Pop Culture Cocktails

Sick of the same old standard cocktails? Taelor Pelusey takes us through some exciting new ones, taken straight from the zeitgeist (and TV).

The Lucille

If like Lucille Bluth of Arrested Development you struggle to work breakfast into your morning drinking schedule, here’s what you do: Infuse earl grey tea with gin (1 teaspoon of loose leaves per 100ml) for about an hour or until a golden brown colour develops, then strain. Take 3 shots of earl grey gin, 2 shots of fresh lemon juice, 1 egg white, 1 teaspoon of orange marmalade (smooth, not chunky – you’ll regret that), 3 teaspoons of sugar syrup*, ice and shake until your arm gives way. Strain and serve in chilled cocktail glasses. Serves two: you and you, the way Lucille would want it.

Daniel-San

So you’ve heard of sweet, salty, sour and bitter but what about umami? Umami is the fifth taste that mixologists are only recently beginning to appreciate. Japanese sake is one of the only liquors in the world with natural umami flavours so to bring those savoury notes out, try shaking 1 part sake with 1 part Żubrówka Bison Grass Vodka, 2 parts apple juice and ice. Expect a serious crane kick to the taste buds.

Terra Vesper

The Vesper was created by James Bond in the novel Casino Royale and was named after one his many leading ladies, Vesper Lynd. But as the Bond girls become stronger and more exotic, so too shall the drinks that are named after them. To put an Aussie spin on this classic, take 3 parts Four Pillars gin, 1 part vodka, 1/2 part Maidenii Sweet Vermouth, a dash of Angostura bitters and twisted orange rind to garnish, then strain into a chilled cocktail glass. But unlike Bond, this should be stirred – not shaken.

Snake Juice

This is the drink Parks And Recreation’s Tom Haverford might have created if he knew what he was doing. Take 1 part Captain Morgan’s Dark Jamaican Rum, 2 parts Mr Black’s Cold Drip Coffee Liqueur, 1/2 part sugar syrup*, a dash of vanilla essence and build over a tall glass of ice. Endorsed by Ron Swanson.

*Sugar syrup is a bar essential, so before mastering any of these drinks, you should try your hand at making sugar syrup first. The recipe’s so easy a small, careful child could make it: 1 part sugar, 1 part hot water, mix, let it cool. Boom. Add more or less syrup to the recipes as your taste buds demand.