Returning to London

When we first came to London almost 2 years ago, the city seemed exciting and also very overwhelming. Back then, Cara and I were also very focused on establishing ourselves with a place to live and a new job to begin. London now feels like our second home. The once intimidating London underground train, is now a piece of cake. It was almost like we’d never left.  As we return to London after six months in Glasgow, we felt more relaxed than ever and felt like we could just enjoy our time. We had no pressure to find a home or a job, and as we’d done much our sight seeing in our first stint living in the countries capital, we had the freedom to relax and catch up with friends and family. 

Naturally, one of the things we wanted to do this time around in London is check out as many quirky and different cocktail bars as we could. We’d already visited many bars throughout our time, but we hadn't even scratched the surface of what London has to offer. We decided to head to Shoreditch, an area which is located just north of the city centre. It’s a part of London which just recently has become famous for it’s trendy cocktail bars and nightlife. Having only been to this part of the city briefly once before, we decided to catch up with some old friends and explore the Shoreditch area some more.

Our first stop was the "Hoxton Pony" cocktail Bar. It was here where we ordered a lesser known classic, the “Louisiana Jam Jar”. The Jam jar is a cocktail made famous in New Orleans, a city known for it’s partying. It's also famous for being the birth place of Southern Comfort. Southern Comfort was first invented by bartender Martin Wilkes in 1874. Bourbon whiskey back then was not always nice to drink, so Martin decided to turn this into bourbon liqueur making it sweeter and easier to drink.  As it's popularity grew, many cocktails were invented using Southern Comfort. Many of these drinks were often served in jam jars, which was a common theme in New Orleans during the late 1800’s.  No one is sure for certain who came up with the original recipe for the Louisiana Jam Jar, but we know that it is a relatively modern classic, which was designed to pay tribute to Southern Comfort and the city of New Orleans. It is made up of Southern Comfort, lemon juice, apple juice, a teaspoon of apricot jam, sugar syrup and a handful of mint leaves. It’s a fun and creative cocktail which will go down a treat with the bourbon lovers. But even if you are not a fan of Southern Comfort, this cocktail is still enjoyable for almost everyone.  The “SoCo” is not over powering, which lets the apple and lemon juice come through, making it quite citrusy and refreshing. The apricot jam and the mint are subtle flavours and they add another dimension to this cocktail. Trying to pick all the differing flavours in a cocktail like this always makes for an enjoyable drinking experience.

As we continued to explore Shoreditch, we decided to head to a bar which I’d heard of many times, as it was ranked number 11 in the latest poll of the ‘Worlds Top 50 Bars’. This was a little place on Hoxton Square called “Happiness Forgets”.  I was excited to order one of their signature cocktails, so I chose a drink called the “Overdraft”. This cocktail consisted of Banks 5 Island Rum, Rhum* Orange, lime juice and clove bitters, shaken and served into a chilled martini glass. It was described in the menu as being “Robust and Refreshing”, which i guess it was, but ‘refreshing’ would not be a word i’d use to describe this drink. Robust? Definitely yes... This was a cocktail which was strong in flavours and required you to sip it slowly to fully appreciate it’s taste. It was surprisingly sweet and the after taste of the clove bitters gave it a unique complexity. 

As is usual when going out in London, you find yourself having to hurry to catch the last train, so we decided to call it a night. It was great to get out and about again in London. There are many things we missed about the city. I’m sure we’ll fit in a few more outings around town before we depart.

* Rhum is a by-product of Rum. Rum is made from molasses of sugar cane, where as Rhum is only the juice of the sugar cane. The taste can often be very different.

"Louisiana Jam Jar”

In a Jam Jar glass (Or tall highball glass):

45ml Southern Comfort

15ml Lemon Juice

15ml Apple Juice

15ml Sugar Syrup

Teaspoon of Apricot jam

Handful of mint leaves

Fill the Jar with crushed ice and stir ingredients together

Garnish with a sprig of Mint

Happiness Forgets, Hoxton Square:

“Overdraft”

In a shaker:

30ml Banks 5 Island Rum

15ml Rhum Orange

15ml Lime Juice

15ml Sugar Syrup

Dash of Clove Bitters

Shake and Strain into Martini Glass

Visiting Scotland... The Home of Scotch Whisky

It’s been a little while since Cara and I have taken a trip and we’ve been looking forward to going to Scotland since we arrived in the UK. So with the weather being unseasonably warm, we saw this as the perfect time to visit the UK’s north.

