Craft Ingredients

Craft ingredients are drinks made by hand. They are, but now those who use only factory liquids for cocktails are gone. Own tinctures allow each bar to gain individuality. Every drinking establishment has rum, but if you make it as a bartender falernum is a rum liqueur infused with cloves, dried ginger, cinnamon, almond extract and dried pineapple, for which they will return to you. Bars prepare not only liqueurs, but also liqueurs, liqueurs, syrups and bitters, all the variety of flavors used is unimaginable - from horseradish and bacon to dried banana and elderberry. Ideas for homemade drinks are often taken from history. For example - scrub, vinegar syrup, which can be used instead of lime juice. When there were no refrigerators, berries were preserved with vinegar. In winter, they were eaten, and lemonade was made from the remaining liquid. The need for scrubbing has long since disappeared, but now the bartenders are bringing the scrubs out into the light.




Foodpairing

The second direction of today's bar experiments is the use of food pairing logic, gastronomic combinations. That is, such tastes are taken, which are usually used together in the preparation of various dishes. For example, everyone knows dessert classics - Christmas sweets, where apples, anise and nuts are always present at the same time. These three flavors can be found in alcoholic beverages and combined. apple - me block brandy Calvados, anise - anise liqueur Ricard, pistachio syrup and cedar milk can be responsible for nuts.




Tours of bars and bartenders

The last thing that can be mentioned from the trends is the “exchange vacation”, bartenders touring. The bar industry is one of the most friendly, at least, the intra-shop solidarity in it is much higher than in the restaurant industry, so various forms of touring are especially common in it. Bars either go out with a full team for the evening to prepare signature cocktails with colleagues, sending them a rider with the necessary food and drinks in advance or bringing everything they need with them, or they send one guest performer who prepares several specialties for guests plus the “native” cocktail card of the institution. It often happens that alcohol brands organize bartending tours. There are even outbound world-class bartenders and mixologists, one might say, Robbie Williams and Mickey Jaggers in their profession: Gianfranco Spada, Tom Walker and Daniel Dalla-Pola.




carbonated cocktails

Another bar hype is carbonated cocktails, that is, bottled. They were put into circulation by catering services specializing in bars: the pioneers in Russia, by the way, were St. Petersburg bartenders from. A cute cocktail container is a great solution when guests are just waiting for an event or in places where it is difficult to set up a bar counter . Usually uncomplicated drinks are clogged - for two or three ingredients. The main thing is that there should not be a part in the mixture that causes fermentation, and best of all — so that there is not a single non-alcoholic ingredient. So most often they pour superclassics: negroni, aperol syringe,"Manhattan" or "Americano". The fashion for cocktails in bottles quickly migrated to stationary bars: there they are responsible for speed - that is, so that you can not wait for the bartender to prepare them, and for take away - you can take them with you.




Tiki cocktails

Behind the bar counters, it is now fashionable to prepare tiki cocktails, a well-forgotten old one from America in the 1930s. Tiki are statues of Polynesian gods. In a copy of such idols, reduced to a ceramic glass, it is customary to pour mixtures with combinations of rum from different regions, full-bodied and young. Such eye-catching dishes are in tune with the trend at bar shows, when, for example, a drink is served with dry ice to make smoke come out, and also on a silver tray. Tiki cocktails meet the main needs of the Russian public: to have a lot, alcoholic and exotic. They are prepared in front of the guests, and this is often quite a spectacle: for example, instead of a shaker, a swizzle stick is used for mixing - a shoot of a clove tree. Often, drinks come up with names stylized as a native dialect.

The unpredictability of the Russian spring cannot be underestimated. Yesterday it was cold, everything is littered with snow, and today the sun has already come out, and the roads are buried in puddles, the trees are blooming ... You will involuntarily believe in global warming, or at least in the instability of our weather. In any case, spring is a good occasion to forget about and remember something warm and perhaps tropical. The body requires vitamins, and we have no right to refuse it.

