The Wild Hibiscus Project

I was recently asked to create a cocktail for the Wild Hibiscus company to help promote their product on twitter and facebook. I also love a new challenge, and having never worked with hibiscus before, I was keen to play around with the hibiscus flower and syrup. The Wild Hibiscus company is a small family owned Australian company, based out of Sydney. The company has been selling Hibiscus flowers in syrup since 1997. Lee Etherington is the original creator and since ’97, the company has grown to now be selling worldwide across 30 countries.

When I began the creative process on this cocktail, I had to start thinking about what the company represented and with the Wild Hibiscus company being a small family owned operation, I wanted to create a drink which was simple, that the team could enjoy on a hot summers day back in Australia. The hibiscus flower itself is very stylish and elegant. I also felt that's what the company is trying to convey in their product and so therefore style and elegance is what this cocktail needs to be. I decided to make a variation on a classic ‘Sidecar’. This drink is known for being simple to make as well as portraying the qualities I was looking for. It is also a drink that is perfect for both men and women, and is refreshing for those hot summer nights. I wrote about the classic sidecar in a post I did a while back. The classic contains, Cognac, Cointreau and lemon juice. A simple mix of 3 ingredients working together in perfect harmony. So when it came to my hibiscus sidecar, I needed to keep it simple, but work in some of the great flavours of the hibiscus.

I started by using a “rinsing” technique. This is when the inside of the glass is rinsed with different flavors. I measured out 15ml of the wild hibiscus syrup into the bottom of the a tumbler glass. Next, instead of squeezing lemon juice into my drink (making it too sour), I chose to finely grate the zest of half a lemon in with the syrup. Roll this mixture around the glass coating the sides with the zest and the hibiscus syrup. Place your glass to one side and in a separate shaker add, 30ml of Cognac, 15ml St Germain Elderflower liqueur and lastly a dash of lime juice to pull it all together and to smooth off the harshness of the spirit. It’s also to give the drink that summer refreshing tang that a sidecar should always have. Then, add ice and shake. Go back to your glass and fill it with crushed ice. The reason for this is to hold your hibiscus and lemon zest rinse to the side of the glass. If you were to simply pour the drink straight in, you would wash the rinse away, un-doing all the earlier preparation. Strain your shaker over the crushed ice, and you’ll see that the mixture will layer on top of the syrup making it look amazing.  Finally, finish your hibiscus sidecar off with the wild hibiscus flower. The flower will sit on top of your crushed ice nicely too.

I hope the Wild Hibiscus team were happy with my creation. I hope they enjoy a few hibiscus sidecars back home in Australia.






“The Hibiscus Sidecar”
In a short glass:
15ml Wild Hibiscus Syrup
Finely Grate the zest of 1/2 Lemon
Rinse the sides of your glass

In a Shaker:
30ml Cognac
15ml St Germain Elderflower Liqueur
Dash Lime juice
Add ice and shake

Add Crushed ice to your glass
Strain the shaker over the crushed ice
Garnish with a Wild Hibiscus flower

Red Wine…. More than just a wine.

I love a nice drop of red, and for a while now, I've been playing around with the use of wine in cocktails. So whilst doing some research, I came across a couple of recipes which I had too make. The first was a home made red wine sorbet which I came across in one of Jamie Oliver's cookbook's.  Red wine being a drink which is usually served at room temperature, I was curious to see how refreshing this would be served sweetened and frozen. Like most Jamie Oliver recipes, this is a simple concoction. I mixed together red wine, lemon juice, lemonade and sugar syrup. You need to make sure this is stirred together well and pour into a few containers and then freeze. Due to the alcohol content,  this takes a little bit longer to freeze. The result is a refreshing summer dish which I like to serve in a martini glass and finish with a sprig of mint. I made this for my work colleagues and the response was quite positive. Even for the "non red wine drinkers", this goes down a treat. The refreshing citrus flavours of the lemon juice and lemonade takes the edge off the spicy qualities of the red wine. 

