Whitley Neill Gin Cocktail Recipes

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As blogged about for Qype does London, Monday was a very fun night out sampling a variety of gin-based cocktails (featuring Whitley Neill gin). What I failed to mention was the night's Whitley Neill Top of the Tree Challenge angle and that it was all ultimately for a good cause. Of course, why should I, when Timinator’s already posted this:

In keeping with gin’s botanical makeup - and the company’s branding - the cocktails had to include only ingredients that come from trees and had to be served in bars that stock Whitley Neill gin. WN are also donating to Tree Aid based on the number of entrants they received.

I guess for me, enjoying a decent cocktail and celebrating the art of mixing a great drink are ends unto themselves. Anyhoo, here are the recipes of my favourite drinks from that evening (as well as info about the bar and bartenders who made these treats):

Lost Cherry
by Roberto De Vivo
Lobby Bar at One Aldwych
One Aldwych, WC2B 4RH

40ml of Whitley Neill15ml Noilly Prat vermouth15ml Maraschino infused with fresh cherriesGlass: MartiniMethod: Pour all ingredients in a shaker and shake well, double strain.
Garnish: 1 x large maraschino cherry at the bottom of the glass.

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Reciprocal Cocktail
by Jay Lambert
Quo Vadis
26-29 Dean Street, W1D 3LL

Ingredients: 30 ml Whitley Neill25 ml Whitley Neill Tincture-Pink peppercorns-Grapefruit Zest-Liquorice10 ml white CacaoCampari (rinse)Glass: Pony/martiniMethod: Stir with ice (except Campari)and strain into a chilled pony glass rinsed with Campari.Twist orange or grapefruit zest over the glass from a height and discard.Garnish: No garnish.

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Tippler's Tree
by Julian de Feral
Bureau
13 Kingly Court, W1B 5PW

Ingredients: 50ml Whitley Neill15ml Giffard Abricot15ml maple syrup20ml lime juice4 dashes chocolate bittersGlass: cocktailMethod: shake and strainGarnish: a chocolate maple leaf.

Elements 8 Rum Cocktails from Montgomery Place

Man oh man. I had a blast roaming round Notting Hill for last night's Rum Do with Elements 8. You can read about the "do" in my write-up for Qype does London. In particular, I was blown away by the yummy cocktails served at Montgomery Place. Here are the recipes of the fantastic drinks designed specifically for us by Montgomery Place's Marian Beke. Awesome.



1. Chestnut Tom & Jerry (10 Portions)
8-10 Eggs (depending on size)
400ml Elements 8 Gold
300ml Cognac
100ml Chestnut Liqueur
4 bar spoons caster sugar
1 Litre full fat milk
4 dashes Cream

Separate egg yolks and whites in to 2 bowls. In one bowl whisk the egg yolks with the caster sugar until foamy. In another bowl whisk the egg whites until frothy. Bring the milk to a boil. In a big bowl mix the milk with the egg yolk mixture. Add Elements 8 Gold, Cognac and Chestnut Liqueur and mix well. Ladle and float the frothy egg white on top.Sprinkle with cloves, cassia bark, nutmeg and shaved bitter chocolateServe from the bowl in to small, preheated ceramic cups / mugs.

2. Molasses Daiquiri
50ml Elements 8 Platinum
1 barspoon molasses
10ml honey water - honey and water mixed 1:1 (easier to do if water is warm)
Fresh lime juice of 1 fresh lime

Stir the molasses with the other ingredients.
Add mixture and 1/2 of the lime in to a shaker and shake hard.
Strain in to a glass and add a large chunk of ice and garnish with the other lime half.

3. Bohemian Negroni
40ml Elements 8 Gold Rum
25ml Becherovka Cordial
25ml Sweet Vermouth
10ml Campari

Mix all ingredients in mixing glass with 3 large ice chunks. Strain in to a glass filled with a lage ice chunk and sprinkle with Campari Dust (Campari that has been dried and changed in to powder form) and an orange zest.

4. St. Lucian Storming
60ml Elements 8 Gold Rum
Juice of half a lime
Ginger beer (Montgomery Place uses home made ginger beer that has been fermented for 3 days using honey water, and is then cooked and blended with spices, though D&G ginger beer may do the trick for home)

Add rum to a silver mug filled with a big chunk of ice. Fill glass with gingerbeer and squeeze lime juice on top. Finish with tiki bitters sprinkled on top and garnish with a mint sprig.

