Julia "The Hive"

Aperitifs exist in all styles and beverages. A good aperitif prepares the stomach for the meal and activates your taste-buds. A glass of good quality Champagne or a simple Gin and tonic are both examples of excellent aperitifs. But that doesn’t mean you have to limit yourself. In Italy for example, people drink lots of aperitifs based on Aperol and Campari such as the spritz, Americano and Negroni. But if you’re a beer enthusiast, a nice pilsner can also be a pretty good aperitif. 

Today I want to show you a different kind of drink, that has the same roots as the popular Mexican Michelada cocktails. It’s a beertail, a cocktail that basically uses beer as a mixer. 

I didn’t pick just any kind of pilsner for the mixer, I got myself a Julia Belgium aperitif. 

Is this a beer? You won’t find the word “beer” anywhere in their marketing. They promote Julia as a brewed aperitif and they already have two flavours available: 

• Julia “The Birth” - This is a double fermented blond aperitif with a fresh and balanced palate with hints of fruit. Only a slight bitterness and a velvety taste.  This brewed aperitif is infused with cascade and Amarillo hops. It’s a cloudy ‘brew’ because of the production process with malted barley and wheat. 
• Julia “Sunny Joy” - A mixture of tropical citrus aromas, generated by the combination of Simcoe and Citra hops. 

I decided to use Julia “The Birth” for my drink. The malted barley of course sent my mind in the direction of whisky. But flavour-wise, I thought Bourbon would be a better match. 
Larceny is a "wheated Bourbon" which uses wheat instead of rye, so that must be a perfect match. This Bourbon is produced with 68% corn, 20% wheat and 12% malted barley. Other “wheated Bourbons” on the market have a maximum of 16% wheat in the mashbill.

Julia “The Hive”

Ingredients
30 ml Larceny Wheated Bourbon
22 ml Fresh lemon juice
22 ml Honey syrup
Top with Julia “The Birth” brewed aperitif

Method
First add Bourbon, lemon juice and honey syrup to a shaker with ice. Give it a good shake and strain it into your cocktail glass. You can use a highball or any kind of beer glass for this drink. I decided to use the original Julia Belgium glass. Top with the brewed aperitif and give it just a gentle stir. Enjoy!!!

TIP: If you’re still in doubt about mixing Bourbon and pilsner beer, I’ve also created a similar drink for Paal26 Grand Café, which will be available on the next suggestions menu. 

Disclaimer: All pictures and texts are copyrighted by Geert Conard and Esito Management & Communications unless stated otherwise in the article. While some items might have been gifted by the producer or distributor, these are in no way paid promotions or recommendations.

Aikan Easter Old Fashioned

Last day of the extended Easter weekend. As always I had too much chocolate, but I also started thinking of a nice cocktail to pair with those delicious chocolate eggs. When I think of chocolate, I automatically think of rum. But maybe, there are other options…

Aikan whisky is not your average Scotch. After a first maturation of 3 years in Scotland, this whisky is shipped to Martinique, for an extra year of maturation in the tropical climate of the West-Indies. This extra maturation is done in “highly aromatic rhum barrels”. Taste wise, one year in the tropics is the same as 4 years in the UK, with an angel share of 10% instead of 1,5%. 

Aikan means “marriage” in the original language of Martinique. A marriage blending together the best of two worlds.

• Nose: Fresh, baba au rhum, banana, lime, vanilla, liquerice. 
• Palate: Fruity tones, mango, brioche, almond, honey, black and green olives.
• Finish: Long and extensive finish with cherry, vanilla, herbs, overripe tropical fruit. 

Aikan Easter Old Fashioned

Ingredients
60ml Aikan Intense Rhum barrels
10ml Vanilla syrup
2 dashes Angostura cacao bitters

Method
Stir together in a tumbler with ice cubes. Add a cocktail cherry. 

Disclaimer: All pictures and texts are copyrighted by Geert Conard and Esito Management & Communications unless stated otherwise in the article. While some items might have been gifted by the producer or distributor, these are in no way paid promotions or recommendations. 

Tokyo Martini

With the “Golden Martini” still on my mind, I was wondering how to implement that subtle sweetness in other ways to this great classic drink. When a bottle of Japanese gin landed on our homebar, I knew this would be the opportunity to create an Asian-style Martini. Instead of vermouth, I decided to use a medium sherry, which has a slight sweetness from Pedro Ximenez grapes, mixed in with the Palomino Fino sherry. 