Another recipe which caught my eye was a "Merlot Martini". I've made many martinis in the past which used rose wine, sauvignon blanc, champagne, etc, but this was a unique cocktail which I was keen to try. The merlot martini starts with muddling 5 - 6 fresh red grapes, followed by 30ml of merlot, then 15ml cognac, 15ml Chambord and 15ml Creme de Cassis (blackcurrant liqueur). Add ice to your shaker glass and shake all ingredients together. Double strain into a martini glass and garnish with a strawberry. The cocktail is rich and sweet. The sweetness of the chambord and the creme de cassis work well together, and the dryness and smokey finish of the red wine and the cognac balanced it out nicely which makes this cocktail easy to drink. Having said that it, it does suit the sweet tooth, more so than the dry spirit drinker.

"Red Wine Sorbet”

Serves 6

300ml Sugar Syrup

300ml Red wine

300ml Lemonade

The juice of 1 lemon

“The Merlot Martini"

In a shaker glass:

Muddle 5 - 6 red grapes 

30ml Merlot Wine

15ml Cognac

15ml Chambord

15ml Creme de Cassis

Add ice and shake well

Double strain into a Martini Glass

The Classic Sidecar

Aside from being a big lover of rum, i also don't mind a nice cognac or brandy from time to time. I've featured many rum cocktails so far so it's about time i picked out one of my favourite cognac cocktails, The Sidecar.

The Sidecar was invented towards the end of World War I.  It was said to be invented in either London or Paris. No one knows or has any proof but both cities claim to be the Sidecars original home. The Ritz Hotel in Paris claim to have been featuring the drink on their cocktail menu since 1922. Another bar in Paris called Harry's New York Bar say they served this drink to a captain who spent the war being driven around in the sidecar of a motorcycle, hence the name. Then there is 'The Bucks Club' in London who say that popular bartender Pat MacGarry came up with this drink around the same time and it was published in cocktail books not long after.  So many theories and stories. I always enjoy reading the different myths about these classic drinks.

The drink is as follows... 45ml Cognac, 15ml Cointreau and a squeeze of lemon juice. Stir together over ice in a cocktail shaker and strain into a chilled martini glass. That's it!!! Like all great classics, simple is always the best.  In the early 1930's the idea of serving the sidecar with a sugar rim became popular. Over time many variations have been inspired by the traditional Sidecar:
Rum Sidecar = replacing the cognac with dark rum
Boston Sidecar = adding gold or dark rum along with the cognac
Tuaca Sidecar = replacing the cognac with Tuaca (Tuaca is an Italian brandy based liqueur, which contains the essence of orange and vanilla)
... you get the idea,

I personally am not a fan of to much lemon juice. So in a "Dave Sidecar" i replace the lemon juice with lime juice and a dash of orange juice. This gives the drink a sweeter and tropical finish, and therefore it makes it easier to drink for those people who don't like tons of straight spirits.  Another tip for a "Dave Sidecar" is garnish with a Cinnamon stick, it just gives the drink a little spice and a little more explosion of flavour while you drink.

When making your Sidecar, the main decision you need to make is what type of cognac to use, there are many types going around. but before that it's important to understand 'what is cognac?' and what is brandy?'.  Simply... Cognac and brandy are much the same, however cognac can only be called cognac if it is produced in the town of Cognac in France. Much like real champagne can only be produced in France. So when making my Sidecar's, I personally like to use Remy Martin Cognac's. Remy Martin have been cognac and champagne specialists since 1724, so you know that their quality of spirit is of a high standard. There are up to 13 different types in the Remy Martin range, so depending on your budget will depend on which one you choose to use in your Sidecar. A bottle of the famous Remy Martin Louis XIII will set you back something around $2,500 (750ml bottle). But you don't need to spend an arm or a leg to make yourself a great Sidecar. Using the basic Remy Martin range will still give you a great result.

This cocktail certainly conveys great style and class, but it also will give you an amazing drinking experience. The flavours of the cognac are worth appreciating. Hope you have as much fun making and drinking the Sidecar as i did. Enjoy!

Traditional Sidecar:
In a Shaker:
45ml Cognac (or brandy)
15ml Cointreau
Squeeze of lemon juice
stir over ice and strain into a chilled martini glass

Dave's Sidecar:
In a Shaker:
45ml Remy Martin Cognac
15ml Cointreau
15ml Lime Juice
30ml Orange Juice
Stir over ice and strain into a chilled martini glass
Garnish with a cinnamon stick

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