1 Tropical Storm

This cocktail is said to have originated in New Orleans. The enterprising bartender came up with a recipe not for the sake of popularity, but only to sell the rum accumulated in his cellar. Nobody wanted to drink it clean, but in the company of fruits they drank rum instantly. We cook in a tall glass, which is called a hurricane.

Ingredients:

- 2 parts pineapple juice;
- 2 parts orange juice;
- 1 part light rum;
- 200 ml of dark rum;
- 3 tablespoons of Campari;
- a little red bitter;
- a slice of orange;
- ice.

Cooking:

1. Cool the Hurricane glass in advance.
2. Add crushed ice to the shaker and all the ingredients.
3. Whisk thoroughly and pour into a glass.
4. Decorate with an orange slice and drink.

2. Doctor Funk

Tiki cocktails in general have always been peculiar. They represent a separate alcohol culture, completely different from the traditional European one. Take, for example, Doctor Funk, which we do in highball. Here is a solid recipe, as according to the canons.

Ingredients:

- 40 ml of Bacardi Superior rum;
- 20 ml of Bacardi 8 rum;
- 20 ml Suze aperitif;
- 20 ml freshly squeezed lime juice;
- 20 ml of pomegranate syrup;
- 50 ml of soda water.

Cooking:

1. We interfere with all the ingredients, in addition to soda, in one glass.
2. Pour the mixture several times from one glass to another.
3. After that, pour the contents into a glass with crushed ice and top up with soda.

The cocktail is prepared using the Throw (Cuban Roll) method in two mixing glasses. All ingredients, except soda, must be mixed in one glass, and then pour the mixture from one glass to another and back several times, while holding the dishes high on top of each other. Pour the resulting drink into a glass, after filling it with crushed ice to the top. Top up with soda, top with ice and garnish (umbrella/cherry/pineapple wedge/ground pepper).

3. Zombies

An extremely popular cocktail at all kinds of tiki parties. Let's make it using regular light rum. Use the highball, mate!

Ingredients:

- 60 ml of light rum;
- 15 ml of cherry liqueur;
- 15 ml of apricot liqueur;
- 5 ml of Grenadine;
- 30 ml of pineapple juice;
- 30 ml of orange juice;
- a slice of orange.

Cooking:

1. Simply add all ingredients to a shaker with ice and shake.
2. Pour into a glass and decorate with an orange slice.

It's rare these days to find a bar that uses fresh juices in their cocktails. But the pioneers of tiki culture took just such. Therefore, if you have the opportunity to settle down in citrus fruits, use them. The taste is very different from what you can create with packaged juices.

The popularity of cocktail culture is gaining momentum around the world. Every year, dozens of competitions for the best mixed drinks are held, hundreds of bars open, even in Minsk they built a whole bar street, where establishments with different themes and concepts have already appeared: from strict American classics from the 30s to modern cocktail trends with unusual servings. The first cocktail bar opened in Minsk 8 years ago, and the city learned what Bramble and Negroni are. Later opened the doors of Sweet & Sour , known for its strict adherence to tradition and cocktails from the 1900s, if not much older.

But what do we know about these drinks, the menu of which, at times, looks like a weighty book? We asked the senior bartender of ID Bar and Vlad Chaus, a well-deserved worker of cocktail culture in Minsk, to talk about which groups cocktails are divided into, what to order when you want a fresh but strong one, and when a Martini is a cocktail in the first place.

In general, today the boundaries of all classifications are already rather blurred. Now more and more gravitate towards experiments, twists on the classics, new recipes. And the classification originated just then, in the distant 1800s, when there were a lot of cocktails, they were prepared differently everywhere. So that guests and bartenders do not get confused, one famous bartender took and published a large book, where he described all types of cocktails and how to prepare them. This is what we take for the classics.

The fashion for cocktails is changeable, about 8-9 years ago shots were very popular with us - short, often layered cocktails that are drunk in one sip. Everyone asked for a branded shot. I had to do 15 pieces many times a night. It was like yoga - in the same position you pour the same 15 cocktails in layers. There was tension in the muscles.

