If there’s one thing a mixologist is always on the lookout for, it’s inspiration for the next new drink. While certain ingredients and spirits themselves offer ideas on how they can be best served up, at other times, it can be particular techniques that you might want to incorporate.
What’s trendy at the best bars all over the globe is an inspiration. So also, is revisiting long-forgotten classics. There is increasingly an appreciation for drinks that are no longer as ubiquitous as they used to be in their heyday and in the US, trendy bars have now re-introduced classics such as the Pineapple Julep (bourbon, mint, pineapple and simple syrup).
When they were at the peak of their popularity, these cocktails didn’t have a global reach. So their fame was restricted to the places they were created/served at. But as the world has shrunk, and we know about (and have sampled) the best dishes/drinks served at the pub-to-be-seen-at in New York or London, it’s become easier to recreate them for a clientele that’s based in Mumbai.
As the demand for new cocktails rises, it’s easy to go back to these drinks that haven’t been sampled in a long time, and refresh them for a new audience. The “Bijou” is among the cocktails that has benefited from renewed interest. It’s rather like a Negroni, in that it’s made with gin, sweet vermouth and orange bitters.
But instead of Campari, you would add Green Chartreuse to a Bijou. The rather imaginatively named “Death in the Gulf Stream” is another obscure cocktail that’s seen its profile improve in recent times.
Made with lime, Angostura bitters and Genever gin, DITGS has the added allure of being one of Earnest Hemingway’s favourites (he is believed to have used it as a cure for hangovers). Then there are the lesser-known concoctions from the must-read Savoy Cocktail Book (by Harry Craddock) that are being rediscovered.
Do you have an old cocktail in mind that isn’t being mixed up much these days? Talk to the bartender at your favourite pub. Who knows, you may even inspire their next cocktail?
The writer is a mixologist
