Exotic array of zesty concoctions

From Tipsy Bastard, Fishbowl and Paper Work, to Fifty Shades of Grey, East London restaurants offer plenty of variety when it comes to cocktails.

While some cater for those with a sweet tooth and others appeal to those who prefer their drinks bitter, and some are virgin – all are guaranteed to add colour to your festive season.

Last week, the Daily Dispatch visited four restaurants and tasted their best-selling concoctions.

Cafe Neo, based along East London’s beachfront, has a signature drink called the Cafe Neo, which is better known as the Tipsy Bastard by regulars.

Served in a tall glass, the drink features layers of different alcohols, with the final ingredient turning the drink blue.

Despite an added sweetening agent, the drink is not sweet on the tongue at all and would appeal to those who prefer a spicy and slightly bitter-tasting drink. If you do not like the taste of Red Bull, then this drink is not for you.

Mixologist Greg Christodoulou said they had a total of 72 cocktails on the menu, with the other top three, alongside the Tipsy Bastard, including a Mojito and variants of the Daiquiri family.

“Those are the three most popular cocktails we serve, but I make a lot for customers and they are usually keen on tasting the new and different mixes I give them,” he said.

“Right now I’m playing around a bit with gin because a lot of people are into gin. East London has always had a very sweet palate but now more and more people are moving towards gin. I think this is because they are following Cape Town trends and what’s happening in the European markets right now.

“Gin is really nice to work with. It adds a zesty flavour to all cocktail.”

As well as getting the taste just right, Christodoulou said appearance played a huge role in the success of a cocktail.

“The key is in the way it’s mixed,” he said, explaining that on its own, ice has a particular flavour, as do all the other ingredients. “It’s in the way these different ingredients are brought together which makes or breaks a cocktail. A customer first enjoys the cocktail just by looking at it. The taste follows from that.”

“The first thing is to ask the customer what they like. Some customers want only one or two shots in their cocktails, others want something a little stronger, while others want something sweet and others something bitter.

“There are also those customers who don’t like juice in their cocktails. It’s also about what the customer wants and trying to find something to cater to their individual tastes.”

For gin lovers, Christodoulou said the best-selling cocktails at his bar were the Bramble and the Singapore Sling, with the former a little sweet and the latter a little more bitter.

Bora Bora, also on the East London beachfront, said its customers preferred the classics, with its three top-selling cocktails being Strawberry Daiquiri, Mojito and Sex on the Beach.

General manager Melikhaya Mpinda said they had added a bit more variety to the menu, which includes a number of cocktails falling under “The Office” and the “The Book Club” menu.

Under The Office, customers enjoy classics such as The Donald Trump, Tax Returns, Verbal Warning, Fired and Paper Work.

The Book Club offers Caribbean Storm, Atlantis Below, Mount Temple, Fifty Shades of Grey and the Galaxy Cocktail.

“Some customers love the items on the new menu and they really go for them, but most stick to the classics,” Mpinda said.

Bora Bora’s version of Sex on the Beach has a refreshing tangy flavour, not at all sweet, with the orange flavour dominating over the slight taste of vodka.

The Bora Bora Mojito has a classic minty flavour and strong hints of lemon, but without the bitter aftertaste. This cocktail will appeal to those who don’t like the taste of alcohol in their drink. Those with a sweet tooth will love the Strawberry Daiquiri, which is served over crushed ice.

Across town in the Hemingways Casino complex is the Cafe Felix, which is known for its signature Fishbowl cocktail, served in a jug. The Fishbowl has a rather spicy taste with a strong alcohol flavour, although as the cocktail stands this is diluted by the ice it’s served with. It would not appeal to those who enjoy sweet cocktails.

Manager Dean Seegers said a new cocktail, called Jagger On Acid, and served for the first time at the start of the festive season, had proved a huge hit.

The Jagger On Acid has strong pineapple and orange juice flavours, which makes a perfect accompaniment to the variety of sour alcohols added to it.

“We started serving the Jagger On Acid over the weekend and people just love it. It’s an interesting concoction which people just really took to. Despite new cocktails, we get customers who are still very attached to the classics and that is why we still serve them,” Seegers said.

“The Fishbowl is our biggest seller – we normally sell around 20 to 30 of these each night over the weekend.

“But I’m always trying new things and experimenting with different flavours. I give them to people to taste and we decide from there if the cocktail remains on the menu or not. We normally run the new cocktails as specials and depending on how people receive them, we either stop serving that particular drink when the special ends or we keep them on the system and tell customers about it as a possible option when they order.”

Primi Piatti’s best-selling cocktails include the Dark and Lovely, Wonderlust and the Primi WitzBlits.

The Dark and Lovely has a bitter taste with a strong tequila flavour, with only a hint of Coca-Cola coming through to sweeten it.

For the sweet lover, the Wonderlust has a predominately orange flavour with a hint of granadilla.

The Primi WitzBlitz features fresh apricot halves and apricot syrup, with a hint of ginger ale, which comes in as an aftertaste on the palate. The drink is neither sweet nor bitter and would appeal to a wide variety of people with different tastes. — zisandan@dispatch.co.za