Now we are more inclined towards the classics and twists on it. Therefore, returning to the mentioned classification, I will say that cocktails are divided into many subspecies. By volume: long, short. Balance: sour, sweet, bitter, dry, strong. By time of use: aperitifs, digestifs, anytime drink (that is, cocktails for any time of the day) and so on. It is most interesting to sort out the types of cocktails by composition: sours, fizzes, smashes, cobblers, daisy, flips, collins, juleps, tanks, punches, toddies, tiki and so on. Interesting - because these words will be used in the names of drinks, which makes it very easy to recognize them on the menu. There are many more species than I have listed, but this will be enough for the guest.

A striking example of a classic is Old Fashion (whiskey, sugar and bitters) or Manhattan (whiskey, vermouth and bitters).

whiskey sour

Sauers. Sour is different in that it is an acidic drink, the balance will always go into acid. Further, only the nuances in the ratios of sugar and lemon juice to make it sour and dry or sweet and sour. Therefore, when ordering sours (whiskey sour, vodka sour), feel free to specify this parameter. Sours can be prepared with protein and bitters.

Fizzy. Fizz ("Ramos Gin Fizz", "Whiskey Fizz", "Silver Fizz") is made from alcohol, lemon and sugar, similar to a sour, but always made with protein and soda water added to it. It is not very strong, sparkling, while cooking it is shaken for a long time to become airy. Fizz was invented as a refreshing drink that quenches thirst. It is served in a small glass, without ice. It must be drunk quickly, in two or three sips, otherwise the drink will begin to delaminate and lose its structure.

Collins. Collins ("John Collins", "Tom Collins"), like fizz, is also intended to be refreshing, it has alcohol, a sour part, a sweet part, and soda. Unlike fizz, collins has no protein and is served over ice. This is a great cocktail, you can drink it for a long time.

Porto flip

Flips. Flip is also prepared with an egg, but, unlike previous drinks, with a whole one. In our area, Porto Flip is the most famous - on fortified wine. Most often, there are three ingredients in flips: fortified wine, sugar and an egg. Other alcohol can be added to wine - brandy or whiskey. Flips are very gentle, sweet. They are good to drink on a digestif.

mint julep

Juleps. Julep ("Mint Julep", "Whiskey Julep") - a strong refreshing cocktail. In fact, this is one solid whiskey (brandy) with the addition of sugar, mint and bitters. May be flavored with aromatic rum. Served in a crystal glass or in a special metal mug on crushed ice, it must be very cold. It is prepared on any whiskey, more often on bourbon. But you can fantasize and cook it on gin or rum. The julep is traditionally garnished with a lush mint bush. An important point - the tubes should be as low as possible to stick your nose into the mint when you drink.

Tiki cocktail

Tiki. Tiki cocktails became popular around the 1930s. They are prepared most often on rum, they are strong, tropical in themselves, they can be served in any interesting dish. Most often in special tiki magicians - wooden or ceramic glasses in the form of evil tropical deities resembling totems. Tiki are made from rum, one or more varieties, tropical juice (ranging from orange and grapefruit to mango and passion fruit), and are sweet and large.

blue blazer

Blazer. One and only drink of its kind, but for the time being, I think. Someone will definitely begin to experiment with setting fire to alcoholic beverages. Blue Blazer is made with bourbon, sugar and zest. Bourbon is heated, ignited and poured into a container of hot water and back. And so several times. The drink is warming, earlier it was made only in very severe frosts. I think that you can try to cook a blazer with both rum and tequila. The only drink that should not be heated is gin. When warm, it can often cause nausea.

Toddy. Toddy (Apple Toddy, Whiskey Toddy) are sweet and sour drinks made up of alcohol, water, sugar or honey, but juice can also be added. It is very tasty to cook them with apple or pear fresh juice and serve warm.

Tank cocktail

Tank. Large, strong drinks. They contain twice as much alcohol as any other cocktail. Most often, the tank is made on a double portion of rum with lime, cane sugar, sometimes with bitters. Served with crushed ice and garnished with a good helping of ginger ale. The tank is refreshing, it is pleasant, drinkable, large, sweet and sour.

