It doesn’t come as a surprise that Barcelona’s hottest seat in town is a table at Tickets restaurant, the newest project by the Michelin-starred brothers, Albert and Ferran Adrià. Taking inspiration from Michelin-starred El Bulli, they’ve created a whimsical journey of a meal. Each bite is unique in its own right, from the traditional Spanish Iberian Ham to the ocean-inspired avocado with sea urchin, diners are destined to experience the unheard of while they dine.

After dinner, nab a barstool at 41º for a cocktail from the menu that’s developed by Albert and a team of mixologists. We caught up with Albert to see where he found inspiration for the lofty new restaurant and the customized menus.

served raw: talk about 41º and the ambiance that you set out to create through the beverages you serve.

Albert Adria: We just started a joint effort between chefs and bartenders to offer a new style of menu for our clients — a range of classic cocktails and snacks inspired by El Bulli. New cocktail creations are accompanied by a snack expressly created for the drink, like oysters with our green tomato bloody mary, prepared by the chefs and finished by the mixologists. The atmosphere we are creating is to serve clients who want a new experience.

Miniairbags with Iberian bacon and thyme oil are a crunchy tapa to begin your evening.

your menu seems to draw from many different regional inspirations. where you draw your inspiration from?

It is a combination of regional dishes — inspired by the traditions of El Bulli and from Inopia, my prior traditional tapas bar.

A generous portion of grilled razor clams delicately seasoned with ginger, cayenne pepper and lemon air.

you’re on the cutting edge of innovating techniques when it comes to cooking … what are some of the innovative techniques you are implementing with cocktails?

The utilization of air and spherification have been implemented, but for now we want to go slowly and also introduce new techniques into making desserts.

The most unique bite of the evening: liquid ravioli with payoyo cheese. Eat in one bite, the outer spheres are formed around a savory liquid center.

your food has been referred to as art and the same goes for your cocktails … can you talk about cocktail presentation and how it plays a role in the 41º experience?

I think it’s the client that turns food into art — their senses are excited with what is tasted. The presentation alone is the final part of the process: “If you do it, do it beautifully.”

Tickets’ cotton candy tree, sprinkled with violet flower petals and perfect for sharing with diners seated near you.

when crafting a food menu or dish, do you take wine or cocktail pairing into consideration?

The truth is that it’s very complex to combine all the dishes with the beverages. In Tickets we serve beer and a small selection of wines, at 41º we focus on the cocktails.

do you ever incorporate spirits (whiskey, rum, gin, etc.) into your cooking? how and why.

We have done at El Bulli, particularly applying the technique to dessert. At Tickets we are working on a watermelon that is vacuum packed with sangria.

The only way to wrap up a dinner at Tickets … with a cocktail next door.

we like to encourage our readers to experiment in their home kitchens with what they learn from our interviews. do you have a tip, trick or recipe that home chefs or bartenders could try?

At 41º we like to make our juices for making desserts and cocktails such as a green tomato juice for Bloody Marys, blood orange juice, etc. which you could try at home.

A duo of cocktails made by Mixologist Juan Serrano at 41º.

There’s something to be said about balanced cocktails … not too sweet, not too spirituous, not too strong. So how does a master craft perfectly proportioned cocktails every time? Bittercube scoops us on balancing cocktails using water in this fourth part of a 5-part series.

Create chunked ice by freezing a large block of water and then chipping away at it with an ice pick and mallet.

served raw: there are various types of ice machines and ice trays, how does this affect the water content of a drink?

Nick & Ira: There definitely are a variety of ice machines that we have made cocktails with. As a consulting company and event planners we end up behind many different bars, even makeshift bars with bagged ice, and it’s important for us to know what kind of ice we’re working with. Of the many ice styles, the three that we generally have had to work with are Manitowoc, Hoshizaki, and Kold-Draft.

Before we discuss the differences and our preferences, it is important to state that well-balanced cocktails can be made with any ice, as long as its pure water.

In some circles, Kold-Draft has become known as the king of ice. Some cocktail bars consider it a necessity, though we wouldn’t go that far! Kold-Draft ice is frozen to a lower temperature than most other ice machines, so it melts slower and does not easily break apart. Because of these characteristics, it makes for great shaking. Kold-Draft does have its downside though, cocktails take longer to shake because the ice doesn’t break up. It can be hard to quickly give a stirred cocktail enough water content without first breaking a couple of the ice cubes as well. And of course there’s the machine itself, Kold- Draft machines are infamous for breaking down. All that being said, if you open a bar or restaurant and can pick an ice machine, Kold-Draft is our first choice.

Manitowoc is the worst ice we deal with on a regular basis. We’re not sure we would even categorize it as ice! Inside the machine there is a series of frozen plates and water slowly freezes around these plates and builds up. You can take this ice fresh out of the bin and break it apart easily in the palm of your hand. The biggest problem with Manitowoc is that it melts very quickly. It melts in an ice bin, it melts in a highball before the cocktail even hits the glass, and most important, it melts quickly in a shaker. But, it’s possible to use Manitowoc and create well-balanced cocktails. An eye must be kept on the bin to see how watery the ice is getting. Re-upping with fresh ice as much as possible is a good thing to do. Add Manitowoc last — to a shaker, a highball, etc. We try to have as few iced cocktails as possible when using Manitowoc, often creating an Old-Fashioned, for instance, Sazerac style rather than with ice. When shaking with Manitowoc, or any watery ice for that matter, make sure not to over shake and water the cocktail down.

Hoshizaki is an all-around solid ice machine and is suited for nearly any use, and for most bars and restaurants, will be the best fit. Hoshizaki has less expensive machines than Kold-Draft, and these machines break down less frequently. The ice cubes aren’t as beautiful or square as Kold-Draft, but they stay cold, don’t water down too quickly and dilute and chill cocktails with ease.

