// DRINKS
COCKTAILS
Lion’s Mane
a variation on the Singapore Sling
made with Cointreau.
LION’S MANE
Created at the Raffles Hotel in 1915, the Singapore Sling was invented by bartender Ngiam Tong Boon. This classic has now seen more incarnations than wardrobe changes at a 1980s Elton John concert, but was initially created as a “lady’s drink”, which apparently explains its original pink hue. This slingshot-shaped cocktail takes its inspiration from the original Singapore Sling’s tropical flavours bouncing off Cointreau’s orangey notes – but here we take tropical to the next level with the addition of passionfruit in various forms, including the pips.
Fill a small ice cube tray with water, add passionfruit pips then freeze. Mix 45 ml Cointreau, 15 ml The Botanist Gin, 30 ml passionfruit simple syrup, 45 ml pineapple juice, 45 ml passionfruit juice and 5 ml lime juice together in a shaker with ice. Place the passionfruit ice cubes in a tall glass and strain the mixture into the glass. Garnish with pineapple soaked in simple sugar syrup.
THE COINTREAU CONVERSATION
Triple sec is a kind of orange liqueur, of which most mixologists agree, Cointreau is the crown jewel. It’s been lauded across the globe for its perfect balance of sweetness, body and clean orange flavours, adding a brightness to classic cocktails like Margaritas and Sidecars.
A NOTE ON LIQUEURS
If spirits and liqueurs aren’t that different in your book, no one could prove otherwise. Liqueurs are spirits that are flavoured and sweetened. The reason for the distinction is simply because there are so many liqueurs – all of which vary greatly in their levels of alcohol and sweetness. In general, most liqueurs start off with a neutral base spirit like vodka, which is then flavoured with various ingredients, including fruit, herbs, bark, roots, nuts, seeds and spices. Fruit-based liqueurs are the simplest of their kind, but there are others, like Chartreuse (made from a secret recipe of 130 botanicals) that are delightfully complex.
