opinionated alchemist

I think Highballs are awesome. They really are! In a busy bar, it takes no time to prepare them. And with a bit discipline and imagination, they are divine and contemporary. However you might not experience greatness, if you are using your customarily commercial canned soda. I don't want to heat up another discussion about HFCS - but lets put it this way: while "better" cuisine should avoid MSG as additive, good bars should really avoid HFCS. Nuff said. And it is not only the sweeteners [I am usually reading horrified the ingredients lists of commercial products, only to find out, that they are using several sweeteners like HFCS and  aspartame] - but also artificial colors, artificial and natural identical [means still artificial] aromas and preservatives. While the health effects of this chemical odyssey is controversial, the culinary aspect is quite clear: these products are crap! And making your own soda is so simple . Now I have trained J.P. my current...

Folks, there are more drinks to come than those of the previous posts: Rush Drinks I Rush Drinks II Rush Drinks III So here we are: Greyhound Highball This is another highball [I definitely have to write a post about promoting highballs] - instead of grapefruit juice of an ordinary greyhound, we will use our house made grapefruit soda. And we will rim the drink with a little cinnamon sea salt - of course it will be based on gin [what a question...]. Popcorn Sour This will be a drink, which is rather more complex and ambitious. It is actually a whiskey [speak bourbon] sour; the whiskey is infused popcorn and vanilla and finally fat washed with butter. As a craft sour, it also utilizes fresh lemon, rich syrup and glair [yeah - this is how we call egg white]. The bourbon [I plan to use Elijah Craig, which is in my eyes one of the greatest classic bourbons and definitely the best value straight whiskey on the market] becomes super smooth, due to the infusion - but the...

Four more drinks, which I like to introduce to Rush: Bellini Sgroppino This drink is a fusion between a classic Bellini and a quite contemporary Sgroppino, which is a sparkling wine drink, featuring lemon sorbet. Here we substitute the lemon sorbet, with white peach sorbet, to create the bridge between sgroppino and bellini. Basil Smash There are only few drinks, which we keep as they are - the Basil Smash is one of them. Already recognised as modern classic- it was the brain child of Joerg Meyer, the owner of the fantastic bar Le Lion in Hamburg / Germany. It revives [as well as violates] the archaic category smashes with the changes of adding citrus juice and substitute mint with fresh basis. Not yet sure, if we will use Asian fragrant basil or the classic Italian rather sweet variety... Ultimate  Mojito Now this drink was tricky. I wanted to depart the usual path, to vary the classic Mojito with any muddled fruit, fruit puree, syrup or liqueur. And I also wanted to...

Continuing the series with the new concepted drinks and cocktails for Rush bar - here are the next contender: Lemon Thyme Mule Basically a Moscow Mule with lemon thyme infused vodka; no big surprises here - it features here just a bit more flavour and complexity than the original with neutral vodka. Roselle Paloma One of my all time favourite drinks is the Paloma - basically tequila with grapefruit soda. Here we are using dried hibiscus husks, to flavour the tequila [and it will have a beautiful ruby hue as well]. The grapefruit soda is house made and is only made with grapefruit zest [no juice], sugar and citric acid. Why citric acid?  Well, read my post about sodas ! And off course we will also add a bit fresh lime. Simple, delicious and complex! Rush Spritz The Spritz al Bitter [or often just shortly called spritz] is an aperitif, which became more and more popular among "hipsters". No surprise, that in the UAE it was largely unrecognised! We want to change thi...

First of all, not all cocktails are totally new in the menu. I kept some cocktails like they are [though I haven't seen drinks like that in the UAE, yet - so for here they are new] - some I gave a mild update... you will see: The Last Word Yeah - I had to put this on the menu - as this is a kick-ass cocktail. Really complex and challenging, it is the antipode of an easy nightclub cocktail.  Rush G&T I believe, that you can only convince guests, to get to your more... outlandish creations, if you do some simple drinks right. This gin & tonic will feature a healthy dose of gin [not only 1 shot which is standard, if you are ordering a normal g&t], but also adds orange bitters and a corresponding garnish - a spear of rosemary with a lemon and lime wedge. Later on, I will do my own tonic water - however for this I would need quinine, which is not easy to get in the ME. Rush Cod People in Rush [especially on the busy promotion nights] are rather club'is...

While I am waiting for the new season in Skylite, I didn't wanted to leave Rush with their old menu. It is kind of typical Middle East - trapped between the dark ages of mixology and the early cocktail revival [shortly after the millennium]. So I gave it some thoughts and some love and came up with a short list of cool cocktails. It is not yet revolutionary - I am still lacking most of the equipment I need, to really move things into the future - however the drinks are unique and cool - and probably not seen in Abu Dhabi or Dubai. In the next couple of weeks, we have to implement those; that means, get them approved, scheduling tastings, doing the costing, doing a new menu and so on and do forth. Here on my blog, I give you the unique opportunity to have a sneak peak; one drink at a time. Unfortunately I can't yet post pictures [they will follow, when we perfected the recipes] - but I am sure that you have enough imagination... So stay tuned...