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On the sixth of February, all the bartenders of the world will celebrate their professional holiday. On the eve of this event, I decided to find and try the 7 most original and unusual cocktails from the best bartenders in Moscow.
Who is your bartender? A personal psychologist at the bar, a vest to cry on when you fail? Or maybe a virtuoso who masterfully mixes alcoholic drinks that will help you relax after a hard day?
I decided to personally communicate with the bartenders themselves and find out the answer to this question firsthand. All of them agreed on one thing: the bartender is a real artist, only he works not with a brush and paint, but with taste and aesthetic design of drinks.
Of course, among those with whom I had a chance to talk, there were young guys and girls who came into the profession only to make money. But for the most part, bartenders are people who really give themselves completely to the profession and love their job.
How bartenders come up with cocktails
Every self-respecting bartender should have his own signature cocktail. How is an alcoholic masterpiece created? When creating a new recipe, each creator pays attention not only to the technology of preparation, but also to the outer frame of his masterpiece.
A cocktail should attract with its aesthetic appearance, so that the client wants to try it.
I once had a chance to visit the Pyatnitsa bar in Moscow. I was able to find out from the bartender of this institution, Oleg Shibaev, how signature cocktails are created. It turned out that the secret of an exclusive drink is simple: it must combine three elements – smell, taste and aftertaste. If two of them match – the drink is considered successful, if three – it is almost perfect.
What tools do you need to make cocktails at home?
But what to do if you do not have the opportunity to visit various establishments in order to evaluate the drinks offered on the spot? There is an exit! Even at home, with certain bartending equipment and ingredients, it is possible to prepare a wide variety of cocktails on your own.
To do this, we need inspiration, a shaker, a strainer, a jigger, a muddler and a bar spoon.
We will use the shaker to mix the components of the drink. With the help of a strainer, we will retain ice cubes and pieces of fruit when pouring into a glass. Jigger will serve us as a measuring cup. With them, we will accurately measure the right amount of the required ingredient.
We use a bar pestle or muddler when we need to squeeze juice from fruits or berries. Well, we will use a bar spoon in the form of a spiral when creating multilayer drinks.
4 best strong cocktails
If you prefer strong cocktails, then Alexander Kan, head bartender and one of the owners of Time Out Bar, highly recommends trying the Pomegranate Tini. Despite a significant portion of gin, this drink is very soft and incredibly tasty. If you are an alcohol-tested person, then even three small portions of pomegranate tini will make you frankly drunk.
The recipe is obscenely simple: 50 ml of London dry gin are mixed with lemon and pomegranate juices, a little sugar syrup is added and of course ice cubes. The cocktail is ready.
And here is Natalya Davydova, the head bartender of Ragout, who offers to taste the original Ragout December cocktail.
For cooking you will need: ripe persimmon, Cuban rum, lemon juice, Pacharán (Pacharan) and sugar syrup. Take half a persimmon, mash it well with lemon juice, add sugar syrup, rum and pacharan. As a result, you get a juicy, tasty and sunny digestif (a drink served after a meal).
Having visited the bar “George Best”, I learned that the pride of its bar manager, Pavel Zhuravlev, is the author’s cocktail “Mad Season”. But you can taste it only in the establishment itself, as it uses bitters of its own production for its preparation.
The composition of the cocktail includes: brandy with Thai mango tincture, lemon juice, yellow Chartreuse, sugar syrup and author’s bitter.
If you are a fan of unusual flavor combinations, then the Syunik Old Fashioned cocktail from Seyran Gevorkyan, the head bartender of many famous Moscow establishments, is exactly what you are looking for.
The main ingredients of this drink are bourbon, soda, sugar, Angostura bitters (angostura) and walnut jam.
3 best light cocktails
My search continues. Now I will try to find author’s, not too strong, cocktails. And my first stop was the Strelka bar. Having met his bar-manager Sergei Chesnokov here, my choice fell on the author’s cocktail Strelka Gimlet.
To prepare it, mix 50 ml of currant gin, 20 ml of lime cordial, freshly squeezed lime juice and add bitters to taste. The cocktail is incredibly light and delicious.
My next stop was Noor. Bar manager Alexandra Churilova strongly recommended trying the Clover Club cocktail.
50 ml of gin with 15 ml of dry vermouth are mixed together, raspberry syrup and lemon juice are added, fresh raspberries are used for decoration.
And the third cocktail that I would like to mention is Grange Smoky John. You can try it at the Time Out Bar.
In the process of its preparation, the smoke technique is used. the vessel is filled with smoke from the chips of the apple tree. Then pour into it a mixture of whiskey, red sherry, Angostura (angostura), grapefruit juice and syrup from the same fruit. The drink absorbs the aroma of smoke, and as a result we can enjoy the unsurpassed and unusual taste of this drink.
Excessive alcohol consumption is harmful to health. Take care of yourself!
In the bars of Moscow you will find a huge variety of signature cocktails that combine a variety of ingredients that can satisfy even the most sophisticated client.
Do you agree with me? But which drink will become the most favorite and most preferable for you – only you decide.