House Tonic Summer 2014

HOUSE

TO N I C Issue

14

SUMMER COCKTAILS best bars in MIAMI MODERN APERITIFS Natural Wine soho house news

THE DRINKS MAGA ZINE FROM SOHO HOUSE

Filthy GarnisheS. P.16 2 HOUSE TONIC

HOUSE TONIC

Contents 4

12

22

News from around the drinks world

Summer cocktails Delicious seasonal recipes

All Tooled Up Top bartenders' favourite kit

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16

26

Your Friendly Bartender New York's Camille Austin

Aperitifs The coolest cocktails to drink right now

Bombay Sapphire's tea cocktails

18

Soho House news

8 The Trend For and against natural wine

9 In Season Citrus

10 Bottlegreen Cocktail Competition

28 Miami Where to find the best bars in town

29 What I Drink on Stage

by Spring Offensive

20 Daniel Thompson Revolutionising Soho House's coffee

30 Our Stars of the Bars

editor's letter

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house toniC CoV er s: Soho Houses New York, Toronto, London, Berlin, West Hollywood and Miami, Shoreditch House, Cafe Boheme, The Electric House and Diner, Soho Kitchen and Bar, High Road House, Pizza Easts Portobello, Kentish Town and Shoreditch, Hoxton Grill, Little House, Dean Street Townhouse, Babington House, Cecconi’s in LA, London and Miami, all Chicken Shops and Dirty Burgers.

elcome to the Summer 2014 issue of House Tonic – a magazine for bartenders and people who love bars.

We have another packed-out magazine for you to enjoy, with plenty of summer cocktails to make at home or look out for in Soho House bars. Ever wondered what the deal is with the natural wine controversy? We asked one key player why she loves it and another why he can't stand the stuff. Make up your own mind on page 8. Look out for the skinny on how to make tea cocktails, where to go drinking in Miami, and which pieces of kit top bartenders just can't live without.

If you'd like to join one of our bar teams around the world, email housetonic@sohohouse.com.

editor: Rebecca Seal design a nd a rt direCtion: Plus Agency puBlisher: Dan Flower th a nk s to: Kate Maxwell, Kate Lauer, Lauren Shaw, Clemency Keeler, Kate Barry, Dai Williams, Steven Joyce, Sidney Bensimon, Tom Kerr, Marcin Liwarski, Jamie Bevan

CoV er im age: Jamie Bevan FaCing page: Sidney Bensimon this page: Dai Williams

Cheers!

www.housetonic.com housetonic@sohohouse.com twitter.com/HouseTonic www.facebook.com/HouseTonic instagram: @housetonic

HOUSE TONIC 3

NEWS

Bacardi Legacy

PH: Studio 104

Tom Walker, bartender at the Savoy's American Bar, recently won the Bacardi Legacy Global Cocktail Competition, with his Maid in Cuba cocktail.

To win he managed, among other things, to guest in 80 bars around the globe, showcasing his creation and proving it could achieve the required status as a legacy cocktail. He beat 27 finalists from across the world at the finals in Moscow.

(For more from Tom Walker see page 22.)

New Openings There are big things on the way for Soho house, with Soho house Chicago opening late this summer and Istanbul set to be unveiled this winter, plus a new club lined up for West London in the former BBC Television Centre. Excitingly, there’s also a new arrival on the way for Oxfordshire, a hotel and club called Farmhouse. Keep an eye on houseseven.com for progress reports on all the new venues. Plus, for the first time, Dirty Burger and Chicken Shop have joined forces, with both menus available at one brand new venue, open now in Whitechapel, East London (27 Mile end road, E1).

Dirty Burger and Chicken Shop Whitechapel

How to brew a perfect pint Anyone else agree that Cornell University’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences course, the Science and Technology of Beer, might just be the best college course out there? This year's intake of students have spent their time working out how to get the perfect foamy head on a pint of beer, which apparently can be judged in just one way: if you can draw a face on the foam when the glass is full and it's still there when you reach the last dregs at the bottom. Turns out the formula is all to do with the balance of ethanol and a particular barley lipid transfer protein, LTP1. So keep an eye on that next time you're making your home brew.

wine confusion New research by the organisers of the London Wine Fair and Wine Intelligence reckons that younger wine drinkers are confused by wine, especially when confronted with a really long list in a bar or restaurant. Only 17% of 18-34 year olds feel confident about their wine knowledge, with most of the rest finding themselves more than a bit intimidated or put off.

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NEWS

grape-crushing Celebs Once upon a time, wealthy celebs bought fast cars and big houses, but now the fashion is to get yourself a vineyard instead. Actor Sam Neill must be very pleased with his recent two gold medals at the prestigious International Wine Challenge 2014, for his wines from Two Paddocks vineyard in New Zealand, which he planted himself. Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie's 2013 Miraval rosé from Provence, their second vintage, came out to rave reviews this summer. Meanwhile, BBC TV host Graham Norton helped tread some of the grapes going into his new sauvignon blanc from New Zealand, made in partnership with Invivo. The wine comes out in August and will be sold to raise money for the Elton John Aids Foundation.

Some, of course, have been in the business for a long time – Francis Ford Coppola has been making wine in Napa since 1975, Sting and Trudie Styler harvest grapes (as well as selling honey and olive oil) in Tuscany, and Kyle MacLachlan has had a vineyard in Washington State since 2005.

booze in cardboard bottles Look out for cardboard wine bottles in your local store soon. Paperboy, a new company making the first ever bottles from paper pulp lined with plastic, recently launched in America and will hopefully soon be bringing its wares to Europe too. The paper used is mostly industrial waste and, because it's lighter than glass, uses less fuel during shipping. Not necessarily suitable for ageing fine vintages, the bottles are aimed at lowercost wines that are drunk young.

Top drinks blogs House Tonic manager Lauren Shaw is keen to help everyone educate themselves in the fine art of making and consuming drinks. These are her favourite blogs on the subject – go get clicking.

Booze Nerds boozenerds.com Learn about the technical aspects of alcohol and cocktails, with reviews of spirits as well as history and current trends.

De ath to S our Mix deathtosourmix.com/the-blog Interesting cocktail recipes with beautiful photos. This site also has a handy page that leads you to even more blogs.

The Straight Up drinkstraightup.com Spirit reviews, trends (who's for Fernet Branca lollipops?!) and some really useful information on spirits and techniques. A great site for any budding bartender.

Stir and Strain stirandstrain.com A place where people can share their ideas and recipes for cocktails and offer advice to others. The photographs are great and the cocktails are interesting too (Peanut Butter Old Fashioned, anyone?)

Tempered Spirit s temperedspirits.com A very slick blog with in-depth analysis of cocktails, critiques of bars and general thoughts on the current bar scene.

S erious Eat s drinks.seriouseats.com The drinks section covers bar trends, coffee and products.

Sauvignon blanc gets political Who knew British members of Parliament loved sauvignon blanc so much? Of the £750,000 that MPs spent on alcoholic drinks in the House of Commons between 2012 and 2013, that included nearly 50,000 bottles of house sauvignon blanc, and over 26,000 bottles of house merlot. They also knocked back 9,678 pints of Guinness and 8,500 bottles of House of Commons champagne. The total spend averages roughly £1,100 per MP.

Basil Cranberry Julep – The Straight Up blog (above) The Chevalier from Tempered Spirits (below)

Would you like to get behind one of Soho House’s bars around the world? Email housetonic@ sohohouse.com or visit www.housetonic.com HOUSE TONIC 5

FRIENDLY BARTENDER

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Friendly Bartender Camille Austin, bar manager, Soho House New York

How long have you worked at Soho House New York?