But then again, Tokyo Nights is also no ordinary gin. This gin is distilled from sugar cane molasses… just like rum. It’s made with a secret recipe that uses numerous local plants, such as yuzu bark and matcha powder. Mixed with juniper berries, coriander seeds and liquorice roots you end up with a pretty decent gin. It doesn’t surprise me at all that in this distillery they also produce rum and vodka. 

• Nose: Strong juniper berries.
• Palate: Full, fresh yuzu notes.
• Finish: Long and savoury.

Tokyo Martini

Ingredients
50ml Tokyo Nights Gin
20ml Gonzalez Byass Cristina (Medium Sherry)
1 dash of orange bitters

Method
Stir everything together in a mixing glass with lots of ice. Strain into a chilled Martini glass. Garnish with an orange twist.

Discount code
I was playing around with my brand new Nakano Japanese Chef’s knife for cutting the garnish. You can find a reel on Instagram where you see me cutting three different orange garnishes. If you’re interested in these great knives, visit the Nakano website and enter DOUBLESTRAINGER on checkout as a 20% discount code.

Disclaimer: All pictures and texts are copyrighted by Geert Conard and Esito Management & Communications unless stated otherwise in the article. While some items might have been gifted by the producer or distributor, these are in no way paid promotions or recommendations.

Gloria

I’m always scrolling through recipes shared on social media. Whenever I see something that looks appealing, I want to try it. This is one of those tasty combinations. 

You’ll find different recipes for this drink on the internet, I like the result from this one… It’s a Negroni-style drink, edges rounded and slightly sweeter.

Gloria

Ingredients
50ml Drebbel London Dry Gin
15 ml Campari
15 ml Leonce vermouth
15 ml Triple Sec

Method
Add everything to a mixing glass with lots of ice. Stir for 15 seconds and strain in a chilled coupe. Garnish with a lemon twist. 

Disclaimer: All pictures and texts are copyrighted by Geert Conard and Esito Management & Communications unless stated otherwise in the article. While some items might have been gifted by the producer or distributor, these are in no way paid promotions or recommendations. 

Tio Pepe Challenge Belgian Finals 2022

How much did we miss this? For over two years, due to the corona-pandemic, there were just a few online cocktail competitions, leaving not much excitement for the audience. Finally, this week we attended our first live competition, the Belgian Finals of the Tio Pepe Challenge. 

Bartenders could enter their cocktail recipe for a first selection. The finalists were invited to compete at the Belgian Finals, hosted by Cinoco Spirits Headquarters in Nivelles. 

The judges for this edition: Boris Ivan (Gonzalez Byass), Stephan De Bolle (Cinoco) and Matthias Soberon (Cocktail- and spiritsblogger, last year’s winner of the competition)

The Tio Pepe Challenge is not your ordinary cocktail competition, because it has three rounds of testing the finalists for different skills: 

Round 1 – Blind Tasting (20pts, 5 pts for each sherry which is correct)

The finalists need to identify 4 Gonzalez Byass sherry’s in a blind tasting. 

Round 2 – Venencia skills (10pts for flair,10 pts for the amount of liquid in the glass)

The finalists need to show their talent for handling the venencia, a traditional tool that is used to sample sherry from the casks. 

Round 3 – Create a sherry cocktail (60pts)

The finalist mixes a sherry cocktail and shares the story of this drink. 

All three rounds took place last Monday and these were the finalists that were selected to compete: 

1. Bjorn Dewulf (Rocktailz)
2. Alex De Backer (Belroy’s MAS, Antwerp)
3. Donald Simons (Black Smoke, Antwerp)
4. Lize Rombaut (Bar Ran, Bruges)
5. Jorijn Vandenweghe (Rocktailz)
6. Jules Verlinden (De Nieuwe Haan, Diest)
7. Clarisse Herbinaux (L’Antidote, Namur)
8. Mathias Schaffer (Bar Ran, Bruges)
9. Joeri Visser (Belroy’s Bijou, Antwerp)

