Cocktail hour: Kentucky Breakfast - may not go with eggs or toast
Raisin-infused whisky and maple syrup make this concoction a great drink, but notwithstanding the name it's hard to imagine it as an accompaniment to an actual breakfast
Breakfast, the most important meal of the day.
For some the breakfast of champions might just be a couple of slices of bacon in the morning; for others it’s often some kind of hangover cure involving fast food. As one online dictionary says, it might be “the perfect hangover breakfast based on junk food and other rubbish you can possibly find in a college student's kitchen cabinet”.
Most of us have a favourite, whether it’s a McDonald’s number seven or a bowl of ramen. For some it might involve a hair of the dog to go with their comfort food.
The cocktail list at Grand Central, in Elements, Tai Kok Tsui, is full of possibilities for creating a need for a breakfast of champions. Many are well-known classics, although even the Bloody Mary has become the Bloody Grand, garnished with a giant prawn. Assistant manager Guilbert Malusog’s creation is a twist on a sea breeze, the shocking pink GC Breeze, a sweet concoction of vodka, lychee, Malibu and cranberry that doesn’t stint on the vodka.
They don’t seem to stint on their breakfasts in Kentucky either. They even have a beer called the Kentucky Breakfast. The brew is said to have the aromas of coffee and bourbon or chocolate and vanilla.
At Grand Central the Kentucky Breakfast cocktail is based on Early Times Kentucky whisky. Bar supervisor Oliver Paz infuses the spirit with lightly bruised raisins for two days. The more conventional breakfast element of the drink comes in the form of maple syrup. It’s a great drink - but I can’t imagine it going well with eggs, toast or even grits.
How to make the Kentucky Breakfast at home
Handful of raisins
60ml Bourbon
30ml maple syrup
Dash Angostura bitters
Lightly bruise the raisins and leave them to soak in the whisky for no more than two days.
Fill a rocks glass with ice, add the infused whisky, syrup and bitters and stir. Garnish with more raisins.
