The Burnt Rosemary Sour

By Andy Reid.

Everyone should have a party trick, but forget nerdy card illusions and freestyle rapping (unless you’re super confident that you can easily lay down four lyrically creative and impromptu bars). When I say everyone should have a party trick, I mean everyone should have the party trick – you should be able to make at least one cocktail. For some it’ll be the ever so sexy espresso martini, for others the stiff and powerful Negroni. Some prefer the soft touch of a cosmo, but I prefer the refreshing “ahhhhh” moments of a mojito, poolside… preferably with someone fanning me… and feeding me grapes.

In an ever competitive market, the art of mixology is a whole new currency. As we have evolved in time so has our creativity to implement amazing, and some not so amazing ingredients. For example, we replace traditional sugar syrup with “skinny” options like Agave, and subtract vodka from our espresso martinis and add tequila, to make Mexspresso martinis.

We caught up with one of our talented liquor wizards to hear a new perspective on the art that is cocktail mastery.

This strapping young chap is more than just a pretty face, starting his quest to cocktail wizard status at the age of 17, Arron now boasts a stunning six years worth of cocktail mastery. Along with the standard culprits, Arron has a unique favourite in the cocktail category.

“By far a Caipirinha is the stand out for me no matter the time of day, the fresh ingredients and the uniqueness of Brazilian Cachaça produce a palate to remember, infuse this with your favourites and you’ll put a smile on anyone’s dial”

Asking a cocktail bartender about their favourite ingredient often produces a standard answer, but rosemary? Hmmm ok, prove it… And he did. The burnt rosemary sour, a potential candidate for one of the best cocktails I have ever experienced.

“With a love for cooking with rosemary, it dawned on me to try it in a cocktail. It’s such a simple ingredient use with infusions and aromatics”

The Burnt Rosemary Sour

Ingredients:

• Rosemary-infused Bacardi, St. Germain, half a freshly squeezed lemon, sugar, egg white, orange bitters

How to:

• Combine all ingredients in a shaker, dry shake first then wet shake. Double strain into coupe glass. Blow torch Rosemary flick the ash onto the frothy cocktail and spray with rosemary essence
• Note – rosemary essence is a house made essence (rosemary, oil, water reduced on a stove top heated no more than 100 degrees)

If you haven’t yet had the chance to see our cocktail masters in action, check out our weekly photos on the Stingray Gold Coast Facebook… and come down for a taste.