Advertisement
Advertisement

Dragontini

Bloody foreigners, coming over here, mixing us great drinks! And they're stealing our ingredients, too.

Pietro Didio, the bar manager at Ozone on the 118 floor of the Ritz-Carlton and responsible for their list of re-invigorated classic cocktails, is one of a batch of experts escaping the ill economic wind blowing through Europe.

Over at 8 1/2 Otto e Mezzo, Giancarlo Mancino is another Italian expat who has passed through London's trendier bars en route and mixes a mean cocktail. Geordie Willis of Berry Bros & Rudd, centuries-long purveyors of booze to their Britannic majesties, is a London exile who also thinks we have a thing or two to learn about the art of the mixing.

Apparently our bartenders are blending cheap ingredients too haphazardly and as customers we're not fussy enough to send back a lousy drink.

That might sound arrogant, but really these are just people in search of a decent beverage themselves. Didio says he has scoured every bar in Hong Kong looking for a decent Sazerac but just can't find one, which is why he taught the bar captain at Ozone how to prepare one. Full respect to anyone who can make and drink the New Orleans bourbon, absinthe and bitters combo.

A couple of these might numb you to the bar's dizzying altitude.

Didio's creations have a 'mix of European flavours and a little touch of Asia', and balance elements such as sake, mango, passionfruit and lime. The Dragontini is a classic example, with its blend of vodka, raspberries and Japanese citrus fruit. The red is an obvious nod to Chinese omens of good luck.

A couple of drinks are loaded with mint, which is apt as that is exactly what the owners of this high-end watering hole must be making.

Recipe 40ml vodka

10ml St Germain elderflower cordial

20ml raspberry puree

10ml lemon juice

Pinch of sugar

Basil and yuzu foam (a large handful of basil, zest of two yuzu cooked in 700ml organic grape juice with one leaf of gelatine and passed through a soda siphon with one charge of CO2.)

Dried raspberries

Slice of dragon fruit

Mix the first five ingredients in a cocktail shaker with plenty of ice, strain into a martini glass and top with foam.

Garnish with dragon fruit and raspberries.

Post