London can be such a chaotic city, so getting out to the rolling hills and fresh air of scotland was exactly what we needed. Cara was excited about seeing sights such as the William Wallace monument, which is in the town of Stirling (not far from Glasgow), along with one of the most famous castles in the UK, Edinburgh Castle. Me on the other hand, was looking forward to visiting a real scotch whisky distillery. Scotch distilleries in Scotland are like wineries back home in South Australia. They are everywhere. Too many to choose from in fact. We decided to visit the Glengoyne Distillery, just near Glasgow.

Glengoyne has been producing highland single malt scotch whisky since 1833. Although it has been said that whisky production in the region has been taking place for much longer. Due to heavy taxes on spirit production distilleries were forced to operate illegally, using the surrounding highlands and forests to hide their distilleries. Records show that up to 18 illegal distilleries were producing scotch in this region. So when the government finally passed an act in the 1820’s to reduce the fees and costs, many of these producers pulled together to form Glengoyne in 1833.

The name Glengoyne comes from the name “Glenguin”, meaning ‘Glen of the Wild Geese’. The distillery was originally called “Glenguin” until 1894 when the name was changed. The whisky itself has a distinctive flavour. It is one of only 2 distilleries that uses the ‘Golden promise Barley’ which is  high quality barley used to create whisky. This is blended together and distilled using the water which flows under the factory itself. Glengoyne is one of the few scotch whiskies not used peat smoke to dry their barley. They use only warm air. This gives the spirit a light amber colour and a distinctive, not so smokey flavour. Many critics have said that Glengoyne whisky, because of it’s colour and smell, is more like a lowland whisky, than a highland.

With this inspiration of visiting Glengoyne, I decided to buy myself a little sample bottle of Glengoyne 10 year old and make, what i believe is one of the most famous scotch based cocktails around, The “Rob Roy”.  This cocktail is very similar to the “Manhattan”. In was invented in 1894 by a bartender at the Waldorf Hotel in New York City. The drink was named after Scottish folk hero, Robert Roy Macgregor. The drink consists of 45ml scotch whisky, 25ml sweet vermouth and a dash of Angostura bitters, stirred with ice and strain into a martini glass. You can garnish this cocktail with either a slice of lemon, lemon rind or lemon zest, or another option is a maraschino cherry.

So at the end of our day in the highlands of scotland, we were blessed with some great weather, some amazing views and we got to do as the scottish do, which is drink scotch whisky.

“The Rob Roy”
In a cocktail glass:
45ml Scotch Whisky
25ml Sweet Vermouth
Dash of Angostura Bitters
Stir with ice and strain into a martini glass
Garnish with Maraschino Cherry
or Lemon (slice, zest or rind)

The London Cocktail Bar Crawl

Last week, myself and one of my work colleagues decided to go on a bit of a cocktail bar crawl around London’s west end. The Soho/ Covent Garden area is notorious for having some of the most stylish and trendy bars in London, so we were excited to visit some of them and see what creations they had to offer.

We visited a number of different bars throughout the day, but there were a few different cocktails which stood out from the rest. The first was at the Covent Garden Cocktail Club. We asked the bartender to make us a drink which is a bit different, but also one which he enjoys making. He served us up a “Berlin Sour”. Invented in 2009, by Thorsten Pannek at the Hilton Hotel Frankfurt, the "Berlin Sour” consisted of Kummel (cumin liqueur), Luxardo maraschino liqueur, lemon juice and sugar syrup. All ingredients were shaken together and double strained into a martini glass. The flavours worked together well. Despite it being a sour, it was still very sweet and powerful. The Kummel cut through the lemon juice and the Luxardo complemented it well without over-powering the other flavours.

We made a short walk down the road to another popular bar in Covent Garden, "Navaja Joe’s Cocktail Bar”. There we decided to try a simple variation on the Classic Mojito. The cocktail was called “Rumdog Millionaire”. This cocktail used rum, lime and mint, muddled together, strained into a tall glass over ice and topped up with mango juice and Ginger beer. It was a simple and refreshing concoction, exactly what i would expect from a varied Mojito.

