The pisco sour boom
The true gastronomic revolution of recent years has not so much to do with the living room , with so much baroque cutlery (Aren't tableware filled with flowers, pigs, and giant boulders a bit tiring?) much less with the pickles and fermentations ; because in reality, they were always there...
The real revolution comes from the hand of bartender and of the cocktail integration as one more leg of the total gastronomic experience. Guilty? the freedom of Albert Adria and the insurrection of David Munoz with Carlos Moreno , the intelligence of Diego Cabrera (how to explain Spanish cocktails without it?) and the courage of each one of those bars, taverns and restaurants to plant a cocktail menu next to the plates; the cocktail bar no longer as a prelude or as an end to the party: cocktails as a companion, as a co-pilot of almost any menu . And it is that, as so many barmen sign: a cocktail is also a dish . And it all started with these...
MOJITO
The most drunk cocktail on the planet (light years away from the second, Diego Cabrera himself tells me). The mojito tastes like us naps on a hammock and mint ; to sun, sea and despiporre. Mojito is synonymous with partying and perhaps the McGuffin of his overwhelming success is hiding there: impossible not to be happy with a mojito in hand . I remember (quickly) the mojitos at Puente Romano in Marbella, at Gimlet in Barcelona and the one drunk at Colin Farrell and Li Gong in Havana in that immense Michael Mann film: _ Miami Vice ._
The mojito is synonymous with party
GIN FIZZ
The masterpiece of Fernando and David del Diego : one of the great drinks of Madrid. Gin, lemon juice, soda and sugar. The essential drink of Mario Villalón (by little angel ) at the bar cock -the oldest in Spain- and also the one that hides one of the most peculiar births: it was during the Dry Law, from 1919 to 1933, and it was born in a standard glass and with its peculiar mother-of-pearl color precisely to pass itself off as a non-alcoholic drink . And from that transvestism this jewel was born. Nice story, right?
Gin Fizz, a story of hiding and cross-dressing
PISCO SOUR
impossible to separate the pisco sour boom of the other Peruvian classic: ceviche. And also like ceviche, we're especially excited now (with this spring that is scorching Madrid and bursting with colours, heat and pheromones) because it is now when the body (and spirit) cries out for this refreshing and acidic drink. They drive us crazy Omar Malpartida in Tiradito & Pisco Bar (in Conde Duque) and those who animate the bar of the new Bouet, in Ruzafa.
The pisco sour boom
BLOODY MARY
the cocktail of Roger Sterling and Jack Nicholson . The combination of airport, waiting rooms and mid-morning sandwich in Juan Bravo. The drink that actually hides the bloodiest and most visceral black (and red) legend: bloody (bloody) Mary in honor of Queen Mary I of England , the Tudor, due to the cruel persecution of the Protestants —note that she was also queen consort of Spain because of Felipe II and that has hers: What country can boast of a Queen with a cocktail name?
Bloody Mary
DRY MARTINI
We have repeated it ad nauseam, but it does not perish (impossible) that maxim that Enric González calligraphed in question of principle : “The martini is the most aesthetically perfect American invention. It is a drink of uncertain origin, strict canon and infinite nuances. It requires principles, education and criteria.” When in doubt: Dry Martini. The main cocktail of Javier de las Muelas and the Aquarium , but also from ** Dickens **, the ** Americano from Alfonso XIII ** and from any self-respecting hotel bar.
When in doubt: Dry Martini
CAIPIRINHA
The Brazilian drink that is a flag more than a drink: Caipirinha, samba and Christ the Redeemer. Cachaça, lime, ice and sugar for what is perhaps the most refreshing and “healing” drink: it was born in São Paulo hand in hand with Paulo Vieira a little because of a Spanish flu epidemic. Gin and tonic to cure malaria and caipirinha for the flu. Blessed medicine.
Caipirinha to heal the soul
MANHATTAN
The Manhattan is the definitive cocktail of our admired Diego Cabrera and one of the six essential combinations of David A. Embury , cocktail guru and writer of the classic The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks. Rye whiskey, Martini Rosso, angostura and a maraschino cherry. At least me, when I harbor the slightest doubt about the bar (or worse: about the barman) I take refuge without hesitation in the Manhattan; a drink that does not admit many concessions or experiments, a drink that is the Oxford shoe of cocktails: nothing can go wrong.
Manhattan, the definitive
MAI TAI
I always thought that tiki cocktails would end up reigning in our bars: I was wrong. I put you in situation; the tiki culture It goes from tropical flowers, horrible shirts (we love them), Polynesian culture, Maori pendants and that wonderful Mai Tai that Elvis Presley discovered to the world in that indisputable and battered masterpiece : BlueHawaii. Well, neither the Mai Tai, nor the Honolulu, nor even the Zombie, have yet come together, and that behind the tiki there are defenders of the stature of ** Miguel Pérez del Solange ** in Barcelona or Fito, Adolfo, of the Maria Cristina in San Sebastian .
Mai Tai or Elvis Presley
TEQUILA SUNRISE
Also called ' acapulpo ’ or (this is from me) the cocktail of the Tumblr generation; that because? Because its name (sunrise) comes from the fascinating game of colors that form the gradient of this sunrise bathed in tequila, orange juice and a splash of grenadine . It is also the cocktail of abstainers, and it is also common to serve it without alcohol. We like this last point less.
Tequila Sunrise
CUBALIBRE
I want my Cuba Libre
So that people can...
So that my people can dance
I want my Cuba Libre
So that people can...
So that my people can dance
I want my Cuba Libre...