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One Drink, Three Ways: Remy Martin VSOP Cognac

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One Drink, Three Ways is the signature feature by The Three Drinkers. Join The Three Drinkers’ Helena, Aidy and Colin as they take one bottle and create a trio of phenomenal serves which you can enjoy anytime, anywhere. From rums and whiskies to gins and wine styles, the three help you get the most out of your glass. It’s time to get liquid on lips.

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Many people may still be of the impression that cognac is just for old men playing Boules in the south of France, but they would be wrong. Cognac is having a comeback. This grape spirit made by twice-distilling wine is finding favour with a younger audience thanks to its soft, citrus and fudge notes and its incredible versatility. You can use any cognac for these recipes especially if it's a VSOP, but for these drinks, I’ve chosen Remy Martin as I find it particularly soft and fruity, with a delightful, orange citrus kick, making it perfect for cocktails or sipping alone. Here are three ways to drink it:

Helena’s Choice: The Highball

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The Highball

Ingredients

Highball glass
25ml (.75 oz) Remy Martin VSOP cognac
50ml (2 oz) Ginger ale
Ice
Orange wheel or twist garnish (optional)

I discovered cognac and ginger as a simple, refreshing sip while on a recent trip out to the region. It’s ideal for when you want something more substantial than a Gin & Tonic with a richer, spicier flavour. My tip would be to use ginger ale rather than ginger beer or else it can be too sweet. Simply pour one part cognac and two parts mixer over ice and stir. Garnish with an orange wheel or twist to pep it up a bit.

Aidy’s Choice: The SideCar

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The Sidecar

Ingredients

Coup or Nick & Nora glass
50ml (2 oz) Remy Martin VSOP cognac
25ml (.75 oz) Lemon juice
25ml (.75 oz) ) Orange liqueur (triple sec)

For me, there’s nothing quite like a SideCar to brighten up the day. It’s one of those cocktails that you can sip anytime of the year and never fails to bring excitement to my tastebuds! A great quality cognac can make or break this drink, so it’s important to choose wisely, in this case Remy’s VSOP. The orange liqueur (Triple Sec) is equally as important as it becomes the backing vocals of the song, so make sure to choose something with vibrant flavour. Play around with few different liqueurs as each brings something totally different to the party! Finally, I love nothing more than to serve these beauties to people who claim not to like cognac; you’d be surprised how many people I’ve converted! Add all items into a Boston glass or cocktail shaker with ice and shake well before straining into your cocktail glass.

Colin’s Choice: French 75

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French 75

Ingredients

Champagne flute or coup
25ml (1.25 oz) Remy Martin VSOP cognac
10ml (.25 oz) Fresh lemon or orange juice
10ml (.25 oz) Simple syrup
Brut (dry) Champagne to taste
Shaker & ice
Lemon peel twist to garnish

This classic, aperitif recipe has an elegant, Parisian feel thanks to the bubbles. Be careful though; the combination of sugar and champagne will start your evening with a bang! If the lemon is a bit acidic  for you, you could try freshly squeezed orange juice, which works just as well. Combine all the ingredients bar the champagne into a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a champagne flute or coup, then top up with the bubbles. Garnish with a twist of your lemon or orange peel. 

This article was created in partnership with Remy Martin.

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The Gibson

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There’s something to be said for small bars that draw in a regular crowd and are able to captivate newcomers. The types with a vibe so memorable, you’re welcomed by your first name and asked if you’d like your regular drink of the evening or would like to try a new creation. The Gibson staffs a small but mighty team along the buzzing Old Street heading towards Clerkenwell and Farringdon in London. Swing open the doors to uncover an Edwardian themed bar with nods to the vintage glamor style of the ‘20s and ‘30s—the era from which their signature cocktail was born.

Cocktails are the main attraction here. The extensive list features some really unique and palate challenging options. Upon first glance, the bartenders might seem to be popping out works of fine art rather than something made to be sipped. No detail is left out; from extravagant garnishes to carefully paired flavour profiles to unusual glassware. Their menu is sorted by season with the signature The Gibson Martini (featuring a pickled onion rather than an olive) and its variations listed first. To use the menu, simply choose the season that invites you then choose a month within that season, from there you’ll find a list of cocktails meant to transport you to a destination of your mind’s choosing. Maybe you select your birthday month or the time you met your significant other, either way The Gibson ensures an interactive experience for all.