We then moved on to a place called “Dirty Martini”. Here I tried another mango based cocktail, A “Mango and Chilli Martini”. Even though I had already had a mango cocktail at the bar before, I was interested in how the mango would mix with the chilli. This martini used mandarin vodka, chilli infused vodka, lime juice and mango juice. The cocktail worked in two stages. When first sipped you get a hint of the chilli instantly, but then the cooling taste of the mango takes over and balances the entire drink out nicely.

After a few more bars, we decided to finish off our crawl at the E.C.C (Experimental Cocktail Club). With a name like that, we expected some crazy drinks, and they didn’t disappoint. I decided to order a “Redneck Flip”. A totally original creation with Laird’s Applejack (apple brandy), Buffalo trace bourbon, a budweiser & marshmallow syrup, a whole egg, Memphis BBQ bitters and finished off with grated nutmeg. All shaken together and double strained into a daiquiri glass.  This would not be the sort of cocktail that just anyone would order. It’s bizarre mix of flavours made such a unique taste. It can’t say it is the nicest cocktail I’ve ever had, but is up there with the most interesting. I guess I enjoyed the drink just for the sheer appreciation for what the bartenders at E.C.C were trying to create, which is a totally unique drinking experience.

As our night came to an end, I couldn’t help but think that we hadn’t even begun to scratch the surface of the London cocktail scene. I think another cocktail bar crawl needed to happen in the not to distant future.

(Covent Garden Cocktail Club)
 “Berlin Sour”
In a Mixing Glass:
30ml Kummel Cumin Liqueur
30ml Luxardo Maraschino Liqueur
30ml Lemon Juice
30ml Sugar Syrup

Shake All Ingredients
Double Strain into a Martini Glass

 (Navaja Joe’s Cocktail Bar)
“Rumdog Millionaire”
In a Mixing Glass:
Muddle Lime (with some sugar syrup)
Add a Handful of Mint
60ml White Rum
30ml Mango Juice
Shake together and Double strain into tall glass
Top up with Ginger beer
Garnish with a sprig of mint

(Dirty Martini)
“Mango and Chilli Martini”
In a mixing Glass:
30ml Chilli infused vodka
30ml Absolut Mandarin
15ml Lime Juice
30ml Mango Juice

Shake all together
Double strain into Martini glass
Garnish with a small chilli on the rim of the glass

(Experimental Cocktail Club)
“Redneck Flip"
In a Mixing Glass:
30ml Lairds Applejack (Apple Brandy)
30ml Buffalo Trace Bourbon
15ml Budweiser & Marshmallow Syrup
Dash of Memphis BBQ Bitters
1 whole egg
Shake all ingredients
Double Strain into a daiquiri glass (or martini glass)

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

The Manhattan: A New York Icon

Before the girls from "Sex and the City" made the Cosmo a modern day icon of New York City, a classic cocktail called "The Manhattan" was the traditional classic cocktail of New York. The year was 1876, a famous year in American history. It was the year of one of the most disputed and controversial presidential elections of all time. The candidates at the time were democratic candidate, Samuel Jones Tilden, and republican Rutherford B. Hayes. Why the electron was so controversial is a whole other story, basically it involved illegal votes and corruption. Samuel Tilden lived in New york city and worked closely with the New york business community. In the lead up to election day, a banquet was held at the "Manhattan Club" in honour of Samuel Tilden. Many of New york city's top business men and there associates were invited to come and support Tilden in his push for the U.S presidency. For this special night, a signature cocktail was created to be served to all the guests. Dr Iain Marshall (said to be an associate of Tilden's) invented a drink which consisted of Rye or Canadian whiskey, sweet vermouth, a dash of bitters and garnished with a maraschino cherry. At this stage, the cocktail didn't have a name. The Banquet was a huge success, and so was the cocktail. The drink became fashionable amongst the NYC elite. People who were at that party began to order this cocktail in other bars around New York, asking bartenders for the "Cocktail that's served at the Manhattan Club". From then on, the cocktail shall always be known as "The Manhattan".