The purpose of using high quality ice is that you have more control over your cocktail’s dilution. When using a chip ice a cocktail starts to dilute instantly and if you shake that drink for any length of time you’ll be adding a great deal of dilution as well. When using colder and larger pieces of ice when stirring or shaking allows you to have more flexibility with what happens during your shake or stir.

As far as home use is concerned, ice that comes out of standard ice trays that you fill up and place inside the freezer are perfectly suited for cocktails. One thing to think about is that the ice in your freezer can trap flavors that are coming up from the refrigerator so if you using ice from your freezer make sure you have a nice smelling fridge!

Chunking ice from a large block is a great technique for home use and is used in cocktail bars around the country. This allows a cocktail going over ice to to be balanced while stirring or shaking, and then to be continually chilled with a large ice chunk, which will dilute a cocktail very slowly.

All this is to say, when crafting cocktails at home or behind a bar, don’t be scared if you don’t have the best ice in the world. Well-balanced cocktails can be created with any ice. The most important thing is to understand how watery the ice may be and to evaluate how quickly it melts and chips away. Don’t be scared to straw a cocktail a number of times before it is balanced. We are notorious, compulsive straw tasters. Straw tasting takes the guessing work out of water content, so don’t be afraid to give your cocktails a taste as their water content comes into balance with other ingredients.

what are the differences between stirring vs. shaking?

Here’s a general rule: If a cocktail has a citrus component it will be shaken, if it doesn’t, it will be stirred. When shaking a cocktail, it’s often important to breakdown the acids in the citrus. Cocktails that have a citrus element also generally require more dilution than a cocktail that’s focused on the nuances of a spirit, like an Old-Fashioned. Stirring a cocktail, when applicable, allows you to have more control over the cocktail’s dilution.

A few other rules to follow would be if a cocktail has an egg involved it will be shaken aggressively, and if the cocktail is going to be topped with seltzer or sparkling wine it’s going to be shaken lightly.

Of course, rules are meant to be broken of course. At Tales of the Cocktail in 2010, we spent a lot of time with our friend Kirk Estopinal, who runs the amazing cocktail bar Cure in New Orleans, and he started telling us about his experiments with stirring lemon juice into cocktails. I think this was at 5:30AM on his back porch while we were drinking Japanese Gordon’s Gin from the bottle! Anyways, we had a long discussion about the topic and became inspired. Since Tales, we’ve created a number of stirred cocktails that have a citrus element. We’ve even started developing a Stirred Lemon Liqueur.

are there things other than ice that help balance through dilution?

When topping a cocktail with sparkling wine or seltzer, dilution is occurring and should be accounted for when balancing a cocktail. We have definitely imbibed our fair share of topped cocktails that are diluted too much. The general rule is to roll a cocktail rather than shake it if it is too be topped with sparkling wine or champagne. The idea is to chill the cocktail with the ice and dilute it with the topping agent.

the Japanese Mizuwari is a drink that focuses heavily on dilution through ice and the perfectly carved large cube — can you talk about this drink or others like it, and why it has maintained its position in cocktail culture?

We very much prefer to drink and serve spirits on the “proofier” side. A spirit out of the bottle that is 80 proof or lower is best imbibed without dilution at all. A small amount of water can be added to spirits between 80 and 100 proof to take some of the heat away and allow nuances to shine. Spirits above 100 proof need some form of dilution, be them water or ice. Of course, this is simply our opinion. Using chunk ice for spirits on the rocks is a perfect way to chill a libation without diluting it too much.

Maple Old Fashioned

• 2 ounces Jim Beam Black Bourbon
• Fat ¼ ounce Wisconsin Maple Syrup
• 9 drops Jamaican #2 Bitters
• 7 drops Bittercube Bolivar Bitters
• Fat orange peel, for garnish

1. Stir the ingredients and strain into rocks glass with fresh ice, garnish.

The First Word

• 1 ounce Blanche Armagnac
• 3/4 ounce Green Chartreuse
• ¾ ounce fresh lime juice
• ½ ounce maraschino liqueur
• ⅛ ounce simple syrup
• 15 drops Bittercube Orange Bitters

Just when we thought there was absolutely no reason to go apple picking, Blackberry Farm’s Andrew Noye schools us in how to incorporate the fruit into your cocktail menu. In Part 4 of a 5-part series, Blackberry Farm’s Andrew Noye discusses how he uses them in cocktails in every form from ciders to butters.

Blackberry Farm's Blackberry Apple Cider Spritzer for warm-weather sipping.

served raw: apples aren’t the first things that come to mind when mixing cocktails. how are you using apples innovatively?

Andrew Noye: We love when apple season comes around. There are a fair amount of orchards in the area and we like to press our own during the fall — very fresh non-pasteurized and delicious. This year we took some fresh cider and let it sit for a few days until it began to oxidize slightly and then we took sliced granny smith apples and added them to brighten the acidity, but still have the roundness. It really is something great to work with it can be mixed with almost anything, and it doesn’t require tons of extra sugar. Apple butter is the ingredient we’ll play with next. We make our own, which is available through Williams-Sonoma. I want to make an apple cocktail using our apple butter and moonshine. There is a great tradition in the South of making Apple Pie Moonshine, so it makes perfect sense to use a preserved apple product.

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if you don’t like a sweet or fruity drink, how can you use apples to create balance?

If you use fresh apple cider it’s almost perfectly balanced to begin with. Cider itself is sweet, tangy and a little astringent all at the same time. Using it as your canvas or base allows you to build a beautiful cocktail without using 500 ingredients. You can even muddle a few slices of apple in a shaker tin to get that bit of sweetness and acidity. Roasted apples with brown sugar, puréed and added to bourbon or rye … dynamite. Apple is a very versatile fruit to use in cocktails, whether fresh, juiced, roasted, poached and fermented and or distilled. Unfortunately, I think we’ve alll turned our backs a bit on the fruit ever since the sour apple martini became so popular.

what are your favorite apple-infused cocktails?