I've been here about eight months now. I spent six years working for the Hakkasan group before joining Soho House. I'm quite different from my predecessor, Juan Sevilla (who is now at Soho House West Hollywood), because he had lots of experience of working in volume venues like Soho House New York, whereas my area of expertise was primarily craft cocktails, so it's been a great challenge for me – although I inherited a great team, which definitely makes it easier. I spent time at Hakkasan Miami, and then moved to New York when they opened up here. It's how I got to know Soho House, because in Miami I was right next door to Soho Beach House and we'd borrow ingredients from each other, and the managers would come in for brunch or dim sum.

What attracted you to Soho House?

I wanted to work for a British company. That work style was already quite instilled in me by the time I felt like I was ready for a new challenge, and that it was time to move on from Hakkasan. I was contacted by a supplier who told me Soho House New York was looking for a bar manager – he thought I'd be perfect because I already understood the European style of bartending. And I wanted to go back to working with classic cocktails.

What do you like about working at Soho House?

I love the special perks, like being able to 6 HOUSE TONIC

work at brilliant music events, and I love the artsy vibe. There's always something going on. I also enjoy the chaos, the hectic-ness – having four bars and around 21 bartenders and 16 barbacks really keeps me on my toes.

our members are our regulars, all of the time.

We need to constantly be on point, help each other out and remember that this is hospitality – even if that just means acknowledging someone coming in when we're busy.

What was the first drink you ever made to serve?

Have you been given any great advice about bartending?

A Mojito in Miami, at my first job. I was 19 or 20 and working as a server, but there was this amazing all-female bartending team and it looked so fun that I begged and begged the manager to let me train up and join in.

Yes – to always keep in mind the idea of guest perception. Meaning, step out of the bar sometimes and see how it looks. Is it clean, can you see any rags, are the labels all facing out, is the bartop shiny?

Can you tell what someone would like to drink just by looking at them?

What's your desert island drink?

I wouldn't say you can tell exactly. It's about finding out what they want and guiding them – we do a lot of training on that. I like it when my staff are secure behind the bar, and comfortable in their knowledge.

If you could serve a drink to anyone, who would it be?

Lady Gaga for sure. She's super crazy and she'd be fun to serve. I'd make her a Pina Colada or serve her a shot of mezcal, nice and smoky. I bet she'd be up for trying anything.

Is there a skill that all bartenders should learn?

Teamwork! Especially when you're working in a high-volume space like this, and because all

A nice bottle of joven mezcal, that's the one for me. I don't need anything else... I'll drink from the bottle if I have to!

What's your must-have ingredient?

Angostura bitters. You've got to have a bottle in every bar, and at home, so you can whip up Old Fashioneds, Pink Gins, Tequila Highballs... you absolutely have to.

What's your favourite drink right now?

In New York and in various parts of the US we have a drink called a Dressed Tecate (or a Dressed Up Tecate) which is quite like a Mexican Michelada (beer with lime and chilli sauce), but served in a can of Tecate beer, with lime, salt and hot chilli sauce. Yum!

FRIENDLY BARTENDER

SOHO HOUSE NEW YORK TEAM Ricky Vasquez

What is your favourite bar in n yc?

I've really enjoyed Employees Only in the West Village lately.

The atmosphere and energy is great, and it's close enough to work that I can rush there for last call and their chicken soup. They make a mean Old Fashioned (not as good as mine, of course). And their hospitality never disappoints. employeesonlynyc.com

Charlie Hamill

What is your favourite bar in n yc?

My favourite bar to frequent in New York is Swift. I drink a Guinness there because it reminds me of home.

I grew up in Ireland and remain the sole person at Soho House New York that knows how to pour the perfect Guinness! swiftnycbar.com

PH: Sidney Bensimon

Adam Baca

What is your favourite bar in n yc?

Where's your favourite place to drink in New York?

I love to visit Employees Only, where the staff all wear chef jackets. They won best bar at Tales of the Cocktail a few years ago, and they really mastered the art of hospitality.

It's always like a party, whenever you go.

The Dead Rabbit is five minutes from my house – it's a neighbourhood bar opened up by a couple of Irish guys, made up of three

storeys with a pub on the bottom, 75 cocktails on the list and a brilliant spirits collection. I'm actually taking my team on a little field trip there soon employeesonlynyc.com; deadrabbitnyc.com Would you like to get behind one of Soho House’s bars around the world?

Email housetonic@sohohouse.com or visit www.housetonic.com

I like Saxon + Parole in Noho (they have a beautiful restaurant bar there) and, since I'm a Brooklyn man, Huckleberry Bar and Extra Fancy in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. One of my favorite bartenders, Meaghan at Extra Fancy, knows exactly how I like my Manhattans with my favorite rye, vermouth and secret touches she adds just for me. saxonandparole.com; huckleberrybar.com; extrafancybklyn.com

HOUSE TONIC 7

The Trend

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it's only natural Natural wine is loved and loathed in equal measure, with its detractors denouncing it soundly and its cheerleaders full of reasons why we should all drink more of the stuff. We ask one foe and one fan to explain why they feel so strongly

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here's no legal definition for natural wine, unlike organic or fair trade, which makes it hard to categorise. Usually, it means wine made with minimal intervention, no pesticides, organically produced grapes, locally occurring yeasts rather than specially cultivated ones and no added sulphites to stabilise it. It's also rarely fined or filtered, so can be cloudy. Because it's produced in an old-fashioned and unfamiliar way, the flavours can seem unpredictable and be unexpected – more varied and funky than wine that's made conventionally. To find out if you like it or not, you'll just have to grab a bottle and have a taste – but see if these two sway you one way or the other first...

Anti natural wine Jonathan Downey, restaurateur “I LOVE wine but I think that, generally, natural wine is a bit of a con. The wine critic Robert Parker described this type of production as an 'undefined scam', and I think that's a good description of what’s going on.

Some spectacular wines are made ‘naturally’ (whatever that means) and taste great, but wines that are sold as ‘natural’ rarely do.

I don't want to drink wine that could be – and is – described as tasting mousy or like a hamster's cage, and I don't accept the counter argument that if you don't like or understand natural wine then you're not sophisticated, modern or intellectual enough to appreciate it.

The best way to describe most ‘natural’ wine is that it tastes like crap, flat cider. I want to enjoy a bottle that tastes good – fruity and refreshing, bright and bracing. There are some great restaurants that only sell these dreadful wines and I won’t go to them anymore. It's something some young chefs have been tricked into, following the lead of 8 HOUSE TONIC

places like Noma – where an amazing meal can be spoiled by dull natural wine. I can't help but feel that they just haven't had time to try the good stuff yet – the great Burgundies, fabulous wines from California or Australia.

I wouldn't sell one of these wines unless it tasted great... but even then I would probably avoid it because I dislike the word 'natural' – it's a weasel word that doesn't really mean anything at all, and implies that everything else is unnatural.

Natural wine is part of a broader trend for quirky and unusual drinks; while it includes some great stuff it has also produced some awful craft lager and some terrible gins.

There's a market for the new and the unusual, but that doesn't mean what comes out of it is necessarily any good.”

London-based Jonathan Downey is owner of Milk & Honey, Giant Robot and Danger of Death, and partner in Rotorino. He also helps run street food and drink events Street Feast, Hawker House and, new this summer, Model Market in Lewisham, south London

Pro natural wine Is abelle Legeron, Master of Wine, founder of the R AW Wine Fair (raw fair.com) and author of Natural Wine: An introduc tion to organic and biodynamic wines made naturally “I only drink natural wine now. I've developed an intolerance towards the amount of sulphites in conventionally made wine, but there are a multitude of other reasons for me to drink the wine I do. I like that the texture and flavour profile is so different from what you would find in a regular wine.

