Margarita di Maracuja (In Memoriam Henry Besant)

Non-trade readers may be wondering about the "In Memoriam Henry Besant" part of the title. Henry Besant, who tragically passed away a week ago, was one of the absolute stalwarts of the cocktail and drinks industry. Whilst he lacked some of the recognition amongst the general public he unquestionably deserved (hence why you may not know the name), within the bar industry he was widely regarded as both one of the leading lights, and one of the most delightful people in it to boot.

Although I never had the undoubted pleasure of knowing him personally, I knew him by reputation, and know a number of his friends, family and colleagues. The regard and love he was held in by them is difficult to articulate, and the public outpouring of sympathy and grief over the last week is testament to how well liked he really was.

This blog entry is a (probably paltry) tribute to one of the great legends of the London bar scene who was taken from us well before his time. Even the best recipe I could conceive would probably be a mere bagatelle compared to what Henry could devise, but I hope that were he here now he would at least appreciate the spirit in which this recipe is offered.

Conscious that this blog has been rum-centric, I had made a conscious decision to steer towards the glories of all the other spirits in the world. What better spirit to broach then, than tequila - the spirit which Henry was  best known for in recent years given his work with Olmeca Altos?

Tequila is probably the most undeservedly maligned of all spirits. Far too many of us, in our youth, endured the horrific abomination that is Jose Cuervo Gold - which despite the promising sounding "gold" epithet is not in the slightest bit luxurious, but is instead something called "tequila mixto" - a blend of already poor quality tequila with neutral cane spirit. It's not even really that colour - they have to add colouring; imagine such a travesty!

Quite rightly, if that has been the extent of your encounter with "tequila" (it certainly was mine), you will understandably hate it. Many of you who hate it probably had violent vomiting and the worst hangover you've ever had - no surprises there given how many congeners exist in dirt cheap booze like JCG. I still know people who cannot even sniff tequila for fear of throwing up.

For those of us who are adventurous enough, or with a strong sense of masochism (or its close almost-anagram friend machismo), we have managed to discover that Cuervo isn't what it's all about; in actuality there are amazing tequilas out there, and they can be some of the most elegant and delicious things you could put in your mouth. Indeed, it was at Green & Red when it was under Henry's aegis where I first truly became inspired by tequila.

I'm on something of a passion fruit kick, so I've put a little spin on a Passion Fruit Margarita to create the Margarita di Maracuja. For those slow off the mark, maracuja is the native South American (and, later, Brazilian) for passion fruit.

Alas, in my haste to make it, I neglected to take a picture of the ingredients. I'll try to plug it in next time I have the chance.

50ml Tequila (Olmeca Altos Reposado, if you want to commemorate the main man)
15ml Orange Curacao (Pierre Ferrand Dry Curacao)
10ml Aperol
20ml Lemon Juice
5ml Passion Fruit Syrup (Monin)
1 Passion Fruit
3 dashes Orange Bitters

1. Chill down a margarita or martini glass (crushed ice if you have it, cubed ice in water if not).
2. Shake all ingredients, except bitters, with ice
3. Empty glass and put in a few dashes of bitters
4. Double-strain in to glass and serve/garnish however you see fit
5. Drink contemplatively

Here's to you, Henry - Rest in Peace

Livorno & Padua's Love-Child

Aperol is one of my favourite ingredients in the last year or so. It's so wonderfully complex, just bitter enough yet retaining tons of elegant fruit/herbs/spice. It really is a brilliant substitute for Campari if you want to introduce less developed palates to classics like the Negroni.

However, it's also excellent for experimenting with (as I'm doing here), or subverting old classics (e.g. introducing it into a daiquiri, with passion fruit or the like). On this occasion, I wanted to bring in one of the world's criminally under-used liqueurs - Galliano. They appear to have been doing lots of fiddling about, reformulating and changing product lines. For this particular one we are using Galliano Vanilla. I suspect Autentico (the more herbal and anisey variant) may work too ... I'll update whenever I give it a try.

This cocktail, as with many things I will post on this blog, is in development. This is the first iteration, but new ones may arise as time goes on. It's a bitter-sweet and complex drink, with distinct notes of vanilla from the Galliano.

The name alludes to the two regions behind the interesting ingredients in here - Livorno, Tuscany (Galliano) and Padua, Veneto (Aperol).

25ml Havana Club Anejo Especial (Golden Rum)
35ml Aperol
15ml Galliano Vanilla
3 dashes Bitter Tears - Lucille Blood Orange Ginger Bitters

1. Add bitters to tumbler glass
2. Add other ingredients
3. Add 4-5 large cubes of ice
4. Stir with a bar-spoon for 20-30 seconds
5. Garnish with citrus peel

I must beg forgiveness for neglecting to take a photo. I'll upload one as soon as I make a new one. It should look much like a negroni, though slightly more orange than red - a hue remniscent of Irn Bru (yum)!

