last wednesday 15 february, i hosted for the second time the cocktail section of an event put together by unruly media in london's richmix!
i was delighted to be asked again to make a new list for their event, which included a huge presentation of unruly's new released videos and talks, as well as visitors from abroad.
it was a bigger scale this time of 150 people, so to facilitate traffic and save time, i devised three cocktails, which were built, instead of shaken and winter inspired, to warm the soul and satisfy the senses...
spiced rum, vodka, bourbon and a guava mocktail were thrown in the crushed ice and stirred rigorously with ginger syrup, coconut sypup, maple syrup, angostura bitters and ginger beer and soda water and i gave them names, like spiced rum and winter pina colada and i love playing with sangarees at the moment, too!
needless to say, they were devoured happily and completely; i ran out of everything and got home with a few soda bottles and 0.1 of coconut syrup! and on time! perfect!
happy clients and satisfied senses; look forward to the next episode, as this is an ongoing professional affair!
many thanks to emilie giles, who co ordinated the event and negotiated with me, uli gamper, for co bartending with me and doug haywood, for designing the menu.
on friday 27 january, zorokovich travelled to the beautiful, seedy, alcoholic world of soho and in the delightful chambers of the ultimate museum of spirits and fine beverages: gerry's!
gerry's was already established and run, by the time i landed permanently in london twenty two years ago...
it sells everything at very reasonable prices and welcomes all sorts of folk, from the connoiseurs in the industry, to the trainspotters and the tourists, who want to get something special for someone special back home, or the particulars, buying a present and/ or something good for dinner...
we had a tiny station in the left hand side corner of the shop, with the vodka, the shakers, the chambord and plastic martini and shot glasses, totally against my aesthetics, but totally appropriate in that instance...
i was mixing the french martinis and pouring the free shots, while dan was explianing and narrating the story and how it all begun, so that the vodka empire can be re established...
fun galore with alan and victor from gerry's, who played roots loudly, while enticing me to new products! priceless! it was cold outside, but we are the spirited kind, full of warmth!
the liquor bar's winterball has been successfully undertaken after plenty of thinking, planning, designing, devising, researching, meeting, talking, tweaking, changing, polishing and purchasing... complete with a glitterball and silver window shimming and a branding board, which doug made in his flat from cut outs of the logo and the theme and cardboard... as well as its own glamorous rollergirl in silver, black and white and a box wrapped around her neck, offering guests the crackers, with titilating liaison...on saturday 21 january 2012... chinese new year, year of the dragon, new moon, sun in aquarius, what a perfect timing and two birthdays to celebrate; first liquor bar of the year; we were busy!
and it was a fine blast! full of white tie, black tie, glitter, evening dress, suit, lace hankies, tie pins, hats, make up, wigs, moustaches and beards, heels and boots and patent, fabulous hairdos and masks, braces and belts and specs and sparking cupcakes and a lot of beverage; with alcohol and not, equally divine!
the winterball was inspired by the glamour of hollywood and the grace of the ballroom dancing, combining swing time and latino classics...
the drinks were inspired by the dances and hollywood divas...
the combination worked and made sense and it was beautiful, tasty and sexy!
i left the design after briefing and conversing to the magic of DHD design and went off to devise the menus, which, this time, included a respectable list of non alcoholic cocktails, as a. i knew a couple of folk were not drinking/ detoxing and b. it is important to consider the non drinkers and create something with imagination and healthy juice...
white and dark rum were the chachacha and rumba, the tequila was the paso doble, i'm in love with this dance; passionate and sexy and so rigorous, which i mixed with butterscotch schnapps, the bourbon became the bossa nova and the gin and vodka, jive and foxtrot!
fun... and it continues...
mary pickford, shirley temple, lucille ball and julie andrews graced the non alcoholic mixes with juices, ginger ale, grenadine, cherries, mint, elderflower and camomile tea and ginger rogers was my detox delight with ginger, beetroot and carrot... spicy and veggie virgin mary was chiling nicely in the jug...
a massive bowl of prohibition punch was scooped up quickly enough and the classics, always featured on my list, were not overlooked either: the chocolate manhattan with a dash of mozart chocolate liqueur was exquisite and the marmalade old fashioned still very popular among the bourbon lovers! there were classic ,martinis flying around too and andre could not help, but improvise with a good variation of a gin daiquiri!
the music was flowing and increasing in tempo, which totally facilitated the performance behind the deli counter cum bar, which was busy till its very end with a persistent massive queue!
i was totally proud of my team, beautiful, committed and professional young people, who seemed to be enjoying what they were doing, with loyalty and efficiency! learning from past mistakes is always good...
and of course the emporium was immensely helpful, from carrying stuff, to storing stuff and loving the whole affair! again, one has got to kiss plenty of frogs to find their prince, get it?
all good, onwards and upwards, i continue better and tighter each time...
happy new year, thank you all for coming and/ or following this and watch this space for the age of aquarius next!
big love, huge shout to this party's contributors: doug, hildy, andre, holly, luis, emelia, sez, suheyla, holly and wes.
