DRINKS // Japanese Slipper
Green illusion The Japanese Slipper is a step forward for the new wave of extra cocktails. WORDS Annabelle Cloros PHOTOGRAPHY Jason Loucas and Tom Ferguson for Jacksons on George
THE WORLD OF classic cocktails is led by founding members the Negroni, the Martini, and the Old Fashioned. Australia’s
contribution to the mix? the Japanese Slipper. Invented in the
’80s — otherwise known as one of the sweetest and most-chaotic eras of cocktail making — the Slipper never quite took off as
much as its colourful counterpart the Cosmopolitan, but things
are looking up for the melon-centric drink, which slots right into the ‘loosen-up’ mentality of today’s drinkers.
Hospitality speaks to Claudia Morgan from Double Deuce
Lounge and Sam Kirk from Jacksons on George in Sydney about
their take on the drink, spin-offs, and why they think people will be going green in the very near future.
Back in 1984, French native Jean-Paul Bourguignon was working as a bartender at Mietta’s in Melbourne. A sales rep handed him a bottle of Midori and he got to work, mixing the melon liqueur with just two other elements: Cointreau and fresh lemon juice. The name of the drink was inspired by a book he was reading to learn English, which depicted a Japanese woman and her
slippers, with the word slipper becoming a new addition to his vocabulary and cocktail history. 14 | Hospitality