Cuban Colada

After a lengthy hiatus (almost 18 months), and thanks to a little urging from others, I have decided to try to restart my cocktail blogging efforts.

Given that rum is my spirit of choice (which is not to say I don't love everything), and I'm a huge 'tikiphile', let's kick-start with one of my own Tiki cocktails.

For those unfamiliar with it, Tiki is a classic cocktail style, filled with faux Polynesian frippery and questionable garnishes. Rum, fruit and manifold obscure ingredients are the order of the day: orgeat (almond syrup); falernum (spiced lime); cinnamon syrup. If you love Pina Coladas, grass skirts and ukulele music then you'll feel right at home. They're often on the unrefined side, and are "fun", as opposed to the sometimes haughty austerity of prohibition/speakeasy/vintage cocktail stylings.

This is a recipe I'm still refining, so I reserve the right to change the details in the future!

Tiki, unlike many other 'purer' cocktail disciplines, has no shame about using absolutely tons of ingredients rather than the 3-4 used in more conventional mixology

50ml Havana Club Anejo Especial (Golden Rum)
15ml Lemonhart 151 (Overproof Rum)
50ml Pineapple Juice
35ml Lime Juice
10ml Falernum
5ml Orgeat (almond syrup)
5ml Cinnamon Syrup
3 dashes Cherry Bitters (Fee Brothers)

Be warned, the above will make a very full martini glass (as you can see below) - make sure you have a 250ml glass, or down-size the recipe accordingly. With shaken pineapple juice, you get a lovely foamy head - depending on what's to hand, I sometimes think that this is 'garnish' alone, though you can feel free to add anything you want here e.g. exotic flower petals. On this occasion though, I added some cocktail cherries at the bottom. I'm one of those terrible bar-tenders that thinks a Maraschino Cherry can be put into almost anything made from dark spirit; and most other things for that matter.

1. Chill down a martini glass (crushed ice if you have it, cubed ice in water if not).
2. Shake all ingredients, except bitters, with ice
3. Empty glass and put in a few dashes of bitters
4. Double-strain in to glass and serve without garnish

Recipe above only makes ONE of these!

This is still in 'prototype' phase, so let me know how you like it! Happy for constructive views on how to make this even better.

Atomic Daiquiri

As many of you know, I'm something of a bon-vivant, a lover of the 'finer things in life' and, second to pretty ladies (but if my wife asks, I have eyes only for her!), are cocktails. Or at least that's the reason I give for why I spent 6 months of my life busting my arse behind a bar.
So, whilst I'm in the mood I figured I'd start a wee blog on cocktail recipes as I refine them, and use this as a channel for budding home-mixologists to ask questions, share ideas etc.

For my inaugural post I thought I'd cover off what I'm drinking now:

The Atomic Daiquiri

Similar drinks using over-proof rum go by various other names (e.g. "Nuclear Daiquiri", "151 Daiquiri", "Overproof Daiquiri") this is a super-charged but really pared-down rum cocktail. Daiquiris are composed of 3 fundamental elements of most rum cocktails - rum (obviously), lime and a sweetener (sugar or gomme).

But what really makes this exceptional is the rum in question - overproof Goslings Dark Rum. 151 proof. In normal language, not that poxy American terminology, that's 75.5% ABV (alcohol by volume).

"But that's pretty much like nail varnish remover!" I hear you cry.Yet, like the ridiculously overproofed bourbons like George T. Stagg, OP rum can also be delicious. Though it can also be dreadful, and it's potent stuff so steer clear of shit-looking brands and don't drink this like normal liquor. It's to be carefully harnessed and enjoyed, not knocked back in a night.

It's delightful, but challenging if drunk neat. Most people will, understandably, be using this as a float in tiki drinks, or to set things alight.

Anyway, enough pre-amble, here's the recipe:

50ml Gosling's 151 (Overproof Rum)

25ml Lime Juice

15ml Pierre Ferrand Dry Curacao (Cointreau/Triple sec if you have to)

5-10ml of Orgeat or Gomme Syrup (optional - to taste - I leave this out)
Bitters (if you have them ... I'm using Difford's Daiquiri Bitters atm)

1. Chill down a martini glass (crushed ice if you have it, cubed ice in water if not).
2. Shake all ingredients, except bitters, with ice
3. Empty glass and put in a few dashes of bitters
4. Double-strain in to glass and serve with a Maraschino cherry, if you're feeling fruity

You can substitute in different rums here, but the proportions may need a little tweaking. This also assumes that you like your daiquiris like I do - aggressively acidic and punchy. You can take the edge off by adding 5-10ml of Orgeat (ideally), gomme syrup or sugar

Let me know if you give this a whirl, or think you've got an interesting new take on it!