Skip to main content

With Shadow there is Light...

Riyas - rather in recreational look...
My day today didn't started very well. I had to let one of my colleagues go - and as this doesn't happen often [I try to be a patient, understanding and supporting boss] it drags you pretty much down.

And I am also quite busy with my other dozen "construction sites", implementation of Rush menu, finalisation of Skylite menu, conception of Nautilus menu, staff training... you get the point.

Late this evening, I just went just to our gorgeous re-designed lobby which just opened today.
Riyas my previous team leader in Rush bar was promoted as assistant manager to the Yas Lounge - the lobby lounge of the hotel. We developed the lounge beverage menu together - focussing on typical [healthy to not so healthy] lounge drinks, hot drinks, as well as tea and coffee inspired cocktails.

Riyas welcomed me in the lobby and offered me to try the diverse premixes, he did [according our recipes].

Truth has to be told - when I am designing a menu, which is not in my own bar, most people have quite some challenges to implement these ideas. Recipes are pretty easy to follow - not much different as your food recipe as well - I don't know why, but usually the whole thing becomes a mess and only after hour long fixing, there is some improvement [however usually it is even then everything but perfect].

The drinks and premixes I tried of Riyas however were spot on. I almost would say, that it is unbelievable [unbelievable like, I sleepwalked previous night - got into my car while sleeping, entered the lobby lounge while sleeping, prepared every single premix myself - well while sleeping, then went back to my car while sleeping and drove sleeping back to my flat, and after waking up, didn't even realized that I was gone... that unbelievable].

 I have only showed him a couple of things - the rest he mastered himself, with a brilliance which is nothing but spectacular. Well I am pretty proud on him.

One of the cool and unusual drinks on the menu is a Horchata Sombrero - its house made horchata and Patrón XO Café. The drink is like your usual Sombrero - substituting milk with horchata - [a Mexican kinda rice milk] and Kahlùa with Patrón XO [this is not really a big change - Patrón XO is even tastier than the other Mexican coffee liqueur].

Not a super complex drink, but perfect and comforting in a beautiful new lobby lounge.

How is it made? Well its build - add the coffee liqueur over ice cubes in the highball glass. Float with horchata.
How is the Horchata made? It is Mexican horchata - so you can find several recipes in the web - such as this one.

Any questions?

Labels:
Location: Yas Island - United Arab Emirates

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

How to use citric acid - and why you might not want to use it anyway!

To be honest, I shied away of this topic, because I think, people can misinterpret this - big time. I don't want to be part of the problem - I want to be part of the solution!  But when Chris, over at A Bar Above  discussed this subject- I literally could not resist to join into "the discussion". Here is the video: I - however take a bit slower approach than Chris. What is citric acid? Chemical Compound Citric acid is a weak organic acid with the formula C6H8O7. It is a natural preservative/conservative and is also used to add an acidic or sour taste to foods and drinks. Wikipedia Formula: C6H8O7 Molar Mass: 192.124 g/mol Melting Point: 153C Density: 1.66 g/cm3 Boiling point: 175C Soluble in: Water Why is it controversial? In my "mixology world" it is controversial, as citric acid is the stuff, which makes the nightmarish sour mix [ preferably in powder form ] sour. Yeah - citric acid is the main ingredient in one of the most
4 comments
Read more

King Robert II Vodka

Who would knew, that I am reviewing a budget vodka here - on the opinionatedalchemist.com. But this isn't a normal review. I skip the marketing perception and use this product to cut directly to the case: Vodka is a "rather" neutral, colorless, "rather" flavorless and odorless distilled beverage from any agricultural source - and depending on the country, it has a minimum of 37.5% and 40% abv. As I said time and time again before: at times it is absolutely nonsense to talk about premium and luxury, when the original product doesn't really "hold this promise". Luxury water can have luxurious marketing, luxurious packaging, can be even rare and slightly more expensive "to produce". However really it is just water. Maybe it has some nuances to normal water - however those nuances (in a blind-test) are pretty small. Vodka is extremely similar - and the chain of evidence (despite a lot of people trying to proof otherwise) makes it re
1 comment
Read more

Agar-Agar Clarification

Not often, I am posting here things, which are clearly not my ideas... However Dave Arnold is clearly a mad scientist [no, he really is!] - and he posted amazing stuff on his website www.cookingissues.com - no - don't click now - just follow the link later. One of the most impressive posts about mixology, besides of demystifying the mechanics of shaking, were clarification techniques. Look, after him, you could use a centrifuge [which would set you back a couple thousand bucks] and a chemical compound, which solidifies sediments. I am not a fan of that. Then there is gelatine clarification; this works quite well [I tried it several times my self] - you gelatinize a liquid [with little gelatine only], freeze it, thaw it [in the fridge] over a colander and a muslin cloth. Thats it. Unfortunately this has several problems: Gelatine is made out of animal bones - hence it is neither vegetarian nor vegan, which you won't usually expect of a beverage. You have to freez
5 comments
Read more