Calvados neat. I used to work for a Normandy chef and there was nothing like having a great Calvados that was made by a very small farmer with Claude. I miss those days. A good substitute and one that warms you just the same, moonshine infused with apple pie filling. Another favorite is my signature Scotch Smoked Apple.

Scotch Smoked Apple

• 1 1/2 ounces Springbank 10-year 100 Proof Scotch
• 3 ounces fresh local apple cider
• 2 dashes Regan’s Orange Bitters
• 1 splash Drambuie

1. Combine ingredients in a highball glass with ice. Stir and serve.

Balance your cocktails with bitters.

served raw: what types of bittering agents are most common in cocktails?
Nick & Ira: Bitterness comes from a lot of places, most commonly from liqueurs, bitters and citrus peels. Campari and Angostura Bitters come to mind. With the emergence of the classic and neo-classic cocktail, people are discovering again the importance of a bitter note in well-executed drinks.

Besides Campari and Angostura there is a plethora of liqueurs and bitters that help add depth and dimension to cocktails. Various types of Italian amari differ in levels of rich bitterness and depth to bring unique notes to cocktails. Hand-crafted bitters are becoming more readily available, both in retail stores and online, and can turn even the most mundane of highballs into interesting libations.

Vermouths are another way to incorporate bitterness. They’re an amalgamation of herbs, roots and barks including wormwood — vermut in German — steeped in white wine with a bit of sugar, burnt sugar in the case of sweet vermouth. Cocktails like the manhattan attest to the ability of vermouth to perfectly balance a drink.

Expressing a citrus peel or disc over a cocktail brings a burst of bright bitterness and aroma to a cocktail. When left in the cocktail, the bitter notes from both the oils and the pith will further the bitter experience in as the drink is being enjoyed.

what role does bitterness play in a well-balanced cocktail?
Bitterness is a playing field upon which sweetness and acidity duke it out. We’ve already discussed sweetness and acidity in cocktails and how the balance of those two can bring out true flavor. Bitterness changes the way sweetness and acidity are balanced together and adds a dimension to both the acidity and sweetness of a cocktail. This is to say, once a cocktail is balanced with sweetness and acidity, a bittering agent cannot simply be added to accentuate that balance. Often, the acidity might need a boost and the sweetener might need to be drawn down, but the opposite may be true in certain instances. Bitterness is it’s own creature that needs to find balance with the other elements of a cocktail. Bitterness adds complexity and uniqueness when used properly.

bitterness can be tricky in cocktails, are there rules to help keep a cocktail balanced that utilize bittering agents?
A little goes a long way. When crafting cocktails with a bittering agent it’s important to use these products sparingly. At Bittercube, we bottle our bitters in small bottles with eye dropper tops so that they can be added to cocktails by the drop or the squeeze. Bitters and amari are concentrated in flavor and are meant to be diluted in other liquids to expose hidden flavors.

There are a few occasions where we might use ¾ or 1 ounce of an amaro and balance out its bitterness with egg white, citrus and sugar or flavor from another liqueur, but for the most part using ¼ ounce or less is a good place to start. The idea of adding bitterness to a cocktail isn’t to make something unpleasant but to incorporate a bitter note, which helps with digestion and excites the senses.

what are some examples of classic cocktails where bitterness is a highlighted ingredient?
A recognizable classic cocktail using bitterness is the negroni. It’s made in various ways, but classically speaking, it’s equal parts gin, Campari and sweet vermouth. We’ve definitely had a negroni concocted that way that we’ve appreciated, but it’s not a cocktail we would regularly drink or serve — we find it too bitter and somewhat off-putting. We prefer the step down method: 1 ½ parts gin, 1 part Carpano Antica sweet vermouth and ½ part Campari. The Campari is still very present, even with only ½ ounce. The vermouth softens both the gin and the Campari and brings balance to the proofy gin and the bitter Campari. The Boulevardier is a cocktail that predates the Negroni by a few decades and is a similar recipe with bourbon replacing the gin.

do you have a signature cocktail that fits this profile?
The copper dagger is a great example of how the true flavors of a bitter liqueur can be exposed when balanced correctly with acidity and sweetness. It also breaks the rule we established earlier in that in contains a whopping 1 ½ ounces of Averna Amaro!

The Valentino is a Bittercube riff on the classic blood and sand cocktail and uses a bittered sweet vermouth called Punt e Mes, created by the same company that makes the best and original sweet vermouth in the world, Carpano Antica.

The Valentino

• ¾ ounce Balvenie Doublewood
• ¾ ounce Cherry Herring
• ¾ ounce Carpano Antica
• ¾ ounce fresh oranje juice
• ⅛ ounce simple syrup, only if the OJ isn’t on the sweet side
• 9 drops Bittercube Orange Bitters
• 7 drops Bittercube Cherry Bark Vanilla Bitters
• Sour French cherry, for garnish

1. Shake ingredients with ice, pour into a coupe and garnish with cherry.

Bittercube’s Negroni

• 1 ½ parts gin
• 1 part Carpano Antica sweet vermouth
• ½ part Campari

1. Stir over ice and strain into a lowball glass.

Boulevardier Cocktail

• 1 ½ parts bourbon
• 1 part Carpano Antica sweet vermouth
• ½ part Campari

1. Stir over ice and strain into a lowball glass.

Copper Dagger

• 1 3/4 ounce Averna Amaro
• 1/4 ounce El Dorado 151 rum
• 1/4 ounce St. Germain
• 3/4 ounce fresh lemon juice
• 3/4 ounce simple syrup
• 1 egg white

1. Mime shake, then shake vigorously with ice. Strain into a coupe and garnish with a smile.

Photo Credit: Tim Turner Photography

Brian Miller, Death & Co.

