Mix it up: Don’t let your cocktail go out stark naked
@philip_salter
Just as clothes might maketh the man, garnishes maketh the cocktail. Once upon a time, the fashion was for mixed drinks stuffed with cocktail umbrellas and enough fruit to hit your five a day. These days, cocktail garnishes have been toned down, but there are notable exceptions. The tiki trend, inspired by the drinks of the South Pacific’s tropical islands, demands garish garnishes, as a visit to Mahiki, Trailer Happiness or Trader Vic’s will attest. Old Street’s Nightjar is also famed for sculpting works of art to accompany your drink.
Another great garnish van be found at Hakkasan, whose Rose Petal Martini is served with an orchid floating in the drink. If you can stomach the culling of poor, defenceless flowers, it’s a brilliant cocktail – though macho types will need to spend the next few days boxing, talking about sport and drinking lager to atone for the cocktail’s effeteness.
Anyone dabbling in making cocktails at home will be happy to know ninety-nine times out of a hundred you won’t need a degree in origami or the contents of the Prince’s greenhouse to have a decent drink. Most feature a simple slice, wedge, wheel or fan of citrus fruit. But there are a few things worth knowing.
First, make sure your fruit is fresh. Second, use real cherries in your Mai Tai, Manhattan and Casino Royal. Finally, learn to flame your Cosmopolitan. Although the mere mention of the Cosmopolitan (please don’t call it “Cosmo”) may result in painful flashbacks to Sex and the City, it’s still worthy of its place in the pantheon of classics.
To flame your Cosmopolitan: cut a coin-sized disk of orange peel; heat the outer side under a match (just a little and not too close); squeeze the orange towards the drink through the flame; either use that piece as a garnish or throw it away and replace it with a fresh disk. Flaming a drink is as spectacular as it is easy (with a little practice): do try this at home.
For those who can’t be trusted with a box matches, head over to The Gable in Moorgate for the You and Me Cooler. From next week it will be serving a drink garnished with Jelly Belly jelly beans. The cocktail may just be flavoured vodka, fruit juice and jelly beans, but every once and while we all need to ditch the Old Fashioned, Sazerac and Negroni; after all, vodka, fruit juice and jelly beans taste pretty darn good.
YOU AND ME COOLER
Ingredients
■ 50 ml Grey Goose L’Citron
■ 50 ml Apple Juice
■ 10 ml Grenadine
■ 15 ml Passion Fruit Syrup
■ 15 ml Lime Juice
■ Pomegranate Jelly Belly
Method
• Shake all ingredients
• Pour over crushed ice into a classic sling glass
• Garnish with beans and mint