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Writer's pictureKing'Ori Wambaki

When the Bartender Asks...

Updated: Dec 24, 2019


Here is a list of cocktails that will make your night a little more interesting

I have experienced countless nights where the bartender either does not know or puts together a cocktail that does not quite

(1) Mai Tai

Victor J. Bergeron claimed to have invented the Mai Tai in 1944 at his restaurant, Trader Vic's, in Oakland, California.

The Trader Vic's story of its invention is that the Trader (Victor J. Bergeron) created it one afternoon for some friends who were visiting from Tahiti. One of those friends, Carrie Guild, tasted it and cried out: "Maita'i roa ae!" (literally "very good!", figuratively "Out of this world! The best!")—hence the name

So the next time your out, this is what to tell your friendly bartender if he/she needs a little help;

  • 50ml of Lime Juice

  • 50ml of orange liquor (e.g. Cointreau)

  • 100ml of dark rum

  • 15ml of Almund Syrup

  • 85ml of pineapple juice

  • 60ml of orange juice

  • Use a cupful of ice and shake together

(2) Black Russian

The Black Russian first appeared in Brussels in 1949, and is ascribed to Gustave Tops, a Belgian barman, who created it at the Hotel Metropole in Brussels in honor of Perle Mesta, then U.S. ambassador to Luxembourg.

The cocktail is very simple to prepare, so here's what to tell the bartender;

  • 1.5 ounces of vodka

  • 3/4 ounce of coffee flavored liquor (e.g. Tia Maria or Baileys)

  • Pour into glass with ice cubes and stir

(3) The Dawa

Dawa means medicine in Swahili, and Samson Kivelenge, who has worked at The Carnivore restaurant in Nairobi since it opened in 1980, is credited with naming the cocktail. He explains with a laugh, "It treats your stomach so that you have an appetite for the meat."

When the bartender asks;

  • 2 oz vodka

  • 1 tbsp honey

  • 1 tbsp tsp brown sugar

  • 1 lime cut into chunks

  • Pour into a glass of ice and stir

(4) Pina Colada

The earliest known story states that in the 19th century, Puerto Rican pirate Roberto Cofresí, to boost his crew's morale, gave them a beverage or cocktail that contained coconut, pineapple and white rum.

  • 6-7 chunks of pineapple

  • 1 teaspoon sugar

  • 1 tablespoon coconut cream

  • 50ml Bacardi Carta Blanco

  • 50ml fresh pineapple juice

  • Ice

  • To garnish: A pineapple triangle

(5) The Boulevardier

The boulevardier cocktail is an alcoholic drink composed of whisky, sweet vermouth, and campari.[1] Its creation is ascribed to Erskine Gwynne, an American-born writer who founded a monthly magazine in Paris called Boulevardier, which appeared from 1927 to 1932.

  • 1 ounce bourbon or rye whiskey

  • 1 ounce Campari

  • 1 ounce sweet vermouth

  • Garnish: orange twist or cherry


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