Here I am with a great recipe for you all to celebrate together (responsibly) St Patrick’s Day:

THE GIANTS’ GATE COCKTAIL
Bushmills 16yr
Lime Juice
Sugar Syrup (1 to 1)
Guinness Stout
Egg White
Cardamom Pods
Raisins for garnish

FLAVOUR PROFILE:

The drink combines the warm raisin and caramel hints of Bushmills 16yr with the gentle bitterness of Guinness Stout both enhanced by the freshness of the cardamom.
It is recommended to eat the skewed raisins while sipping the drink in order to experience the amazing burst of flavours provided by this drink.

Sláinte

Max La Rocca

As we know in the 15th century, the European practice of distilling ‘Aqua Vitae’ (Water of Life) was primarily for medicinal purposes; then Aqua Vitae sees its translation in the Gaelic “Uisge Beatha” term, until it became the word “Whisky” as we know it today.

There is an old Gaelic proverb that says: “What whiskey does not cure..cannot be cured“…do you agree?
So don’t you think that every doctor has it’s potion, an elixir that he drinks everyday as a nightcap, before going to bed? I really think so..

LET ME PRESENT YOU…

A very tasty version of an after-dinner-kind-of Sour, with a smooth smoky aftertaste from the Talisker, a nice thick mouthfeel from the use of a home made bitter orange jam and all the flavours are enhanced by gentle coffee hints.

And a nice aroma from the grated tonka beans, gives fantastic vanilla notes to our drink.

Since our doctor here has a specific time at night to drink it, I provided him with a classy pocket watch (personalized with the Talisker logo) and in case he forgets how to make his potion, I also attached a tiny recipe as a garnish, with a little message at the back of it reminding him that “taken every night, will heal body and mind”

(in a responsible way…of course!)

and what about playing “Amélie” Movie Theme as a nightcap song from an old Carillon…really Magic!!

Finish the drink flaming 1 coffee bean and adding it in the middle of the drink, floating over a silky foam created by the egg white.

ENJOY and share only with the people you love and care!

Max La Rocca

After 6 months of sleeping with my Barrel I’m eventually ready to share with you all

The “STOP THAT LIMOUSINE” Barrel Aged Cocktail

The drink is a variation on a Claridgeʼs Cocktail swapping Apricot Brandy for Benedictine and served with orange Bitter and the fragrant essential oils of the lemon peel garnish.

The name comes from the Limousine wood of the casks that have been ageing with Plantation Rum for a perdiod of 6 months.

Is very interesting to age a gin Cocktail into a Rum Barrel with the botanicals of the Gin blending with the exotic fruits of the Rum.

The drink has a fantastic colour, is very balanced, warm and has an intriguing oily texture because of the long interaction with the Barrel.

Hope you enjoy it!

The base formula will be:

25 ml Citadelle Gin
25 ml Noilly Prat
10 ml Benedictine
10 ml Pierre Ferrand Dry Curaçao

Dear colleagues, friends and guests meet in the video below our Famous Drink – THE IRISH MERMAID – the new modern Classic:

This drink received the Certificate of Excellence from Jared Brown and Anistatia Miller and appears in the World’s Best Bars “Ramping up the Classics” Series.

• It has been included onto the Gaz regan’s 101 Best New Cocktails 2013

Gaz comment: Superb! The Aperol and orgeat dance together all night in your mouth after drinking just one of these babies! 

• It has also been featured on Class Magazine amongst the “30 of the best cocktails invented since 2000” by Simon Difford

“THE IRISH MERMAID”

35 ml BUSHMILLS 16 (try also a nice twist using BUSHMILLS 10)

10 ml Cherry Heering

10 ml Aperol

5 ml Orgeat

2 Dashes Angostura Bitters

Orange twist

Garnish with Brandied Black Cherries cooked and reduced into Cherry Heering (if you find nice brandied cherries or Luxardo Maraschino black cherries is fine too, as long as they’re not the cheap red plastic ones).

This Cocktail is originally made with Bushmills 16, then Bushmills 10 gave it a lot more flexibility also as an aperitif, so it’s indeed a very flexible drink.

By playing also on the amount of Orgeat, you can easily transform this nice aperitif into a tasty after dinner drink making it suitable for any time of the day.

The drink showcases the warmth of the beautiful and flexible Irish Whiskey with the slight bitterness from the oranges and rhubarb of the Aperol, perfectly balanced by the combination of cherry and almond flavours.

Angostura Bitters gives it a nice depth, while the orange twist provides nice and fresh citrus notes to the cocktail.

The name “Mermaid” pays homage to the statue of the little Mermaid in Copenhagen which is where Cherry Heering liqueur comes from.

When I created this drink, the bar I was working at, was very famous for afternoon tea, so I wanted to start selling cocktail during those hours too and decided to throw this drink right at the customer’s table with a crystal teapot so that people would get curious about cocktails.

After a few months, that’s what happened!

If you can’t use a teapot a simple throwing will do the trick!

I started  serving this drink also in Barcelona since the throwing technique has its origin in this city (below, a picture of Maria Dolores Boadas, the first spanish female bartender using this technique, learnt from his father Miguel Boadas), so I was also linking the cocktail with the local tradition while pushing the sales.

How about making this great NEW MODERN CLASSIC in your Bar and spreading the word about it?

I’ve been thinking about this after 2 years of amazing feedbacks from my guests and decided it would be nice to share it with you all, because sharing is caring right?

Watch this World Class Cocktail Competition Final Video on the making of this drink and much more:

 

Let’s start with some drinks…

– Tanqueray 10
– “Punt e Mes” Sweet Vermouth
– Orange Bitters
– Campari foam
– Thin stripes of orange peel for the garnish