"Tiki" Moscow Mule

I've been meaning to write about the London Bloggers Blogology Meetup for ages but have just been too slammed with other stuff. I considered posting about it on my ontoLondon blog (and still might), but figured the content is more Tiki Chris than London-specific. Anyway ...

Impressively, London Blogger Meetup organizer Andy Bargery brought Smirnoff on board to "design a custom cocktail to match the content of everyone's blog." For me, a "Tiki" Moscow Mule was created. I liked it and felt that the folks involved did a fantastic job pairing my blog with a cocktail (obviously, I'm more a rum-based cocktail sort of dude, but I'm not one to turn away bespoke vodka cocktails).


So what's in a "Tiki" Moscow Mule?
- 35ML Smirnoff
- Muddled raspberries and strawberries
- Top with ginger ale
- Garnish with mint
























You can read more about that really fun evening here, here, here and here!

Mai Tai Mummy

Tiki Racer is ... the Mai Tai Mummy!

Because You Asked (How to Make a Mai Tai)

Recently, more than a couple of folks have asked me about how to make a Mai Tai. Here's my recipe, kinda sorta based on the recipe of Mai Tai originator, Trader Vic. It could probably use a bit of tweeking but I'm rather inclined to keep it as is and no one's complained yet.

• 2 jiggers of Jamaican rum (Appleton Estate Reserve)
• 2 jiggers of Martinique rum (St James)
• ¾ jigger of orange Curacao (Yes it must be orange!)
• ¾ jigger of Trader Vic’s Rock Candy Syrup or Saint James’s Sucre de Canne
• ½ jigger of orgeat (to be honest, I’ve recently been using Italian orzata)
• Juice from one fresh lime
• Shake vigorously with crushed ice
• Add a sprig of fresh mint and a maraschino cherry
• Enjoy!

There are a gazillion valid recipes out there and lots of opinions. And if you're looking for a good one at a bar in London, the best I've had have been at Trader Vic's and Trailer Happiness.

Wine Tasting with Qype

My head hurts ... and it's all Qype's fault. Well, to be fair they had a little help from Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy. The reason for my throbbin' noggin is because last night I had the good pleasure of tagging along with a few fellow Qypers (Tim, Shiny Gemma, Annie Mole, and Guernican) and Qype commanders Rob and Andrew to LVMH's showcase of New World wine producers at swank and refined Il Bottaccio on Grosvenor Place. Super nice.



I could run through all the wines but, um I think Rob and Tim have already done brilliant jobs summing the night up on their blogs. As Tim points out in his Plumment Onions post, Aussie vintners Green Point had a winner of a reserve Shiraz accompanied by a gorgeously scrummy spoon of goat cheese foam with honey and cracked black pepper. The Malbec offered by Argentine Terrazas de los Andes was worth keeping in mind for the future as well. However, my faves were from Cloudy Bay, a winery from Marlborough, New Zealand. I especially enjoyed their Te Koko and am very appreciative that they allowed me a taste of their (hush hush) under the table bottle of Pinot Gris.

Of course, it wasn't just the wine that did my head in. After the tasting consensus was to carry on at the pub! We made a b-line to the Grenadier which was unfortunately closed for a private function but soon got cozy with a pint at the nearby Nag's Head.



Click here to check out my Flickr set of photos from the event.

Tiki Bar TV Episode 34: Mailbag's Revenge

Click here to visit the Tiki Bar TV website.

Putting Blogs to Faces (London Bloggers Meetup)

Folks talking about their blogs at the February London Bloggers Meetup at The Camel & Artichoke on Lower Marsh Street in London. Click here for info about the next London Blogger Meetup.

Tiki Bar TV Episode 33: CCCP

Click here to visit the Tiki Bar TV website.

New Londonist Food and Drink Editor

I've been contributing to super cool and content rich Londonist for a little less than a year and was pleasantly surprised when, in mid December, I was asked to become Food & Drink editor for the site. In addition to continuing my weekly "What's for Lunch? series, I've got all sorts of yummy ideas. Click here to view all my Londonist posts and make sure to visit Londonist often for more London foodie info!

Thanks to the kind and brilliant editors at Londonist for the opportunity!

Tiki Bar TV Episode 32: Holiday Special

Click here to visit the Tiki Bar TV website.