When I started working in the wine trade and studying for the Master of Wine qualification, I drank the stuff I'd always been used to. But eventually I began to get bored, and when

I looked around, I found this type of wine that resonated with me much more in terms of farming and ecology. Now, I don't want to drink a glass of sauvignon blanc that's been made with aroma-enhancing yeasts, filtered and fined. It's like drinking an alcopop, designed to taste a certain way.

If you're interested in what you eat then you should look into how wine is made, and the same is true for chefs who worry about the provenance of the food on their menus but don't think about their wine lists. There are no labelling laws with wine, so it's hard to know what goes into it. Many people don't know that the fining agents used to clarify it are often made from a fish derivative, for example.

We need to be open-minded about what wine can taste like. We didn't have flavourenhancing yeasts 30 years ago and this strict understanding of what wine 'should' taste like is a recent thing. I'm not excusing faulty wines, of course, but we misunderstand things like cloudiness, or a golden colour to white wine – clarity isn't a sign of quality.

If you want to try natural wine, most people find reds easier to start with because they taste more similar to conventional wines, and you won't be distracted by the colour being different or a little cloudy. Natural wine has authenticity of taste – it's akin to how wine would have tasted a long time ago. It might have deposits in the bottom of the bottle, cloudiness or tartrate crystals, and it will taste more varied and less monotonous – there may be oxidative notes, and white wines almost always undergo malolactic fermentation, so they are full of big flavours.

I'm not saying all wine should be natural. My bugbear is transparency – people should know what is used to make their wine.”

Natural Wine: An introduction to organic and biodynamic wines made naturally, by Isabelle Legeron (published by CICO Books) is out in July from bookshops or, in the UK, call 01256 302699

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look sharp

PH: Sidney Bensimon

IN SEASON

Can you imagine life without citrus to drink and eat?

House Tonic celebrates the most important fruit in a bartender's kit

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itrus fruits are a crucial weapon in any bartender's arsenal – as anyone who has tried to run a busy shift without quite enough limes will know. It's used in dozens of drink products too: lemon peels flavour gins; bitter oranges are transformed in triple sec and Grand Marnier; Stellacello and other pompelmocellos contain grapefruit; and Velvet Falernum is made with limes.

The whole family of tangy little fruits is packed with vitamins, antioxidants and other goodness – all the more so if you eat the whole fruit rather than just drinking the juice, as the fibre is in the structure of each segment. Lemons and limes were used by sailors to prevent scurvy, caused by lack of vitamin C, from the late 1700s onwards.

Many enterprisingly mixed the juices with rum. Later, in 1867, Rose's Lime Juice – now cordial – was invented as a way for sailors to carry a juice that wouldn't oxidise over time.

It was the widespread consumption of Rose's by sailors that led to them, and ultimately all Brits, being known as limeys.

Botanists reckon that the huge range of citrus fruits that we have today are all descended from three varieties: the pomelo, the citron (which really doesn't taste very nice) and the mandarin, all cross breeding and merrily hybridising as they slowly marched across the world from their native China.

When buying citrus, watch out for uniform, shiny-looking fruit, especially if you plan on using the zest – you don't want to eat skin that has been covered in synthetic or petroleum based-wax (which sometimes contains fungicide), so go for unwaxed options. Don't worry about nobbly bits and different coloured patches of skin – this shows the fruit has been

allowed to grow and ripen naturally. As a general rule, heavier-feeling fruits have more flesh and juice, and less pith. If possible, buy organic fruits, which won't have been sprayed with pesticides. Though they are sometimes freighted long distances, citrus fruits are fairly environmentally friendly because they absorb carbon dioxide.

Preserving lemons to use in north Africanstyle dishes, or to serve with fish, is very easy: just slice several clean, unwaxed lemons into eight pieces and pack into sterilised lidded jars with 20-25g/0.75-1oz sea salt per lemon.

Leave for three months, turning regularly.

Every time you want to use a little, rinse away the salt and scrape off the flesh and pith before adding to your dish.

If you want to grow citrus yourself, remember that most plants don't like temperatures below 10ºC/50ºF and some will die if exposed to temperatures just three degrees

lower. Kumquats are hardy and can handle temperatures as low as 7ºC/45ºF – great if you're in California, not so much in northern England or northern Europe. The most hardy citrus of all is the yuzu, which we have a tendency to think of as new, despite it having travelled from China to Japan in 600AD. It grows up Japanese mountains and survives at -12ºC/10ºF. Other good growers include Tahiti limes and Washington Navel oranges Further reading: The Land Where Lemons Grow – the Story of Italy and its Citrus Fruit, by Helena Attlee (published by Particular Books); The Drunken Botanist – the Plants That Create the World's Great Drinks, by Amy Stewart (published by Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill)

Would you like to get behind one of Soho House’s bars around the world? Email housetonic@sohohouse.com or visit www.housetonic.com HOUSE TONIC 9

COCKTAIL COMPETITION

Simone Cossu's Aniciano Margarita

Hampers from Bottlegreen

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Bottlegreen Cocktail Competition

"Sonny’s Candy Plum cocktail was well balanced with real depth. Complex but not complicated"

House Tonic headed over to Concrete in East London for our quarterly inter-house cocktail competition, this time in partnership with Bottlegreen cordials Photography by Dai Williams

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udges House Tonic manager Lauren Shaw and bottlegreen ambassadors Scott Bell and Jennie Speers took their bar stools, scoring sheets at the ready, as the first of 10 competitors set up behind the bar. The judges were giving points for overall taste and balance of flavours, but they were also looking for good product knowledge, etiquette and timing. This time round, competitors had also been asked to create a food pairing to go with their cocktail. At stake were prizes including bottlegreen hampers, a meal for two at restaurant 10 Greek Street and a £50 voucher for barware specialists Cocktail Kingdom.

Valdiserri only recently joined the team at Cafe Boheme but impressed the audience with a printed menu and an inventive savoury pea cocktail.

As ever, the standards were high and presentations were lavish. Paolo Lazzarich from Pizza East Shoreditch is always guaranteed to put on a show; he whipped out a stove to cook scallops for the judges. Soho House’s bartender/illusionist Francesco Macera wowed the audience with incredible tricks while putting together a simple and effective entry, using just three ingredients. Giulio

But the panel were unanimous in their choice for first place – Sonny Delido from Pizza East Shoreditch. Sonny’s Candy Plum cocktail was well balanced with real depth. Complex but not complicated, the recipe could be easily replicated behind Soho House's bars, and so he won the meal for two at 10 Greek Street as well as a hefty Bottlegreen hamper to see him through the summer months

10 HOUSE TONIC

Cecconi’s Simone Cossu was awarded third place for his elegant lavender and grapefruit combination and Edward Manley from Babington House came in second for his strong etiquette and product knowledge.

He introduced his homemade elderflower wine and accompanied his cocktail with vanilla ice cream – dessert is always a winner with the judges.