If dry ice is a little too advanced, a nice foam, mist or infusion can add a smoke and mirrors effect.

served raw: you’ve been known to create a mini bonfire on your bar to craft a cocktail. what other tricks have you got up your sleeve?
Frankie Solarik: The bonfire is the technique used for preparation of the vanilla hickory-smoked manhattan. We take a pile of hickory chips and throw vanilla pods in, and then set the cocktail on top. The drink itself is made with whiskey, hickory smoked syrup, vanilla-infused cognac and cherry-vanilla bitters. You flame the chips and extinguish them to create smoke and cover everything with a bell jar. The smoke infuses into the manhattan.

Our whole thing is that we place all bitters, syrups and infusions on the bar in 70-ounce jars and take out what we need with ladles so guests see us craft cocktails as they order. They see the vanilla beans in syrups, they see fresh rosemary soaking in rosemary bourbon — we make the experience personal right in front of you.

Essentially you’re talking about sitting at a sushi table watching chefs prepare your order and it’s personal. We do the same thing with cocktails.

With molecular drinks, we’re doing mists, foams, baths and jellies, and things like that. For instance, we’ve got a mojito with a beach essence. I take a bowl about 4 ounces and fill it with coconut oil, hot water and dry ice, so when it’s brought through the floor, it brings the essence of coconut smoke throughout the bar. We’re told it smells like Coppertone, so when the drink is presented your mind recreates the memory of the beach before you even taste it.

We also do a cocktail called the Mad Man, which uses a cigar mist and a tobacco-infused bourbon. When working with tobacco, it can be overpowering and so there are many subtle nuances and edible components to the drink. I work with raw tobacco and still have to be very careful with the amounts used, even with the mists and essences. You’re using the olfactory system to experience the drink by smelling it. There’s also a side of tobacco and cherry jelly cubes.

Warning: Bar-top bonfires are reserved for the highly skilled. Stick with candles and garnishes if you're pyro-technique is still being perfected.

you’ve raised the bar on handcrafting, how are you going to top yourself?
Everything I do is derived from so many different experiences, so I raise my own bar by using ingredients not associated with consumption like tobacco and leather. The idea is to provide an experience that takes guests to a special place outside of a bar so we create special memories through the medium of a cocktail. We’ll often hear someone say their drink smells like a campfire or the fireplace in their cottage, so it correlates to a specific time or place for them. It gives people a warm, happy feeling. That’s my goal.

I drive myself to work with new ingredients like frankincense and different roots and barks that I’m not currently using to see how I can correlate those to new memories. It’s ever evolving and my head is constantly thinking of the next thing.

you’ve been quoted as saying you like “messing with people’s heads” with things like jelly cubes and “ravioli” in drinks … we love that idea! anything that rookies can do to &%*&^% with friends during a cocktail party?
When looking at its most simplistic form, take the idea of infusing. Say you have friends over and they all love gin martinis. If you were to prepare a dill-infused gin or a honey-and-black pepper vermouth, so visually it reminds them of a past experience — they love martinis — but when they taste it, it explodes their whole palate and creates a whole different set of memories. That’s the easiest trick to do at home. Mists like dry ice and liquid nitrogen will just get you hurt. You can also bring the complexity to a cocktail through syrups, like a star anise and cinnamon-infused syrup, which would create a whole new experience when added to a classic drink.

how would you describe the perfect Frankie Solarik cocktailing experience.
My personal favorite experience to provide is to have someone come in who is not necessarily familiar with cocktails or spirits and not actually know what a great cocktail is and I take them through the process of finding out what they like. For example, if a woman tells me she enjoys a gin and tonic, we’ll do a gin base. We know she likes tonic, so she likes something a little bitter. I’ll then create something using that information to give her a whole new perspective on how she enjoys cocktails. For me, a great experience to receive is simply having a person behind the bar who is passionate. Even if I just want a bourbon manhattan, I want it balanced with a couple dashes of bitters. People need more passion and pride in what in they do.

what’s the limit on where this food-meets-glass movement can go?
I kind of stop myself at edible cocktails. I’m not too down with that. You’ve got a margarita sorbet … is it a margarita or sorbet? I stay away from that. I’ll add edible components to my cocktails but I still want a drink. There are so many complexities with mists, smokes and dehydrated components that allow us to provide a whole experience. Even when I present a cocktail on a plate, people are blown away by all the elements that provide and accentuate the main drink. The idea is that you explain to them how to consume the cocktail and what each component is used for. We present drinks the same way a server would present in a restaurant — by discussing the purpose behind each of the four of five components used in the cocktail.

Strawberry-Infused Gin

Frankie Solarik’s infusion 101.

• 2 quarts strawberries
• 70 ounces gin

1. Soak strawberries in gin for 1 ½ weeks in a sealed container.

Thyme-Infused Spiced Rum

Frankie Solarik’s herbal twist on the spirit is best served when mixed with a cold ginger beer.

• 20 sprigs thyme
• 50 ounces spiced rum

1. Soak thyme in spiced rum for 1 ½ weeks in a sealed container.
2. Shake over ice with ginger beer and strain into a martini glass for an incredible cocktail.

Experiment with infusions in order to nail an amazing twist on bourbon cocktails. Photo: The Hide Bar

served raw: how are you experimenting with bourbon in signature cocktails?

Paul Mathew: It’s very un-original, but we’ve been experimenting with smoked bourbon recently. This has involved rigging up an aquarium pump, a 5-litre water container and tea-strainer to make a rather elaborate bong-type affair. Sadly the results, while sounding great, haven’t really been good enough for us yet, so this is still work in progress. We have some oak shavings from the inside of old wine barrels that we’ve been using for the fuel, but I’m thinking we might try an “ultra-oaked, merlot-finish Manhattan” at some point.