Smash. Smash is somewhat similar to sour, but is prepared with mint. Unlike julep, which is also with mint, it has an acidic part, and not just lemon juice, but the lemon itself. Kind of like a whiskey sour, but with mint. The lemon is squeezed in a glass, mint, sugar and alcohol, most often whiskey, are added, whipped and strained into a glass with ice.

Cobblers. There are only two ingredients in a classic cobbler: alcohol and syrup. It is very tasty to make a cobbler with rum and almond syrup, orzhat. You can cook with raspberry syrup, for example. And those who like lighter cocktails can ask for a cobbler with wine. This is a summer drink, sweet, usually strong, served on crushed ice. Can be used as a digestif.

I think it is necessary to say a few words about the drinks of the aperitif and digestif categories. Aperitif are cocktails that are recommended to be consumed before meals. For example, Negroni or Dry Martini.

Famous"Dry martini"

There are cocktails that have become a whole group in themselves. For example, if we are talking about such a classic as the Dry Martini cocktail, then every minimal change in the recipe led to the emergence of a new cocktail. The “Dry Martini” itself is gin and dry vermouth (cooking with orange bitter is allowed), in which the proportion of vermouth is minimal. In "Wet Martini" - the share of vermouth is already much larger. When preparing the Naked Martini, dry vermouth is poured into a chilled cocktail glass, with a hand movement it is completely distributed over the inside of the glass and the excess is drained. In fact, vermouth remains only on the walls. Chilled gin is already poured into this flavored glass. Olive water is added to the Dirty Martini. In the Perfect Martini, two vermouths are mixed with gin in equal parts extra dry and rosso.

Perhaps this is the very minimum that will help people who are interested to understand cocktails and decide on their preferences. And in general - trust the bartender!

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Tiki cocktails have recently started to come back into fashion.

But what is Tiki? These are Polynesian and Hawaiian idols depicting the gods who created the first man. New Zealanders used to wear miniature tiki figurines as amulets. Tiki statues were the image of a certain god and kept his power in themselves. Carefully carved figurines could save people from misfortune, give them strength during the war and ensure a good harvest.

The Americans were greatly inspired by these funny and mysterious figurines, and in the 1930s, one by one, tiki bars began to open all over America. The first such bar was opened by Don Beachcomber, followed by his eternal competitor Trader Vic.

In these bars, brightly dressed bartenders poured exotic, refreshing cocktails into tiki glasses. The main component of these cocktails in most cases is rum, because it symbolizes hot tropical countries.

The most common tiki cocktail is Mai Tai, which we have already written about. Now let's talk about other cocktails.

Hurricane

It will take

Rum Havana Club Anejo 3 Anos 50 ml

Rum Havana Club Anejo 7 Anos 50 ml

Passion fruit syrup 30 ml

Freshly squeezed orange juice 30 ml

Freshly squeezed lemon juice 30 ml

Grenadine 1 tsp

Cooking

Shake all ingredients in a shaker with plenty of ice. Fill a Hurricane glass with crushed ice and pour over the cocktail. The finished cocktail can be garnished with an orange slice and a cherry.

Missionary's Downfall

It will take

Rum Havana Club Anejo 3 Anos 40 ml

Peach liqueur 15 ml

Sugar syrup 10 ml

Pineapple 110 g

Red cocktail cherry 5 g

Crushed ice 250 g

Ice cubes 200 g

Cooking

Fill the sling to the top with crushed ice. Put a peeled and chopped pineapple circle in a shaker and muddle. Pour in sugar syrup, peach liqueur and white rum. Squeeze half a lime and add mint. Fill a shaker with ice cubes and shake. Pour through a strainer and strainer into a sling. Add some crushed ice. Garnish with a pineapple wedge, a sprig of mint and a cocktail cherry on a skewer.

Zombie

It will take

Rum Havana Club Anejo 3 Anos 20 ml

Rum Havana Club Anejo 7 Anos 20 ml

Hello everyone. Often in the bar they began to ask me a question, Why is the cocktail called Zombie, Mai-Tai?

So I decided to dedicate another post to the culture of Tiki, And who was the first to start all this.

