Drink Report #1

Of course, we don't have enough categories and series on LiquidThoughts yet, so here's another one… But joking aside, one of the earliest ideas after launching the site was of course to share cool, current recipes from bars and thus encourage creativity and curiosity among colleagues and home mixologists. However, since this is quite time-consuming in relation to the yield of a single article/contribution (writing back and forth with several bartenders who obviously have more important things to do), we are only now getting around to it.

We will be publishing a small "Drink Report" with a handful of recipes at fairly regular intervals, but we deliberately don't want to set ourselves any precise rules concerning those drinks. However, the focus will be on "temporary" drinks from events, competitions, weekly menus, etc., which might otherwise quickly get "lost". But particularly cool drinks from new annual menus may also be included, as well as some spontaneous tailor-made drinks from recent visits to bars and so on.

Rather by chance, we have a certain common theme in issue 1, namely the combination of fruitiness with a certain spice/herb as a counterpoint, sometimes red wine with coffee, grapefruit with tea and banana with parsley. Enjoy!

*A Friend Along The Way*

*(Jakob Schröder,* *Toddy Tapper*, Cologne)

- 40ml Red wine-Coffee-Cordial*
- 30ml Bruichladdich Islay Single Malt
- 10ml Port Charlotte Islay Single Malt (at Toddy Tapper subbed with Talisker 10)
- 10ml Giffard Vanille de Madagascar
*Stir, optional garnish: piece of bitter chocolate.*

Fresh from Toddy Tapper's latest summer menu, but originally from the last German Cocktail Championship Final 2024. Let Jakob Schröder himself tell us about his creation:

“The drink is dedicated to a good friend who has accompanied me on my path in gastronomy for many years. I have combined her three favorite drinks — Islay Whisky Sour, Espresso Martini and red wine — in one cocktail. I made it into the top 3 at the German championships with the ‘Friend along the Way’ and it is now also a permanent fixture on our menu at Toddy Tapper.”

A great combination of red fruity notes, elegantly combined with the maltiness and the hint of smoke of the whisky, it is very silky due to the mixing ratio and definitely a drink for every occasion.

* Red wine-coffee cordial:

Red wine cordial:
- 350 ml red wine
- 150 ml warm milk (heat to approx. 50 °C)
- 200 g sugar
- 12 g citric acid

Preparation: Step 1: Clarification: Pour the red wine into the warm milk, stir and wait for 30 minutes. Then filter through a coffee filter to obtain the clarified red wine. Step 2: Mixing: Mix 400 ml of the clarified red wine with the sugar and citric acid until everything has completely dissolved.

Coffee bitters:
- 2 tablespoons coffee powder
- 200 ml neutral alcohol (96%) (alternatively: 100 ml vodka)

Preparation: 1. Mix the coffee powder with the alcohol. 2. Leave to infuse for 1 hour. 3. Finely strain through a filter.

Red wine-coffee cordial:
- Mixing ratio: Add approx. 2.5 ml coffee bitters per 40 ml cordial.

Then we have one of the drinks from the latest addition to the regular menu at Woods, the Kolibri. Woods often likes to play with green plants/herbs that are not quite so commonplace in bar use, and here it's parsley. The rough template is obviously a Daiquiri, although immediately after the first sip I thought "That's not really a daiquiri at all". The verjuice gives a very precise, calm acidity, quite different from the aggressive and loud lime, while the parsley adds a green, unusual freshness. The drink has an almost crystalline taste. Clear, polished, as if it were stirred and not shaken (I was so confused I actually had to ask). Riffs can be that simple, and the syrup is also very easy to make:

* Parsley syrup:

- 1000 ml Simple Syrup (2:1,2)
- 100 g Parsley

Blend the parsley finely and mix with the simple syrup, then simply filter through a nut milk bag or other filter as finely as possible. The parsley can be blanched beforehand for a longer shelf life, both in terms of color and taste. Keeps in the fridge for 1–2 weeks, or up to 3 weeks if blanched.

*Give My Love To Mallow*

(*Suderman Bar*, Cologne)

- 50ml Tanqueray No. 10 Gin
- 45ml Mallow Cordial*
*Stir, serve on ice, garnish with a grapefruit zest and flowers.*

Since this year, Suderman has had a cool new menu concept with seasonal menus to complement the permanent menu. Every 1–2 months there is a new special menu with 3-4 themed drinks. The first one had Japan and Saké in particular as its theme, which we will be quoting from soon. In the second menu, which is currently still available to try at Suderman, with the motto "Summer", we particularly liked this one. Fruity, fresh, with lovely tea notes and grapefruit zest in the mouth, as well as the crispness of the juniper spirit. In Suderman, all 3 drinks on the Summer Menu were served with Jellos, which in turn were made with the respective ingredients of the cocktail, a great idea.

As you can easily see from the very short recipe, it's more or less a Gimlet, but with an exciting and elaborate cordial by Paul Thompson.

*Mallow Cordial (by Paul Thompson):

Lemon water:
- 940 ml water
- 50 g citric acid
- 10 g malic acid
- 14 g dextrose
- 20 g lemon peel

Thoroughly mix the ingredients. It's important to use cold water, room temperature at the most. Then steep the lemon peel in it for ten minutes. Take them back out, finished.

Mallow Syrup:
- 1500 g sugar
- 1000 g water
- 3 g coriander seeds
- 30 g grapefruit peel
- 30 g mallow blossoms
- 100 g Amontillado sherry

In a pot, heat the sugar and water to a syrup. Bring it right up to boiling point, then turn off the heat and add all the other ingredients, just like with tea. Let them steep for 30 minutes. Make sure to strain thoroughly and fine. Will result in ca. 1800 ml syrup.

Mallow Cordial:
Finally for the cordial, simply mix 140 g mallow syrup, 90 g lemon water, 20 g water. Keep in the fridge.

A Friend Along The Way

Kolibri

Give My Love To Mallow