Winner of the competition Sonny Delido

COCKTAIL COMPETITION

Winning drink: Candy Plum

Simone Cossu

Edward Manley

The Elder Ron Heart by Edward Manley

THE WINNER: Sonny Delido, Pizza East Shoreditch

2 N D PL ACE: Edward Manley Babington House

3 R D PL ACE: Simone Cossu Cecconi’s

Candy Plum 1 fresh plum, using a quarter for the garnish (plum fan) and the rest to be muddled in the shaker 25ml / 0.75oz Bottlegreen elderflower cordial 10ml / 0.3oz lemon juice 10ml / 0.3oz cinnamon gomme 25ml / 0.75oz plum liquor 50ml / 1.75oz Grey Goose vodka half an egg white

The Elder Ron Heart 35ml / 1oz Bacardi Oakheart 25ml / 0.75oz Bottlegreen pomegranate and elderflower cordial 25ml / 0.75oz homemade country elderflower wine 3-4 mint leaves plus sprig to garnish juice of 1 lime grapefruit wedge

Aniciano Margarita 45ml / 1.5oz Centenario Reposado 15ml / 0.5oz Pamplemousse Rose Briottet 15ml / 0.5oz Don Benedictine 15ml / 0.5oz Bottlegreen elderflower cordial 25ml / 0.75oz pink grapefruit juice 15ml / 0.5oz lime juice 10 drops of lavender bitters

Dry shake all the ingredients, then shake again with ice. Double strain. Serve in a martini glass, sprayed with peach bitters and dusted with cinnamon icing sugar. (To accompany the cocktail, food was served on a wooden board: grilled plums wrapped in San Daniele cured ham, with a rosemary skewer and a pinch of sea salt.)

Build in a tall, tempered-glass jam jar or a tall highball filled with ice. Add the Bacardi Oakheart rum then the Bottlegreen cordial, followed by the country elderflower wine.

Clap and add the fresh mint leaves, then add a squeeze of lime. Top with soda water to give a refreshing sparkle. Gently mix with a bar spoon. Finish with a fresh mint sprig, a wedge of grapefruit and a straw.

Place all ingredients in a shaker with cubed ice, shake, fine strain into a chilled vintage coupe glass. Garnish with grapefruit dust and a sprig of lavender.

Would you like to get behind one of Soho House’s bars around the world? Email housetonic@sohohouse.com or visit www.housetonic.com HOUSE TONIC 11

COCKTAILS

summer CoCktails If you're lucky enough to find yourself sitting in the sun on a Soho House rooftop somewhere in the world this summer, then look out for cocktails like these, perfect for a balmy evening. Or try your hand at making them at home Main photographs by Sidney Bensimon

by bILL bInDER, SOhO bEACh hOUSE MIAMI THE BIG CHIEF, AKA BEAUTIFUL BUZZ 60ml / 2oz Bulleit Bourbon 30ml / 1oz Ancho Reyes liqueur 30ml / 1oz chai syrup 30ml / 1oz fresh lime juice small bar spoon of Filthy Black Cherry juice (see page 15) Shake and strain. Serve in a coupe glass, garnished with a dehydrated lime wheel toasted with a mezcal-flamed zest and one Filthy Black Cherry.

FEATURED On ThE COvER PIĂ‘A COLADA 40ml / 1.3oz Bacardi 20ml / 0.75oz Bacardi Superior 35ml / 1oz Soho House coconut blend 45ml / 1.5oz fresh pineapple juice Shake and serve over ice in a brandy or hurricane glass. Garnish with a cherry.

12 HOUSE TONIC

COCKTAILS

By Adam Baca, Soho House New York Sweet Salado Smash 4 Filthy Black Cherries (see page 15) 5 mint leaves 60ml / 2oz tequila reposado 25ml / 0.75oz lemon juice 7.5ml / 0.25oz simple syrup 7.5ml / 0.25oz Filthy Olive brine (see page 15) Smash the Filthy cherries and mint together and combine all ingredients in a shaker. Shake and double strain into a rocks glass over fresh ice cubes. Garnish with a Filthy Pickle and a lemon wheel on a bamboo pick.

Soho House Summer Favourite

HOUSE TONIC 13

COCKTAILS

FILTHY GARNISHES' BLACK CHERRY JUICE

Soho House Berlin Fever Blossom 40ml / 1.3oz Zubrówka vodka 15ml / 0.5oz Green Chartreuse 15ml / 0.5oz lavender syrup 15ml / 0.5oz lemon juice 1 egg white 3 dashes of Angostura bitters A quirky and interesting drink, with slight floral and herbaceous notes. Great for vodka and chartreuse drinkers. Shake and strain.

Serve in a coupette glass, with no garnish.

Eastern Promise 25ml / 0.75oz Bombay Sapphire gin 50ml / 1.75oz shiraz rosé wine 10ml / 0.3oz Kwai Feh lychee liqueur 25ml / 0.75oz lychee purée 6 mint leaves 10ml / 0.3oz lime juice

PH: Dai Williams

A slight nod to the popular lychee and rose martini but, with the addition of rosé wine, this is lighter and more refreshing. Shake and strain onto cubed ice. Serve in a crystal rocks glass. Garnish with a big mint sprig.

STOCK UP FOR SUMMER

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Soho House Berlin Amalfi Swizzle 30ml / 1oz Bacardi Superior 20ml / 0.75oz limoncello 15ml / 0.5oz lemon juice 15ml / 0.5oz sugar syrup 6 fresh basil leaves This is an alternative to a Mojito, very light and refreshing, with a great aroma. Mix the ingredients over crushed ice and swizzle.

Serve in a crystal highball.

Garnish with a lemon wedge and a basil leaf.

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1. Bacardi Superior 2. Zubrówka Vodka 3. Green Chartreuse liqueur 4. Limoncello 5. Bulleit Bourbon 14 HOUSE TONIC

COCKTAILS

Filthy Garnishes First up, don't be fooled by the name. Filthy garnishes are actually high-end flourishes, like preserved cherries or plump juicy olives, added to cocktails at Soho House New York and Soho Beach House Miami, along with bars in Edition and W Hotels. It's run by three friends, brothers Daniel and Marc Singer and Josh Lucas, an actor who appeared in American Psycho. Daniel explains how they came up with the idea and why a good garnish is all important to a great cocktail.

How did you get star ted?

We found that bars were unhappy making drinks with the poor-quality, oily, salty salad olives and dessert cherries that were available to them. We began developing products that would complement cocktails and not detract from them.

We almost hate to ask... why is the company called Filthy?

When Marc and I were kids in London we

were always playing and getting covered in mud. We never just dipped our toes in or got a little dirty, we’d always be absolutely bloody filthy. Getting Filthy is about committing fully to the experience, to the moment of whatever it is you’re doing because that is where the joy is.

What are your favourite garnishes?

The Filthy Pickle is where it all started – it's a large queen olive stuffed with a mini gherkin, and it’s amazing. Fleshy and crunchy and perfect for Martinis and Bloody Marys.

Our newest item, the Filthy Black Cherry, is a beautiful all-natural, slow-cooked Amarena cherry from northern Italy and it became the first garnish ever to be nominated for an award at Tales of the Cocktail. It’s wonderful in a Manhattan or Old Fashioned.

What's the strangest garnish you've ever tried?

I recently enjoyed a Bees Knee’s, which is a classic gin cocktail with honey syrup and fresh lemon juice. It was garnished with bee pollen, which I thought was simple but really cool.

How did you connec t with S oho House?

When Soho Beach House was opening, the bar manager, who knew Filthy already, organised a tasting for the staff. Filthy became the only garnish of its type served on property.

Why is a good garnish so impor tant?

A cocktail is only as good as its worst ingredient and the right garnish can add to the look, smell, texture and taste of the drink, while a bad garnish can destroy it.

What should a drinker look for in a garnish?

Herbs should be fresh and bright, stuffed olives, onions and cherries should be Filthy! filthyfood.com

Would you like to get behind one of Soho House’s bars around the world? Email housetonic@sohohouse.com or visit www.housetonic.com HOUSE TONIC 15

PH: Dai Williams

APERITIFS

+

MODERN APERITIFS Could aperitivos be the hottest cocktail you can drink this summer?