We’ve also been playing around with tea a lot. Our American in London uses an Earl Grey-infused Knob Creek, a great American bourbon, with a quintessentially English tea, sweetened with peach:

American in London

This is a very quick tea-infusion, as steeping the mixture for too long allows the alcohol to draw off too many heavy tannins resulting in a very bitter drink. You just want the water-soluble aromatics to come off the tea.

• 1 1/3 ounces (40 milliliters) Knob Creek bourbon infused with Earl Grey tea*
• 1/2 ounce (15 milliters) peach liqueur
• 4/5 ounce (25 milliliters) Antica Formula sweet vermouth
• 3 drops Peychaud’s bitters

1. Infuse tea (enough for 1 person) in bourbon for 15 seconds.
2. Stir over ice with peach liqueur, sweet vermouth and Peychaud’s bitters.
3. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

are there any rules to follow when using bourbon in cocktails or is it gloves off?

Bourbon has undergone a fantastic renaissance in the last five years, and the distillers are doing some pretty out-there stuff (for example the boom in “white dog” un-aged spirit recently) – no reason why we can’t do the same in cocktails! Traditionally bourbon flavors have worked best with mint, apple, citrus, things like that. Now I think anything goes. The bacon bourbon that PDT in New York is famous for would be a good example. Having said that, I’m not entirely sure bacon bourbon works for me personally!

Your mandatory pit-stop when in London. Photo: The Hide Bar

we know that you’re infusing bourbon with rhubarb (very cool) … what are some other interesting infusions you’re doing with the spirit.

The teas are fun. We’ve been trying out things other than Earl Grey, such as Chinese Pu’er, TieGuanYin and Oolong – each give very different flavours, but some are best pulled out in the vermouth rather than the spirits. It’s not exactly an infusion, but we’re also keen to follow Tony Conigliaro and Jeffrey Morgenthaler who have been barrel-aging Manhattans, and others. The results seem amazing, but they’re not very practical, so we’re experimenting with the wine-barrel shavings to impart some wood character on the cocktail. It’s unlikely to give the softness that the ageing provides, but it might help meld the flavours a little. We’ll see … we’ve also got some cocoa-nib bourbon on the go. Thinking that might work well with the bourbon-maraschino-cherry mix we have left from our maraschino cherries.

We also had a great Blazer on the menu over the winter, which was so popular, we’ve kept it going. It’s a mixture of cherries, raspberries and raisins that’s covered with bourbon, rum and armagnac and left for a week. After that, it’s strained before use. The cocktail is blazed with cinnamon, and served with sweet sherry in a glass on the side: The Christmas Cake Blazer.

some infusions are awesome and some are a disaster … what’s the trick to nailing a great bourbon infusion?

Be willing to give things a try and not be too heart-broken if they just don’t work!

Stock your sideboard with inspirational classic recipes that kickstart experimentation. Photo: The Hide Bar

what are the most amazing, lesser-known bourbons you’re sipping lately?

We need to spend some time in the U.S. to have a chance of tasting the really small-batch stuff. They’re not that unusual, but we’re big fans of Bakers 7, Eagle Rare, the Single Barrel Four Roses and finally George T. Stagg for the special occasions. Oh, and Fighting Cock when drinking a Boiler Maker.

if we were creating a bourbon laboratory where we could get have fun/get crazy experimenting, what should we put in it?

The basics — a few types of bitters, some good sweet vermouth, maple syrup, a patch of fresh mint, a damn good ice machine, some unrefined sugar, fresh cherries, peaches and apples. Then a few more advanced items, like a barrel or two, some cigars, perhaps a piece of leather and some old cocktail books. The books for inspiration, but I’d also love to get the character of old books into a bourbon drink one day. The Librarian’s Old Fashioned — that’s one to work on in the lab!

The Christmas Cake Blazer a la The Hide

• Cherries
• Raspberries
• Raisins
• Bourbon
• Rum
• Armagnac
• Cinnamon to garnish
• Sweet sherry

1. Mix cherries, raspberries and raisins, cover with bourbon, rum and armagnac, seal and leave for a week.
2. Strain before use. The cocktail is blazed with cinnamon, and served with sweet sherry in a glass on the side.

Use shot glasses as garnish holders when they're not serving your chasers. Photo: The Hide Bar

Say "I don't" to generic wedding cocktails. Instead, customize your own his-and-hers versions inspired by your romance. You can even use garnishes and ingredients that match your theme or colors.

what are the most important things to think about when customizing cocktails for brides and grooms?

Sasha Petraske: It’s very important that cocktails served at weddings be something accessible to a large variety of people. It’s also important to consider that it can be made in batches off-site and then transported to the event without trouble. For example, a martini isn’t great unless you have the capacity to make them icy cold. You don’t want to compromise quality, so have a few specialized cocktails and that’s enough.

Generally speaking, champagne cocktails work great — they are long, tall and beautiful, and not too overpowering or alcoholic in taste. A Strawberry 75 would be easy to put together and prep ahead, you could even put the garnish inside the glass instead of on the rim: drop ice and a strawberry into a tall glass, shake gin, lemon juice and simple syrup with strawberries, strain into glass and top with champagne, it’s gorgeous in the spring or summer.

what questions would you ask a bride you are customizing a cocktail for?

I’d find out what her cocktail is, and then not necessarily make that one, but create several drinks based on that, incorporating and thinking about the party décor, the location, whether the event is indoors or outdoors, etc. and set up a tasting for the bride to choose her favorite.

and for the groom?