To make this cocktail it's really quite simple. In a cocktail shaker add 45ml of Canadian Club, 15ml sweet vermouth, a dash of bitters and lastly, top up with ice. Stir the ingredients well, diluting the mixture a little. I have seen bartenders shake manhattans, which is fine, I personally prefer to stir the drink, as you have more control over the dilution. It's a good idea to taste the drink through a straw every so often while you stir.  You don't want to dilute the spirits to much.  Once your happy with the taste, strain mixture into a chilled martini class and drop a maraschino cherry in the glass.  I like to serve this drink in a martini glass, but it's sometimes often served on the rocks in a short glass.

One great thing about this drink is if you don't like rye style whiskey, you can still make a great Manhattan variation.  You could have a "Cuban Manhattan" made with dark rum, a "Brandy Manhattan", made with obviously brandy, a "Tijuana Manhattan", made with anejo tequila and the list goes on.   Hope you have some fun and enjoy your Manhattan!

In a Shaker:

45ml Rye Whiskey

15ml sweet vermouth

Dash of Bitters

Add ice and stir

Serve in to a chilled martini glass (or on the rocks)

The Old Fashioned

Sometimes the best way to rate a bar, or a bartender is to order an "Old Fashioned". Depending on how well and how much care they take with such a classic drink will sometimes determine whether I'll return to that bar again. My dad rates establishments on the quality of their "salt & pepper squid", which works well for him, However I rate a place on the quality of there "Old Fashioned's". It's one of my favourites. A cocktail that is not that hard to serve, but so easy to muck up.

It's basically sugar, with Angostura bitters, bourbon and finished off with an orange peel or zest. Before we sink our teeth into this cocktail, as always, It's important to know the origins of this classic. The story of the old fashioned begins in the 1880s at a gentleman's club in Louisville, Kentucky called the "Pendennis Club". There a bartender served this drink to Colonel James E. Pepper, who took the idea of this drink and brought it to the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York city, where the classic cocktail still remains on their menu today.  There are many slight variations to this drink, so I'll go through a version which i think works best.

We start with a short glass or a rocks glass. You can also use a brandy balloon, i suppose use any glass that you feel comfortable drinking out of. But let's go for the rocks glass, in that, place a sugar cube, and coat with a few dashes of Angostura bitters. The production and history of Angostura is a long complex story, so we'll save that for another time. But for now, crush and mix together the sugar with the bitters. Once mixed together well, add 60ml of bourbon. My advice is to use a good quality bourbon. Wild Turkey, Makers mark or my personal favourite Basil Hayden's, which is the lightest style bourbon out of the Jim Beam small batch bourbons. I find it works well with the orange zest. Continue to stir with a bar spoon. The aim here is to dissolve all of the sugar. Add ice to the glass and continue to stir. A good old fashioned can sometimes take up to 10 minutes to make depending on the how long it takes for the sugar to dissolve.  Once the sugar looks dissolved, you might need to add more ice, then add the zest of an orange, or an orange wedge, depending on how fruity your like your drinks,  and that's it! If straight bourbon is too much, top up with some soda water. Like i said, It is an easy drink to make, but there are so many things a bartender can do wrong to muck this up such as, too much bitters, sugar not being fully dissolved (which is the most common, because many bartenders are in too much of a hurry to put in the time with this cocktail) or using a low quality bourbon.

The great thing about the "Old Fashioned" is It's so versatile. If you don't like bourbon, ask for a rum old fashioned, which is made exactly the same way, except with dark rum, not bourbon. Mt Gay Extra Old, or Ron Zacapa works great in a rum old fashioned. Same with scotch, ask your bartender for a scotch old fashioned if you like your scotch.

I'll be honest, this cocktail is not for everyone. It's not a cocktail you'd buy a girl on a first date. It's what i call a "bloke's cocktail", strong and full bodied.  However, if you do want to broaden your palette and appreciate good dark spirits, this might be for you. Sip on this slowly, and see what flavours and characteristics you can pick out from your "Old Fashioned".

In a short glass:
Add a sugar cube, with dashes of Angostura bitters
Crush and mix together
Add 60ml of bourbon, plus ice and stir well to dissolve sugar
Once sugar is dissolved, add orange zest (or orange wedge)
(Soda water optional)