The Hawaiian Islands are full of myths and legends - stories of feelings, betrayals, forgiveness, births and deaths. The collection of Westerfeld, one of the most famous collectors of Hawaiian folklore, contains myths and legends that originated in the early 20th century, some of which are similar to the myths of Tahiti, Samoa, Fiji, New Zealand and other Pacific islands.

As Americans discovered the pleasures of travel, tourism, and war, they brought joyful, exotic souvenirs from distant lands to help them escape the banality of existence. Among these souvenirs - all kinds of shells, fishing nets, amulets and various figurines - were the famous "tiki".
What do these mythical statues symbolize, and what place do they occupy in Hawaiian culture? If you have ever met ancient figures made of wood, then you most likely noticed from their majestic postures and stern faces that tiki are statues of very important, respected people, as well as certain gods, guardians and spirits.

Few people know that wooden tiki statues have a peculiar history, but even a brief description of the purpose of tiki can explain the role that symbolism played in traditional Hawaiian society.

The first inhabitants of Hawaii arrived on the islands from Polynesia about a thousand years ago, bringing their culture and customs to Hawaii. Many of the gods of Hawaii and Polynesia have been represented by their tiki statues. The word "tiki" denotes different types of idols, from the ceremonial statues of the Maori tribe (New Zealand) to the wood-carved moa figures on Easter Island and modern statues from Hawaii.

In Polynesian mythology, the tiki statue often symbolizes the first human being on earth. These figures continue to be used in religious rituals in some Polynesian cultures. In New Zealand, miniature tiki figurines are worn as amulets to protect against infertility.

In ancient Hawaiian culture, gods, earth (aina) and people (kanaka) coexisted in one world. If people properly (pono) took care of the earth, then this pleased the gods. If the gods were happy, then they allowed the earth to provide the existence of people with its fertility. Each god can take different forms (kinolaou) of animals and people.

Tiki statues were the image of a certain god and kept the mana (power) of this god. Carefully carved figurines could save people from misfortune, give them strength during the war and ensure a good harvest.

The first tiki-inspired bars were opened by Don Beachcomber in 1934, followed by his alter ego, Trader Vic.
In tiki bars, figurines acted as glasses in which Mai Tai and Zombie were served, prepared by bartenders in colorful shirts.

“Zombie” - Tropical Long Island
30 ml white rum
30 ml golden rum
30 ml dark rum
20 ml cherry brandy
20 ml apricot brandy
100 ml pineapple juice
60 ml freshly squeezed orange juice
20 ml freshly squeezed lime juice
40 ml freshly squeezed papaya juice
1 tsp orge
15 ml very strong rum
Shake all ingredients except strong rum in a shaker. Serve in a tall tiki glass. Layer on some very strong rum. Garnish your cocktail with tropical fruit

was so strong that Don Beachcomber refused to serve more than two cocktails per person. Because otherwise, when you leave the bar, you will most likely have Tiki's head on your shoulders.

As for Mai-Tai, it was also invented by the famous bartender Trader Vic, back in 1944. He mixed 17-year-old Jamaican rum, lime juice, some Dutch Curacao, French orger and caramel syrup. The cocktail went to some of Vic's friends, who had just arrived from Tahiti. Friends took a sip of nectar in a dazed manner and began to yell at the whole district “Mai Tai”, which means “This is the best drink!” ... Well, or something like that. I haven't been there, but it seems to me that it was somewhere like that ...

And another cocktail that has nothing to do with Tiki, but in my opinion, it looks great in their glass.

The jungle in a glass B.Y.

The cocktail is somewhat similar to Mojito. But at the same time, if Mojito is boring to you, then the Jungle in a glass is just right. Spiced rum, some maraschino liqueur, lime, mint, sugar syrup.

Well, this is how it all looks like. These days, Tiki is making a thunderous comeback to the mixed drink scene. Tiki cocktails are served in many bars, and the famous figurines only make you thirsty and want to taste the magic drinks poured into them…
And of course, all the cocktails that you cannot make at home, You can always try at my place in Dolcabar.

Tips are welcome, but always at your discretion.

P.S. Did you like the glasses? Write!)))