 

When we left “Milk & Honey” we were all very impressed with the experience. The staff were not pretentious (which is not common in exclusive member only bars), the drinks were fantastic and we all celebrated my birthday in style. Hopefully we’ll return to “Milk & Honey” soon. 

Milk & Honey's

“Aviation No. 1”

Shaken and Strained into a Cocktail glass

- 30ml Calvados (Apple Brandy)

- 30ml Creme de Cassis (Black-current Liqueur)

- 10ml Absinthe

- 30ml Lime Juice

Milk & Honey’s

“The Last Word”

Shaken and Strained into a Cocktail Glass

- 30ml Gin

- 15ml Maraschino Liqueur

- 15ml Chartreuse

- 30ml Lime Juice

Bienvenue à Paris (Welcome to Paris)

 We have now been in the UK for 2 months. We have seen some amazing things and have settled into life here nicely. It’s time to take advantage of the close proximity of other European countries. We decided to do a bus trip to Paris. We were so excited about exploring a new city, the 7 hour bus ride seemed to take no time at all. Once we arrived at our hotel, we quickly checked in and hit the streets. First on the list was of course the Eiffel Tower. As we made our way toward the tower, we were amazed that we were here. We Looked up at all the beautiful buildings, listening to french accent and constantly checking the map as we made our way through the maze of cobblestone streets. We certainly felt like a fish out of water. But once we arrived at the Eiffel Tower, we quickly realised that we were not alone. Literally thousands of tourists, just like us, taking in the sights of Paris. After spending a few hours around the tower, we made our way back to our hotel, excited about the days to come.





The next day we had a long list of sights that we had to go and see. Cara really wanted to go and see the ‘Moulin Rouge’. As we made our way there by train, we were entertained by a busker playing his violin and you truly felt like you were in Paris. After taking some pictures at the Moulin Rouge, We decided to have a bite to eat at a close by cafe. France is the home of the cafes, so we had plenty to choose from. As we sat down and ordered our food, I decided that this would be a great time to have the traditional french liqueur, ‘Ricard’ (also known as ‘Pernod’ in other countries). Ricard (or Pernod) are produced by a french beverage company funnily enough called ‘Pernod Ricard’. These liqueurs are both anise flavoured very similar to liquorice. The story of Pernod Ricard began with Henri-Louis Pernod in 1797. He opened an absinthe distillery in Switzerland. The absinthe he produced had instant success and by 1805 he opened another distillery in eastern France. When Henri-Louis Pernod died in 1850, his legacy of absinthe still lived on. Another distillery was opened in Paris in 1871 and absinthe was fast becoming the highest selling drink in Europe. It’s popularity was due to it’s addictive hallucinogenic qualities. This was considered dangerous and by 1915 it was banned in most of Europe and the United States. There was now a void in the drinks market that had to be filled, and it was ‘Ricard’ which took it’s place. In 1932, Paul Ricard founded his new drink which was made from similar products as absinthe, but without it’s harmful hallucinogen effects. Because Paul Ricard’s new drink was so similar to the Pernod product, the two companies we’re fierce rivals, until they finally merged in 1975. Still today, Ricard is the top selling drink in France.



Ricard is typically served in a long glass with ice. It is also served with a small jug of water, allowing you to dilute the liqueur as you wish. I can’t say that it would be a drink that I’d order regularly, but I can definitely appreciate why people love it so much. It does cleanse the palette. So after some crepes, french toast and a glass of Ricard, we set off again and continued our tour of Paris.

The Japan Experience

All I can say at the moment is WOW!!!.... We could not have asked for a better start to our adventure than in Japan. For simple Adelaide folk, like me and Cara, we could not have had a bigger culture shock. Our travels take us to the city of Osaka. The main thing you notice when walking the streets of Osaka, is the people there love to eat. It seems like every place we pass, they were offering some kind of food. Being a foreigner you can't help but try everything. So far I've had things like pork tongue, fish eggs, fried octopus balls, chicken heart, plenty of sushi and there is sure to be much more. But the traditional meal of Osaka is Okonomiyaki. Okonomiyaki is like a big pancake but filled with cabbage, shrimp, pork and almost anything else you can think of. It's smothered in BBQ sauce and topped off with shaved fish. Sounds interesting but we both loved it. We are always keen to get into the spirit of Japan and try all the exciting things they have to offer.

While we explore the city and eat the food, we need to wash it all down with some Japanese beers. Asahi is the local beer of Japan, but i also had the pleasure of trying Yebisu Beer, Kirin, Sapporo and the Suntory range of beers. All of these beers were nice and refreshing and definitely quenched the thirst, but i must admit they all possessed similar qualities. We are lucky in Australia to have such a wide variety of local and boutique beers. Most of the popular beers I've tried before but the Yebisu Beer was a new one for me, it was little different, not so much in flavour, but more in it's texture. It had a soft creamy head, similar to a Kilkenny. One beer that did take my fancy was one from the Sapporo range. It was a chocolate flavoured beer. I've heard of stout and chocolate working well together, but that is more when making a beer cocktail. This was a can of beer infused with Creme de Cacao. It was really nice but certainly the type of beer you couldn't drink for an entire night. Very sweet and a little heavy, like an ale. Definitely worth trying though.

