50
DRINKS INTERNATIONAL JANUARY 2016
drinksint.com
35 VODKA MARTINI
Bartenders at the W50BB tend to be on the gin team when it comes to Martinis. So the vodka version, aka Kangaroo and Vodkatini, takes a subordinate role. But if you’re a vodka drinker, this is the best way to
get at your poison – with only a little vermouth as resistance. Try Duke’s White Truffle Martini: Chase vodka, Sacred Distillery dry vermouth and an olive stuffed with cheese marinated in truffle vodka.
BELLINI 36
This is one of the few unserious drinks you are likely to find in a serious cocktail bar. In Italy peach-marinated wine is a traditional thing, so the Bellini draws on this combination, though not always with fresh peaches. We won’t bother with a recipe, as there are only two ingredients. We will bother to say in 9% of bars this was a top-ten classic and in two bars the top seller.
37 BRAMBLE
Not many drinks invented in the 1980s made it into the next century but this blackcurrant and gin mix is the best-selling classic in two of our bars and regularly sold in seven. Where else to get a recipe than Edinburgh hot spot and World’s 50 Best Bars six-timer, Bramble. It opts for Hayman’s London Dry Gin, lemon juice, sugar syrup and Merlet Crème de Mures.
41 Blue Blazer
The Blue Blazer is Jerry Thomas’s joke from the grave. It is a dangerous cocktail – not to to drink but to make. Indeed, David Wondrich describes the Blue Blazer as the only drink he fears. The method requires a lot of fire prevention preparation so we won’t go into that, only to say it’s ignited scotch, sugar and lemon peel. Essentially the most menacing hot toddy your eyes ever met. Two of our 100 polled bars told us it was their number one classic, which they also should tell their insurance companies.
38 RAMOS GIN FIZZ
This half milkshake, half Gin Fizz
concoction was named after the New Orleans bartender who created it in 1888, Henry Charles Ramos. The original saw silky smooth cream and orange flower put a
new spin on the fizz. In that transformative vein let’s look to Dead Rabbit’s rendition, which brings leaves and nuts into the fold and replaces lemon with lime. The Pistache Fizz is: eucalyptus tincture, pistachio syrup, green tea-infused Tanqueray, egg white, cream, lime juice and soda.
39 AMERICANO
If you tried a Negroni before you tried an Americano, it
may come as a disappointment. The Americano is with soda not gin, so a less alcoholic version of its powerhouse offspring. The recipe is gin, Campari and soda and, while balance is importance, the place you drink it is more so. Try the sunny courtyard of the Stravinskij Bar in Rome, one of our Bars to Watch for 2016. It’s certainly where we had our best Americano.
40 HANKY PANKY
Invented by Ada Coleman at the Savoy’s American Bar, this drink got its name after a patron shouted at it: “By Jove! That is the real hanky- panky!” Hanky Pankys have been around so long they no longer engender excitable exclamation. At The American Bar of today the Martini- style drink is made from Bombay Sapphire gin, Martini Rosso vermouth and Fernet Branca.
42 COSMPOLITON
Where are we with the Cosmo? Well, we can say it is fast sliding down Mount Popularity, and perhaps next year it will depart this list, just as Sex & the City has left our consciousness. Because there aren’t many places that make it, you may need the recipe: vodka, triple sec, cranberry juice and lime juice. Do with them what you will.
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