Tiki Bar TV Episode 31: Casino

Click here to visit the Tiki Bar TV website.

Tiki Bar TV Episode 30: Ice Breaker

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Tiki Bar TV Episode 29: The Wedding

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California Road Trip: Trader Mort's

I’m back from an incredible adventure along the California coast. Arriving on Halloween, I started in LA, dipped down to San Diego for Tiki Magazine’s “Tiki Island at the Bali Hai” art show and then cruised up to the Bay Area for the Tiki Central Tiki Crawl with all sorts of memorable pit stops along the way. Most of the time, compatriots Tiki Racer and Chongolio (who’d flown in from Kauai) were by my side. In retrospect, the whole trip seems very Wizard of Oz, with fascinating characters, new and old friends making appearances and plenty of lessons learned. However, when it came time to fly back, I was clicking my heels wishing I could stay just a little bit longer.


After two nights in LA, Tiki Racer and I headed down the 5 for Tiki Magazine’s “Tiki Island at the Bali Hai” art show. The show was to be held at the Bali Hai restaurant on San Diego's Shelter Island. Developed in the early 1950s, this tiny "island" (it's actually a man-made peninsula) is chocked full of mid century modern architecture set against the backdrop of downtown San Diego's skyline across the bay. Among the most notable of Shelter Island's buildings is Trader Mort's, a liquor store on the main drag. As a liquor store, it's just okay with a decent selection. What makes this place fantabulously special is the shop's Polynesian Pop design. In particular, there's a huge cartoony Tiki out front with a big red tongue and hypno-goofy eyes. Lots of carvings by artist Bosko on the exterior and interior of the building add to the visual splendor.



Click here to view my Flickr set of photos of Trader Mort's. Expect more about the art show and about my Tiki time in San Diego in upcoming posts.

Photography by Chris Osburn © 2007

California Road Trip: Tiki-Ti

I’m back from an incredible adventure along the California coast. Arriving on Halloween, I started in LA, dipped down to San Diego for Tiki Magazine’s “Tiki Island at the Bali Hai” art show and then cruised up to the Bay Area for the Tiki Central Tiki Crawl with all sorts of memorable pit stops along the way. Most of the time, compatriots Tiki Racer and Chongolio (who’d flown in from Kauai) were by my side. In retrospect, the whole trip seems very Wizard of Oz, with fascinating characters, new and old friends making appearances and plenty of lessons learned. However, when it came time to fly back, I was clicking my heels wishing I could stay just a little bit longer.





















I spent two nights in Hollywood at the beginning of my trip with both nights ending up at the half century old landmark cocktail bar, Tiki-Ti. And with good reason! I sampled some of the best cocktails I'd ever had, including the Tiki-Ti's signature drink, Ray's Mistake. Concocted in 1968, Ray's Mistake (named after original Tiki-Ti owner Ray Buhen) is a mix of "our own super secret flavor, botanic liqueurs, passion fruit ... floated with Dark Corub rum." Some mistake. This liquid masterpiece tasted unlike any drink I'd ever had and is one I highly recommend.

Interestingly, the Tiki-Ti is one of the few watering holes in California where people can legally smoke. Because the bar is solely owned by father/son duo Mike and Mike (Junior) Buhen, smokers at the Tiki-Ti are thus able to blow smoke through a legal loophole and ignore the Los Angeles County smoking ban. The two nights I was there, this fact seemed to be a big selling point for a number of patrons.

My first night at the Ti (Halloween) was particularly nice as my travel partner Tiki Racer and I were greeted at the bar by Tiki Magazine photo editor Jonpaul Balak and his super sweet lady friend Marie. I hadn't seen those kids since Hukilau and was pleased to discover they had waited (quite some time) for the Racer and me.



















Photography by Chris Osburn © 2007

Tiki Bar TV Episode 28: The Play

Click here to visit the Tiki Bar TV website.

Tiki Bar TV episode 27: Dingo

Click here to visit the Tiki Bar TV website.

More London Luau photos!

Click here to visit TikiSavage.com and see more great pics from the London Luau!

London Luau 2007 Photos

I finally found the time to go through some of my London Luau photos. What a fun weekend! The best thing about it, of course, was just getting to hang out with good friends. Make sure to check out the Summer 2007 issue of Tiki Magazine for more photos as well as my review of this year's London Luau.