Of course everyplace that we go we have to check out the local cocktail bars. My parents had done some research before our arrival and told us about a great little cocktail bar called "Absinthe Solaar" (I liked the name straight away). One thing I must add about Japan, is the service is exceptional and the people are so welcoming to foreigners. So when we arrived at 'Absinthe Solaar" we were welcomed with a smile and were seated in a prime position at the bar. After looking at the cocktail menu for several minutes, Cara was the most adventurous an ordered a tropical absinthe margarita.  This blended cocktail consisted of 30ml tequila, 30ml cointreau, a dash of absinthe, fresh mango, orange juice, pineapple juice and a dash of sugar syrup. Add ice to the blender and blend until smooth. Another dash of absinthe was washed around the glass before serving. When we took a sip of this, it was just the right combination of tequila and absinthe. The hint of absinthe was not to over powering but just enough to know that it's there.

So it's been a busy first few days in Japan, and we have not even begun to scratch the surface yet. There is still so much more to discover.

Absinthe's Solaar's
"Tropical Absinthe Margarita"
In a Blender add:
30ml Tequila
30ml Cointreau
Dash of Absinthe
Fresh Mango
Dash of Orange Juice
Dash of Pineapple Juice
Dash of Sugar Syrup
Add ice and Blend.
Rinse your glass with another dash of Absinthe
Serve and garnish with a sprig of mint

The Sazerac

I was chatting with a mate of mine the other day about the unnecessary amount of "big ego's" in the bar industry. Sure, i accept with the many cocktail competitions and challenges around the world today, it's a  competitive industry amongst bartenders. But I'm not talking about cocktail competitions, I'm talking about the things that some bartenders do to give themselves, what i like to call "Bar street-cred". Please explain??... OK, for example a bartender walks into a bar and orders a classic cocktail, like the sazerac, to try and test the bartender or if it's not to test the barman, it's to portray to the staff that they know their drinks, by ordering a classic. Lame i know, but believe me, i see it happen. To me it doesn't prove anything, I've had other bartenders order stuff like this from me, expecting me to give them some street cred, but i don't buy into it. I'll say one last thing before i get off my 'soap-box', the bar industry is full of too many big ego's as it is, an if bartenders would stop trying so hard to compete against each other and learn from one another, we would all become better at what we do and therefore making the industry better for the customer.

So I've said my little bit... but now lets get stuck into the sazerac. There are many drinks that bartenders order to give them "street-cred",  but the main one that comes to my mind is the sazerac. I decided to feature this classic cocktail on my blog, because I'll admit, I don't know much about it's origins. i know whats in it and how to make it, but i have no idea of where it came from and how it was first invented, so it was exciting for me to learn something new.

The story of the sazerac starts around 1850. An American bar owner, Sewell T. Taylor sold his bar and began working in the liquor importing business. He turned to France and began importing a brand of cognac called "Sazerac-de-forge-et-fils". As Taylor began to sell an import this cognac throughout America,  another bartender, Aaron Bird, decided to take over a bar and name it "The Sazerac House". Here is where Bird is said to have created the "Sazarac cocktail", using Sewell Taylors brand of imported cognac, absinthe and sugar, along with Peychauds bitters. Down the street from the Sazerac House, was the local drug store, owned by a man called Antoine Amedie Peychaud. Peychaud is the creator of the famous "Peychauds Bitters" which is best described as a light and sweet bitters. This is an important ingredient in the sazerac. Around 1870, The Sazerac House was taken over by Thomas Handy. Handy was forced to change the ingredient of the french cognac, to a rye whiskey, due to the Phylloxera (which was basically like a type of insect) epidemic which was sweeping France at the time. These bugs were eating and destroying all the wine crops, grapes and tainting all the produce, so the cognac used in the sazerac was unavailable for that period of time. So from then on the sazerac has been served with rye whiskey.

There are many subtle variations on this drink, but I'll share with you how i serve my sazeracs.  Start with a rocks (old fashioned) glass, pour 10ml absinthe into the glass and roll the glass, coating as much of the side as you can with the absinthe. Once all of the glass is coated, you can discard the absinthe. This process is called rinsing. After the 'absinthe rinse', place a sugar cube in the bottom of the glass and cover the cube with a few dashes of Peychauds bitters. Crush this sugar cube and get it as broken up and dissolved as you can. I sometimes like to add a dash of sugar syrup to add to the sweetness, but this is up to you. I have a bit of a sweet tooth, so i like my drinks sweet.  Once sugar is dissolved, you can either add 60ml rye whiskey of 60ml Cognac. I like to give the drink as many flavours of possible and give the drink a bit of a 3rd dimension, so i personally like to use 30ml of both rye whiskey and cognac. Now add ice, and stir... and keep stirring as long as you need to dilute the cocktail to your liking. Lastly, garnish with some lemon zest, and enjoy. Some of you might notice that this is very similar to an "Old Fashioned". That's because the sazerac was inspired by the old fashioned cocktail.

I hope you enjoy your sazerac, and remember, only order the sazerac if that's what you really want, not  for the street cred.  ;-)

In a rocks glass:
10ml Absinthe
1 sugar cube
(dash of sugar syrup optional)
Dash of Peychauds Bitters
30ml Rye Whiskey
30ml Cognac
Add ice and stir
Garnish with lemon zest