Thirsty?
SOMETHING BLUE
A study was done in the bar industry with the purpose to find out what colour is the most effective to drive sales. Without question, the overwhelming result proved that blue was the way to go. As a bartender, if I make a blue cocktail such as a Banana Popsicle martini, or a Blue cosmo, without fail someone will see it and come up to my bar and ask for “that blue drink”.
The finished product mmmm...
What makes a Negroni stand out above all other cocktails for me is the variety of flavors that hit your tastebuds as soon as the liquid enters your mouth. The sweet sensation that jolts you back to reality after that first sip is the sweet vermouth which is also present in that manly martini named the ‘Manhattan’.
The amazing fresh produce at St. Lawrence Market, ripe for the picking.
Here in Toronto we are particularly blessed with access to several excellent open and indoor markets. St. Lawrence Market and the Kensington District both offer fantastic selections of fresh produce, bulk goods, and specialty shops with every imaginable ingredient under the sun. You can almost always track down specific spices and preserves, thanks especially to the diversity of background in our city. However, at least half the fun of a trip to the market is the item you didn’t expect to see! Preserved Marasca Cherries, anyone? A hidden find at one of these well stocked purveyors could spark your next great cocktail idea!
A day of experimenting: Repeal House Bitters
Have you ever tasted a something and thought ‘man I could do a better job myself’? BartenderOne had the chance to back up this statement when Lauren Mote, celebrated Mixologist from The Refinery Bar in Vancouver came to assist with a culinary approach to cocktails.
The Aviation -- A mouth watering classic cocktail!
I’ve been told that the face a bartender makes when he/she is shaking a drink is the same face they make when they are having sex. You might want to practice making these three cool cocktails in front of a mirror…
The Sazerac
In the 1500s, lead cups were commonly used to drink ale.The combination of alcoholic beverage and lead vessel would sometimes knock drinkers out for a couple of days, and these unfortunate souls would be taken for dead and prepared for burial! A body would be laid out on the kitchen table for a couple of days, and the family would gather around and eat and drink and wait and see if the body would wake up – hence the custom of holding a wake.
Cocktail caviar is a fairly simple, yet effective way of impressing your guests while hitting taste/texture sensations they've never heard of!
Spring is just around the corner, and it’s time to shake things up – or stir things up, depending on the drink! Here are some completely random recipes that have crossed my lips this month. If you or your staff have recipes you think might be of interest to Behind Bars readers, please drop me a line!
The Montgomery
Named by Ernest Hemingway in honour of the British general who, he claimed, would fight the enemy only if he had 15 soldiers to their one – that was also the proportion of gin to dry vermouth in the martinis Hemingway ordered.
(Source: The Harry’s Bar Cookbook, Arrigo Cipriani)
Adapted recipe for a 60ml “Montgomery” martini
A sweet twist on the classic Sidecar. Use Navan Vanilla Liqueur, as opposed to orange liqueur.
We wanted to title this one “April cocktails bring May ____,” but alas … nothing rhymes with cocktail.
Whatever the coming month will bring, with the last threats of winter’s snow storms hopefully behind us, it’s time to ponder a few cool drinks for the upcoming spring and summer (aka: patio) seasons. Here are some recipes that have crossed my lips this month. If you or your staff have recipes you think might be of interest to Behind Bars readers, please drop me a line!
Navan Sidecar
3 parts B&B
1 part Navan vanilla liquer
Juice of one whole, fresh lemon
A Negroni Sbagliato uses sparkling wine instead of Gin.
Honey Suckle Cocktail from Milk and Honey in London, England
50ml Cuban rum
20ml honey syrup
20ml fresh lime juice
Shake all ingredients over ice and strain into chilled Coupe or Martini glass. Garnish with a lime wedge.
Negroni Sbagliato from Bar Basso in Milan, Italy
50ml sparkling wine
50ml sweet vermouth
50ml Campari
Stir all ingredients over ice in ballon shaped wine glass. Serve immediately.
Bondi Crush from Iceberg’s In Sydney, Australia
30ml Bombay Sapphire Gin
15ml Pimm’s No.1
1tsp finely shredded mint
ginger ale to top
Fill a highball glass with crushed ice. Add first three ingredients and stir well. Top with ginger ale and stir again. Garnish with mint sprig and serve.
Heels Race from The High Heels Bar In Cairo, Egypt
30ml vodka
15ml Kahlua
15ml peach schnapps
Shake all ingredients over ice and strain into chilled martini glass. Garnish with fresh red cherry and serve.
Stay thirsty,
Rob Montgomery, The Miller Tavern
*For the record, you can’t buy my love! I have tried all products mentioned and have no affiliation with parent companies.
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Bar Chef Finals – Winter 2011
Have you wished you could jump behind a bar with hundreds of ingredients, tastes, and ideas and be able to create the cocktail of your dreams?
On April 4th, 2011 the BartenderOne Bar Chef Finals took place at Empire Lounge in Toronto in Yorkville. As students, the mixologists had completed tasting over five hundred different spirits, bitters, liqueurs, sweeteners, types of citrus, infused foams and spirits, along with homemade syrups.
As mixologists, the students were asked to create an original cocktail from each of the 5 spirit categories. The cocktails could have been made with anything that the mixologists could think of; but were required to hold dear the traditional balanced cocktail theory. While they did have guidelines for balance, there were none for flavour profiles or presentation. Mixologists could incorporate elements that were taught in class such as: infusion, fatwashing, bruleeing, molecular mixology, spherification, custom foams, misting and much more.
As the student mixologists watched tentatively, their cocktails were tasted by three of Toronto’s top mixologists; Rob Montgomery, Gavin MacMillan and Scott McMaster. The students were were delighted to see that their hard work and development had paid off. The judges were impressed by all of the thought and effort that was incorporated into the final cocktails. The mixologists showed that they weren’t scared to test some boundaries in coming up with their very own recipes, and here are the top cocktails entered:
VODKA COCKTAILS
Strawbarb Bullets by Krissy Calkins
STRAWBARB BULLETS – By Mixologist Krissy Calkins
2/3 oz Strawberry reduction (no sugar added)
1/3 oz Rhubarb reduction (no sugar added)
1 oz Vodka
Shaken on Ice
Strain into Chocolate Cups
Float – Vanilla bean infused simple syrup on top
Served on a bed of Gram Crackers
Rainbow 1943 By Elizabeth Saad
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