Cocktails are making a comeback and mixology is going to be the next big thing. You heard it here first.
For a while now we have been stuck in some kind of sugary cocktail Happy Hour zone. Now that’s not a bad thing (the happy hour zone that is) but somewhere along the line we have forgotten what a beautifully prepared drink tastes like.
It doesn’t have to be 17 different colours with a protruding plastic palm tree to be a cocktail. Have you ever tried a Negroni? It’s pure genius and remains one of the most popular drinks with the bartending fraternity.
Nick Koumbarakis, SA’s representative at the Diageo Reserve World Class Global Finals last week in the Mediterranean, mixed some ingredients together to create The Ginstitute, a drink that any world class chef would approve of. Call it molecular mixology if you like, but things are getting very interesting in the drinks world.
Global whisky giant Johnnie Walker Blue Label have developed iconic Blue Label to a degree where bartenders are making the most incredible cocktails with it, extracting flavours from 19th century Scotland and bringing them to you in mouth-tingling form.
2 new gins are being launched every week across the globe. Every week.
Ron Zacapa Rum master blender Lorena Vásquez blends rum using the Solera system with 5 different casks 2300 metres above sea level in Guatemala to bring you Ron Zacapa XO and 23 Solera. We’re hoping to get it in South Africa soon, so remember that name.
Ciroc is making vodka entirely from grapes.
There is so much more to come so please keep an eye on our Cocktail page for regular updates.
2 women in Top 8 bartenders in the world
And isn’t it fantastic to see that 2 women made the Final 8 at the World Class Global Finals 2013. Monica Berg from Norway and Laura Schacht from Switzerland absolutely blew the judges away with their amazing talent, recipes and ideas. Imagine what this will do for motivation for female bartenders the world over.
Back home where it’s happening; Durban will be joining the international club of official mixology when Diageo Reserve World Class launches a new outlet at Harvey’s Restaurant and Harry’s Cocktail Bar on the 19th July.
Harry’s will become a flagship store for Tanqueray No. Ten Gin and an outlet for World Class’ vast portfolio of luxury drinks and cocktails. I am so excited for Durban!
In Cape Town, The Orphanage and Asoka are where you can go and treat yourself to a real world class cocktail.
In Gauteng there’s Harlequin Restaurant with the Baracas Beer & Wine Bar, Taboo Nightclub and Cocoon Lounge.
But please do tell us where you get the best cocktails in SA? Please email us on editor@food24.com or tweet us on @food24.
If you think mixology isn’t interesting – read this beautifully written piece about the history of cocktails. And if you think that bartending is not going places – then watch this unbelievable video from the week that was the Diageo Reserve World Class Bartender of the Year 2013.
Don’t you feel like a world class cocktail? I do.