If you’re not partaking in Dry July, Rye July is the antidote to the month of booze abstinence. The Glenmore Hotel in the Rocks is celebrating Dry July with a series of masterclasses including how to make your own pre-batch cocktails.
Photography © by Kevin Burke for Gourmantic – Copyright: All rights reserved.
The hands-on session was presented by industry expert, Simon McGoram, co-owner of Neighbourhood in Bondi and the recently-opened Henrietta Supper Club in Darlinghurst.
If you’re hosting a party or going to one, pre-batched cocktails are convenient and make an impression on your guests. All the hard work (and cleaning up) is done in advance, and all is left is to enjoy the libation in the company of friends without all the mess.
The key element to making cocktails is to achieve the perfect balance in flavour. The masterclass involved making two cocktails using two spirits, Bulleit Bourbon and Bulleit Rye whiskey. An array of mixers included Dry Ginger, Ginger Beer, Cloudy Apple Juice, Mandarin Juice, Blood Orange, Coconut Water, Grapefruit Juice and Pineapple Juice.
Flavourings ranged from fresh citrus juices, to a variety of syrups, salted caramel, balsamic vinegar, spices such as nutmeg and cinnamon, bitters and Tabasco sauce. Fresh fruit and garnishes were on hand with oranges, lemon, lime, mint, grapefruit, ginger, raspberries and cucumber, to be used in the drink or as garnish. But where to start?
A handy limerick to remember when making a punch style cocktail is “1 sweet, 2 sour, 3 strong and 4 weak”. The sweet element is the sugar syrup, the sour is the citrus with lemon/lime, strong is the spirit and weak is the fruit juice. Next, was the task of unleashing one’s creativity, selecting the ingredients, making and stirring the cocktail, tasting, and checking for that important balance and using bitters as required, dubbed as the “bartenders’ salt and pepper”.
Once the cocktails were ready, it was time for bottling and capping to enjoy them at a later time. Some of the cocktail creations included Bulleit Bourbon with ginger beer, sugar syrup, lemon juice and Angostura bitters, and a spicy drink with Bulleit Rye, raspberries, balsamic vinegar, lemon and sweet orange and vanilla syrup topped with cloudy apple juice.
The Make Your Own Pre Batch Cocktails masterclass was held on Thursday 17 July as part of The Glenmore’s Rye July.
The Glenmore
96 Cumberland Street,
The Rocks, Sydney
www.theglenmore.com.au