Oak moss. Balsamic seaweed. Lobster broth. Japanese rose sweet brine. Peking duck fat wash. You may raise an eyebrow at some of the ingredients listed on the menu. The Gibson team ensures you won’t be disappointed; rather you’ll be enlightened to the wondrous world of flavours available out there. Not many may dare to mix, create, and offer such elaborate concoctions but at The Gibson they find normality in the weird. The final results speak for themselves, The Gibson constantly sees itself raved about by all its patrons and reviewers.

Of course, The Gibson stocks many other alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages as well. Discuss your own cocktail vision with your bartender or opt for wine, champagne, or beer instead. They won’t be offended if you stick with your tried and true.

As you can imagine, with a roster of 50+ drinks such as these, the tiny space is quickly filled. Yet, at The Gibson people don’t seem to mind the lack of personal space. While the bar fits about 40 comfortably, you’ll see more willingly trying to shimmy their way into this magical time capsule. The thrill of the experience is all, in part, thanks to The Gibson’s eagerness and enthusiasm to step outside the comfort zone of the everyday view of cocktails. They may as well be serving entrancing potions because you sure will be hooked and back for more. After all, it’s impossible to try everything on the menu in one evening.

Address: 44 Old Street, London EC1V 9AQ
Phone: +44 20 7608 2774

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Burns Night at Duke's Hotel

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“Fair fa' your honest, sonsie face,
Great chieftain o the puddin'-race!”

In case your Gaelic isn’t as fluent as mine, a translate of the rousing opening lines of Burns’ “Address to a Haggis” is: 

“Good luck to you and your honest, plump face,
Great chieftain of the sausage race!”

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Duke’s hotel, one of my favourite Mayfair hotels, has some lovely treats with which to banish the January Blues, and celebrate the birthday of the Bard of Ayrshire, Robert Burns. Duke’s has teamed up with The Exceptional Scotch Whisky and cigar makers Hunters and Frankau to put together some great fun for Burns Night 2020. Hunters and Frankau are the exclusive UK distributor for all Havana cigars in the UK.

On 25th January, birthday of the Bard, they are hosting a Burns Night supper in GBR (Great British Restaurant) – the restaurant at Duke’s. Their famous Head Bartender, Alessandro Palazzi, has created a new take on an Old Fashioned. The inspiration was from a memory of homemade boozy cherries in his grandmother’s larder, he told me. The central spirit is The Exceptional Blended Malt, one of the featured whiskies of the night. Alessandro muddles orange peel at the same time as the brown sugar before adding the sugar syrup and the bitters that he makes himself, the whisky and then finally a garnish of two glossy cherries in Kirsch.

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Once you’ve supped on your Old Fashioned to the sounds of a live Bagpiper, supper awaits. Executive Head Chef, Nigel Mendham, has created a four course menu to enjoy paired with counterpart whiskies. It gives a contemporary twist on Scottish dishes to make them light and delicious, without losing the traditional taste elements that make up a proper Burns’ Night supper. Alongside the haggis, of which I am very fond, the salmon from loch Duart is amazing and the cranachan is divine.

For cigar and whisky fans, there are two whisky and cigar pairing evenings on Wednesday 23 and Thursday 24 January in the Drawing Room at Duke’s. Starting at 6pm with Alessandro’s fabulous Old Fashioned, there follow three expressions of The Exceptional whiskies and canapés – the Grain, the Malt and the Blend. Each is excellent and beautifully balanced, the Grain having marmalade and crème brulee flavours, the Malt being a fuller bodied whisky with lots of dried fruit flavours and the Blend a perfect balance of young and old whiskies with complex fruit and oaky flavours. However cold it might be, Duke’s cosy walled cigar terrace is always kept toasty with heaters and snuggly blankets so you can enjoy a Monte Cristo Number 2 in comfort. The whisky does its bit too, warming you from the inside out.

I think these are great value for an evening of fun at Duke’s. The Burns supper is £65 per person and the whisky, canape and cigar nights are £55. Worth every penny.

Address: Duke’s London, 35 St. James’s Place, London SW1A 1NY
Telephone: +44 (0)207 491 4840

By Caroline Hampden-White

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Rediscovering Cognac: Focus on Tercet by Remy Martin

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For so many people in the drinks world, the new decade ahead will be all about rediscovering spirits that have been maligned or ignored for too long. Cognac is one of these; a brown spirit with a lot of history that we at The Three Drinkers have fallen head over heels back in love with in recent times. 

