SHAKEN AND STIRRED
Shaken And Stirred - Luxury Travel Magazine
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Shaken And Stirred | |||||
| By: Kate De Brio, Issue 17 – Summer 2004 | |||||
| (Drinks, Cocktails, Australia) | |||||
| FROM VANILLA-FLAVOURED VODKA TO MINT-INFUSED WHISKY, A HEART-RACING NEW RANGE OF DRINKS AND COCKTAILS WILL SET TEMPERATURES SOARING THIS SUMMER. | |||||
| It wasn’t so long ago that summer drinks in Australia meant wine coolers, beer and, occasionally, a sweet frothy cocktail with an umbrella on top. Now, with a stylish bar on every corner and bartenders with more training than your average heart surgeon, summer drinking has become serious business. Think a long, cool glass of sauvignon blanc, chilled to perfection and enjoyed with a plate of ocean-fresh seafood during an afternoon lunch party with friends. Think a fresh mix of whisky and lime enjoyed at 7pm in your favourite local. Think 11pm at the hottest bar in your city, drinking the cocktail of the minute, mixed with a metre-long ‘drink stick’. While the sun shines and the heat soars, forget about heavy cabernet sauvignons, fully wooded chardonnays and sticky winter beverages – summer 2004 is all about fresh, simple drinks that refresh and entice but are never so rich that they ruin your appetite or your evening. First stop is wines. Don’t be afraid to experiment with young wines, which provide the palate with an extra kick, as well as wine varieties with a more acidic finish. Sauvignon blanc is widely regarded as the darling of summer wines. “It’s a variety that really jumps out of the glass and is refreshing because of its crisp acid,” says Andrew Flemming, winemaker for Coldstream Hills, in Victoria’s Yarra Valley. Coldstream’s 2003 sauvignon blanc fits well with Australia’s easy summer style and has a fruity flavour with a higher acid finish than a chardonnay. If sauvignon blanc doesn’t suit, consider a dry riesling, viognier or chenin blanc, all of which have a crisp finish. Don’t despair if at the end of the day, though, you can’t resist a chardonnay – just go for something unwooded or with only a hint of oak to gain maximum refreshment. “During summer, people tend to steer away from the heavy oaked varieties and go for something more elegant. It’s more about length of flavour and finesse than big gutsy wines,” says Flemming. In the warmer summer months, people also spend a lot more time sitting outside, be it at a wine bar or on the deck at home. That’s the time when people most want to drink white wine rather than red. “For those who can’t forgo the taste of red wine, rose remains a popular summer choice,” says Flemming. “Rose has the flavour of a red but it’s still refreshing and goes well with seafood.” Second stop in summer drinks is cocktails and mixed spirits. Torquhil Campbell, 13th Duke of Argyll and regional manager for Chivas Bros in Australia, credits the new crop of talented bartenders, or ‘mixologists’, with creating new interest in spirits such as whisky, especially among young people and women. “There are so many great bars in Australia now, it has made cocktails far more accessible,” he says. “A spirit like Chivas Regal is being drunk by people who might not necessarily have tried it before. Drinking a spirit in a cocktail is a great way to explore that drink.” Trendy cocktails are also changing the way people think about spirits. Whisky, for example, traditionally invokes cold weather images of coats, scarves and log fires yet it’s an image at odds with reality. Whisky is the most widely drunk spirit in the world and one consumed by the vat in steamy countries such as India. Mix it with lemon juice, sugar syrup, mint leaves and ginger beer for a refreshing summer drink, or with barenjaegar honey, fresh lemon juice and dash of Gomme sugar for a sophisticated martini. Raj Nagra, ambassador for Bombay Sapphire, says gin is one of the more versatile spirits because of the lightness of its flavouring, and can be used in literally hundreds of cocktails. He opts for gin martinis, while gin Collins (lemon juice, sugar, Bombay and soda) or Bombay with cranberry juice and grapefruit will also appeal. Alex Beaumont, national president of the Australian Bartenders Guild, says bartenders this summer are taking advantage of Australia’s fresh fruit climate like never before, using combinations of everything from lychees and ginger strips to lime wheels and rockmelon, fresh peaches and mint. And it’s not just the ingredients but the method of making cocktails that is turning heads. ‘Stick Drinks’ are a theatrical trend in cocktail-making where bartenders use a large wooden stick to pulp fresh fruit which is then covered with the spirit of choice. The important thing to remember about drinking this summer is it’s all about innovation and experimentation. So if you’ve been drinking bourbon and coke for the last decade, it’s time to step in from the cold. Australian Bartender of the Year for three years running, Marco Faraone, of Lotus Bar in Sydney’s Potts Point, tips tequila as the hot new drink this summer. But if you want to try something really unusual, sample the French liqueur, Chambord, made from ripe black raspberries, or Paraiso, a lychee-flavoured liqueur. Prize for most unusual liqueur surely goes to a handmade spirit from Italy which combines vodka with the flavours of chardonnay and merlot. In the end, anything goes this summer except, says winemaker Flemming, dumping a couple of ice cubes in a warm glass of white wine. “It’s not quite blasphemy,” he says, “but it’s close.” And remember, as always, drink in moderation – for everyone’s sake. | |||||
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