It’s a fact, our Mixology Biennale has become a tradition.
Every two years, we share a compilation of the most precious cocktails we’ve tried, tested and on many occasions twisted.
Mixology, The perfect Closure for 2022
Christmas in Australia is followed by the summer holiday season—I couldn’t find a better way to wrap up the year than sharing with you our passion for the cocktail culture. You might be wondering what’s the difference between mixology and bartending. Similarly to conventional perfumery and alchemic perfumery, it's all about ingredients, intention and soul. Mixology is an exciting discipline that combines an appreciation of classic cocktails and cocktail culture with a desire to create new cocktail recipes with a forward-thinking culinary approach. There is a rich appreciation of the ingredients and techniques used, and regularly creates new and innovative mixed drinks. These, are cocktails with soul.
But because alcohol plays an important role in human balance, coordination and thermoregulation — it’s not your best friend on a hot day— we will offer non-alcoholic alternatives as well. Besides, why the driver should not have as much flavour and fun as the rest of the gang?
The good news is we've got now many non-alcoholic options as substitutes for adding that full flavour punch to our creations.
I have paired my latest concoctions in a classic manner (with alcohol) and an alternative using the new super cool non-alcoholic drinks. Let’s get started!
Fig & Ginger Gin Cocktail
Surprise your friends with this delish. Pick up those first figs of the year for this scrumptious concoction.
No figs yet? Use fig jam and garnish with pears.
Ingredients
120 ml gin (our pick Archie Rose Co) // John Ross The Pioneer Non-Alcoholic Gin
3 tbsp ginger syrup
1 tbsp fresh lime juice
3-4 fresh figs (4 tbsp fig jam)
Tonic water to top with
2 cups crushed ice
4-5 ice cubes
more figs and thyme for garnish
Instructions
Muddle the figs in a cocktail shaker with a muddler.
Add the ice cubes to the cocktail shaker along with other ingredients except the tonic water and thyme.
Shake well for 5-8 seconds.
Pour over a tea strainer (basically a double strainer - the strainer in the cocktail shaker and the tea strainer) into cocktail glasses filled with crushed ice.
Top with tonic water and give it a quick swizzle to mix well. Garnish with skewered fig and thyme sprig.
Spiced Pear Gin Cocktail
Its delightfully complex mix of citrus notes compliment the spiced pear tones wonderfully, and they work so incredibly well with thyme and cinnamon, which are used to garnish this fantastic serve. Delicious! Try this cocktail with a slice of warm spiced pear and ginger upside-down cake for a truly scrumptious, well-deserved treat!
Ingredients
30ml Original Classic Dry Gin (@originalspiritco) // Ginologist London Dry (Non-Alcoholic)
20ml freshly squeezed lemon juice
20ml Spiced Pear Sugar Syrup(*)
50ml pear juice
Soda/Tonic water N8, to top up
Sprig of thyme, cinnamon stick or star anise to garnish
(*) For the Spiced Pear Sugar Syrup:
235ml water
200g caster sugar
1 pear, cored and cut into pieces
3 star anise
2 cardamom pods
Blood Orange Gin Cocktail
Simplicity yet elegance at its finest. Chill the glass, chill the tonic water, make sure your ice is freshly made and dense, and you’re in for a legendary cocktail.
Ingredients:
50ml gin (we love @originalspiritco Ginfusion Blood Orange With Japanese Yuzu) // Lyre's Pink London Gin Non-Alcoholic
20ml simple syrup
Dash of Blood orange liqueur // Lyre's Orange Non-Alcoholic Spirit - Triple Sec Style
Tonic water to top up (our take @lovestrangelove Coastal tonic)
Blood orange slice and sprig of mint, to garnish
Method:
Shake your gin & simple syrup with ice. Strain into a rocks glass and top up with Coastal tonic. Garnish and serve.
Pink Grapefruit Negroni
The classic Negroni is one of the most endlessly ‘riffable’ cocktails in existence. Its traditional equal-parts formula of gin, Campari, and sweet vermouth allows for infinite variations: slightly adjusting the proportions, swapping base spirits or bitter liqueurs, using various amari in place of the sweet vermouth, adding a touch of this or that to accent the primary flavours, and so many more. Here’s a little twist that enhances bitterness and balances sweetness.
Ingredients
30ml Archie Rose London dry gin // Ginologist London Dry (Non-Alcoholic)
30ml Blood orange liqueur // Lyre's Orange Non-Alcoholic Spirit - Triple Sec Style
30ml sweet red vermouth // Lyre's Americano Non-Alcoholic Aperitif Rosso (Sweet Vermouth Style)
2 dashes orange bitters
1 long strip pink grapefruit peel
Optional: Pink grapefruit wedge, for garnish
Combine all ingredients except for the grapefruit wedge. Pour into a chilled rocks glass (also called an old-fashioned glass) with a large ice cube. Garnish with a pink grapefruit wedge, if desired.
Pirates Negroni
One twist that takes the cocktail to an entirely different plane is swapping out the usual lean and botanical gin in favour of a notoriously flavourful and funky Spiced rum. I chose for the occasion Ratu, a hand-crafted rum from Fiji because it’s deliciously smooth, and a distinctively well-rounded rum from a paradise on Earth. Charred oak and citrus aroma with a rich star anise, cinnamon and vanilla finish.
Ingredients
30ml Ratu Spiced rum //Lyre's Dark Cane Non-Alcoholic Spirit - Dark Rum
30ml orange liqueur + dash of squeezed orange // Lyre's Orange Non-Alcoholic Spirit - Triple Sec Style
30ml sweet vermouth rosso // Lyre's Americano Non-Alcoholic Aperitif Rosso (Sweet Vermouth Style)
Garnish: orange peel
Method
Add all ingredients into a mixing glass with ice and stir until well-chilled. Strain into a rocks glass over one large ice cube. Garnish with a long, trimmed strip of orange peel.
Refine your palate, explore the world of spirits, and shake up the perfect cocktail for your next gathering.
Have a wonderful Christmas and an even better holiday season.
With love,
Sonia x
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