I’d want to balance the overall wedding menu, so would ask him similar questions, and then try and create a menu for the entire event that included one light spirit and one dark spirit, for example. Gin and whisky are the safest bet for large groups, and as the menu increases, you can increase the selection — don’t mix and offer just 3 vodka drinks, or 3 rum drinks, try and keep the spirits offered further apart.

for the classic New York couple, a NYC ad executive marrying a fashionable free-spirited writer — Mad Men meets Sex and the City — are there updated twists on classic cocktails that you’d recommend?

For a 3-martini lunch type of guy, I’d suggest an Trinity: 1/3 gin, 1/3 sweet vermouth, 1/3 dry vermouth, garnished with a lemon twist. It drinks much more easily than a martini, with lower alcohol content and it looks pretty. You can pre-mix it before the event and keep it chilled in a freezer until serving.

For her, I’d choose a Fruit Cup, like Pimm’s. They appeal to a lot of people, there’s almost nobody who doesn’t like a Pimm’s cup. In a highball, wedge round slices of orange, lime and cucumber into the glass, add 2 ounces Pimm’s then fill with ice. Add 7-Up, cucumber garnish and a straw, as they are ordered.

seems like the bride and groom cocktails are all about the guests, rather than the couple …

Yes, and a virgin cocktail is a must. They should be given equal billing at weddings. You can basically make a virgin version of any cocktail that is fruit-based by removing alcohol and doubling citrus and sweet elements. Virgin mojitos are great, also virgin brambles work well.

The Coquito lets you ease into the trend by calling for a smoke-infused brand of rum.

smokiness can be found naturally in some tequilas, what else?

Junior Merino: Mostly mezcals, scotches and aged spirits.

and what about liquid smoke?

I do use liquid smoke once in while to achieve a smoky flavor in a couple of drops. You can also use it in an atomizer to spray on top of cocktails or the glass, as a rinse, or mixed with high-proof spirits then burn just to keep the scent.

what are the other ways of infusing smoke into cocktails?

I use the portable smoker to burn different kinds of woods, herbs, spices, flower or blends that I create. One way to do it is to put the cocktail upside down and trap the smoke in it, then release once the drink is ready to be served. Another way is to put the spirit in a water bottle, put the smoke in the bottle, seal it and shake for a couple of minutes to blend the smoke and the spirit. I also make a smoke air where I trap the smoke in small air bubbles, then put it on top of a cocktail — this technique is a lot more elaborate.

so what are the tools of the smoke trade?

The PolyScience Smoking Gun, Smoky Express, liquid smoke and mesquite oils, among others.

how do you approach pairing flavors with smoke?

I first taste the spirit, then decide what kind of smoke goes better with that specific brand or category. For the most part, those that pair well with smoke are certain types of tequila, mezcal, and whisky.

what should we be sipping?

Junior Merino makes sipping smoke a delectable habit.

I’ve come up with a lot of smoke-infused cocktails through out the years: an avocado-mezcal cocktail; the Cubico, which is a tobacco cocktail with grilled pineapple juice; a Pepper Whiskey, which is a black pepper cocktail with a smoked air; a chorizo-infused cocktail with some liquid smoke; the Coquito that uses a smoky rum with coconut milk, peanut liqueur and maple; and Heidi Merino has a great cocktail with kiwi, coriander and Pisco. I can keep going on and on.

Junior Merino’s Coquito Cocktail

We love the smoke-infused flavor of Chairman’s Reserve Rum in this inspiration from The Liquid Chef.

• 1 1/2 ounces Chairman’s Reserve Rum
• 1 1/2 ounces Castries Peanut Creme Liqueur
• 1 ounce coconut milk
• 1/2 ounce pineapple juice
• 1/2 ounce maple syrup grade A
• 1 egg yolk

1. Rim the glass with dehydrated coconut and maple sugar.
2. Pour all the ingredients in a shaker, add ice, shake and strain into a cocktail glass.

the Pimm’s Cup is a cocktail we see on bar menus all the time — what makes this drink so successful?
Toby Maloney: Most people have heard of the Pimm’s Cup, but not many have tried it, so you’ve got a lure of both the known and the inexperienced. I’ve had many Pimm’s Cups from many different establishments and no matter where you go, each place has it’s own take on it.

how would you describe the flavor?
Pimm’s has an interesting flavor, it’s herbaceous, light, slightly bitter — it works well with a lot of different ingredients and particularly well with gin- and whiskey-based drinks. It’s less polarizing than many of the other potable bitters: Campari, Cynar, Luxardo Bitter, etc., and can be used like a mild chartreuse. It’s incredibly versatile and could even work very well in food, in addition to cocktails.

what’s the standard for mixing a Pimm’s Cup?
There is no standard, even a martini, which only has three ingredients varies widely. Cucumber is probably the only ingredient you will find in every Pimm’s Cup. However, they are always served long and tall, like an herbaceous lemonade they are cool and refreshing. They are also always shaken, not stirred.

for riffing at home, where do we start?
James Pimm first produced Pimm’s and ran an oyster house, so basically anything that would pair well with oysters would go well with Pimm’s. I could even see it in a mignonette sauce — a little acid, some chopped shallot, maybe some lovage or celery leaves … The months of the year when sea water is very cold are the best months for producing oysters and for mixing cocktails with Pimm’s. Mint, berries, ginger, lime juice, gin — we like to add gin because the Pimm’s is so low in alcohol content, it gives the cocktail a kick. The type of gin is completely dependant on how much you like gin. For someone who doesn’t know they like gin yet, it might be better paired with Plymouth, which is lighter with more florals than juniper. For those who like a bigger flavor profile, it should be paired with Tanqueray, a bold, juniper-heavy London dry.

there’s already a salad in the cup, but can you also riff on garnishes?
Try cinnamon, candied ginger or adding a drop or two of Angostura bitters on a mint leaf to give the cocktail a great nose. We also like to garnish with a strawberry for the ladies and a cucumber for the gentlemen — most guys don’t like drinking cocktails garnished with strawberries.

what other cocktails can we make with Pimm’s?
Any cocktail that “needs something,” add a dash of Pimm’s. It’s complex and just works. One-half ounce of Pimm’s in a drink is rarely going to hurt it. Pimm’s is neutral, but interesting enough.