Created by Bill Binder Soho Beach House Mama Tried (pictured) 60ml / 2oz Amaro Nonino 30ml / 1oz rich simple syrup 15ml / 0.5oz lemon juice 1 whole egg orange zest Serve up in a chilled coupe, garnished with an orange zest.

Pistola 60ml / 2oz Amaro Montenegro 30ml / 1oz simple syrup 40ml / 1oz lemon juice brut sparkling wine to top Shake and strain the first three ingredients. Top with the sparkling wine. Serve up in a chilled coupe.

R

ight now, it feels like aperitif cocktails, or aperitivos if you're having a night out in the Italian style, are the newest drinks in town, but in fact they've been going for more than a century. The bitter-tasting amaros, vermouths, syrups and liqueurs that aperitifs are made with have been around for even longer: alcohol flavoured with herbs and spices has been used as medicine for about 500 years. But by the 19th century these potions had morphed into civilised pre-dinner drinks, designed to stimulate the palate and get the appetite going. The classic – and extremely hot right now – ingredients Campari and Aperol were invented around

16 HOUSE TONIC

this time. Campari was created in Northern Italy in 1860 while Aperol was devised in 1919 in Padua, near Venice.

Their bitterness, along with other wormwood, gentian, grapefruit, rhubarb and even artichoke liqueurs, is no accident; it is this that is meant to get your stomach rumbling, ready for a few preprandial snacks – such as the almonds and olives that sit so neatly alongside aperitifs – or for dinner itself.

Don't worry if the idea of a bitter drink turns you off – a good aperitif won't be overwhelmingly bitter and will be cut through

with other flavours from the sparkling wine, lemon or soda that are often used to balance out their distinctive tang. If your tooth is really sweet, try an old-school French aperitif, a Kir Royale. If you never taste an Aperol Spritz or a Campari soda, though, you're missing out – and once you do, you'll find yourself ready for all manner of new drinks. Here are just a few of the aperitifs you'll find served at Soho House bars Would you like to get behind one of Soho House’s bars around the world? Email housetonic@sohohouse.com or visit www.housetonic.com

APERITIFS

LITTLE HOUSE MAYFAIR

The Brits Spritz 35ml / 1.2oz Kamm & Sons 15ml / 0.5oz elderflower cordial 50ml / 1.5oz prosecco 50ml / 1.5oz soda water Build in a wine glass with cubed ice, a grapefruit wedge (squeezed) and a slice of cucumber.

HOUSE TONIC 17

DRINK MIAMI

B

Drink Miami There’s always a party happening somewhere in roof-raising, multi-culti Miami. Jennifer Wood gives us a taste of the best cocktail spots and Soho Beach house staff offer their own drinking favourites

18 HOUSE TONIC

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2 Wood Tavern is a welcome respite from the posturing you'll frequently find in the Wynwood Arts District. It’s the kind of place where you can pull up at a picnic table and while away an evening (or afternoon) with craft beers al fresco – there are more than 40 of them available on draft or by the bottle or can. But don’t overlook the cocktail menu; it’s small but fires on all taste cylinders, with drinks like the Bourbon Razz, a mix of Buffalo Trace bourbon, fresh lime juice, raspberries, bitters and ginger ale.

2531 Northwest 2nd Ave, Miami, woodtavernmiami.com

6 Panther Coffee is the best place for hand-roasted, small-batch coffee – all roasted in-house by an obsessive (in a good way) and friendly team. Wynwood, 2390 Northwest 2nd Ave, Miami; Sunset Harbour, 1875 Purdy Avenue, Miami Beach, panthercoffee.com

3

6

1 Unless your living room is littered with white alpaca chairs, gigantic tufted ottomans, animal-print accoutrements, a terrace area with perfectly tropical views and a never-ending lineup of innovative farm-toglass refreshments, it’s probably nothing like the Living Room at the W South Beach. Under the watchful eye of master drink designer Scott Beattie, who literally wrote the book on artisanal cocktails (titled: Artisanal Cocktails), the drinks incorporate a global arsenal of fresh produce – everything from Florida citrus to Lebanese pomegranate – for a menu that changes with the seasons.

They’ll also create a signature drink for you; rattle off your preferred liquor and tasteprofile preferences and – voila!

2201 Collins Avenue, Miami Beach, wsouthbeach.com/living-room-bar

3 The Regent Cocktail Club hearkens back to a kinder, gentler time of tippling.

The throwback lounge, on the first floor of

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Soho Beach House staff picks

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DRINK MIAMI

the Gale Hotel, has been a magnet for some of the city’s most inventive mixologists since it opened its doors – including Julio Cabrera, Bombay Sapphire’s Most Imaginative Bartender of the Year. The drink that won him that coveted title? The Ganesha, an Indian-spiced mix of gin, grapefruit-masala syrup, lemon juice, dry vermouth, homemade elderflower espuma, and Mumbai bitters.

1690 Collins Avenue, Miami Beach, galehotel.com

7 Barceloneta is an excellent spot for sherry or Old World wines made with lesser-known grapes, as well as delicious Catalan food inspired by the tapas bars of Barcelona. 5850 Sunset Drive, South Miami, barcelonetarestaurant.com 8 Mandolin has a wonderful wine list, plus rustic, authentic food from the Greek and Turkish shores of the Aegean Sea. 4312 Northeast 2nd Avenue, Miami, mandolinmiami.com

Pubbelly Asian or pub food?

Pubbelly is what happens when you wish for both. Since opening its doors in 2010, the Asian-influenced gastropub has helped to spearhead a foodie revolution in Miami Beach’s Sunset Harbour neighbourhood. As well as excellent Asian-style food, there's also an interesting collection of beers and wines to try, plus sake cocktails. 1418 20th Street, Miami Beach, pubbelly.com 9

The “bird” in the name of Black bird Ordinary is no joke; these folks take their love of all things feathered seriously, as even a cursory glance at the list of cocktails – such as the London Sparrow (gin with passion fruit, lemon juice and cayenne pepper) and Woodpecker (bourbon, homemade ginger syrup and bitters with a splash of lime juice and soda) – will tell you. Also worth noting is that the proprietors grow many of the fruits, herbs, and spices that go into these libations themselves. And that a full supply of board games adds to the laidback vibe. 729 Southwest First Avenue, Miami, blackbirdordinary.com 4

5 On an otherwise unassuming stretch of Miami Beach, The Broken Shaker is mixing up some of the city’s most lauded cocktails (a James Beard Award nomination only ups the prestige factor), all of them handcrafted with herb and spice elixirs, syrups and infusions straight from the bar’s very own garden. 2727 Indian Creek Drive, Miami Beach, thefreehand.com/venues/ the-broken-shaker

10 Gigi is a Midtown favourite for great noodles, pork buns, mushroom buns and the best Brussels sprouts, plus sake and unusual bottled beers. 3470 North Miami Avenue, Miami, giginow.com

SOHO BEACH HOUSE MIAMI 4385 Collins Avenue, sohobeachhouse.com HOUSE TONIC 19

COFFEE

Full of beans Daniel Thompson is Soho House's new head of coffee development. We caught up with the man on a mission to find out what he's got planned for your daily caffeine hit

D

aniel is charged with improving the quality of Soho House coffee. He is trialling his exciting new programme in Shoreditch House first, and will then take it on to all of Soho House's venues worldwide.

Why did Soho House decide it was time to change the way it ser ves cof fee?

