Red Herring at Writers Bar, Raffles Hotel, Singapore, is a spinoff of the familiar Manhattan in the cocktail circuit.
Writers Bar puts together a delightfully inventive concoction distinguished by strong cocktail flavors—lemony citrus sweetness, whiskey smoothness, herbaceous bitter notes—all suffused with heady vaporous aromas. Always consume chilled. Suitably named, this seductively crimson aperitif unfailingly diverts from the issue at hand.
Red Herring at Prologue Greenhills, San Juan City, Philippines
Ingredients
Original recipe is mild and flavorful, swimming in gin, cherry, and lemon notes. Always serve chilled.
When life’s waterless sands and drying winds afflict us sorely, just then might be the time to chill with a Mojito loaded with floating ice—of Cuban origin, it’s a well of subterranean alcohol touched by mint notes, sweet lime, and tiny effervescent streams, lingering. They draw cartoons inside your throat.
Presidente Margarita at Chili’s, Rockwell Center, Makati City, Phililppines
If you revel in strong contrastive flavors, Chili’s Presidente Margarita might just be the aperitif for you. Delightful as well as a digestif. Honey-sweet orange liqueur brightly chilling crosses swords throughout with lip-smacking salt crusting all along the glass rim. Quietly blends in the brandy. Watch out for the tequila—it kicks like a flying horse.
Rating: 5 stars
Singapore Sling at The Writers Bar, Raffles Makati, Philippines
Nothing to rattle your ice cubes about. It’s a classic sling—honeyed, ever so faintly fruity, musky but without enough kick. Goes down better with another shot of gin. Another dash of bitters wouldn’t hurt. Don’t tell Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore’s sometime ruler. He said, “If you disagree with the ruler, he chops off heads.”
Negroni at Vu’s Sky Bar and Lounge, Marco Polo Hotel, Pasay City, Philippines
Refreshingly chill and bittersweet, Italian Count Camillo Negroni’s remarkable concoction invokes the character of life itself. Sweetness flows from the Campari and sweet vermouth, while gin, Campari, and especially the vermouth imbue it with a multifaceted bitterness suffused by heavy licorice aromas and notes. Negroni the French general and hero of the War of 1870 may have passed away in 1913 yet his bold and indomitable spirit lives on.
Rating: 4 stars
I’m not sympathetic towards cocktails that taste like fruit juice. If fruit juice is what I wanted, that’s what I would’ve ordered.
ReplyDeleteThis explains my lowered ratings for cocktails over which others might enthuse.
Gonzalinho
A lot of this is a matter of taste. It's food, after all. Pretty sure others like what I don't and vice versa.
ReplyDeleteI like complexity in the drink. Also strong salt, sour, and bitter in some combination. It has to be sweet or it's going to be difficult to drink. Must be chill to refresh.
Gonzalinho