London 2012 Olympic Games

It’s a time in London, which Cara and I have been excited about since we arrived in the UK, the London 2012 Olympic Games. Being in the host city for the games was the main reason for us staying in London as long as we have. We see it as a once in a lifetime opportunity to experience the Olympics first hand.

It’s a special time for London. The nations capital has had a big year with the Queens Diamond Jubilee happening only a couple of months ago and now the Olympics, the city is sure to celebrate in style. It is also a milestone for the modern Olympics. It is the first time that a city has hosted the games 3 times. London played host in 1908, 1948 and now 2012.

Cara and I were excited to go and see as many events as we could. However, ticket availability and the high prices only allowed us to see some of the free events that London 2012 had to offer. What better way to start our games experience by going to watch the men’s road race. Fresh of my Tour De France trip, I was excited to see some more cycling. We had a great day getting into the Olympic spirit, which continued over the next 16 days. We were lucky enough to attend the triathlon, men’s walk, the cycling time trial and the men’s marathon on the final Sunday.

During this exciting time in London, I began to do some research on some Olympic themed cocktails. I didn’t have to look far. The Hyatt Hotel had created a Gold, Silver and Bronze collection of cocktails to mark the occasion.

The ‘Gold’ cocktail is a built drink made of Sailor Jerry gold rum; mango flavoured lemonade, ginger beer and Goslings gold rum floated on top.  The ‘Silver’ cocktail took a different approach. A simple and refreshing drink, consisting of Absolut vanilla vodka, coconut water and sugar syrup, topped with lemonade, then garnished with sage leafs. Lastly was the ‘bronze’ cocktail. Another built drink which consists of Makers Mark Bourbon, green chartreuse, ginger ale, topped with soda water, garnished with mint leafs. All three drinks are simple and easy to make and all offering unique flavours and combinations of spirits.

We’ll never forget our time in London during the Olympic games. It has so far been one of the highlights of being in the UK so far.



 “Gold”
Build over Ice
45ml Sailor Jerry’s Gold Rum
Top half the glass with Mango lemonade
Top the other half with Ginger Beer
Float 15ml Goslings Gold Rum on top

“Silver”
Build over Ice
45ml Absolut Vanilla
15ml Coconut Water
15ml Sugar Syrup
Topped with Lemonade
Garnish with Sage Leafs

“Bronze”
Built over Ice
30ml Makers Mark Bourbon
15ml Green Chartreuse
Topped with Ginger Ale & Soda Water
Garnish: Mint Leafs

The Mint Revolution: The Mojito & The Mint Julep

"Minty" drinks seem to have a knack of finding there way on to almost every cocktail menu. Rightly so too, they have proved to have such popularity and have lasted the test of time. It all started with the mint julep, back in 1803. Although no one is 100% sure, the mint julep was seen for the first time in print in a London publication written by John Davies.  Back then, the spirit used was not specified, but it had to have mint soaked through the drink.  Later in the 18th century, in the southern United States,  a US Senator introduced this drink to the people of Kentucky and in particular the bartenders at the "Willard Hotel".  From then on the tradition of Kentucky bourbon mixed with limes and sugar has long been know as the famous classic, the mint Julep.

Like most of these famous classic cocktails, there origins are never certain. The mojito is one drink that has many different stories. We know that is was invented in Cuba, but no one can be sure when. Some say that it was invented by the African slaves that worked in the sugar cane fields back in the 19th century. Mixing rum, sugar, mint and lime was a popular and refreshing drink amongst the slaves.  One story that i find quite amusing, is that the mojito was actually invented by American bartenders. The story goes, in the 1930's when prohibition hit the US, the bartenders at the time were all out of a job, so a lot of them travelled to Cuba to work. With the mint julep being so popular in the US, the bartenders simply replaced the bourbon with the Cuban spirit, rum.  I could go on with many other stories on how the mint julep and the mojito came about, but at the end of the day, there is no definitive answer.

I'm sure by now you have a pretty good idea of what is in these drinks. Start with long glass, add lime wedges (about 3 - 4) and sugar. I find brown sugar works quite well and gives the drink a nice caramel flavour, but white sugar will still work just fine. Muddle and crush these together extracting as much juice from the lime as you can.  Next, tear off and generous handful of mint leaves. Slap them in your hands, the idea being the heat and the friction in your hands will help release the flavours and aromas of the mint. Add this to your limes and sugar. Many bartenders believe that you should muddle the mint, i don't believe this is the best way of extracting flavour. If you put a mint leaf in your mouth and chew down on in vigorously, you'll understand why you shouldn't muddle the mint. The mint becomes sour and extremely bitter when muddled.  Now for your spirit, add 60ml of bourbon for the "julep" or rum for the "mojito". Fill your glass with ice and stir. Stir as long as you need to dilute the ice with the spirit. You can top up with soda if you'd like, but this is optional.

There you have it, 2 of probably the most famous mint drinks of all time. Enjoy!!

In a Glass add:
3 - 4 Lime Wedges
1 teaspoon of sugar
Muddle Together
A Handful of mint
60ml Spirit ( Bourbon = Mint Julep) (Rum = Mojito)
Add ice and stir
Top up with soda water (optional)

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)