o ie-Lee Voting at work - inburgh's Mai Thai
EAT&DR|NK
A cocktail nation?
Barry Shelby mixes it up with a leading bartender in Holyrood hot spot Mai Thai
ebbie-I.ee Young. manager
of Mai Thai bar in
Iidinburgh. is hard at work. making notes for a new cocktail recipe she wants to introduce. Inspired by a recent trip to Scandinavia. Young begins rattling off the names of various Nordic berries and soft fruits. Buckthorn. gooseberry. cloudberry are just the ones l clock. Why does she look to our neighbours on the other side of the North Sea‘.’ Because. she says. the Scandinavians offer sotne fresh ideas. It is also about topping the competition locally: ‘I‘m always looking to see what people are not doing so I can get there lirst.‘
A cocktail revolution has been brewing in Iidinburgh for a few years now. While miles behind London. the Scottish capital is nevertheless warming to the notion of the cocktail nation. Design-driven bars frotn Tonic to Dragonfly. have developed reputations for their mixed drinks: these are now drawing customers.
The style bar scene in Scotland was once centred on Glasgow. where the Ben Kelly-designed Bar I() kicked things off in the early 90s. But since the turn of the Millennium. Iidinburgh has stolen the march on its cross-country rival. combining décor-conscious aesthetics with some top-line ranges in drinks.
If there is a face of the future. it could well be Debbie-Lee Young. In addition to running the bar at Mai Tai. she does consultancy work. like drawing up a cocktail list for the (‘ity (‘afe in 90 THE LIST ’24 May / Jun 700/
Iidinburgh’s Old Town.
She has been mixing drinks since her university days when she took part-time bar shifts to support herself financially through her studies (‘I had time to play about the bar and that‘s when you come up with ideas‘). Young has slung cocktails previously at ()xygen. Dragonfly. Le Monde and Cabaret Voltaire as well as making guest appearances in VIP green rooms at the MTV Awards and LiveX.
The focus in the new cocktail movement is on quality ingredients: whether premium spirits. fresh juices and hand— mulled fruits. Rather than focusing on these basics. Young
A COCKTAIL REVOLUTION HAS BEEN BREWING HERE FOR A FEW YEARS NOW
says that makers of many modern drinks are becoming too fussy and elaborate in their creations. IIer Mai Tai [sec recipe]. for example. has been. as she says. ‘stripped down to the basics‘.
Despite the renewed interest. cocktails remain a minority sport.
says Roy Beers. a reporter for
trade journals such as the Scottish Licensed Trade News and the insider web site www.gIasgowwestend.co.uk. A few places 'make serious money out of cocktails.‘ he says. ‘but they‘re not generally huge as a percentage of overall sales. (‘ocktails aren't on the same radar screen as wine. which is barer on the same screen as beer. either by value or volume.‘
Young acknowledges as much. but says certain bars now draw particular cocktail admirers. If you want expertise. go to Bramble. I’or quirkier concoctions. try Dragonfly or Villager. Young concludes. ‘It‘s always a challenge to get people to try different things. But we are succeeding.‘
MAI TAI
50ml Mount Gay Eclipse rum 12.f>ml lime Juice
/ml gomme (sugar syrup) 1?.bml orgeat (almond syrup) 1?.fiml Grand Marnier (orange liqueur) Dash pineapple juice Method
Shake all ingredients
in Boston shaker and
strain into glass filled with (;rti:;lt(2(I i<;()
GIN'S IN Barry Shelby visits the home of Hendricks, the small-batch gin brewed by a veteran whisky company
ls William Grant, who first made whisky in 1887. birling in his grave because the company he founded distils London dry gin today? Given that making gin is a much less expensive proposition than producing aged malt whisky. Grant would undoubtedly have approved of the profit margins. With Hendricks. a premium spirit distilled at the company's Girvan facility. William Grant & Sons have nothing to be ashamed about. Although in production for less than a decade, Hendricks was elevated recently to a core company brand, joining the likes of the esteemed Balvenie and world- famous Glenfiddich.
Even the name has a family connection. Hendrick was apparently the gardener for Grant’s granddaughter who is over 100 years old and still a major stock holder in the company now run by her great nephew, Charles Gordon.
Hendricks is essentially a cocktail itself, made from mixing two distillates that trickle from a pair of pot-bellied copper stills in the Ayrshire hills. Both brews are infused. albeit in different manners. with t t ‘botanicals'. ranging from dried camornile flower heads and orange peels to crushed caraway seeds and. of course. the essential juniper berry.
However, this gin gets one last twist before bottling when the essences of rose and cucumber are added. It is the last ingredient that's become the signature of Hendricks. Bartenders have picked up on this. adding cucumber sticks to Martinis made from this unique Scottish product.
Will it overtake whisky in the hearts of the Grant dynasty? Not likely, as it will never be made in massive amounts equal to that of whisky in Dufftown, Speyside. Still, Hendricks's production has doubled year on year, recently. So Highland economics may mean that it certainly subsidises investment in the single malt hade.