Few cocktails are as simply great as the Manhattan. Strong, Simple, beautifully refined at the first, somewhat less at the third. A drinking man’s drink. A simple mix of vermouth, whiskey and a dash of bitters. Drinks this good always have a number of different histories. One of the best attributes the beverage to Lady Randolph Churchill, […]
60 mls Blanton’s Gold Bourbon, 15 mls dry vermouth, 15 mls sweet vermouth. Add all ingredients to a shaking tin over ice, stir between 12-15 rotations, trying to make all the ice move as one. strain it all into a martini glass and luxuriate over this delightful cocktail. A twist of lemon will finish this […]
Launched just in time for Australian Bacon Week, I present to you, drinkers of the world, Smoked Bacon Bourbon. The first of a series of releases from the Experimental Spirits Company, Smoked Bacon Bourbon packs the rendered goodness of 35o grams of the finest Australian cured and smoked pig into each bottle. The Experimental Spirits […]
The world’s most rock and roll rum brand just turned the volume up to 11. On the back of their illegal muling operation that saw bottles of SX9 crossing the Tasman from regional airports, the team from New Zealand are breaking the law all over again. In Australia, expect an adulterated product. The offending label […]
The latest expansion from Wild Turkey blends their two iconic styles, Bourbon and Rye American whiskies, into one quite near perfect drinking package. An apparent accident, Forgiven came out of the accidental combination of 6 year old Bourbon (the youngest age in any of the Wild Turkey range) and 4 year old high proof Rye. […]
It was a week of fine drinks served up at the Diageo World Class Australia Finals last week. There are many great ones I’m going to try and write about, but one in particular has stuck in my mind. A dry apéritif affair, stirred up by Angus Burton of the Waiting Room, in Melbourne. The young […]
The secret of Sydney’s Argentinian altar of meats is already well known about town. Porteño has achieved this feat by roasting entire lambs over an open pit of coals, staffing its floor with characters from a fifties sock hop and generally delivering a slice of Buenos Aires magic to any and all lucky enough to grace its doors. Less well […]
Tony C is a bit of a legend in the world of bar tending. Constantly on the search for new tastes, techniques and flavours, in many ways he is treading the path Heston Blumenthal laid down, albeit this time behind the stick at 69 Colbrooke Row, not the stoves at the Fat Duck. The Selby is a fantastic […]
An idea, a song, a discovery, an invention, may be born anywhere. But if it is to be communicated, if it is to be tested and compared and appreciated, then someone has always to carry it to the city. Max Ways New York City has long been a place to set the trends for the […]
Another year has rolled around and we are once again looking down the barrel of a nationwide celebration of Australianess. Having been in the country for two previous Australia days, I can state with a reasonable amount of certainty that Australianess is most often defined by what is un-Australian, rather than any real shared agreement […]
Step over the pile of fixed gear bikes and past the bearded über swede in the crochet poncho, brush the past shoulder length hair out of your way, push in beside the tall, skinny cat, in tight jeans and a fur stole at a darkly lacquered bar covered in graffiti, some inspired, a lot not. You […]
Last week I jumped a plane to Melbourne for a weekend of shopping, eating and drinking. You know, the things Sydney’s southern sister does so well. Top of my list was a trip to the charmingly disheveled suburb of Fitzroy and Australia’s award winningly best bar, The Black Pearl, to catch up with Australia’s award […]
David demands drinks definitively dry. The Bronx delivers, and how. My second delve into The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks landed me in New York. Everyone knows the Manhattan, not so many have an intimate knowledge of the Bronx. This Gin strong, dry cocktail with a hint of herb each way from the pair of […]
I was first introduced to this cocktail in Shanghai. Prosaically described as the first choice for ladies who lunch, this small but well proportioned cocktail got it’s name far back in the twenties from a silent movie about a man who rises from peasant to matador. The drink represents the blood of the bull spilled and mixed with […]
The Saratoga cocktail is the sweeter cousin of one of my favourite drinks in the whole, wide world; The Manhattan. I first found the recipe reading through David Wondrich’s fantastic investigation of the drinks and times of Jerry Thomas, Imbibe! The springs at Saratoga made it one of the escapes from New York in the […]
It’s time to leave Surry Hills and visit Darlinghurst. The coolest place in town no longer sits amongst the agencies and junkies. Happily you won’t have to tramp too far Sydney’s newest den of iniquity, walk north along Crown until you cross Oxford and the road falls down the hill into Darlinghurst (or the East Village, if you’re trying to […]
I received a very special little present yesterday. The newest in the line of small batch bourbon’s from Jim Beam. I am a big fan of Basil Hayden’s and this bottle at least matches that. It was even signed by the Fred Noe, 7th Generation distiller of these fine Kentucky bourbons. This latest small batch has port […]
This cosy little gem hides out amongst the Gaslight and the back alley’s of little Oxford. An expected find on my nightly walk home and a talked about venue by all the people who’ve told me they’re in the know… Low 302 is quite close to the cross of Oxford and Crown, on the Surry […]
Sometimes it’s easy to focus on the classics. The crisp, dry bite of a perfectly stirred Gin Martini; the nutty richness of a well made old fashioned; the smoky depths of a Sazerac or the rich fruity and herbal notes of a Woodford Manhattan. Other times you need to push the boat out. Sometimes a […]
* * * * * Bayswater Drinks 2009 * * * * * It is proper, when a person steps up to the bar, for a bartender to set before him a glass of ice water, and, then, in a courteous manner, find out what he may desire. The Ideal Bartender, 1917, Tom Bullock. * […]
Bourbon is all about the good old days; plantation punches, juleps for breakfast and Colonel Sanders as the pinnacle of sartorial excellence and refinement. A lot has changed in the South, but the Labrot & Graham’s Old Oscar Pepper Distillery is still producing small batch bourbon under the Woodford Reserve banner. Each bottle is labelled with both […]
Darcy O’Neil over at Art of Drink, has come up with a drinker’s response to the Omnivore’s 100. With my 82 out of 100 i need to start looking for some of these to tick them off. Instructions: 1) Copy this list into your blog, with instructions. 2) Bold all the drinks you’ve imbibed. 3) Cross […]
Rittenhouse Rye Whisky was originally launched upon the repeal of Prohibition by the Continental Distilling Company ofPhiladelphia, and was subsequently acquired by Heaven Hill Distilleries, the nation’s largest independent family-owned spirits producer. Heaven Hill now produce a complete range of very crappy products like Hypnotiq and some non-agave tequila, but because of Rittenhouse I’m willing to give […]
Level 1, 235 Victoria Street Darlinghurst NSW 2010 Sydney, Australia. +61 2 9357 4488 Google Map. Up a set of awkward but seemingly authentic warehouse stairs, lies Sydney’s Victoria Room. A stylish eating and drinking affair, the room gets a little crowded, so either get there early enough to get a seat or a pice of […]
Everyday Drinking 