We wanted to improve the quality of the coffee served and the mentality behind it. The idea is that it should be exciting, not an afterthought, especially in the UK but also throughout the rest of the world. A common conversation among speciality coffee professionals is how bad restaurant coffee is and why. The main thing that inspired me to come and take on this challenge is the possibility of influencing real change. A lot of people say good coffee cannot be achieved in a global group. To alter this perception is not an easy task, but it's one I relish the opportunity to take on.

You've changed the milk – does that have a big ef fec t on cof fee?

It does – fat and protein levels influence how milk behaves when you heat it. For good coffee you need a relatively high fat and protein content (which, sadly, you can't tell from the outside of most milk cartons when you buy it to use at home). It can also vary seasonally, depending on what farmers have been feeding their cows. We use milk from Northiam Dairy, a small farm in East Sussex that produces full-fat and semi-skimmed milk that is pasteurised, but not homogenised like most milks. It's delicious and creamy 20 HOUSE TONIC

coloured rather than pure white and is used by award-winning baristas and establishments.

Was your choice of cof fee machine impor tant too?

Absolutely – we're aiming to work with La Marzocco coffee machines across the whole group. They are world-renowned as leaders in espresso machines. On-demand grinders are important too, as they mean that the coffee is as fresh as can be.

What dif ferences will guest s see?

We've created a coffee menu (next to the juice menu) so people can check out what their options are and where the coffee comes from. We've also taught the front-of-house staff all about Origin Coffee Roasters in Cornwall, who we get our coffee from, and that the beans we use are seasonal.

This level of knowledge means that staff can approach the coffee with as much care as they do the food or the wine at Soho House.

What's been the biggest challenge?

I think changing people's mentality is the hardest thing we're faced with – explaining how the coffee is made, how it's sold and how quickly it needs to get to the table! We can’t change things overnight and expect a perfect product from day one but our aspirations are high and we are already seeing some fantastic results. Although, that said, 90% of sales are milk-based drinks, and when mixed with milk the new brew just tastes like really lovely coffee.

Is there more training on of fer for staf f ?

I am working with La Marzocco and Origin Coffee Roasters to create a six-module coffee course, which we're modelling on a diploma offered by the Speciality Coffee Association of Europe. The aim is that anyone touching a coffee machine will have at least module one under their belt, all day bartenders will complete module two as well, and then further down the track, levels five and six will be prepping staff to take part in competitions.

How did you end up working for Soho House?

I've worked in hospitality for 15 years, and for eight of those I've focused on coffee. Before joining Soho House I headed up the wholesale division for Caravan Coffee Roasters, working with clients on training, education and business development plus managing events and PR for the roastery.

How c an S oho House member s find out more?

Keep your eyes on houseseven.com, as later in the year we will run some members' events on cupping, home brewing and making coffee with a Chemex filter. In the meantime, check out my introduction to making Chemex coffee at home on the next page Follow Daniel Thompson and join his coffee discussions on Twitter: @MrDan_Thompson

Would you like to get behind one of Soho House’s bars around the world? Email housetonic@sohohouse.com

PH: Dai Williams

COFFEE

Daniel Thompson

"We wanted to improve the quality of the coffee served and the mentality behind it.

The idea is that it should be exciting, not an afterthought"

CHEMEX BREWING GUIDE Making coffee with a Chemex is an easy way to make coffee at home, without a machine

1 Weigh out 35g/1oz of coffee beans.

2 Insert a filter into the top of the Chemex, keeping the threelayered side facing the spout.

3 Pour hot water through the filter. This washes out any paper residue and warms the Chemex.

6 Start timing, and carefully wet all the coffee grounds with 50g/1.6oz water – wait until the timer reaches 45 seconds.

7 Using a continuous circular motion, slowly pour 470g/16.5oz water over the coffee without stopping.

Stick towards the centre, avoiding the sides of the Chemex, to prevent choking the flow of water. You should be finished pouring at approximately two minutes.

4 Without removing the filter, carefully pour away the water.

5 Grind your coffee to a coarse consistency before adding it to the Chemex and placing on the scales.

Tare (set it to) to zero.

8

Your Chemex should take 3.5-4 mins to brew. This indicates that your grind setting was correct and you poured at a good speed. If your brew finishes too quickly try adjusting to a finer grind, if it finishes too slowly, try a coarser grind.

HOUSE TONIC 21

TOOLS OF THE TRADE

TOOLS OF THE TRADE Every bartender has a favourite bit of kit, whether it's the perfect strainer that keeps every fragment of ice out of their cocktails, or a neat little jigger that measures precisely and sits just right in the hand. We asked six of the best to tell us about their most-loved equipment Main photograph by Dai Williams

1

"A good jigger obviously allows for making consistent drinks.

Working at the Savoy, with ÂŁ17 cocktails, I'm very conscious that we must never serve too much or too little"

4

22 HOUSE TONIC

TOOLS OF THE TRADE

1

Leopold bell jigger

2

Chrome juicer

3

Antique-style hawthorne strainer

4

Hoffman bar spoon

5

Tin-on-tin shaker

3

5

2

HOUSE TONIC 23

TOOLS OF THE TRADE

"The two-prong Bonzer strainer is still the best. It even lets you separate the pour from the shaker into two streams if you're making two cocktails at once – most people don't even realise you can do that"

KORIKO TIN-ON-TIN SHAKER

BONZER STRAINER

Tom Walker, bartender, the Savoy’s American Bar and winner of the Bacardi Legacy global cocktail competition 2014

A aron Jones, product training & mixology manager for Soho House, Bacardi

Like any chef, a bartender knows that if you start with great ingredients, you'll make great drinks. For this reason, fresh juice is essential.

There's no point in using fantastic spirits only to spoil them with stale or preserved juice.

And if you want to make a Daiquiri, then fresh lime is a must. So for this reason I always carry a chrome citrus juicer (hand held), which is practically indestructible. I've owned it since 2004 and I've made drinks in hundreds of bars for thousands of bartenders across millions of kilometers. It's not that expensive, and like all proper tools looks a little better as it ages.

A good jigger obviously allows for making consistent drinks. Working at the Savoy, with £17 cocktails, I'm very conscious that we must never serve too much or too little.

The Calabrese strainer was developed by bar expert Salvatore Calabrese and is really lovely. I fitted a couple of extra springs to it, so there's no need to use a fine strainer with it.

I also always carry a small set of silicone measuring jugs – 1 litre and 500ml. Amazing for making simple syrup, measuring punch, infusing herbs, even carrying sea water (a long story...)

There's a latex hor se he ad in my travelling bar kit too, because you never know when you'll be talking to a tired crowd who need a little enlivening.

24 HOUSE TONIC

BONZER THIMBLE JIGGER

Jacob Briars, cocktail expert, competition judge and global trade advocacy director, Bacardi

I use an ordinary hawthorne strainer, but it's what I call a ghet to strainer, because I bought five strainers and took the springs out of four of them and put them on the other one, so you get a really tight coil and it keeps out every bit of ice and debris. Plus, it creates a ribbon of liquid from shaker to glass, so the ergonomics are very good too.

Koriko tin-on-tin shaker s work for me – they can double up as mixing vessels and they have excellent thermodynamic properties. You can fit quite a few drinks in one as well, plus they're a piece of cake to clean.

I always carry three shakers with me: the Calabrese t wo-piece shaker, a Koriko t wo-tin shaker and a 500ml B aron cobbler shaker, which means that whatever I want to make and in whatever volume, I've got the right shaker for the job. I also have an extra-large seamless Yarai mixing glass, from Cocktail Kingdom.

A Murata paring knife from Japan is always in my kit. It's made from laminate steel and should last forever.