We gathered around lunchtime at the brand new and very impressive bottle-shaped building of Cinoco Spirits in Nivelles. After a quick lunch, we went for a tour of the massive warehouse. Next, the finalists sat down in the meeting room for the first round of the competition. The four Gonzalez Byass sherry variations they had to (blind!) identify were: 

• Nectar (PX)
• Tio Pepe (Palomino fino)
• Cristina (Medium)
• Alfonso (Oloroso)

I think the fino and PX were pretty obvious as they are the far-left (most dry) and far-right (most sweet) of the Gonzalez Byass “standard” sherry range. The medium and oloroso are both in the middle of the range and have more or less the same colour. Sherry enthusiasts should however know that Cristina is a bit sweeter because it contains some PX. There was no amontillado, cream or Palo Cortado sherry in the blind line-up. 

While the judges were grading this first round, the finalists could have some practice with the venencia-tool. Next, under the burning sun on the patio, the finalists demonstrated their skills in round 2. For this round, two extra prices were up for a win. Clarisse Herbinaux won the “First Lady” bottle, Jules Verlinden won the “First Man” bottle. Both bottles were variations of Mom Gin.

Back to the “battle room” for the third and last round. Each finalist had the opportunity to present his or her sherry cocktail, spiced with a matching story, dazzling us with their bartending skills.

After tough deliberation, the judges returned with the ranking. I’ll share the ranking of the final podium, together with the recipe for their cocktails: 

Third: Donald Simons, head bartender at Black Smoke (Antwerp)

Cocktail: Pepelona

5 cl Tio Pepe Fino Muy Seco
3cl Pineapple cordial
12 cl clarified burned grapefruit soda
pinch of nutmeg

Second: Mathias Schaffer, bartender at Bar Ran (Bruges)

Cocktail: God Highball

35ml Noé Pedro Ximenez VORS
15ml Tio Pepe Palomino Fino
30ml Verjus
5ml Manzanilla Olive Brine
Top POMM. Appelchampagne

Winner: Joeri Visser, bartender at Belroy’s Cocktailbars (Antwerp)

Cocktail: Golden Cortès

50ml Amontillado González Byass
30ml gin infused with cacao
10ml Amaro Montenegro 
20ml basil cordial
15ml aquafaba

Joeri Visser is the winner of the Belgian Finals and will soon be representing our country at the Tio Pepe Challenge Global finals in Jerez de la Frontera, Spain. He received a brand new suitcase to pack for the trip.

All finalists got Tio Pepe magnums and a goody bag, The podium finalists also received additional cases of top quality cava. 

Big “thank you” to all finalists, judges, supporters, Gonzalez Byass and the Cinoco team for hosting this competition. 

Disclaimer: All pictures and texts are copyrighted by Geert Conard and Esito Management & Communications unless stated otherwise in the article. While some items might have been gifted by the producer or distributor, these are in no way paid promotions or recommendations.

Fuyu Tonic

When we talk about whisky and mixers, the first mixers that come to mind are cola, soda, ginger-ale and ginger beer. But what about tonic? I recently saw a social media post of one of my favourite Scottish brands, launching ready to drink highballs, mixing their whisky with tonic. Interesting. 

You won’t have the sweetness of cola or ginger-ale, but it will have more actual taste than soda. Tonic has this slight lemon touch. Let’s try to mix up a Japanese style highball, the Fuyu Tonic.

I added 50 ml of Fuyu Small batch blended Japanese whisky to a highball glass with a big rock of clear ice. Then I added Schweppes Premium tonic and gave it a gentle stir. 

What about the result?
This was probably the very first time I tasted whisky and tonic. I would probably add a pinch of lime next time and maybe use a bolder whisky. It is definitely interesting to try and explore. 

Fuyu is a blended whisky made from malted grain and mash corn on the island of Honshu, aged for 3 years in oak barrels. This handcrafted whisky uses distillates from several distilleries, carefully selected by producer BBC, which is actually located in Bordeaux, France. It’s a powerful blend in a typical Japanese style. 

COLOUR : dark amber

NOSE : floral and youthful aromas with caramel and spicy notes

PALATE : Generous oak and cooked fruit

FINISH : Hint of smoke

Disclaimer: All pictures and texts are copyrighted by Geert Conard and Esito Management & Communications unless stated otherwise in the article. While some items might have been gifted by the producer or distributor, these are in no way paid promotions or recommendations.