Made with distilled fine wine (rather than grain as whisky is), cognac has a soft, velvety texture with warming notes of citrus peel, fudge and marmalade. A great introduction is to try it with tonic in a simple highball as a much more interesting G&T alternative or in a classic cognac cocktail like a Sidecar or in an Old Fashioned (Go for the VS or VSOP quality levels if mixing). Cognac tasted by itself however or over a simple chunk of ice, is a truly indulgent treat. This is when you will reach for the XO styles that have more age or special bottlings that beg you to appreciate every nuance. 

One cognac we’ve tried recently is brand new to the market and a little bit different. Tercet by the famous, much-loved house Rémy Martin is a bit of a departure from their normal range of classic cognacs. 

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Tercet is the story of a trio of experts who came together to create this blend over ten years of dedicated research. The first was Baptiste Loiseau, current Cellar Master at Rémy Martin who discovered that certain eaux-de-vie (the spirits that are blended together to make cognac) had a particular, unique character that while it was fabulous, was not technically in line with the house style. These spirits were particularly pure and elegant with expressive, exotic fruit aromas. 

Baptsite kept these special eaux-de-vie aside while he decided what to do with them and finally, called in the expertise of two other men: Francis Nadeau, a wine producer, and Jean-Marie Bernard, a master distiller with forty years of experience. Together, these three men would combine their individual expertise to work out which terroirs the eaux-de-vies came from and how they should use them to create something special. Over the years, they tested the oak barrels, yeast strains used for fermentation, the methods of pressing, the grapes themselves from different terroirs and more. Finally, they began to unravel the secret and were able to recreate it. The result was Tercet: a premium cognac that is also the ideal place to start anyone’s cognac journey thanks to its exotic, lychee, pineapple and apricot aromas, gentle sweet spice and long, complex length. Soft enough to have alone and ridiculously good with hazelnut macaroons and a slice of dried pineapple. 

See more about Tercet cognac here.

Buy it here. RRP circa  $100 / £78

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Premium Spirits Subscription Service? Yes please!

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Our friends over at 31Dover have good news for budding bartenders and cocktail aficionados alike in the form of their brand new, premium spirits subscription service: Off the Still.

Your own home bar

Over the course of twelve months, subscribers will gradually put together the ultimate home bar while learning all about the magical liquids in each bottle. From spiced, world rums, to boutique gins and rare whiskies, each delivery comes with serving inspiration, production information and colourful stories from the people who made them. It’s a great way to kick start a journey into mixology where all the hard work is done for you by the experts. 

Director of Buying Ashika Mathews says “We’ll be conjuring the spirit of adventuring and exploring, using visual cues like maps and evocative imagery to ensure members feel like they’re being transported to where these amazing bottles are made.”

The monthly subscription costs £40 and includes a bottle of premium spirits, two hand-picked mixers and another small bottle or gift. There are also options to have a box bi-monthly or quarterly.

Early subscribers can take advantage of 50% off their first month Off the Still subscription with the code SPIRITED50. Go to www.offthestill.com for more details and enter the code when prompted.

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This is the world’s most popular spirit. Have you heard of it?

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Question: Which spirit has 6,000 years of history, is the world’s most tasted alcoholic drink and reached 10.8 billion dollars worth of sales last year? 

Answer: Baijiu

What on earth is Baijiu?

Baijiu is the most popular grain spirit in China, especially in Sichuan province. Sorghum is usually the grain of choice but in some parts of the country, rice, barley and millet are used. It’s the world’s most popular spirit thanks to China’s population of over 1.4 billion but it’s still not known well at all outside the country. We were treated to a master class by the producer Fenjiu and their importer, Cheng International, to see what it was all about...

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What does Baijiu taste like?

A white spirit for the most part and usually between 40 and 60% abv, Baijiu is more like whisky in terms of complexity of flavour and texture. It’s traditionally drunk neat with food, though there are some nowadays that are deemed better for mixing. There are four key styles to look out for, all based on their flavour profiles, but dozens of sub categories too. What makes the difference in terms of aroma and flavour, much like wine, is the ageing vessel, the ingredients and the duration of ageing.

Credit: Cheng International CO. Ltd

Credit: Cheng International CO. Ltd

Key styles of Baijiu

Light Aroma: Light, elegant and subtley floral. Traditionally made in a stone vessel with sorghum. Hails from the north, around Beijing.