Andrew Fisher, head bartender, Babington House I use an antique haw thorne strainer from the 1950s; it is unbelievably heavy. It was made

by Gaskell and Chambers in Birmingham,

TOOLS OF THE TRADE

LAGUIOLE OPENER

"Koriko tin-on-tin shakers work for me – they can double up as mixing vessels and they have excellent thermodynamic properties. You can fit quite a few drinks in one as well, plus they're a piece of cake to clean"

CALABRESE STRAINER

YARAI MIXING GLASS

CALABRESE SHAKER

who were the forerunners in bar equipment in the mid-twentieth century – they even invented the optic. My best man gave it to me for my wedding.

length when you're working because you can strategically place it in among everything on the bar and keep everything flowing when you're busy.

My rosewood L aguiole waiter 's friend cork screw has lasted me 10 years so far. I've used it every day of my working life since I got it. I trust it completely.

My Leopold bell jigger fits perfectly between my fingers and I can still use my hand to grab a bitters bottle.

I'd like to make a stand for the old-syle B onzer thimble me asure (pictured on opposite page).

Lots of, if not all, bars now use Japanesestyle jiggers, which you hold between two fingers, but I'm older than most bartenders and I don't think the Bonzer can be beaten for ease of use. All bartenders of a certain age will remember the Bonzer.

The t wo-prong Bonzer strainer is still the best.

It even lets you separate the pour from the shaker into two streams if you're making two cocktails at once – most people don't even realise you can do that Find Koriko shakers, antique-style strainers, Yarai glasses and more at cocktailkingdom. com or cocktailkingdom.co.uk; Calabrese kit is available from Urban Bar, urbanbar.com; Murata

Juan Sevilla, bar manager, Soho House West Holly wood

knives are sold by the Japanese Knife Company, japaneseknifecompany.com; laguiole.com sells corkscrews; find a range of bar tools at bonzer.co.uk

I get all my tools from Cocktail Kingdom and I like to visit the shop when I am in New York, as well as buy online; they're so knowledgeable and passionate. I have one of their H of fman 35.5cm bar spoons with a braided stem. It feels really great in your hand and it's the perfect

Would you like to get behind one of Soho House’s bars around the world? Email housetonic@sohohouse.com or visit www.housetonic.com HOUSE TONIC 25

BOMBAY SAPPHIRE



Time for tea (Cocktails) Jaymee Mandeville is Bombay Sapphire gin's brand ambassador and has worked with Soho House to create a delicious tea and gin Collins-style cocktail, the Tea and Flowers Tonic. We asked her to talk us through how to work with tea when making drinks

W

hen using teas in cocktails, you have to pay attention to the acid levels. Black tea, for example, is higher in acid than a more subtle camomile or spearmint. You also need to think about whether the spirit you're using might overpower the tea – Bombay Sapphire gin doesn't overshadow most teas, but if you're using an aged dark spirit, you'd need a bold brew like roobois to stand up to it. Gin is a worthy partner to tea, in part because it has so much shared history, stretching back to the Colonial era and spice routes around the world.

With black teas, you can achieve great results using fresh fruit like blackberry or peach, but the tea has got to be robust and fruitforward itself. When it comes to white tea or camomile, it's good to go with citrus flavours, like grapefruit. But, all that said, it's also fun to empty your spice cupboards and see what works – one of our brand ambassadors uses ground black pepper with black tea, peach and gin and it's wonderful.

Smell and taste your ingredients neat to see what flavour notes you can pick up from them, and then think about what would work well.

Don't put too many flavours in the mix – it's a bit like blending watercolours: if you stir all 26 HOUSE TONIC

of them together you just end up with muddy, mushy mess. Go for two flavours that you want to emphasise and leave it at that.

When it comes to making the tea itself, it's important not to let it brew too long, otherwise almost all teas will end up tasting bitter, and those made with fresh herbs will become vegetal as well. Making your drink with filtered water is always best, as otherwise whatever other flavours or chemicals are in the water will come through in your cocktail.

I love the presentation side, and tea cocktails really lend themselves to being served in teapots or decorated with real flowers.

We taste with our eyes first, and seeing something looking green and gorgeous means we expect it to be floral and aromatic; whereas something dark with a berry on top changes our expectations of what we're about to taste.

Pairing tea with food is much like pairing wine. You look for notes that complement – or run the complete opposite. In cocktails tea can serve as a note to add acidity and round out the palate, but that can make food pairings a bit tricky. The drink itself must be a perfect balance and marriage of flavours between spirit and tea. Floral- and citrus-forward teas

are amazing to cut through rich sauces or pair with light fare like seafood. Heartier black teas will stand up to meat dishes and balance spicy ones If you'd like to try your hand at tea cocktail making then keep an eye on House Seven for details of a special members' masterclass running later this summer at Soho Beach House Miami – houseseven.com

PH: Chad Wilson

BOMBAY SAPPHIRE

Created by Jaymee and Soho House West Holly wood's Juan Sevilla Tea and Flowers Tonic 45ml / 1.5oz Bombay Sapphire gin 15ml / 0.25oz St Germain elderflower liqueur 25ml / 0.75oz lemon juice 15ml / 0.5oz simple syrup 30ml / 1oz green tea 90ml / 3oz soda water In a mixing glass shake all ingredients except soda water. Pour with soda and ice into a tall glass. Stir. Garnish with fresh edible flowers and a lemon wheel. This seasonal cocktail is available at all Soho House clubs, just ask your bartender.

Jaymee Mandeville and her Tea and Flowers Tonic

 “With black teas, you can achieve great results using fresh fruit like blackberry or peach, but the tea has got to be robust and fruit-forward itself”

Would you like to get behind one of Soho House’s bars around the world? Email housetonic@sohohouse.com or visit www.housetonic.com HOUSE TONIC 27

DRINKS NEWS

DRINKS NEWS SOHO HOUSE NEW YORK COCKTAIL COMPETITION Soho House New York’s bar team kicked off our first US Quarterly Cocktail Competition using Martini Gran Lusso sweet vermouth. Huge congratulations to winner Jorge Vallejo, who showed careful technique in the speed round, but ultimately won due to the beautiful balance and composition of his signature cocktail. See Jorge’s winning recipe on housetonic.com.

LONDON COFFEE FESTIVAL

GIN TRAINING Amanda Baxter of Berry Bros & Rudd joined the team at High Road House, Chiswick, for a masterclass in all things gin. Bartenders and barbacks were given a brief history of the spirit and learned how Berry Bros & Rudd, a 310 yearold company, came to produce it. Amanda mixed up some classics and encouraged others to be creative. French 75s, G&Ts and Negronis were concocted, plus some original creations too. A taster bottle of No. 3 was awarded to the most delicious.

The London Coffee Festival took over the Old Truman Brewery on Brick Lane recently and some Soho House coffee enthusiasts were sent to check it out. The team sipped, slurped and sampled many of the hundreds of products on offer and chatted to baristas and experts.

SOHO BEACH HOUSE COCKTAIL COMPETITION

SPEED RACK A massive well done to Mia Mastroianni, who reached the US national finals of Speed Rack. Speed Rack is a women-only speed bartending competition that raises awareness of, and money for, research into breast cancer.

Everyone at Soho House is hugely proud of her achievement – she beat thousands of other bartenders from every state in the US. 28 HOUSE TONIC

Soho Beach House's cocktail competition also involved Martini Gran Lusso sweet vermouth. This quarter’s winner was Mike Vieira. He wowed the judges with his Bourbon Cure All, which was inspired by being under the weather – he’d concocted a perfect drink to ease his nagging cold.

Mike received a gift card and bragging rights until the next competition.