In case you need another excuse to sip: Use Pimm's like Bitters ... to enhance the depth of a drink.

Pimm’s Rangoon

• 1 1/2 ounce Pimm’s No. 1
• 1/2 ounce Tanqueray
• 3/4 ounce fresh lime juice
• 3/4 ounce ginger syrup
• 1/2 strawberry
• 2 cucumber slices
• Soda
• Garnish: mint, candied ginger and cucumber slice or 1/2 strawberry

1. Fill a Collins glass with shard ice and two cucumber slices.
2. Muddle Pimm’s, Tanqueray, lime juice, ginger syrup, strawberry and ice.
3. Strain into glass and garnish with mint sprig and candied ginger, with 1/2 strawberry for the ladies or a cucumber slice for the gents.

Pimm’s Cup Variation #2

• 1 3/4 ounces Pimm’s No. 1
• 1/4 ounce Lairds Applejack
• 1/2 ounce St. Germain
• 3/4 ounce fresh lemon juice
• 1/4 ounce simple syrup
• 9 drops Angostura bitters
• 1 cucumber slice
• Garnish: orange peel

Candied ginger and mint garnish.

1. Fill a Collins glass with shard ice and a cucumber slice.
2. Shake all ingredients (except for cucumber) in a shaker of ice.
3. Strain into glass and garnish with an orange peel.

* To create ice shards (and manage your anger) at home: Take some cubes, put them in a plastic bag and bludgeon them with a rolling pin.

We caught up with experience hunters Josh Harris and Scott Baird between road trips and cocktail competitions about maxing flavor without sacrificing balance. This installation of a four-part series covers how to incorporate spices into heart-warming drinks.

The Bon Vivants endorse giving your glass the royal treatment by rimming with house made scented sugars.

served raw: how are you using warm spices like cardamom, anise, cinnamon and nutmeg to craft well balanced fall and winter season cocktails?
The Bon Vivants: The warm spices will immediately bring to mind fireplaces, grandma’s house, full bellies and warm homes full of people that you love or at least like a little. The spices are a really versatile bunch. They can be grated over the top of a finished drink as garnish, ground into powders and folded into softened butter with brown sugar to make a spiced compound butter for any number of warm drinks. They can be infused directly into spirits or can be made into teas that can then be a background element for your punchbowl.

let’s talk about how to impart a warm flavor into a drink, without increasing temperature?

Cinnamon. Vanilla. Nutmeg. All of these bring a warm richness to whatever they are added to.

what techniques are you using with these ingredients?

A great way to add these flavors is to scent superfine sugar with them and then use the sugar as a rimming agent. You get the scent, as well as the flavor. We know everyone has trended away from sugar on rims but when done artfully it is another layer enhancing the drink.

are there certain spirits that lend well to mixing with warm spices and why?

Wood aged spirits pair well with all of these warm spices. Aquavit works nicely with it’s strong cardamon notes — think chai tea.

everyone’s talking punches — what is it about punches made with warm spices that’s so right?

These spices already bring up memories of people gathering together, usually around the holidays. A group of friends drinking out of a communal bowl with that in mind puts us all in the right mood.

do you have a signature cocktail that fits this flavor profile?

The Royal Crusta made with El Dorado 15 year, Royal Combier, Lyle’s Golden Syrup, lemon, cinnamon tincture, vanilla-orange scented sugared rim.

Royal Crusta

• 2 ounces El Dorado 15 Year Rum
• ¾ ounce Royal Combier
• ¾ ounce lemon
• ½ ounce Lyle’s Golden Syrup*
• 2 dashes cinnamon tincture
• Vanilla-orange scented sugar, for the rim**
• Orange zest and peel, for garnish

1. Moisten the rim of a small bucket glass with a lemon wheel, and drag through the vanilla-orange scented sugar creating an attractive band around the top of the glass and set aside.
2. Combine all ingredients in a mixing glass, add ice, shake and double strain into the bucket glass over fresh ice, being careful not to mess up the sugared rim.
3. Peel a piece of orange peel using a vegetable peeler, zest on top of the drink and drop in.
4. *To soften the Lyle’s Golden Syrup: Add 1 part boiling water to 5 parts Lyle’s and whisk to soften.
5. **To scent the sugar: Combine 2 cups of superfine baking sugar, the microplaned zest of 2 oranges fully dried in a warm oven, 3 vanilla beans split lengthwise. Place all three together in an airtight container and let sit for at least 3 days.

His taste in scotch? Luxe. In bacon, not so much. So each year his birthday gifts range from The Big Book of Bacon to the “Oh I’m so surprised” set of vintage lowballs. This year, we decided to simply gift him the best bottle of Scotch to ever exist on the planet. How to crack the code with absolutely zero knowledge of whiskey? A “10 Reasons Scotch is Better Than Bacon” Scotch Slam. Four judges. 400 options. Bring your extra liver.

The Judges:

Four cocktail enthusiasts with ranging scotch experience from never to daily (hey, it’s only a problem if you drink alone).

The Venue:

A scotch-slinging sushi bar that boasts more than 400 single malts on the menu.

The Rules:

Four rounds of scotch tastings each, then a final round of the winners in each flight. No limits.

We narrowed our options with the scotch-ier (our gussied up twist on sommalier), ordered mounds of sushi rolls with extra rice, and let the flights begin.

