The name of this most classic of classic cocktails is as perfect for the drink as can be, as the oldest know reference to it dates back to 1806 and the early days of cocktails, when they were still to be defined and codified. Any half decent barman can make you one, and most bars…
Category: Drink
Shepherd Market Wine House
Opening a new wine bar in London is not easy. Between the established greats like Gordon’s and rival new ventures, competition is an unrelenting reality in a bustling city of social drinkers. So when I joined Joss, London Lamppost’s founder, at a small wine tasting at the Shepherd Market Wine House, I was keen to…
Where Bartenders Drink
After the success of ‘Where Chefs Eat’ came ‘Where to Eat Pizza’ and now Phaidon has come out with ‘Where Bartenders Drink’. Though thinner than its series companions, if this lime green compendium is anything like its series predecessors, it will be indispensible. Some 225 experts have shared 700 bars across sixty countries, covering venues…
Pisco Sour
The national drink of Peru, has become a favourite in London fueled by the rise in the popularity of Peruvian food over the last few year. While Pisco based drinks stretch back to the 1700s, the Pisco Sour was an invention of 1920s Lima. It was first created at Morris’ Bar, a bar owned by…
Harry's Bars of Europe - Venice, Florence, Paris
Of all the cocktail bar names out there, ‘Harry’s’ has to be among the most popular, conjuring up images of high quality cocktails served with immaculate style and service, thanks to the standards set by the Ciprianis in Venice. What the name also does is cause a fair degree of confusion; are they all separate…
Ice, Water, Neat... Who gives a dram?!
As a whisky fan, desperately trying to achieve his lifelong goal of free whisky for eternity, I have spoken to many ambassadors, aficionados and connoisseurs of the ‘water of life’ during many tastings, shop visits and twitter tete a tetes. However one comment sticks in my mind from a tasting in Ronnie Scott’s bar a…