Would you like to get behind one of Soho House’s bars around the world? Email housetonic@sohohouse.com or visit www.housetonic.com

MUSIC



Spring Offensive, lead singer Lucas Whitworth, far left

What I Drink On Stage Singer Lucas Whitworth from the band Spring Offensive tells House Tonic how he and his bandmates like to wet their whistles. Spring Offensive are a London-based five piece originally from Oxford. Their album, Young Animal Hearts, was critically acclaimed upon its release and they recently played a brilliant gig at Shoreditch House. Look out for them at festivals across Europe this summer

We always have water on stage, that's the main thing.

When you're singing all the time, especially under lights or in a smoky room, you need water to make sure your voice doesn't crack.

But we usually have some beer as well. We always put local beer on our rider – it doesn't always happen – because we really want to try whatever is made where we are playing.

We're big fans of the weis s beer s we tried in B avaria.

Even bad beer in Germany is actually still pretty good. I'm into Trappist brews from Belgium too. I love the fact that in Belgium itself you have to drink particular beers in specific glasses – there's one that's served in a flask with a wooden handle and it absolutely has to be served that way. They treat beer as a really serious subject, not just something to get drunk drinking. It's an intellectual pursuit. And they love their rules too.

One of the wor st drink s I've ever tasted was in B righton the other day. We played a festival and for some reason the organisers had loads of English

wine – which I know can be quite good, but this was undrinkable. People say things are undrinkable a lot, but this literally was – you couldn't get it down. It didn't taste like wine, it tasted like rotten squash. I'm not sure how they got it or whose idea it was to make it, but it was so bad you couldn't even cook with it.

In the studio we get through a lot of ginger te a, a hell of a lot, partly because it's meant to be good for the voice and partly due to ritual and superstition. And then in the evenings we drink single malt whisky, like Ardbeg or Talisker, as late as we reasonably can. Theo, my brother, who is also in the band, is a bit of a whisky expert and brings the rest of us things to taste.

We all drink a lot of cof fee too and we've got various machines between us. I've got an Aeropress for making espresso, but we also make cafetiere coffee sometimes. Matt [Cooper]'s sister sends him parcels of coffee from a little shop in Australia, and I love Allpress roastery's coffees. I used to be a real snob about it,

but you get free instant coffee in our studio, which is fine... it keeps you going.

The best par t y drink is Fernet Branca mixed with cola.

It's an Italian herbal liqueur but in Argentina, where I used to live, they mix it with coke – you get this bitterness shot through with sweetness from the coke. The hangover after a night on it is something else – it's a full-body experience, but it's great during the evening.

In certain European bars people have refused to serve the combination to me; they think it's too weird.

Bet ween the B ar s by Elliot Smith makes me think of drinking whisk y alone in a bar, because that's what I was doing when I first heard it. Not that I do that very often, you understand.

We tried to invent a band cock tail when we were recording at a place c alled B achelor 's Mead. It was vodka, bitters, ginger ale and glacé cherries and we called it the Bachelor. It was pretty disgusting. We haven't made it since springoffensive.co.uk HOUSE TONIC 29

RISING STARS



Dominykas Smagurauskas Shoreditch House Nominated by Kamil Zajac

Giancarlo Marchese Soho House Berlin Nominated by John Kamel

Dom was recently promoted from

Giancarlo

barback to bartender. He is a rock star!

bartenders, but has already shown

Rising Stars of the Bars Celebrating Soho House's best bar staff

is

one

of

our

newest

He is willing to learn, 100% committed

great dedication and initiative. He

and passionate about bartending. He

makes fabulous cocktails, is friendly

is incredibly talented and it's simply a

and personable with guests and is

pleasure to watch him behind the bar.

a real team player, willing to go the

Keep it up and well done.

extra yard for members, guests and his colleagues.

Tracy Main Soho House West Hollywood Nominated by Juan Sevilla

Edvinas Stankevicius Pizza East Kentish Town Nominated by Michele Ardu

Sonny Delido Pizza East Shoreditch Nominated by Rory Martin

Matt Warder Babington House Nominated by Simon Ward

Tracy Main is an all-star on the

Edvinas moved from the floor to the

Sonny is a fantastic member of my

Matt has come a long way since

team. He's one of our go-to guys when

bar a few months ago. Since day one

team, always full of enthusiasm and

starting at Babington and it has been a

it comes to pop ups. He has been with

he has been an excellent addition to

charisma, eager to learn and progress.

pleasure watching him develop into a

the company for two years now and

our team, always working hard with

He is great at everything he puts his

senior member of the bar team.

has

enthusiasm and eagerness.

hand to – always with a smile.

Paweł Szylinski Soho Kitchen & Bar Nominated by Jakub Szuta

Gianluca Ippolito Electric House Nominated by Dominika Wozniak

Jorge Vallejo Soho House New York Nominated by Camille Austin

Mike Viera Soho Beach House Nominated by Jack Colombo

Paweł Szylinski is our barback. He

Gianluca joined us only two months

Jorge began as a steward and has since

We are lucky enough to have had

has been working with us for almost

ago but is already a great addition to

redefined what it means to be eager

Mike with us at the Beach House

two years and I have to say he is one

our team. He is the most passionate

and hungry to learn. He went from

since before opening. He is known

of the hardest-working people I know.

bartender I've ever worked with. He

barback to bartender and was recently

by his peers for his work ethic,

Everyone loves to work with him

is fast, friendly and always ready for

named champion of our quarterly

great personality and ability to hold

because even the toughest shifts are

busy nights. He is also enthusiastic

competition. He'd work quadruple

down the Club service bar. If you

smooth when Paweł is around. He is

and clever and his bartending skills

shifts if we asked him to.

are scheduled to work with him, you

always cheerful and smiley. I can see a

will take him to the next level in years

know you are getting the job done.

big future for him within Soho House.

to come.

Recently Mike won our quarterly

been

a

crucial

part

of

the bar operation.

cocktail competition with his twist on the Negroni, the Bourbon Cure All. Would you like to get behind one of Soho House’s bars around the world?

Email housetonic@sohohouse.com or visit www.housetonic.com 30 HOUSE TONIC

PH: MICHELE ARDU

DO yOU WAnT TO WORK bEhInD OUR bARS? With sites in London, Somerset, Miami, Los Angeles, New York, Toronto and Berlin, plus more on the way in Chicago, Istanbul and London, the Soho House Group is always on the lookout for exceptional staff. We offer high-quality training and excellent support, and you might even get the chance to work in venues overseas. We want to help you develop a great career in drinks.

If you'd like to join one of our bar teams in Europe or the United States then please get in touch by visiting www.housetonic.com or email housetonic@sohohouse.com. We'd love to hear from you!

You can also find us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

HOUSE TONIC 31

The Tea & Flowers Tonic CRAFTED BY JUAN SEVILLA, SOHO HOUSE WEST HOLLYWOOD

DELIGHTFULLY BALANCED WITH NOTES OF ELDERFLOWER, LEMON AND GREEN TEA, THIS REFRESHING SEASONAL COCKTAIL IS AVAILABLE AT ALL HOUSES THIS SUMMER.

BE BRILLIANT AND INSPIRED. DRINK RESPONSIBLY! facebook.com/bombaysapphire 32 HOUSE TONIC

©2014. BOMBAY SAPPHIRE AND ITS TRADE DRESS ARE TRADEMARKS. IMPORTED BY THE BOMBAY SPIRITS COMPANY U.S.A., CORAL GABLES, FL. GIN – 47% ALC. BY VOL. ALL OTHER MARKS ARE TRADEMARKS OF THEIR RESPECTIVE OWNERS.

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