Strong Aroma: Fruity, tropical, aniseed, complex. Multiple grains, but aged in mud pits. Hails largely from Sichuan province in the southwest.

Sauce Aroma: Umami, soy, bean. Mostly sorghum but with multiple fermentations in stone brick pits.

Rice Aroma: Sweeter and mellow. Hailing from the south and often the lowest grade. 

Other ‘aromas’ and styles of Baijiu

There are many additional sub aromas of this intriguing spirit, which to Westerners can seem gloriously different. ‘Chi’ aroma comes from the addition of pork fat, for example, ‘medicine aroma’ exists, as does ‘sesame aroma’ amongst many others. There are also many regional variations. Fenjiu, for example, is an ‘aroma’ as well as the name of a producer. It is a light aroma Baijiu hailing from Fenyang, Shanxi and dates back to AD 550!

4 Baijius to try from light to strong

Fenjiu Baijiu aged 10 years: Clear white - A traditional, light Baijiu made from high quality sorghum grain and aged 10 years in earthen ceramic vessels. It’s fresh, floral and subtle with notes of jasmine, melon and dried herbs. Drink it neat or mixed in cocktails. RRP £65 coming soon to the UK. 

Blue Flower Fenjiu Baijiu 48% aged 30 years: Clear white - Aromatic and smooth with notes of citrus peel, vanilla, acacia and cinnamon. Best served neat or over ice. RRP £150 from Harrods.

Bamboo Fenjiu 38% aged 5 years (Zhu Ye Qing Jiu): Pale gold - Stronger notes of mocha and menthol with subtle curry leaf and soy from the bamboo infusion. Best served mixed. RRP £60 from Harrods.

Bamboo Fenjiu 45% aged 30 years (Zhu Ye Qing Jiu): Bright gold - Powerful aromas of curry leaf and sandalwood with underlying sweetness like banana and caramel. Sweeter texture. Best served neat. RRP £145 from Harrods.

The ultimate Baijiu cocktail: The Golden Empire

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With mixology playing a huge part in helping get Baijiu on lips outside China, Fenjiu launched their inaugural cocktail competition earlier this year. The winning result was a golden, moreish concoction featuring palo cortado sherry and vermouth, created by Andrea Dionori, mixologist at The Crazy Bear.

Ingredients:

  • 35ml Fenjiu 10 year old.

  • 10ml White Vermouth (preferred: Cocchi Americano)

  • 7.5ml Palo Cortado sherry

  • 10ml Homemade Palo Santo cordial (optional)

Baijiu is certainly an acquired taste for Westerners, but one that is not hard to acquire with a bit of, ahem, tasting practice. Look out for it as a key ingredient in the top cocktail bars around the world and if you see it, ask for a small pour to try neat. You’ll be tasting history.

By Helena Nicklin

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Drink: A new cocktail book by Kurt Maitland

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Photo: Bobby Childs

Photo: Bobby Childs

There are myriad cocktail books, past and new. Most of them are pretty good, but there is one which stands out beyond the others as the most comprehensive book on cocktails anyone could need. It is not only informative, but is lovely to look at, easy to read and manages to treat the reader with enough respect as not to be condescending, but also giving the beginner all the knowledge they might need to start the cocktail journey.

There are cocktail books with more recipes, but there are more than 800 in Drink, which is plenty enough for all but the geekiest of cocktail fiends - and it’s a book I would suggest they would still want on their shelves.

Drink takes a look at everything from ancient fermented liquids from all over the world and throughout different periods in history, giving a thorough background to the world of alcohol and mixing.

Colin and Kurt at Copper Oak NYC

Colin and Kurt at Copper Oak NYC

With cocktail and mocktails, there is something here for every palate, whether you have a sweet or sour tooth, love experimenting, sticking to the classics, or don’t even want alcohol, Drink will have a cocktail to suit you.

One of the strengths of this book is there are cocktails which can be easily made at home with minimal ingredients and little skill needed. Beyond this, there are cocktails which are designed to take no time at all, or are easy to mix in bulk for parties (or even single drinks), which are quick to make for a few guests.

There are too many examples to list, and I’m not going to impose my likes and favourites on you. Simply buy the book and try them for yourself. The cocktail journey is exciting and all the more fun if it’s your own.

 By Colin Hampden-White

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