Welcome to the second Sunday catchup, here are some interesting links we came across this week. Let’s put off Monday by taking a read and finding something to drink.
“It’s not enough anymore to serve a drink and just to say that it tastes nice,” says Tristan Stephenson. “Bartenders are going to start thinking more about triggering sensory perceptions in drinkers.”
CLASS has come to interview its new Bartender of the Year at his Shoreditch bar, the Worship Street Whistling Shop, and he’s exhibiting his characteristic enthusiasm. Perched on the edge of a stool, he’s animated and talks without pausing for thought. “It’s about asking whether a drink is complementary to your surroundings or the food you’re eating. It’s how you can adapt those surroundings to influence people’s appreciation of what they are drinking.
A slow dissolve to nothing – VOC Bar
I arrive at the VOC Bar before Perdy, but for once this doesn’t bother me because it’s the sort of place where a lone drinker can dissolve into a dark corner without people looking at him critically. I order a Bergamot Grog, described as “Pampero Especial barrel-aged with Earl Grey tea, palm sugar and fresh galangal and fresh tobacco leaf swizzle with fresh lime”. That’s a lot of freshness, I think to myself. I dislike the name grog, the word upsets me, but the cocktail is good and it’s poured from one of the tiny barrels hanging above the bar. They remind me of Disneyland.
My main take-away from it is that doing a history of absinthe, a discussion of production methods, a hand around of the botanicals, a tasting of two, and the obligatory “Don’t set it alight” and “No, it won’t make you see things any more than Special Brew” in 25 minutes is Hard.
A look into the Beijing bar scene, including a Hendricks’ and rose tea smoked martini.
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