The best way to taste scotch? With a drop of water to open it, alongside complex friends with wild imaginations. This will come in handy when describing the nuances of flavor and fragrance after sampling a dozen scotches.

Round 1: (in order of our end-of-flight ranking)

1. 12 Year Suntory Yamazaki
The verdict: “Whaasssup.” Got some toffee, got some smoke, got a few good Lost in Translation memories. We should scotch slam every night.
2. 10 Year Speyburn Highland Single Malt Scotch Whiskey
The verdict: Right up the middle, a solid opener. “Just what you’d expect Scotch to taste like.” Ooh, not gonna make the cut.
3. 12 Year Highland Park
The verdict: Way too ashy, smokey. “Perfect for giving away.” Hmmm. Too polarizing to gift to someone you like.
4. 12 Year Bowmore Islay
The verdict: Peaty, grassy. “A lot like a nasty mouthful of grass. No literally.” Scratch peat-infused from the tasting.

Round 2: (we loved the first, 2 through 4 tied for last)

1. 1985 The Glenrothes
The verdict: Ends with a butterscotch finish, what’s not to love? “A good Tuesday night bottle for home.”
2. Glenmorangie Port Wood Finish
The verdict: Unimpressive. “Why didn’t she pour Glenmoranjie Nector d’Or?”
3. Aberlour A’bunadh Single Speyside Malt Scotch Whiskey
The verdict: Love the spicy port nose. “This hurts so good.”
4. 16 Year Tomintoul
The verdict: Caramel, sweet. “Not memorable.”

Round 3: (Bring more food, we’re going all night!)

1. Suntory Hibiki 12 Year
The verdict: Cherry picking, fruit falls off the tree, and there’s a bow at the end of the sip.
2. Glengoyne 17-Year-Old Single Highland Malt
The verdict: Holy 5-minute experience! Sweet, then oak, then planks of wood, evolving into a burning cloud. “It tempts you with sweet then turns into a fireball. I feel molested in a ‘Kevin Bacon in The Woodsmen’ way.”
3. The Dalmore 12 Year
The verdict: Simple, eminently drinkable. “A luxury airline whisky.”
4. The Balvenie 17 Year
The verdict: solid B+, respectable. “It’s a great go-to scotch.”

Round 4: (How many more do we have?)

1. The Balvenie 21 Year
The verdict: A sweet, warm candy-coated stealth bomb. “It’s like your best friend and Christmas morning and a new puppy all at once.”
2. Glenmorangie 12 Year
The verdict: Sweet, but watered down. “A scotch wanna-be.”
3. Tullibardiine 12 Year
The verdict: Soft on the nose. “Feels like what you’d steal from your parents sideboard in junior high.”
4. Nikka Whisky G&G White Bottle
The verdict: Smoky, undrinkable. “Like jet fuel.” (Note: Our scotch-ier recommends the gold variety, which they didn’t have.)

Final Round:

WINNER: 1. 12-Year Suntory Yamazaki
Suntory’s been around for 100 years — why did we have to hear about it from Bill Murray?
2. 1985 The Glenrothes
Very old-school men’s club with a cigar and steak.
3. Suntory Hibiki 12 Year
Open late night for friends who like the good stuff.
4: The Balvenie 21 Year
“I could take a bath in this.” Hmmm…perhaps we’ve tried too many.

The Scotch and Bacon Slam Verdict: Bring on the 12-Year Suntory Yamazaki.

For serving your slam, we’re loving this simple everyday pair of insulated double-walled old-fashioneds. Did we mention they won the European IF Design award?

Good lighting makes everyone and everything look a little sexier.

The steps are simple:

1. Research the flavors of the area that can move from meal to mixer. Moroccan cuisine kicks it with flavor boosters like apricots (hmm…could be fun), nuts (sidecar these), preserved lemons (put this one in your back pocket), figs, dates…now you’re getting the flavor profile.

2. Work with ingredients to complement your main dish, not overpower it. Your taste buds will eventually revolt if you’re doubling up on preserved lemons with every sip and bite.

Even garnish snobs can't complain when you give them a sidecar of options with their drink.

3. Think of the cocktail experience as a layer of flavors that goes beyond the glass. You’ve got condiments and sidecars to round out the pour. Use them.

4. Start with an innocuous liqueur that’s easily blend-able, like vodka. Infuse it if you’ve got time. (We used the 1:1 ratio of vodka and fig vodka for the Marrakesh Xanadu because the fig vodka was ultra-strong and needed some tempering, but, we admit, we’re lightweights when it comes to girlie drinks.)

5. Add a mixer like juice, tonic or soda. We chose a freshly squeezed orange because it added gave a cool flavor punch with the fig, and citrus is fairly risk-free.

6. Lime is the fruit substitute for salt. Use a dash. (Tip: Bitters has a kick–up quotient of its own, so throw a few drops in at the end.)

Score unusual martini glasses on the cheap at flea markets or antique stores.

Marrakesh Xanadu

• 1 ounces fig-infused vodka*
• 1 ounce vodka
• 1 ounce brown sugar simple syrup
• 1 ounce freshly squeezed orange
• 1 dash lime juice
• Optional dash of bitters

1. Shake over ice, strain into a martini glass. Garnish with a vodka-drunk* fig. Indulge.
2. *Soak dried figs in vodka for a week to ensure the fruits are sufficiently “juiced” by the time they hit the party and vodka is deliciously infused. Pour enough vodka to cover an inch or so above the figs and seal in Tupperware or glass jar. Stir once a day.
3. Garnish twist: A twist of preserved lemons or shaved ginger would also do the trick.

Sidecars: Vodka-drunk figs stuffed with bleu cheese, freshly roasted or flambéed apricots, and almonds. If you’re serving in summer, grill fresh figs or apricots, instead.